Big Bass Blog
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Noah Stevens Big Bass Blog for June 2017
With the arrival of June, it meant the start of two very different month-long online tournaments. The KBF State Challenge (best 5 fish total length) and the Yak-A-Bass No Limit Tournament, the first of its kind no limit (the exception being 12 inches or larger). My goal was to focus on the KBF Tournament first and foremost, but I also wanted to have a good showing in the Yak a Bass Tournament. Strategically, there are some smaller lakes in Sonoma County where you can very easily go out and catch 30 fish in the 12 to 15-inch range in a day, but these lakes were not going to give me the chance to do well in the KBF Tournament. In the month of May, I had some solid days out at Lake Berryessa, some good numbers, and decent size. So, I decided to start the month of June there. I started fishing at Lake Berryessa on Friday, June 2nd. I had a great day ending up with 16 fish, with at total of 252.25-inches for the Yak a Bass Tournament. My best 5 fish totaling 93.25-inches went to the KBF Tournament. My big fish for the day was 21.50-inches. The Senko bite was on all day and I pretty much never put it down. Right now, the lake is still really high, there are a lot of trees still in the water. The fish were really holding tight to these trees, so I concentrated just throwing a wacky Senko at the trees and they would come out and smack it. The next Friday, June 9th, I again went back to Berryessa. This time on the water things had changed a little. Early in the day, I lost a beast on a Senko. That Hog jumped and spit the hook, it was crushing, but I just tried to shake it off and kept grinding. By the afternoon the Senko bite died, but the topwater bite was better as the day went on. I picked up a bunch of my fish using a bone colored Rico Popper, it was a decent day. On the way back to the launch area I stopped at an island and threw a drop shot out. While bringing the drop up, I had it about five feet from the boat, I saw the side of a large bass flash where my bait was coming up. I dropped my rod tip and swung, I landed a 21.75-inch fish. I can't recall how many fish I caught that day, but I knew, I now had a 5 fish bag for 100-inches. I had two days the following week that I was able to fish, the first one, I went back to Berryessa. I had a decent day, but the bite had unfortunately slowed. There was a decent topwater bite on the Rico, but they were mostly all rats. I managed to pick up a 19.50-inch fish on a Senko in the trees before my day was done, so that was gratifying. For the second day, I had heard that Yorty Creek at Lake Sonoma had been reopened, so I decided to take a chance and fish there. I arrived early in the morning hoping for some good topwater, but there was nothing happening. As the sun came up, I worked my way back to Cherry Creek. In doing so, I picked up fish on the drop shot and a Senko. As I approached the camping spots in Cherry Creek, I caught a 19.50-inch on a Senko off a rock wall. The wind picked up and I worked my way back to Yorty Creek. I was now sitting at 101.50-inches for my best 5 fish and had caught 63 fish for 956.25-inches. I already knew I was going to go back to Berryessa on my next fishing day. On Friday, June 23rd I got on the water at about 7:15 am, the night before I had decided to go all in on topwater baits. I tied on a Whopper Popper, a Frog and two different Poppers. I came out throwing the Whopper Popper but quickly changed over to a new popper that I had been given. It was the LiveTarget popper that was yellow and white. For the last couple years I have stuck with my Rico's, both times I went to the Anglers Inn in El Salto they were dominant, and I just love throwing them. I quickly picked up two fish off of the same point I had gotten my 21.75-inches the week prior. I really liked the action and the sound that the LiveTarget Popper made, it was different, but it felt good. I was throwing the popper on a Lamiglas 7'2 724 C with Daiwa Tatula reel. I had never thrown top water on this rod, I've used it mostly for lipless crank baits, so I was not even sure it was going to do what I wanted. I made a cast over the point and out into about 15 feet of water. I started to look at the far shore, to see if I could see any fish busting the surface. As I turned my head back to the point, I heard the explosion. I waited for a second and then set the hook. I am not sure if I would have caught this fish if I was looking directly at my bait, but I had it on now. The fish immediately ran to the deep water, I tried to keep it down but it came up and head shook me. The beast then ran under my Hobie PA12 and I grabbed my net. I could feel it coming back up and as it jumped, luckily towards me, it landed in my net. Many people have asked me, "Why didn't you just leave the natural sound on your YouTube video?" Well honestly, I was cussing with joy and giggling to myself. So I choose to save myself the embarrassment. I initially tried to measure the fish with the Hawg Trough on my lap, that was clearly not