Team Bridgeport's Lake county tour+

Its been 6 years since I moved to the land of the lost and each year the kings of Robinson creek have come to hunt big fish.
Its adventures like this one that remind me how blessed I am to be trapped here.

A local (Lakeport) shop called "Tackle it" has been a HUGE influence on my success on Clear lake and now they decided to contribute to the Team Bridgeport cause by donating some HIGH quality bass lures for the winners, and that meant all of us. If you are ever fishing Clear lake this is a must stop for intel and gear.

When in Bridgeport we have a tradition that the big fish "hunter" from the previous year wears the coveted "coach's" sweatshirt for the entire trip.
This is worn and displayed as a constant, not so subtle reminder of who is the "hunter" and who are the "gatherers".
We wanted something like that for this event that captured both the flavor of Lake county and Team Bridgeport. I think we nailed it.
Scott proved his worthiness filling 5 slots on our hunted species board and as it was his intent to come up here to capture a big cat and then getting 2, it was clear that this was the Year of the Kraken.
This isnt to say that the rest of the team didnt show.
The PolarCat nabbed the monster cat,JT the biggest ling,and the biggest Bass went to.....
ALL fish were released unharmed.
here are the visuals

 

The tours origin is in hunting the largemouth. Very tough bite this year that we believe is due to dynamic weather. Still we had some success with soft plastics in plum or green pumpkin and agents.

more c-lake visuals and some pictures of our trips into Mendocino county. We expanded the tour for species variety and to give the Lake county fish a chance to recover between trips.

Those are some beautiful cats.  One thing I miss about leaving Lake Havasu behind and moving NW is not being able to fish for stripers.  Oh, the sun was nice too.

The southern cal members put on a clinic in the salt. With theKrakens help they had 9 ling. I took alot of pictures,uhg, and accepted the gatherer award for the event.
anyway hope the pictures are enjoyed and this time next month we will be returning from Bridgeport after a week of fishing and then participating in the towns 4th o July mud v-ball tourney. good times ahead

Nice Report. Great Bass and Cats!

You need to have a coachs hat for the previous big fish hunter to wear, that way it will be seen the whole trip.

Wow, after Terry's report there's not much more to add. This was my first big fishing trip and I had a ball. I've been kayaking for about 20 years, but I really just started fishing again for about a year now, so I'm learning a lot. Mostly through my own bungles such as; mishandling my striper and watching it flop its way back into the lake before I get a “real” measurement on it (thanks for not rubbing it in guys).  And there's me saying “I think I've got a big one this time” only to find out I'm stuck in the rocks and the current is making it feel like a fighting fish. Yep, rookie move, but it was pretty funny. 

I think I finally get why these guys have been making all the sacrifices over the years to spend a week or two kayak fishing together. It's a freaken blast! Even when the bite isn't on, it's so much better than the daily grind. And when the bite is on…..….oh my, its glorious.

Some day we would love to make a NW trip and try to hookup with some of the NWKA folks all the way up through Washington. We just have to find that much more leave, that much more money and that much more permission.

Anyway, I did find a few more pics from our tour that were kind of cool. Terry getting us started. My first kayak catfish at 10 lb. JT with yet another LM. Shirk with another nice Ling bendo. Another pic of the LM "big fish," coming in at 23" and 6 lb 10 oz. I want one. Lastly, my first ling caught on a KK sanddab.

Scott

Solid report and a solid trip.  Love the variety!!!

-Allen

In that last photo, is that a soft plastic flounder in the ling's mouth? 

Great report and great photos!

In that last photo, is that a soft plastic flounder in the ling's mouth?  

It's a Kustom Kraft sanddab. They also have this in a green color. The first 1 1/4" is a heavy flat lead head with large hook and you attach the rubber body swim bait. You get the lead head and two swim baits per package, but it's pretty expensive (like $15). It's going to really sting when I finally lose it.

I can't swear by it, but I was skunked for half a day until I switched to the sanddab and on my 6th drop working it along the bottom I got this little guy.

Awesoem report and pictures...

What's this, letting the fairer sex man handle you he-men?  That Largemouth she had was a pig...

Not to worry, most of the women anglers down here in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida routinely hand our butts to us on the water by out catching us.

You need to have a coachs hat for the previous big fish hunter to wear, that way it will be seen the whole trip.

thanks for the suggestion but with this crew it will probably end up being a oversized cape or a oversized beer stien.

What's this, letting the fairer sex man handle you he-men?  That Largemouth she had was a pig..

We are getting used to it. Sort of...
In a few weeks Team Bridgeport is participating in a tournament that helps fund trout enhancement projects in the sierras. We are comforted by the fact that there is a womens division and that we wont be competing directly with the redhead. There is still the possiblity that she could end up with the sweatshirt at the end of that trip. uhg

Some day we would love to make a NW trip and try to hookup with some of the NWKA folks all the way up through Washington. We just have to find that much more leave, that much more money and that much more permission.

This topic has come up on our trips alot lately. One of the founding members has been MIA since his marriage and now lives in Seattle. If she wont let him come down and fish with us then we need to visit them and possibly overstay our welcome. Maybe then she will release him for fishing trips instead of us returning.
 There are times it feels a little odd that we fish and report out of the NWKA boundries when there is a "local" kayak fishing forum that may seem more appropriate for us to haunt. The truth is that we find that the quality of the posts, pictures,and gear information outshine the forum in our area and we want to get up there and participate in what we witness here on this site.
It looks like it wont happen this year due to previously planned adventures, time, money, life , ect., but we are coming.
you have been warned

hey, no warning needed. we have many members who routinely flit between states, cities , and even whole countries, so come on up, just tell us when and where.

Ditto what WR said...

Hell, I only visit the region ever year for two weeks, and am a regular here.

59 days and counting.....