Hey all...just telling you all to get out there and catch (and release) bass now! This past week I was off work (since Cal Poly was on Spring Break). It was great week to get started on my new bass fishing kick...not really a bass fishing "beginner," just never really fished for bass much since I don't have a boat. I usually shorefish for trout, but that gets boring after a while. I basically fished my brains out all week...Lopez 3 times, and once each at Santa Margarita, Cachuma and even San Antonio. I was skunked at San Antonio, but my buddy caught a nice 3 pounder. My best catch was on Thursday at Lopez where a 5 pounder slammed my plastic worm so hard that I dang near had a heart attack...man, what a rush! That bass fat, plump and round! About ten casts later, I switched to spinnerbait, and on my first cast with that, a 3 pounder slammed it just a couple cranks after it hit the water. A really nice fella was fishing off his high tech bass boat, and he was killing them with spinnerbaits. He said he must have caught between 40 and 50 fish that day. Today's trip to Cachuma was awesome, too...big one of the day was barely under 5 pounds. The water is very clear at Cachuma and three of the five that I caught today were by sight fishing (is that cheating?). The boating bassers were out trolling around pointing into the water and freaking out. One guy was hilarious...he was this really "super-stoked" surfer guy, and he kept pointing in the water and was spilling his sensory overload to his buddy on board, "Dude! Look at that one...it's HUGE, bro! Check THAT one out! DUDE! MASSIVE! No way! Look at that one! EVEN bigger, dude!" I sure wish I had a boat just to experience that! Get out there folks...the fish are spawning all over all the lakes! Be sure to catch and release them all!!!! Good fishing!

Tak,<BR>Why don't you try out float tubing? I just got one for under $100 and had a blast in it at Lopez on Saturday. I just kicked right on over under the bridge and fished along the weeds. Caught my first bass, a nice 3 puonder. It's really fun and a lot cheaper than a boat. It's funny but the birds and animals just ignore you like they don't realise there's a human out there. I had deer grazing along the shoreline and just look at me as I floated bt less than 10 feet from them. Give it a try!<BR>Ken A

in a float tube you're so low to the water, it's tough to see the bed fish. also your legs spook a lot of fish. most of the time you're better off from shore. hey tak- where were you seeing those bed fish at cachuma?

I've been thinking about the float tube thing for a while...I've seen people at Lopez doing well for bass, trout and crappie on float tubes...each time, I think I should get into that. I've also been looking at meeting things halfway with a kayak...that looks like fun too, even if you don't fish off of it. Anyways, thanks for motivating me some more, Ken... maybe you'll see me out there kicking away soon?<P>Brian, the Cachuma Lake bass were seen in the shallows of Harvey Cove, both in the small cove between the parking lot and the fishing pier, and by the rocky end down the path (behind you would be the street up on the cliff). The bass boaters were looking into the brush piles in that cove, so there must be a bunch in there. These fish are facing a lot of fishing pressure right now and are really wary. Some swim away from even the most careful presentation. You can get some of the males to bite if you piss them off enough with the right kind of lure. They don't like things in or near their nests. They seem to strike certain plastics, but it's really random. Good Luck!

Tak, I've been fishing off a kayak for a while now. There are advantages...(and disadvantages). If you wanna discuss it, offline, email me. Might save ya from mistakes I made.<P>Bill