Wednesday, September 17, 2014
The Fluorocarbon-Braid Connection
For us Bass Anglers it has been a long hot summer. Most of us were on the water before the sun came up every morning just so we could enjoy a few hours during the day where the sun wasn’t blazing down on us. With days like that the fish usually go deep and can become sluggish. For us out here on the Colorado River Lakes we’ve had to employ mostly finesse fishing tactics and rigs in order to put fish in the boat. Rigs like the drop shot and tube jig.
Finesse fishing requires an extreme degree of sensitivity because most fish don’t hit these baits hard like they would a crankbait, spinnerbait or even a topwater. They simply put the bait in their mouth. By using braided line with a fluorocarbon leader both the drop shot and tube jig you not only have the sensitivity that braid gives but you get the near invisibility under water that fluorocarbon provides. You’re winning on both fronts!
But most anglers are very weary when it comes to tying line directly to line. I’ve even heard of one pro being “sketched” out by it. Well this really isn’t as big of a deal as some anglers make it. I use one knot for my Braid-Fluorocarbon connection and it has suited me well to this day. That knot is the double uni knot.
As you can see from the illustration above, it is a very simple knot to tie. In fact I’m sure it was a third grader who not only tied the knot above but then illustrated it so his Mom could put it on the door of the family refrigerator.
Here is some advice on this knot: Trust it. It’s going to hold because it like most knots we tie is what is called a self-cinching knot. As a fish pulls against you, the knot only gets tighter. When you perform the wraps on the knot be sure to wrap six to eight times erring on the side of more wraps. I’ve only had the knot break once all summer and that was because I wrapped both types of line only 5 times a piece because I was in a hurry to get back to fishing after I lost my hook and weight on drop shot rig to an underwater brush pile that was holding Smallmouth.
That brings be to my final piece of advice on this knot. Don’t get in a hurry while tying it. Dress it up pretty before pulling it tight or the line will cross itself and break itself, which is most likely what happened in the above story.
This combination provides a serious amount of feel to the angler and you can enjoy knot strength of 85% to 100% if tied correctly. As always thanks for stopping by and reading and remember while fishing our beautiful gin-clear lakes practice CPR. Catch, Photograph and Release.
Also T-shirts are still available at teespring.com/riverlakesbassin
Go get yours today so that we can improve the blog!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Alamo Lake Arizona
My favorite lake to be on is Lake Mohave. My wife loves it, the dogs love it and the bass fishing is great. But what happens when the government shuts down? Obviously a giant lake in NV should shut down with it right? No It's a lake! Why wouldn't that be public land. Well, it shut down so my wife and I grabbed the dogs and headed for AZ. Alamo Lake specifically. We went two different weekends but there wasn't too much action so I am just going to write about both weekends in one post. We liked the camp grounds a lot but the feral burros everywhere were very loud and obnoxious. Also, they shit. Everywhere. The coyotes were everywhere too. We woke up one morning with one standing and howling right on the other side of our tent wall. It was frightening but at the same time, just a coyote. I was just thankful we didn't have the dogs tied up outside or something. They were also cool to see when we were on the water. Even though they were feral burros and coyotes, wildlife is always cool to see. There was also a tarantula in our campground which did not sit well with my wife. At all. That all being said, the campgrounds were very nice. They were very clean and the people camped near us were all very friendly. We were a ways from the water but it was alright. We had a lot of fun hiking up into the cactus forrest.
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| The boys just not doing their part in setting up! |
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| Camp is set-up! |
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| Our shade in the desert. |
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| The road by our camp site. Lots of cacti out there! |
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| Feral Burros |
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| Feral Burros |
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| Little tarantula that found home in our shade. |
Once we got out onto the water we started doing some bassin! The bass bite was not as good as I was told it would be. The water was murky and I couldn't get a bite. Finally we threw in some worms on bobbers and started catching fish! No the ones I had hoped but fun none the less!
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| Catfish I caught! |
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| Turtle my wife caught! |
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| Crappie my wife caught! |
Finally that bite died down a bit and we started bassing! I caught some good fish. Nothing too big but I was still proud and having a blast!
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| Large Mouth Bassin! |
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| Pretty good size large mouth! |
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| Another good bass! |
I didn't catch as many as I probably could if I went back now but I didn't do too bad! I know Rogue had a blast!
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| Captain of the boat! |
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| Always so noble! |
I think his favorite part though was sunbathing with my wife.
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| Soaking up the sun one ray at a time |
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| Passed out! |
At night camping we love going back to the campground and playing cards, listening to music and drinking highballs. It's a great way to come off the water.
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| A little game night with the family |
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| They cheat, I know it. |
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| Too tired to hang |
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| Good luck! |
One night we were out catfishing until just after the sun went down. We decided to go in and play some cards. It had been a long day. We packed everything up and just as we were leaving the wind started to pick up. It was pitch black and we were a ways away from the dock. We had a spot light but it wasn't doing much. We still couldn't see where we were going. The wind was so bad the waves were crashing over the sides and into the boat. Then the rain started! As if the spray of the muddy lake in our faces wasn't enough. Were soaked, cold and pretty much lost. We couldn't find the dock for the life of us. It was so dark outside and the dock didn't have any lights on it. We drove for awhile and then starting getting into the sunken trees.
