Schneider Fishing

August 3, 2010 Redemption at Lake Elsinore

Date: August 3, 2010
Location: Lake Elsinore
Time: 5:45 AM – 1:30 PM
Conditions: Sunny Ocassional Light breeze
Techniques: Spinner Baits and Drop Shot
Equipment: Dobyn’s 702 Finesse Rod, G.Loomis 813 Spinner Bait Rod, Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon Line, Shimano Reels
Baits: Revenge ½ ounce Spinner Bait, Zoom Worm

Ever since the California Bass Championship regional event at Lake Elsinore where I only managed to catch a couple of short bass; one that was 12 ½ inches mouth closed but 13 inches mouth open……….. grrrrrr; I’ve been wanting to get back out there and redeem myself a bit. So, when I received the email from George Kramer about going back out there I jumped at the chance.

It was a rather warm day. In the mid 90’s I would guess. The water temperature was in the 80’s. We started off on the North West end and fished shallow water with spinnerbaits. George has got a pretty good write up about the trip on his web site Click Here.

In the end we ended up each catching two bass and George catching an additional catfish. The fish came mostly on spinner baits. I was throwing Revenge and George was throwing his standard Booya. I did manage one fish on a drop shotted zoom black grape worm that I had to borrow from George; as I left mine sitting on a stool in the garage. Thanks for the great day on the lake George.

August 2, 2010 9 lb. Striper Diamond Valley

Date: August 2, 2010
Location: Diamond Valley Lake
Time: 6:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Conditions: Light breeze
Techniques: Topwater, crankbait, and Carolina rig
Equipment: Dobyn’s Rod, G.Loomis Rod, Berkley Line, Shimano Reels
Baits: Lucky Craft Gunfish, RC crankbait, Zoom Baby brush hog,

I got up this morning a decided to head back to Diamond Valley Lake to see if I could catch some more of those 2 to 3-pound bass on topwater baits again. When I arrived at my spot, I was again greeted by fish breaking the water eating bait.

Things started off well and within a few casts I had a nice 3-pound large mouth bass on the gunfish. Then things got a little bit ugly. The fish were still breaking but they wouldn’t hit any of my topwater baits..

I decided to try throwing a shallow jerkbait and a crankbait to see if I could get some of those fish a little bit deeper in the water column. Again, things looked promising as within a few casts I hook into a big one on the crankbait. It took me a good 5 minutes to reel this fish in. Turns out it was a 9 pound striped bass. Not what I was hoping for, but fun none the less.

About this time I noticed that a few more boats had arrived in the general area and once I had caught that big striper they started moving in on where I was fishing. For the most part the older gentlemen were pretty good about it and stayed at least a cast or two away (my cast and their cast). Unfortunately there were a couple of young men that decided that they would get within about 40 feet of me and fish. It was rather uncomfortable situation. Makes you wonder about how common, common courtesy is anymore. After about an hour of them not catching any fish near me landing another large mouth bass on a Carolina rig they moved off.

Over the next couple of hours I end up catching one additional striped bass on the gunfish and one additional largemouth bass on the Carolina Rigged baby brush.

July 29, 2010 Diamond Valley Lake � Top Water Bite Is On

I finally got my trolling motor back from The Trolling Motor Doctor yesterday. Thank goodness. So today I headed out to Diamond Valley Lake to reacquaint myself with my boat ‘Fast and Wet.’ One of the first things I noticed when I got to the lake was that the water level seemed higher. That’s great news to me because at one point early in the summer it looked like the lake level would again drop below the level allowed for personal boats before the end of summer.

I started out the day fishing in an area that historically has had breaking fish this time of year; Saddle Back Dam. Yep, they were there this year as well. I managed about a half-dozen large mouth bass keepers between 2 and 3 pounds and one 4-pound striper on my Lucy Craft Gunfish; I’m really liking this lure. The topwater bite pretty much died off around 7:30 AM.

I spent the rest of the day scratching up another 4 bass up to 4 pounds on the drop shot and Carolina rig. I was fishing main lake and secondary points. While fishing the points I noticed that there was brush and grass down to 25-28 feet deep. That’s going to be great for the baby bass and the shad populations this year. The water temperature was throughout the day was between 77-80 degrees today.

If you like fishing for bass with topwater lures you really need to get out to Diamond Valley Lake in the next few days. You never know how long it will last.

US Open Lake Mead July 18-21

The US Open of 2010 was the hardest tournament I’ve ever fished. It is second only to the National Bass West event at Perris on some very cold, wet, frozen, snowy November 21st. The only event that I have ever gone in early for, but that’s another story.

