phoenix bass masters, inc.phoenixbassmasters.com/.../pbm_newsletter_20200101.pdfsportsman’s...

Attention anglers: our next regular club meeting is February 3 (MONDAY NIGHT), beginning at 1800, at Sportsman’s Warehouse [19205 N 27th Avenue, Phoenix AZ – (623) 516-1400]. Guests and members are encouraged to attend. We have a bunch of new members and several prospective members who will see this, so I will cover a few important topics before turning to other matters. Members: to fish in our February 8 tournament at Martinez Lake: you must pay your 2020 membership dues ($50/person) to Secretary Terry Johnson (602.377-1694) or Treasurer Curtis DeLaGrange at or before the February 3 meeting. Further, if your 2020 dues have been paid, pay your tournament entry fee ($50/angler) to Tournament Director Dan Wolters (623.764.4438) at the meeting or, advise Wolters at or before the meeting of your intent pay your entry fee at the lake and fish the tournament so you can be in the draw. You must be in the draw to fish the tournament. If you enter the draw but subsequently withdraw from the tournament because of illness or other personal disaster, or worse yet you are a No Show (shame!) at the lake, you must contact Tournament Director Dan Wolters immediately (623.764.4438), so he can help your co-angler adjust. Regardless of the reason for your absence, your entry and side-pot fees for that tournament will be forfeited. And we will miss you. Please note a new process for the 5-lber and Goon Fish side-pots: Secretary Johnson is now handling both of these sidepots, to enable Tournament Director Dan Wolters to focus on other tournament issues. Johnson will be at each meeting by 1715-ish to collect your cash-only payments for these side-pots. If you do not pay at the meeting, you can pay these side-pot entries (again, cash only) to Secretary Johnson at the lake. Yet another process clarification: tournament winnings for all pots and side-pots are awarded at the next club meeting after the tournament. Boaters and non-boaters will receive separate checks for shared winnings and cash for the side-pots. If someone cannot be at the meeting to accept their winnings, their check(s) will be awarded at the next tournament or the next club meeting or (by request) will be mailed to them. Side-pot winnings are paid in cash and consequently will only be paid at meetings or tournaments. Unclaimed winnings will be added to the next edition of that side-pot. <<<<that last thing was a joke! Our next tournament is February 8, 2020, at Martinez Lake on the Lower Colorado River, about 25 mi north of Yuma. We will launch and weigh in at the Fisher’s Landing boat ramp. Our pre-launch meeting will be in the parking area across from the Fisher’s Landing Office, General Store and Café. Our weigh-in will be near or on the Fisher’s Landing boat docks. We encourage Martinez participants to camp in the Dry Camp area near the Fisher’s Landing Office, where you can pay the nominal $5/vehicle/night fee. The fee can also be paid in the General Store or the Café. A Martinez Lake Fact Sheet has already been disseminated to PBM members to provide logistical and other information but it does not include information on the raft of motels and hotels available in Yuma, if you swing that way.

Phoenix Bass Masters, Inc. (phoenixbassmasters.com)

([email protected])

(602.377.1694)

Monthly Newsletter

January 2020

Editor: Terry B. Johnson

mailto:[email protected]

