Date: 2011/01/06

Happy New Year to everybody! Daily Flesh Flash Minnow! This will be my very first fishing trip this year.
My 2010 year-end fishing trips weren’t so great and I caught nothing… and the year 2011 came by quickly. I again went to Alamitos Bay.
On my last fishing trip, I focused on using the Varid, Stream Drive, and Ouou lures that I brought back from Japan, but ended with no bites. So I wanted to start my 2011 by using my most reliable and favorite lure, the Flash Minnow 110 (in Blue Fin Tuna). As for the sea condition, it was actually very calm with barely any waves and wind… But there were absolutely no other fishermen… which started my day a bit worried! I started at my usual spot aiming at high tide around 9 o’clock!! But I got nothing! …very disappointed.
I guess it is true that shore fishing during winter is very tough and that doesn’t change much. I wonder where all the Flounder (Hirame) went?? Next time I will aim at bottom range!
(I actually went fishing on Saturday also, but again had NO BITE!!)

See you again soon!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

Skeet’s Beat
Back from Mexico – Work to Do
We’re now home from our family vacation in Mexico, and the weather was a rude awakening.
We were wearing flip flops and shorts down there, swimming in the pool and basking in the sun, and it was much different when we got home. There was ice on the fountain and standing water and the sky was thick with fog. We’ve got the heater on and we’re still all dressed up like Eskimos. This might take a few days to get used to…
skeetreeseinc.com

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The Lipless Pointer 130S has finally arrived in stock!! This is a reduced version of the Lipless Pointer 180 which was created for Pike fishing. It even has a more incisive side-by-side slide action than the 180. Just by reeling this lure in the water, it automatically makes a left to right slide action which is very similar to a dog walk on a top water lure. It is outstanding for attracting following fish and when you occasionally stop it at certain times, you will get more bites.

Brent Ehrler Blog
Date: 1-5-2011

This morning I picked up my new Ranger Z-521 at Angler’s Marine in Anaheim. I am excited about the new boat for several reasons. First, it’s a bigger boat than I have run in the past, moving from the 20 footer to the 21 footer should make for a smoother ride and a lot more room on the deck. I’ve also made the switch to Mercury and have a Mercury Pro X2 250 on the back of the boat. It’ll be nice knowing I have the most dependable motor on the water behind me when I am racing from spot to spot all season.

Some great new accessories I have on the boat include the Humminbird 1197 units on the front and the back. These screens are HUGE, the biggest I have ever had by far and I am looking forward to, as Humminbird puts it “Getting the whole picture.”

I’ve got a couple new Minnkota Talon shallow water anchoring system units on the back of the boat as well. These units seem easy to use, quiet and strong, I can’t wait to give them a try.

After checking out all the new equipment I hooked up the boat and hit I-10 headed for Phoenix. I arrived in Phoenix a little bit ago and will take the boat over to Tim at Liquid Wraps in the morning to get the new National Guard wrap put on. While in Phoenix Kelley and I will be hanging out with Brett Hite and his girlfriend Courtney. We may find time for a little golf or Quail hunting but, mostly we’ll just be hanging out and waiting for the wrap to be completed.

I should be back on the road to Redlands on Saturday sometime and when I get back I’ve got a lot to do. I’ll need to load the boat up with all my tackle so that its easy to find when I need it. Then I have to break the new Mercury in and maybe get a some local fishing in while I test out the new Mammoth sized graphs and the Talon anchoring system. I think I’ll be needing that when I get to Okeechobee late this month.

Speaking of Okeechobee, that’s my first event this season and it’s one of the best fisheries in the U.S. but, the weather can change things there literally overnight. I remember the first time I went to Okeechobee it was 85 and the water temperature was 75 when I arrived. There were vacated beds everywhere and I was catching them well on the Lucky Craft G-Splash and LVR D-7 lipless crankbait. Then overnight a cold front came in and the water dropped 17 degrees in about 10 hours. Fishing changed a lot, the fish went from roaming and feeding to locked down under the vegetation. Here’s a good tip, when the water temperature drops like that the fish move to the vegetation because it holds the heat. That’s when I pulled out the punching gear to get the fish to eat.

Hopefully this year it’ll be warm enough to stick to topwater most of the day, nothing beats the giant swirl of an Okeechobee lunker taking down a topwater bait. I think the Kelly J topwater bait may be just the ticket for some Okeechobee pigs this year.

Happy New Year to all of you and your families and I hope you all have a fantastic 2011!

Takahiro Omori Blog
Date: 1-3-2010

In my last blog I was on my way to the doctor to find out about my hand.  I met with a hand specialist doctor and he told me my left little finger, my left wrist and my left arm have a bad case of tendonitis. It’s very bad. 

It’s easy to understand why, simply overworked. All the years of casting and holding my rod while cranking, flipping and all the rest of the techniques has put my arm through a lot of work. The average weekend bass angler doesn’t have to make 2000 plus casts a day every day 7 days a week.  I have competed in 16 to 20 tour level tournaments a year for more than 10 years and have never had an injury up until a few years ago. I was proud to be able to stay healthy on the tour. I make it a point to eat healthy and stay physically fit which I believe is very important to be able stay on the road and live the pro bass angler lifestyle.

This type of tendonitis takes a while to heal and with 17 tournaments this up coming season I know I am going to need to make some changes. I brought a rod and reel with me to the doctor and we agreed I need to switch to left hand retrieve reels. I’m a right handed person and that way I could hold my rod in my right hand all time while my left hand holds the reel handle only and will put much less pressure on my finger, wrist and arm while I am fishing. Technically for right handed anglers this is the way it should be done and I have been doing this with my spinning reels over the years. Besides easing the pain in my wrist, casting right handed and then switching to my left hand to hold rod waists a lot time and could result in poor timing to set the hook quickly, especially pitching a jig to shallow cover. I tried a left handed baitcaster reel about 10 years ago and I felt weird and gave up on it soon after starting. This time I don’t have a choice so I will need a lot of practice before I feel comfortable with it. I’m not sure this going to work for me or not but, it may be my only option for 2011. The weekend angler could always fish the way they like and if they felt pain they can just quit fishing for a while and let their wrist or arm heal.  I don’t have that option, as a tour pro I have to keep fishing and it makes it very tough and painful.

Fact is I will most likely be in pain all year but, I don’t want to think all negative about this injury instead I am looking at it as an opportunity to train myself to the way I am supposed to cast and reel. I’ll be picking up some left handed reels at  Tackle Warehouse http://www.tacklewarehouse.com and from Daiwa Japan.  I will also be changing to a softer action rod next week. Besides the switch in technique I will also be doing an exercise treatment program from Travis Perret http://www.felixfishing.com.

Believe me I’ll show up at my first tournament of the year at Lake Okeechobee in Florida and I will find way to deal with this injury. I plan to focus even harder this year and not let the injury or pain get me down even before the new season starts, that’s for sure!  I thank all  of my friends and fans for their support and well wishes to get well. 

Thanks – T.O.