Back to the story. Day 1, Monday I was paired with Michael Caruso. We were in the next to the last flight so we didn’t have to come in until 3:15. I meet Michael at the restroom at Calville Bay; it’s already in the upper 80-degree range. Michael had been doing some pre-fishing and really felt like he was on some fish. We get to his first spot and about the fourth cast I’m on. I was using a Lucky Craft gunfish. Dang, turns out to be a stripper. Little did I know that it was a sign of things to come. We must have gone to about 10 different spots. We burned over forty gallons of gas. I threw top water baits, crank baits, drop shots, small swim baits, spinner baits, and jigs. The day was hot, very hot. I heard that it got up to 118 degrees. I must have drunk 1 gallon of water and one gallon of Vitamin water. I never had to urinate. By 12:30 I was ready to go take a nap. By 1:30 I was wishing I had been in the first flight. By 2:00 I was feeling the effects of Heat exhaustion. But I kept on casting till the bitter end. By bitter I mean by the end of the day we only had two keeper bass. We caught others, but they were all short. I ended the day in 111th place out of 119.

Day 2 I paired with Kevin Caruso. Yep, Michael’s father. Kevin had had a pretty decent day 1 with a limit weighing 8.46 pounds and was in 54th place. After hearing how Kevin did on Monday I figure my chances are good that we can get a limit today as well. We are in the second flight today with a 2:15 check-in time. We started off the day throwing top water baits and again early on I catch a stripper. After a couple of hours Kevin asks me to start throwing the drop shot. About 10 minutes after I start throwing the drop shot I’m on a fish. Turns out to be a 2.31-pound largemouth bass. Yes! Our first keeper. I pretty much spent the rest of the day throwing a drop shot. The day was a little bit cooler; I heard it only got up to 115. By check in we only had two keepers. Hmmmm. Like son; like father; I guess. On the way in we speak to his son Michael. Turns out that Michael went to the same places on day 2 as on day one but this time he has a limit plus he’s actually culling fish. If only the draws could have been reversed. I am now in 92nd place.

Day 3 turns out to be quite the adventure. Also the best day I had fishing. I am again in flight 6 with a 3:15 check-in time. This time I am paired with David Peltier. David had three fish on day 1 and 5 fish on day 2. He sounds confident that we will catch another limit. I am hoping not to be known as ‘Two Fish Robert.’ We head out in the same direction as I had gone the previous 2 days. We throw top water baits again for the first couple of hours and again the first thing I catch is a stripper. Aghhh!!! After a couple hours we start throwing spinner baits. In fact we end up throwing spinner baits for the majority of the rest of the day that we fish. Around 12:30, the motor on David’s boat breaks down. We are limping in for about a half hour until we are found by a Vince Genera and Tami Curtis. They tow us in. It takes them until about 3:05 to get us back in. Funny thing is that I caught three keepers and David caught two keepers. The boat broke down but we had a limit. The day ended with me in 93rd place and the temperature only got up to 111.

July 12, 2010 San Diego Bay New Personal Best Calico

My buddy James Nelson, is a fishing guide down in San Diego and my team partner for the SWBA tournaments. Well it turns out he had a guide trip cancellation for this morning and I was able to go down and fish with him for a few hours before he had to go to his second job. Great thing for me because I ended up with a new personal best for a Calico Bass; see picture below.

Back to the story. Sunday night James and I are exchanging text messages about our last tournament and how we want to work on our ability to catch larger saltwater bass on swim baits. He tells me about his cancellation and I suggest that since he was free but already scheduled that we go out and fish. We agree to meet up at 5 AM at San Diego Bay and to leave everything at home except for our swim bait stuff.

One of the best ways to work on a particular technique is to leave everything else at home except for those items needed for that particular technique you want to work on. Otherwise it is really tempting to pick up some other bait.

James is throwing some typical paddle tails and I was throwing some old style LA Sliders I had in the garage. Around 6:30 AM we are fishing near Point Loma when I get hammered. I set the hook and start winding it in. I feel a couple of good headshakes, the fish pulls some drag and heads for the kelp. By now I know I have a big one on. James says “Do you want me to get the net?” And I tell him “ya, I think this is a pretty good one.” As the fish gets up close to the boat we both realize that this isn’t just a nice 4 or 5 pounder but a really nice big fish. James reaches down with the net and scoops the big fish up in the net on the first go around. We exchange high fives and I mention how we could have used this fish at the SWBA tournament last Saturday. James says something about how this one fish probably weighs more than our entire bag at the tournament and we laugh. I pose for pictures with the fish and then James gets out the scale; 8 pounds and 11 ounces. All right, a new personal best for a Calico Bass.

July 10, 2010 SWBA Tournament at Marina del Rey

SWBA Tournament Round 3 out of Marina del Rey. Long story short. Neither James Nelson nor I had ever been fishing at Mariana del Rey. That’s not a good thing when you have a tournament there.