Phoenix Bass Masters, Inc. January 2020 Newsletter of 13

FileName PBM Newsletter.202001

The Fact Sheet lists the times for the pre-launch meeting and the tournament start. If you do not have the Fact Sheet, please ask the Secretary for one ([email protected] or 602.377.1694). We are particularly hopeful that Jesse Olivas will make this meeting and tournament, because some of us don’t really believe that he exists. December 30 Club Meeting As they say, the King is dead; long live the King. Or, out with the Mike and in with the Mark. Our December 30 meeting was the first full session of incoming-President Mark Figueroa’s tenure. All things considered, it was informative, relatively painless and it ended on time. Again, this newsletter will stick to the “high points.” First, Tournament Director Dan Wolters provided a “working dinner” for the 3 (4?) folks who paid for it. Due to the apparent lack of interest and donations, Dan will no longer provide food and perhaps not even drinks at our meetings. So, be sure to eat before you come to the meetings or BYOB. Note: an In & Out Burger is right next door to this Sportsman’s. Meanwhile, kudos to Dan for a job well done. El Presidente kicked off the meeting with a welcome to new members, who were several! The club is growing and that is both planned and desired. We now have almost 40 paid members and we fished 15 boats at Bartlett on January 4. Both of those are near-term historical records and a far cry from the fewer than 10 paid members we had and the 3 boats we fished just 18 months ago. Our goals are 60-70 members and 15-25 boats at each tournament. Please help us get there! Buy a boat and help that way, too! Mark expressed his desire to have everyone handle payment of their membership dues, tournament fees, t-shirt and jersey purchases and side-pot entries at a special table BEFORE club meetings begin. Secretary Johnson, assisted by Treasurer DeLaGrange and Tournament Director Wolters, will facilitate that by manning the table 30 minutes or so before each meeting begins. Your cooperation is desired! Henceforth, Mark wants side-bar conversations during meetings to sleep with the fishes. They are distracting, especially in an open room that already has a lot of background noise. Plus, we have some old ears and soft-spoken participants, so even a little background noise often necessitates the clarion call to “Please Speak Louder.” Instead of side-barring, please focus on agenda topic discussion, so we can get more done in less time and with better understanding. If you need to side-bar with someone, please move out of hearing range and return asap BUT be advised the other attendees will not wait for you or recap for you when you return to the table. You can catch up after the meeting. Mr. Figueroa also summarized a few elements from a Board of Directors meeting on December 16:

• Mark’s intent is to use Board meetings to handle as many business matters as possible and to emphasize fishing-related topics in our club meetings. He would especially like to have interesting guest speakers at our meetings. Monty Siren and Terry Johnson committed to soliciting guest speakers. Suggestions are welcome!

• Mark reappointed all current Standing Committee Chairs: Tournaments - Dan Wolters, Opens - Curtis DeLaGrange, Marketing - Monty Siren, Social Media - Wayne Kukral. He deferred action on the vacant Conservation Chair, pending soliciting volunteers or nominations at the December 30 club meeting. [None were forthcoming in the December 30 club meeting, so we are limbo on this one.]

• On January 27, another Board meeting will focus on preparation for the 2020 Open and attendant social media and sponsorship issues. Mark will arrange a meeting location and notify the Board, plus anyone else he would like to attend to help get this started.

mailto:[email protected]



• Social media issues continue to be a topic of broad concern. Clayton Sikes has begun making beneficial, and much appreciated, site changes but it is unclear whether Committee Chair Wayne Kukral has engaged Corey Cottem to help increase our presence and create more user-friendly interfaces. President Figueroa committed to working with all 3 to get and keep the ball moving.

• Memberships: annual membership is currently $50/angler. Most of us thought that several years ago PBM had voted to cover Paul Bowen’s membership each year, in light of his generosity in handling our annual Open tournament through Monterey Bass Company. But, recently Wayne Kukral advised DeLaGrange and Wolters that he would not be paying 2020 dues, as he and Paul had at some time in the past been recognized as “life or charter or 20-year members,” and their membership dues were waived in perpetuity. However, nobody seems to know when that occurred or what the criteria were for such recognition and dues-waiver. Johnson expressed concern that the By-Laws do not recognize any special membership categories or dues-waivers. Moreover, in a small club dues-waivers have a disproportionate impact on the relatively few paying members. At the very least, this issue should have been surfaced and clarified during the 2019 By-Laws revision process. The Board agreed the issue should be taken to the general membership for discussion (beginning in January 2020) before action is taken to bring practice and the By-Laws into concert.

• Dead horses: WhatsApp as “Smack Talk Central” for the club, affiliating with another organization (e.g. BASS or FLW) and securing tax exempt status have all been placed in the Parking Lot indefinitely. No interest expressed in any of them recently and higher priorities exist right now.

• For further information on the December 16 Board meeting, please see the summary notes that were disseminated to all members on December 21.

