It’s been awhile since my last Bass fishing! This time I went to Vail Lake which is located in Southern California.
People pay $1,500 annually for a lake membership to be able to fish freely all year long at this Vail Lake. So there are very few fishermen which means you have less pressure! Even if you are not good at fishing, here they say you can catch more than 3 fishes.
I came here with Mat from Optimum Baits!
Immediately after starting, our guide kept catching about 100mm size fishes with a Jerkbait! And finally… my long time wish has finally came true! Catching a Bass with a Lucky Craft lure!! As for the lure I used, when I had visited Mr. Omori (as mentioned in my previous reports), he had kindly instructed me the “lift & fall” action with the LVR (Vibration)! You slightly lift it and the fish will bite while you let it fall! What an ultimate pattern! Mr. Omori!! Thank you very much.
Afterwards, I kept throwing in lures such as Pointers and Spinnerbaits to the several existing boils. But the lure that caught it was the Optimum Baits collaboration product: the Wander Swim (official name yet undecided) which I also attached a Chatter Bait (Purple & Blue) to. A bit of a cheating product… But I did catch 3 today!
I wish I could catch like this all the time! Bass fishing is so much fun!

Mr. Hill was our guide for this time, and he also does fishing guides in “Diamond Valley Lake” so please try contacting him here:
http://www.vaillakeguideservice.com/index.html

Well then, see everybody again next time!
Sandy

Catch: Overall 20
SLS:

Today I went to go test out the Swim Wander. Sandy from “Daily FM”, Matt from Optimum Baits, and I went to the nearest lake for some field testing. The completion of this product was great. Matt caught about 30 all by himself. Even with the jighead in Texas was good. So next time I would like to try fishing with a non-sinker if only the condition is good. Sandy from Daily FM caught his very first Bass with a Lucky Craft lure. I would definitely like to come to this lake a couple more times next year.

These are the new soft lure color designs. Lately these types of colors are known as Citrus in the bass fishing industry and are very popular. In saltwater fishing, a lighter color such as Sardines and Smelt patterns are popular as well. The Sexy line can’t be missed either. It seems like it would do well in Europe.

Place: Texas

This is the final report of my trip to Texas. It is a continuation from last time; a special report on my visit to Mr. Omori’s place. This time I would like to talk a little bit about Mr. Omori’s personal life. At Mr. Omori’s house, I was extremely surprised to see a pool just for testing lures! It is not for people to swim in. This pool doesn’t have a ladder which usually exists in pools. And also, regular pools would have shallow to deep areas, but this one was over 3m in depth only! Mr. Omori has explained to us that this pool is designed only to cast and test diving models. What a champion! It is amazing how much he would do to test and experiment lures… I was speechless. On the last day of my trip for dinner, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet pro angler Mr. Miyazaki who lived about an hour away from Mr. Omori’s place. In 2 days, I met 4 amazing Bass pro anglers and had an unbelievable trip. Lastly, only for Lucky Craft fans I would like to inform you with some exciting news! On this 2 day Texas trip!! Pro angler, Takahiro Omori’s (a.k.a. T.O.) shirt actually used in tournaments, includes Yamaha logo, and a rod scrape mark that he has autographed is going to be given away to one person! You want to know the way to enter to win this one and only shirt?? Don’t worry, it will be announced in Japan. On February of next year at the Fishing Show held in Tokyo and Osaka, the prizewinner will be chosen by a fair draw! So please stop by at our Lucky Craft booth, we will be waiting!

See you soon!
Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Date: 11/9/2010

You know its cold when your livewell lids are “iced” shut. That’s how my partner Jared Miller and I kicked off the “fish” portion of the Fish ‘n Chips tournament on Grand Lake. We solved the problem by pouring some lake water on the lids which melted the ice enough to get our first fish into the well. It was actually a pretty nice day, it was just cold about 32 degrees.

