GOIN' FAST, KICKIN' BASS LOCAL TOURNAMENT FISHERMEN ARE A RARE BREED.Byline: BILL BECHER LAKE CASITAS Lake Casitas is a lake in Ventura County, California. It was formed by Casitas Dam on Coyote Creek, two miles (3 km) before it joins the Ventura River. Santa Ana Creek and North Fork Coyote Creek also flow into the lake. - ``Do you mind going fast?'' Matt Newman asks as we wait at dawn to be staged at the Anglers' Choice bass-fishing tournament at Lake Casitas. Newman gets the signal from the starter and throttles up the 200-hp Evinrude that propels his 19-foot BassCat at an eye-watering 65 mph. I'm at my first bass tournament and quickly learning it's like a combination of unlimited hydro racing and high-tech fishing. Newman, 30, from Calabasas, was a pro snowboarder before a broken back put a halt to that career. He says he got into bass fishing after he traded a week's stunt work on a TV commercial for a bass boat. Now he gets his adrenaline adrenaline (ədrĕn`əlĭn, –lēn): see epinephrine. pump from competing at local bass tournaments. Paul Vertullo, 37, from Moorpark, is his partner for the seven-tournament Anglers Choice Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, team series. The basic rules are simple: fish with artificial bait only, show up at 3 p.m. at the weigh-in with the heaviest five bass and you win a bunch of money. It's an overcast, drizzly day and Newman tells me conditions are perfect for fishing for big bass with a Castic Swimbait. This super-realistic soft plastic lure looks like a 10-inch rainbow trout rainbow trout Species (Oncorhynchus mykiss) of fish in the salmon family (Salmonidae) noted for spectacular leaps and hard fighting when hooked. It has been introduced from western North America to many other countries. with hooks. Newman's game plan is to go for a home run early: catch a big bass fishing with the trout lure. Then he hopes to fill in his live well fishing with plastic worms A plastic worm (or trout worm) is a plastic fishing lure, generally made to simulate an earthworm. Plastic worms can carry a variety of shapes, colors and sizes, and are made from a variety of synthetic polymers. Some even are scented to simulate live bait. . Newman prefished the lake the day before and has some particular spots in mind. He chucks the big rubber trout and reels it in, one eye on the graph on his Lowrance sonar graph. He uses the electronics to make sure he's on underwater structure that holds fish. I hang onto the bar under the seat as we fly around the lake checking different spots. Newman tells me that when the wind kicks up big waves, the ride is really interesting. Spotting a big female bass accompanied by a smaller male on a spawning bed, Newman switches strategy. He sight fishes the female, which he estimates at 8 pounds, with a white Yamamoto Lizard lizard, a reptile of the order Squamata, which also includes the snake. Lizards form the suborder Sauria, and there are over 3,000 lizard species distributed throughout the world (except for the polar regions), with the greatest number found in warm climates. . It looks like something you'd tease your little sister with, but bass seem to go for it. The color is for visibility to the angler, not for attracting fish. But this female is nervous and swims away when Newman twitches the bait near her. This is where the adrenaline comes in, watching the fish watch the bait and hoping for a take. Suddenly there's a swirl and Newman sets with a lip-ripping yank Yank steamship stoker vainly tries to climb the social ladder, then fails in attempt to avenge himself on society. [Am. Drama: O’Neill The Hairy Ape in Sobel, 339] See : Failure (jargon) yank . But he's caught the small male. The female freaks and leaves her nest. That's how the day goes. Newman catches two small fish and Vertullo is skunked. Newman, who was half of the top team in the Southern California WON Bass tournament series last year, is disappointed. The winning pair, Shaun Bailey Shaun Bailey is a British youth worker and commentator, who is also a Conservative candidate for the UK parliamentary constituency of Hammersmith in London, England. Career He graduated in computer aided technology from South Bank University. and Brian Bailey  This article or section resembles a .Please help [ improve this article] by removing excessive trivia, irrelevant praise and criticism, lists and collections of links that are of . (who are not related), employed a different strategy. They also prefished the lake, marking five big female bass on spawning beds. ``Luckily we found those fish in practice,'' Bailey said. ``It was rainy and hard to spot fish just looking around during the day of the tournament.'' The winning pair earn $2,335 for their 29.1 pounds of fish, including the biggest bass of the tournament, a 9.8-pound female. All of the fish are released alive after weighing. Anglers are penalized pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. in the scoring if they bring in dead or undersized undersized see dwarfism, runt. (less than 12 inch) fish. The Baileys, who are fishing guides, say they planned on sight fishing the whole time. Using 12-pound Maxima line strung on G. Loomis rods and Shimano reels, they fished Yamamoto grubs for most of their fish. The rest are caught downshotting plastic Roboworms. This technique uses a small weight at the end of the line, with the plastic worm hook tied on above the weight so that the worm is suspended above the bottom of the lake. Shaun Bailey says it took an hour and half to catch their first fish, the 9.8-pound female, which finally took a white Yamamoto crawdad. Their next fish was a 7.5 pounder that ate the bait in the first cast. The team finished third overall last year, but this is their first win and they're both grinning. The Southern California Anglers' Choice circuit is in its third year. Tournament director Jim Reyes says 43 boats paid the $180 team entry fee at Casitas. The second-place team of Tim Brown Timothy Donell Brown (born July 22, 1966) is a retired wide receiver, who played in the National Football League. He spent sixteen years with the Oakland Raiders, during which he established himself as one of the League's most prolific wide receivers. and John Csorba wins $944 for their 29 pounds of bass. The fifteen teams with the top cumulative weight for the seven tournaments will be invited to a regional fish-off on the Colorado River Colorado River River, south-central Argentina. Its major headstreams, the Grande and Barrancas rivers, flow southward from the Andes Mountains and meet to form the Colorado near the Chilean border. It flows southeastward across northern Patagonia and the southern Pampas. in the fall. An additional five teams that compete in all seven tournaments will be selected based on their scores at the final event. Prizes at the regional tournament will include two fully rigged BassCat boats with trailer and motor, and thousands of dollars in cash. All it takes to enter is the $180 team entry fee plus a $35 annual membership fee for each angler. Winning takes luck, skill and patience. And it helps if you like to go fast. IF YOU FISH There are two major Southern California bass tournament team circuits: Angler's Choice - call Jim Reyes (805) 933-1271 for information or visit www.anglerschoice.com - and WON Bass - call Ron Cervenka (661) 297-2299 for information or visit www.wonbass.com. A good way to get started in tournament bass fishing is to join a local bass club. Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwest Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by Bass Club has 11 tournaments during the year. Call Norm Chung at (805) 529-2467 for information. San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Bass Bums has nine tournaments during the year. Call Mike Bush at (818) 874 0930 for information. Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. Bassmasters Web site: home.pacbell.net/gr8199/SVBM.html or e-mail gr8199(at)pacbell.net for information. CAPTION(S): 4 photos, box Photo: (1) Matt Newman fishes at dawn during the recent Anglers' Choice bass tournament at Lake Casitas. He and his partner would finish third. (2 -- 4) Top, Shaun Bailey holds up the Anglers' Choice tournament's biggest fish: a 9.8-pound female bass. Bottom, a plastic trout is the only kind of lure. At right, Brian, front, and Shaun Bailey (no relation) won for catching 29.1 pounds of bass. Photos by Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News Box: IF YOU FISH (see text) |
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