Now, back to the rest of the December 30 meeting. Secretary Johnson reported that PBM document revision in the previous month was again routine, if quite voluminous and probably pestiferous, with ever more cyberforests devastated to produce yet another glut of meaningful emails and attached documents. Members present again begged Johnson to keep the messages coming, because you just can’t have an empty in-box or enough to read. Along those lines, Johnson has again (January 7) disseminated the 2020-2021 Tournament Rules to all members. In a big step forward, Clayton Sikes (assisted by or assisting Cory Cottem and/or Wayne Kukral?) has posted them and a host of other material (e.g. By-Laws, newsletters, Superstition Mountains treasure map) on our website (phoenixbassmasters.com) as linked PDF files. Marvelous – thx, guys! Treasurer Curtis DeLaGrange provided a summary of the club’s finances (copies available from Curtis). Suffice to say, the 2020 Operating Budget is set and we are in good shape. Since the older laptop that Paul Bowen generously donated to the club (thx, Paul!) would not run Windows 10 at faster-than-glacial speeds, Curtis sale-shopped and purchased a new computer for Tournament Director Wolters. So, our February tournament, including the draw pairings and our results, will be run with our new commercial software. On other matters, purchase of weigh-in equipment and tournament jerseys has also been approved. Our new t-shirts are already available to new members at no cost (1 shirt/member) and to old geezers at $20/shirt. Please see Dan Wolters to get yours (sizes up thru XXL). Post-meeting update: Marketing Chair Monty Siren showed us a model of the logoed jersey members can buy from our newest sponsor, Voodoo Active Wear (http://voodooactivewear.com/; great job, Monty!). Orders are being placed and some of us even have our first jerseys. The basic jersey is $65 plus shipping and the club will reimburse each member $25 for purchase of 1 (one) jersey. Voodoo has already expanded the PBM-logoed merchandise line and Monty and Terry are working with him to add even more! It would be great for our sponsors and the public to see every club member in a PBM jersey at Martinez!

http://voodooactivewear.com/



[Note: jersey costs generated a lot of discussion at the meeting regarding how much the club would buy the cost down. We had set a 50:50 member buy-down in earlier discussions but that was when cost was projected at $50 for the basic jersey. Forty jerseys at a buy-down of $25 each would be $1000, whether by Abacus or New Math, and that would be a chunk for a small, low-budget club! So, we settled at a $25 buy-down for your first jersey, regardless of version purchased. [Just in case the question comes up, the club will NOT give you $25 if you opt not to buy any jersey. LOL!] Secretary Johnson reminded all present that 2020 membership dues were supposed to be paid before or at the November meeting. Johnson has already dropped a couple of guys who have not responded to any of the dues messages; as of this writing, the number of unpaid membership dues is down to 6! Johnson anticipates making at least a few more drops and possibly a few before the end of January, leaving us with a core of 35-40 members. Again, we all need to focus on recruiting boaters, so all of our nonboaters can fish every event. Another post-meeting update: Tournament Director Wolters noted that we did not have a December tmx, so he awarded checks for the November event at Lake Havasu (see below) and then focused on the 2020 schedule. He has made 1 (one) change: due to logistical problems (limited to no campsite availability), we will NOT fish Lake Havasu on March 7. Instead, on March 14 we will fish Canyon, which sadly was not on our 2020 schedule. The change to Canyon on March 14 provides us with a great opportunity to help young anglers. Now, members could meet 1 of their required 2 annual civic service obligations by assisting CAST for Kids on March 7, at the Lake Pleasant 10-Lane Ramp. In our meeting, Scott Petersen made a sincere, impassioned plea for us to help with CAST for Kids and make a bunch of kids’ dreams come true. PBM members used to be regulars at their event and some still are. Hopefully, we can avoid future conflicts with CAST for Kids, but that will require them scheduling their event before we set our schedule. Wolters noted that all launch ramps are identified on the 2020 Tournament Schedule. This will allow members to better identify where they will camp. Wolters then conducted the draw for the February 8 tmx at Martinez. When all the wrinkles were worked out, we ended up with 15 boats and 30 anglers. This is good! Dan will reach out to Nannette and Teke Ballesteros to see if they can handle our weigh-in at the rest of our 2020 tournaments. They helped with Havasu last year and that went well. This would let Dan and El Presidente focus on weighing-in their own dinks. Stef Ballesteros too, if he ever catches another fish. January 27 Board Meeting As noted above, the Board will meet on January 27 to kick-start preparation for the August 2020 PBM Open in cooperation with Monterey Bass Company and its CEO Paul Bowen (Founding Member, PBM). The date is not yet firm, due to permit issues, but it will be on Bartlett Lake on a Saturday and will probably run from 1800 to 0100, with an extensive raffle and checks awarded after the weigh in. For new members, the Open is a team tournament ($200/Team, including Big Fish). It is our primary fundraising event for the year. Open revenues buy down annual membership costs by $20 to $30, so it behooves us to get great sponsorships and a full permit limit of 60 boats. All PBM members are required to work the Open, so be prepared to volunteer for tasks when you are asked. If your assigned tasks allow, you can fish the Open and we hope you win!