going to happen. So, I put the Hawg Trough on my Hobie Seat, I am really glad I added the wooden dowels to give it more support. I was blown away to see this beauty at 26.50-inches. This Bass made my best 3 fish 69.75-inches and my KBF best 5 fish 108.75-inches. Even with that fish, I was not sure that I was going to win the KBF State Challenge, especially with some of the amazing anglers who were right behind me in the standings. I really want to thank WOO Tungsten for allowing me to be a Pro Staffer for them. Most of all I want to thank my beautiful and amazing wife, Sarah. She encourages and motivates me. Most of all, she tells me to go fish. Blair Teichman Blog about his big fish in the Yak-a-bass Over Under Double slot Photo submission contest presented by Eddyline Kayak
I was fishing a small 74 acre lake in Sonoma County. On Sunday I had missed a couple bites and caught one small fish on a 12ft diving crankbait. On Monday I headed right back to the same area at the north end of the lake. We had a few warm days leading up to that Monday, so I had a good feeling I could get some good bites despite the water being very stained. I started fishing around 7:30am. I worked that same area from the day before and I was marking the same schools of fish on my Lowrance elite 7ti in 18ft of water. I got my first bite at 8:45am and immediately knew it was a good fish. I had a Picasso Shockblade in red craw with a Strike King Ragecraw trailer tied on. I was using a 15lb seagaur invisx leader tied to 30lb Suffix braid mainline with an FG knot, and I was using a Manley MH fast action rod with a 13fishing Concept A 7.3-1. The setup worked to perfection and I was able to land my personal best 7 pound 22-1/2 inch bass! After I weighed the fish on my Boga Grip and got the picture for the Yak-a-bass online photo submission contest, I got back to working that same area. A short while later my Shockblade got slammed again, and again I knew it was a good fish. While landing the last fish I had backed off my drag a little bit during the fight. Well I forgot to readjust it before continuing to fish, so when I set the hook on this fish I did not get the power in my hookset I should've gotten. Rookie mistake. The fish charged at me and I couldn't keep enough tension on the line and she came off. I was pretty crushed but I knew it was my fault and I couldn't blame it on anything but myself. I regrouped quickly and kept fishing. This time with my drag adjusted properly! By this point in the morning around 10am, I had worked that area over thoroughly and didn't think I was going to be able to pull another fish from that school. I worked my way south to find more fish. I came up on a point that ran into a channel that was the same depth as the other school I was fishing. They were grouped up near the bottom, same as the other school, in 18ft of water. I worked my shockblade through that school and got slammed again, and yet again, another good fish! She put up a good fight and after a few jumps that stole the breath away from me, I had her in my net. I put her on my Boga Grip and she weighed in right at 8 pounds. Another personal best in the same day! I put her on the Hawg Trough to get my picture for the online contest and she came in at 23-3/4 inches. Only two fish caught that day in about four hours on the water, but they were the two biggest bass of my life. Up to this point my personal best was somewhere around 5 pounds out of Lake Sonoma a few years ago. I didn't have a scale back then to verify weight. I have been kayak fishing for about 5 years. I started out fishing for everything from trout in the Sierra's, to ling cod in the pacific. Last year something clicked and now all I want to fish for is bass! So I have been pursuing bass seriously for about a year now. My advice to someone just getting into kayak fishing would be not to get frustrated too easily, especially if you are angling for bass. These days we are inundated with pictures of giant bass daily on social media. The picture doesn't show the countless hours on the water and the dedication it took to get that picture. Some days you won't catch anything, some days you'll feel like you caught every fish in the lake. I always see the question, "What were they biting?" or "What were you catching 'em on?" or some variation of that. Instead of going out and buying whatever the answer may be that day, pick a handful of baits and really learn them. A bait you know is a bait you will have confidence using. Every angler has their own style and own thought process, and their own way they like to catch fish. What works for someone else may not work for you. It's not quite as easy as picking up a bait someone says is working and it magically works for you. Some days I wish it was that easy, but the mental side of bass fishing is half the fun! Instagram: @blairteichman |
Noah Big Bass Blog June 2017
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Yak-a-bass August 2016 online event BIG FISH Slide Show
Yak-a-bass June 2016 online event Big Fish Slide Show
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