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| Not so good for a propeller. |
Thank God we didn't bust the prop. We would not have a bass boat to this day had we. We got turned back around and out of the trees from there we were able to get to the dock. I went to get the truck and my wife stayed to hold the boat that was crashing into the dock at every wave. After I backed the truck down I hopped out to help guide the boat onto the trailer which seemed impossible with the waves. We got it on enough to where I could pull out and my wife could hold it straight.
I ran back to the truck. The doors were all locked. Our little beagle had stepped on the lock button. I was so furious and ready to be done I was looking for a rock to crush the window. My wife saw this and quickly stopped me. I took over holding the boat and she ran over to the window and her pup saw her and came running over all excited like and stepped on the window and rolled it down. We finally got the boat out of the water and back to camp. The wind blew so hard all night I didn't think our camp would still be there when I woke up.
The next day the wind was still blowing pretty bad. I was going to be stubborn though. I drove 4 hours to get there and I was going to do some more bassin! We put the trailer in the water and my wife asked if I had remembered to put the plug in as she always does. I had not. I grabbed the plug and ran into the water to the back of the boat. I was in about waist deep. I reached in and dropped the plug. Between the wind, the murky water and me stomping around there was no finding that plug. We pulled the boat back out quickly and she told me that was a sign. We headed home as God did not want us on the water that weekend he got his wish.
All in all it was a good couple of trips there. My wife and I had fun. We always have adventures and at the end of it all we always laugh!
I wouldn't give those weekends back for nothing!
Thanks for reading!
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| More feral asses |
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| Feral Mules |
Monday, September 8, 2014
New Shirt Campaign!!!
We started a campaign to get funding for our next tournament! I am a United States Marine. My wife and I are stationed in Twentynine Palms California. We love adventuring. It is good for our relationship! We love to stay outdoors and experience new things and new places. Since we will be here for awhile we are going to try and get in on the tournament series in the fall. Since also we already bass fish every weekend possible why not try and make money doing so! We are joining up in the couples bass series here. However we cannot do so without help. I am not able to make it to every tournament financially. This has been my dream since I was a 6 year old boy on the side of a creek holding my first bass. So I started a campaign to ask for help. I have designed a logo and started a Twitter account @riverlakesbass to get my story out. My wife also posts everything I do to her facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/LaurenMiller2209 ) because she is awesome! I don't have a facebook but I do also have a YouTube channel which I will be posting all fishing videos up to! Video #1 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkzwWc4YzC0 ) wife also posts all pictures up to Pinterest.
Here is the link to our shirt campaign! Our shirts are bad@$$ if I do say so myself! It is the new up and coming brand! River Lakes Bassin!!!
Check out our campaign and get your shirt! Here are your options!!
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| Your Basic T (Front) |
.tiff) |
| Your Basic T (Back) |
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| Long Sleeved (Front) |
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| Long Sleeved (Back) |
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| Tank Top (Front) |
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| Tank Top (Back) |
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Real Tree Camo (Front)
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Sweatshirt (Front)
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| V-Neck T (Front) |
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| V-Neck T (Back) |
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| Women's T (Back) |
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| Women's T (Front) |
If you have any questions please feel free to email us @ caloenterprises@yahoo.com
THANKS FOR READING!!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Boat Restoration Is Almost Finished!
My wife has been doing a restoration on our old Tracker boat. She is almost finished. She stopped working on it to the point that it is fishable so we can spend the summer and fall fishing. She will finish the upgrading over the winter. It is very hot here in the Mohave desert and easier to work outside over the winter. Here are the updated photos though. We are so excited about the new look of our old boat!
She stripped everything out of it. Started with nothing but an empty hull. Sanded the sides. and started welding the insides together.
After all the welding was done my wife and her dad painted the boat and hung it up to dry...
Redneck Style!
The red and black paint job looks amazing! Then she brought it back to our garage and started the rebuilding!
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| The New Pirates Flag |
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| The Dash Is Coming Together |
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| Wiring & our New Throttle |
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| New Dash & New Steering Wheel |
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| The Carpet Is In! |
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| Our New Anchor Winch, Trolling Motor, Carpet & Bicycle Seat! |
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| My Wife Picked Out An Awesome New Seat For Me! |
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| Me Jumping In For Some Help. |
The trailer was awful and rusted. It looked terrible and the runners were so worn the nasty brown carpet was almost completely gone.
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| Gross. |
She got new wood and carpet for the runners. She got new rollers and a new jack. She sanded everything down and got the rust out for painting. She painted it red and it looks amazing.
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| New Paint! |
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| New Black Carpet! |
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| Final Product! |
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| Looks Amazing! |
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