Member Recognition We enjoyed a few minutes of appreciation for our 2019 award winners. Nothing to swell bloated egos further, but a few nice rounds of applause and a promise of plaques to come. As noted before, our Boater Angler of the Year is 2009-2019 Oldie Wayne Kukral. Nonboater of the Year is 2019-Newbie Randy Bean. Big Fish of the Year (9.85 lb at Canyon in September!) is Fireman Dan Wolters. Member of the Year is Viejo Terry Johnson. Our FUBAR of the Year “winner” is also Terry Johnson, for his unbelievable demonstration in September of how to back your boat off the trailer while your Minn Kota Fortrex 112 is deployed and destroy the TM. Terry again apologizes to Stef Ballesteros for Stef’s man-bun prowess not taking home the award. Classifieds Note: In case you or someone you know is interested, while Terry Johnson was having his 18 month old Fortrex 112 repaired (rebuilt!) at Martin Marine (the fabulous Ernie!), he bought a new Ultrex 112 and a friend or two installed it for him. Now he is looking to sell the Fortrex at a reasonable cost, preferably to a member. February 3 Club Meeting The meeting will convene promptly at 1800 (6 pm) at Sportsman’s Warehouse in NW Phoenix, as noted above. We look forward to YOUR participation in discussing a variety of topics, including:

• President’s welcome, introductions and thoughts

• President’s report on the January 27 Board of Directors Meeting

• Moment of Silence for members who did not renew

• Presidential appointment of a Conservation Chair

• Reports from Board Members and Committee Chairs

• 2020 membership dues (bring your $50 dues and pay the man!)

• 2020 member obligations for PBM events (e.g. 2020 PBM/MBC Open, CAST for Kids, lake cleanup)

• 2020 Sponsor development

• Interest in submitting a PBM grant proposal to AGFD in 2020 to support PBM activities

• 2020 Tournament Schedule

• Checks and side-pot monies for winners at January 4 tournament on Bartlett Lake

• Draw for next tournament, February 8 on Martinez Lake; and other event-related business

• Other Business and “Pass the Gavel Concerns”

The January 4 Bartlett Lake Tournament Bartlett Lake was once again host to another great PBM tournament – our biggest in memory, with 15 boats and 30 anglers! The weather was good, compared to that of Kamchatka, although most if not all desert pumpkins aboard were just a little bit frosty in the early morning. There was a light breeze for most of the day, enough to shift mud lines and move lake litter from the recent rains. Air temps ranged from the low 40s early to the low 60s late. Water temps were in the low 50s and the water was mostly stained (dirty) to clearing. As for the fish, they were elusive, as they have been on Bartlett for a couple of months. Only 30 bass were weighed in and 3 boats skunked. It was another tough winter day in Paradise but better than ice fishing. Even so, new guys Sean Young/John Bartels weighed in 4 alive for a winning Total Weight of 10.77 lb ($648) with a 1st Place Big Fish of 5.57 lb ($150). Sean and John were not in the 5-lber Side-pot, though (so sad – not! Lol!), so it rolled over to February. Jim Sandy/Vince Borrego weighed in 5 alive (the only 5-fish limit) for 2nd place TW with 7.34 lb ($324) and they had a GIANT Goon Fish for