We ended up weighing in 4 keepers that we caught at the breakwater wall for of 6.26 pounds. Not good, but not too bad considering we had never fished there before. Most of the fish came on the Berkley Gulp Jerk Shad.

Other notable fish for the day were a sand shark caught by James Nelson and an Angle Shark caught by me. See picture below.

July 8, 2010 Vail Lake with Jim V.

I owed Jim a trip out to the ocean to do some saltwater bass fishing. Unfortunately my Minn Kota trolling motor is still at the shop awaiting parts, www.trollingmotordoctor.com, again. Jim is just back from a vacation back east and is itching to get out and fish. Lucky for me. We decide to take his boat and go back to Vail Lake.

We had a great day out on the water. We caught 35 bass on a variety of baits including spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jigs, and dropshots. I didn’t get around to taking any fish pictures but I did get a nice one of the scenery.

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July 6, 2010 San Diego Bay at Night with James Nelson

So my trolling motor is still in the shop, again, and I wanted to go fishing. Who do you call…. James Nelson, www.TheFishIcon.com. My buddy James is my partner for the SWBA tournament series and he is also a fishing guide down in San Diego. (Had to give him a plug.)

I twist his arm and get him to agree to take me out in the evening after one of his guide trips to fish San Diego Bay at night. Turned out to be a great trip. Between the two of us we caught 24 calico bass, 12 tree fish, 6 calico bass and two spotted bay bass.

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June 29, 2010 Diamond Valley Lake with top-water junkie Michael Seewald

I decided to brave the boat inspection and go back out to Diamond Valley Lake. Let’s just say that the inspection seems to get more complex each time I have to redo it. This time not only did they inspect the live well, the bildge, the drain plug, the motor (raise and lower), but also the trolling motor. All it takes is one drop of water or moisture and you will be banned from the lake for a week. Good news is that I managed to get the boat to pass inspection and now that I got it tagged on the way out I’ll be able to just drive on in; at least util I decide to fish somewhere other than Diamond Valley Lake.

About the fishing; we arrived at the lake right at 5:45 a.m. and waited in line to pay our entry fees. By we, I mean Michael Seewald, www.seewald.com, and myself. We were on the water around 6:15 a.m.

Despite the fog, I decided to make the run across the lake to Ronson’s Cove and try out some topwater baits. After about a half hour neither Michael nor myself had caught any bass and I decided to head over to Saddleback Dam.

The water temperature in the Saddleback Dam area was about 74 degrees. Over the course of the next couple of hours we caught 4 bass on topwater baits and had another 5 blow-ups that missed the hooks. It always amazes me that a fish can hit a topwater bait with 6 hooks. .

Seemed that most of the fish had come off points so we started fishing points for a while. Michael ended up catching one more fish before we had to leave at 9:45 a.m.

June 25, 2010 Lake Elsinore (California Bass Championship Regional Tournament)

There’s nothing quite like fishing a tournament. The anticipation. So my plan was to go out and fish the sticks to the left of the Seaport Marina Launch Ramp and catch a limit in the first 30 minutes. Ya who am I kidding. Lake Elsinore has been very stingy with fish lately.

So I am boat number 10. They call my number and I can’t hear them over the roar of 30 boat engines. Finally I hear them and I take off across the lake make a wide left turn through the speed zone and head back over to the brush and sticks to the left of the launch ramp. Technically there is a clockwise direction rule so unless you want to stay in the five mph zone you can’t go left out of the marina.

It’s a little before 6 AM and I am chucking and winding my half-ounce chartreuse and white Revenge spinner bait on my new Dobyn’s rod. Looking for the alleys in the sticks and trying to place the spinner bait as close to the sticks as well. Finally at 8:30 I get a bite, set the hook and it’s game on. I wind the fish in and flip him in the boat. Hmm, fish looks a little small. I measure the fish and it just about 13 inches. The tail hits right at 13 inches on the measuring board. Yeah!!! Wait, the tournament director said “13 inches mouth closed.” I need to get a better measure with the mouth closed not open. With the mouth closed the fish only goes 12 ½ inches. Dang!!! But there is plenty of time. Fish goes back into the water.

Around 9 AM I figure I’ve given this area about enough time and I head to my second area, the boat docks and fences across the lake. While there I catch another short bass and a 4-pound catfish. .

Now it’s about 10:30 AM and I decide to head for another area of sticks and brush. I fish it for about a half hour. It doesn’t feel right so I pull up the trolling motor and head towards another area and fish there till 11:30 AM. At that point I decide to head back to my original morning spot and fish there till 11:55 AM and head to the weigh-in. Bummer. I didn’t get a fish to weigh-in. Turns out that out of 38 boats only 9 guys weigh-in fish.