The Fish ‘n Chips event was fun, Mark Jefferies of BassZone.com does a great job putting it together and it was fun seeing all of the guys in a little less competitive environment.

As for the tournament Jared and I finished in 17th place after a pretty rough start in the poker end of the event. The fishing was good with most of the fish we caught coming on a Lucky Craft RC 1.5 or 2.5 square bill crankbait in shad patterns. We did catch a few on a Buzzbait & Spinnerbait in the event as well. We caught some nice fish with a couple of solid 16 pound days but, we just couldn’t get that kicker fish to move up in the standings.

Coming up I will be headed out to fish the Ultimate Match fishing show which is hosted by Joe Thomas, refereed by Mark Randolph and Fish Fishburne is the analyst. If you haven’t seen this show you should check it out as 12 anglers are bracketed head to head in elimination matches. Both anglers fish from the same boat with four 90 minute quarters. Each quarter the anglers switch ends of the boat. There aren’t many rules other than not crossing to the other half of the boat so almost anything goes out there. I think the filming we are about to do will air early next year on the Outdoor Channel.

Other than that, I’m just itching to get out in the woods for some good South Texas hunting very soon!

This is the reel used in the Bassmaster Classic when pro angler, Omori Takahiro won. Ever since that moment, it hasn’t been used and is stored very safely. The line is also kept as it was. And from that wonderful moment of that victory, this reel has stayed exactly the same and stopped in time. This extraordinary item is sitting in the Lucky Craft museum. Mr. Omori said, “if only it is kept safe…” and kindly handed it to us. It was very much like Mr. Omori to have such refined agreement. Maybe I will display it at next year’s Fishing Show.

I just finished the Fish and Chips tournament that Mark Jeffreys from BASS ZONE.com put on at Grand lake in Oklahoma . The format for the tournament is a team event that gives anglers points for their performance in a poker tournament, followed by a two day team fishing event…
skeetreeseinc.com

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I had so much fun fishing with Brent. During late summer, Topwater fishing is absolutely the #1 choice. Because I was having so much fun fishing, later I realized I got Hyperthermia… I even got dehydration and I was barely able to work the next day~. But it was still fun!! Isn’t this Blue Gill adorable?

At last, we had Mr. Omori sign his 2009 & 2010 tournament shirts which he fought through tough times with. The one with the silver line design would be the 2009 version and the one with the red line is the 2010 version. It is planned to be handed to the winner by drawing at the Fishing Show held in Tokyo and Osaka next year. Please look forward to it.

Date: 11-3-2010

This week I was fortunate enough to be asked to film a Lost Lake episode for WFN.  I cannot give out the lake, but it is near my home here in Southern California and I had never been to it before.  All I can say is “Wow, what a day.”  The fish were chewing and I wasn’t quite ready for what I found.

When we arrived at the lake I saw the water was stained and there were a lot of docks, I knew the brand new Pearl Threadfin Shad color Lucky Craft BDS-3 baits that I picked up last weekend at the Monster Bass Jam were going to be the ticket. By the end of the day there were three big fish swimming around that lake with some new lip jewelry.  Yep, I broke off three big fish and as much as I’d like to give you all the details you’ll have to wait until the show airs in February – March of 2011 to see it.  I will tell you this much, it should make for good TV.

The next few days I am going to work on some sponsorship stuff and working on tackle preparation and a few other details I need to get ironed out. The off-season is almost as much work in-season but, at least I am home with family at the end of the day.

Next week Kelley and I head for Hawaii for a vacation and its going to be nice laying toes up on a beautiful Hawaiian beach for a few days and getting some rest.  We will do some hikes to a few waterfalls.

Another item on the horizon is the possibility of a new bait by Lucky Craft. I had dinner with Minoru Segawa of Lucky Craft last week and we are excited about this new shallow running crankbait. It will be very different from the other shallow runners on the market and I am pretty excited about its potential both in the water and in the stores. Nothing’s set in stone right now but, we are shooting for a mid 2011 release date in time for ICast 2011.