another $110! Thanks to a digital weigh-in scale, Tournament Director Wolters was able to certify their goon as a 0.02 lb behemoth! Landing in 3rd place for the day were Scott Brown/Chris Calabrese, with 4 alive for a TW of 7.22 lb. As with most of our tournaments at Bartlett, Pleasant, Saguaro and Canyon, most of us did not camp overnight for this event. Even so, the PBM banners proudly flew high at the base station that Mark Figueroa and Randy Bean set up in the corner of the Jojoba parking lot. Registration, our pre-launch meeting, the weigh-in and the post-tournament “Wouldda—Couldda—Shouldda” smackdown took place there. No mercy was shown. It was wonderful to see almost everyone stick around for it and become more familiar with each other. As noted above, we had a nice turnout of 15 boats with 15 boaters and 15 nonboaters. The teams (Boater/Nonboater), their weights and their places in the results were:

Place

Boater/Nonboater

Tot # Bass

Tot # Alive

Penalty Weight

Big Fish Weight

Total Weight

Goon Fish

1 Sean Young/John Bartels 4 4 0 5.57 10.77 0

2 Jim Sandy/Vince Borrego 5 5 0 2.10 7.34 0.02

3 Scott Brown/Chris Calabrese 4 4 0 2.89 7.22 0

4 Scott Peterson/Cory Cottew 4 4 0 2.13 7.21 0

5 Randy Bean/Mark Figueroa 2 2 0 2.84 3.98 0

6 Wayne Kukral/Erick Neely 2 2 0 *1.78 3.89 0

7 Terry Johnson/Dan Wolters 2 2 0 1.93 3.73 0

8 Kirk McKinney/Daniel J Wolters 2 2 0 0 3.10 0

9 James Gammelgaard/Craig Rafferty 2 2 0 1.98 3.56 0

10 Rod Rasmusson/Jack Calabrese 1 1 0 2.48 2.48 0

11 Chris Borgers/Tom Atherton 1 1 0 1.98 1.98 0

12 Rick Garrison/Cody Garrison 1 1 0 1.69 1.69 0

13 Anthony Ybarra/Keith Stierman 0 0 0 0 0 0

14 Clayton Sikes/Estefan Ballesteros 0 0 0 0 0 0

15 Curtis DeLaGrange/Freddie Edwards 0 0 0 0 0 0

So, by angler misfortune the 5-lber pot rolled over, again. But, it is definitely going to fall at Martinez Lake in February. Remember, guys, you can’t win if you don’t pay! Right, Sean? And (for the opposite reason) ditto that for Goon Fish! Right, Vince? The Winning Ways Note: The Editor might have made up a few of the accounts below. Hopefully, you can tell which ones are fantasy. Seriously, JMHO but too many participating anglers provided no account this time and that seems both lamentable and inconsistent with our stated purposes of being a fun and educational group of anglers. Everyone should tell us their story, even those who do poorly. You don’t have to be as detailed as the already-legendary Vince “Hemingway” Borrego ( ) but (again, JMHO) when you walk away with money, is there really a valid excuse for not providing a thorough account of your “winning ways?” I know that everyone is busy (even us retired folks) but everyone benefits when we share the secrets of our successes, or failures. Tough love.



Terry Johnson and Dan Wolters

Terry: To paraphrase Neil Young, “We started out slow and then fizzled out altogether.” Actually, we started out on the south side on the main lake as planned and things went well till the wheels fell off less about an hour later. Rocket Rod and Jack in Boat #1 (#1 AGAIN!!) had the north side of my desired main-lake starting spot nailed down by the time we arrived, so we went to the south side. Years ago, my first MBC Pro-Am tournament win came at that spot, fishing jigs and small crankbaits from Dean Kreuzer’s backseat. What an angler and person Dean is! Today, though, all we could scrape together were 4 bites and 1 fish for me and 1 bite and 1 fish for Dan. First, we watched a nice 3-3.5 lb bass throw my crawdad Megabass S-Crank 1.5 back at me as it came way out of the water, next to a stick up along a shallow rocky bank. The bite was soft; just a mushy load-up. I knew it was a wimpy hookset so, while Dan tried to master the net that I had failed to extend, I just gently held on until the bass threw it back at me. My next bite, on a ½ oz brown/purple jig, was also soft, truly mushier than a Nicholas Spark novel; just a gentle inhale and immediate blow out and my lightning like reflexes were not up to the task. Then I had another one just like it, on the same jig. Both of these were also along shallow rocky banks in that cove, so we worked it a little more. Finally, I landed a fat 1.93 lber on that same jig. All of that action was in our first 45 minutes to an hour. It seemed like an omen of good things to come. Wrong! We stubbornly worked that area till almost Noon. I threw medium cranks (running 3-15 ft), jigs, underspins and jerkbaits and Dan thrashed water with small jigs, small cranks, dropshots, etc. He did even not have a bite until after just 1400 (oh, my gosh, the whining I heard!), when he did a manly hookset on our second and last fish of the tournament. It was slightly longer than my bass but it weighed MUCH less. We strained a lot of water today, and threw everything up to and including the kitchen sink, but we just could not solve the Bartlett winter puzzle. Regardless, as always it was a pleasure to fish with Fireman Dan and watch his prowess at dancing around my piles of lures and rod/reel piles. Dan: I gotta get myself a better boater.

James Gammelgaard and Craig Rafferty

Craig: I had a great time at my first PBM tournament! I got paired up with James and it was also his first PBM tournament. It was an experience I will not soon forget!. As a life-long valley resident, this was my first time fishing Bartlett, so I was not for sure what to expect. James pre-fished the lake and had some places in mind where he had caught fish. James pulled in the first keeper about 1000 on a red dropshot worm. I caught my fish shortly after on the same point, with a red Ned rig creature bait; it was about a ¼ inch shy of being a keeper. James caught another keeper on a red jig on a different point. We started throwing anything red at the major lake points and caught another small fish. It was a great day and I had an absolute blast! I cannot wait until the next one! Tight lines!

Scott Brown and Chris Calabrese

Scott: Prior to the tournament i had gone out the weekend before to pre-fish a little as I couldn't get my normal Friday off before the tournament. I have been fishing Bartlett for 25 plus years and had only been skunked 1 other time than this pre-fish. Although bait fish were there they just were not chasing. I am power fisherman I throw cranks a lot. Bartlett is known for cranks. I couldn't get bite. Tournament day, I had no plan other than to do what I always do and start where I always do. Cranks, jigs, Senko and dropshot, all in craw and shad patterns, got me nothing. Chris was trying different lures: cranks, chatterbaits, etc. I don’t like fishing slow, but I had what I call the Turd rig (the Ned rig) on. I threw it out, let it sit, felt the mush and set the hook – oh, my! It was a 12.5 incher – too small! So much for watermelon/red flake. I changed to a old trusty Carolina rig with a



brush hog but nothing. Chris threw a tube and got a keeper. Well, after only those 2 bites we moved on to couple of back up spots. Chris managed another keeper on a tube and right after that I got a keeper on a Carolina rig. Things were looking up! Nope, we fished more but no success. We left and went to our last spot but someone was on it. So, we went a little farther but again had no luck. We only had 4 bites all day with 3 keepers, but in the last 30 minutes I noticed the spot I had wanted earlier was open. We went back to it and fished a little. I put a watermelon/red dropshot on and caught our 2.89 big fish in the last 15 minutes! So, we had 4 in the livewell. I as feeling better but I really wanted to get a 5th fish. But, we had good day; we fished clean, didn't lose a fish! That was positive but we didn't miss any bites cause there weren’t any to miss! Congrats to the 5.5 lb big fish guys and their win. I felt sure we had it with our big fish but so it goes. I enjoyed fishing with Chris. It’s always nice to fish with someone different. I do not use tubes – I don’t think I have but one old bag in the boat and I have never used it. Nice to see it does work here and I will have to add it to my arsenal.

Jim Sandy and Vince Borrego:

Vince: Here's my tournament report for the event fishing with Jim Sandy. I file one of these religiously every time I go fishing so that I can search for patterns with previous trips. Enjoy.

1/4/2020 Phoenix Bass Masters Tournament Report Lake: Bartlett Water Temp: 52(AM) - 54(PM) Water Clarity: Muddy (north) stained (south) Moonrise: 1:19PM Moon Illumination: 68.1% Boats: 15, 3 spots paid out Event Type: Draw, Team tournament combined weight, 13" min 5 fish limit Weight: 7.34 for 5 fish, 0.2lb goon fish Finish: 2nd Place overall, goon fish option winner Productive Fishing Depth: 15'-25' Jim Sandy and I fished together out of his boat for this tournament, under less than ideal conditions leading into the tournament. Due to the recent rains and cold temps, the two weeks prior the northern 1/3 of the lake was muddy and the lake rose 17' from Dec 1 till Jan 4th. The weeks leading up to the tournament, the fishing was pretty good for a crankbait, spinnerbait, dropshot, Texas rig and jig bite with a small pocket of activity the first hour where a few active fish would be somewhat shallow (0-12 ft), move back down to the 15-25 ft range during "the grind" and then start to come a bit shallower in the afternoon as temps warmed when it became uncomfortable with your cold weather gear. The storm between Christmas and New Years leading up to the event that brought rain and snow to the Cave Creek area shut down that bite and made the conditions really tough. Both Jim and I were on the same bite in pre-fish and agreed on a game plan by easily eliminating sections of the lake. During the first active period during the morning it was apparent the reaction bite in our area was dead and the fish really wanted slow moving baits directly on the bottom even though smaller fish and bluegills were still feeding on shad in that 0-12' zone. After working through our reaction baits early without a bite Jim opted to slow down fishing a jig and I picked up the dropshot but fished it like a jig creeping along the bottom slowly polishing the rocks. As a co-angler, you want to always make sure you're not throwing the same bait as your boater so that you give the bass another look. As much as I wanted to fish a jig or hula grub, it was my part for the team to go the ultra finesse route and fill the limit before picking up the jig.



1st fish in the boat was our goon fish (a tiny 0.02 lb bluegill) on a 4" morning dawn Roboworm drowned in garlic bang (Vince). 2nd fish was a 4 lb catfish Jim caught on a jig shortly after which he threw back as he wasn't in the goon fish pot. Then Jim caught our big fish on a jig, polishing rocks slowly in that 15-25 ft range. It was a complete mush bite, with a few missed fish here and there due to the mush bite. For the next several hours during "the grind" period when fishing is generally tough we fished slow, fishing main lake and secondary points in the 15-25 ft range with the jig and dropshot. Jim catches a keeper fish and a couple of short fish on the jig during the grind as I caught 3 short fish on the morning dawn dropshot. As soon as I changed worm colors to a 4" straight tail Roboworm in desert craw I caught a 14" bass on the first drop (Bingo the fish were on a craw only bite that day). Jim decides to take a break from the front to rest his back and lets me take over the trolling motor for a little bit. If you've seen his boat, he has a nice setup with a 112 lb thrust Ultrex with Spot Lock, which I put to good use video game fishing for bass. As we would pass over a catchable fish, I would hit the Spot Lock, drop the bait on the fish's head and hold the bait still for upwards of 2-3 minutes to get the fish to bite. Unfortunately, those 3 video game fish end up being short as we kept grinding away. 1 pm rolls around and we start to get into the warmer part of the day when the fish get a little more active (about the time when we start peeling clothes). We only have 3 fish in the livewell plus the goon fish and make a move to where Jim caught his 4 lb fish on a jig during practice. Jim gets a few more bites on this spot and eventually lands our 4th fish in the 10-15 ft zone on the jig which is our smallest fish just shy of 13.5." Shortly after I catch our 5th fish on the desert craw dropshot in the same area – a thin 13" squeaker that we hope we can cull out with an hour left in the tournament. The rest of the day we alternated between the shallow 0-12' range with no luck, only a few short strikes from either small bass or bluegill and nothing from the 15-25' range even though we're marking lots of activity. Just before we headed to the ramp at 3PM we watched a boat nearby pre-fishing for the TBF tournament on Sunday land a keeper fish deep cranking in 12-15' in the same area we started the tournament, but out of time we head back to weigh in. We ended up weighing the only limit of bass during the tournament with 5 fish for 7.34 lbs taking 2nd place. Our big fish was 2.10 and the goon fish I weighed was the only one of the tournament, with 0.02 lb good for $110. Dropshot fishing tip: Short leader, 6 lb fluorocarbon, small baits with no action, 3/8 oz weight and lots of garlic scent. Fish the dropshot like a jig, fan casting out with few shakes as slow as you possibly can feeling bottom structure for rocks. Switch between shad colored, craw colored and bluegill colors until the bass tell you what they want. This day the keeper bass only wanted craw colors and if the leader was more than 3" long they would not bite the bait. The bait had to be in their face to make them eat with no rod movement. Jig fishing tip: Bartlett is the best lake in Arizona to learn how to fish jigs 365 days per year. Fish slow slow slow, lots of garlic scent and polish the rocks and stick with it the entire day. The bite was extremely subtle and often times felt like you were hung up or dead weight. Boat rigging tip: Spot Lock is key for slow tournaments like this. Most of the day we used Spot Lock to hold steady on structure as we worked baits extremely slow. This played a huge factor for us during the tournament. Jim: Yeah, what he said. [TBJ Note: I wrote that before Jim submitted his real account, which follows.]. I had the pleasure to fish with new member Vince Borrego. Vince sent in a very informative write up to Terry, so I will just add a few words. I've been a member of Phoenix Bass



Masters since 2002. In my first few years, the club would put on 12 to 20 boats per tourney. It the mid 2000s, those numbers started to diminish, for whatever the reason, the economy or other. We were down to 5 boats or so. It was so awesome to see 15 boats at the last tourney. I want personally thank the Board for all their hard work and thank you to the new members. Vince is a great guy and pleasure to fish with. His write-up is awesome and we all could learn from this.

My tip for this tournament: In very tough fishing conditions, if you think you are fishing slow, slow down some more. Also, when dragging a jig or dropshot over rocks, if something feels different set the hook. Hook sets are free. You can ask Vince; I swung my rod numerous times with nothing there, LOL!

Rick Garrison and Cody Garrison

Rick: I caught 1 fish on a crankbait at 10:30 in the morning. Boat would not start and run, so we used the trolling motor to cross the lake straight across from the launch. Sorry, but wasn't a good day. LOL! Hope to have a better day on the next tournament.

Cody: I had the net ready all day. Ready for Pop to buy a Vexus. Randy Bean and Mark Figueroa

Randy: Me and Fig caught two fish. Froze my ass off. Caught our fish on jigs. 10-15 feet straight across from the ramp. I spooned a 5+ pound flat head on my first drop. Didn't get into the goon fish pot.

Mark: Pedro 2020! A Bartlett Lake Potpourri of Photographs All photos by Wayne Kukral. Please be sure to give him a hand!

Tournament Director Dan Wolters at the weigh-in. Dan Wolters asking PBM President Mark Figueroa if 2019 Nonboater of the Year Randy Bean holding up is absolutely sure that his employer, Go Daddy!, won’t the PBM EZE-Up. have Danica Patrick out here today. Mark was.



Ok, guys, someone has to weigh in their fish first! Newbie Vince Borrego gets the line moving. Gee,

I wonder why Vince and his boater Jim Sandy were in a hurry?

Oh, that’s why! Five alive, the only limit of the day. Are Newbie Chris Borgers and his solo fatty. these the same 5 Jim Sandy, ALWAYS weighs in? Nice cull tag, Chris.

Scott Brown and Chris Calabrese with 4 solid fish. 2019 Nonboater AOY Randy Bean with the 2 nice fish DD26 rods score again! The 2.89 lber was good he and President/World Class President and Netboy for 2nd big fish. Nice to see Scott smile. Mark Figueroa landed. The 2.84 lber was 3rd big fish.



Terry Johnson and the invisible Dan Erick Neely tells Dan Wolters, “Yes, of course 2019 Wolters weigh in 2 clone grandotes. Boater of the Year Wayne Kukral and I tagged our big

fish. We ain’t no beginners!” [Sure, Eric.]

Dan Wolters: “Hey, Erick! You boneheads Erick Neely tells Wayne Kukral: “Next time, bud, tagged your smaller fish. No, Erick, big fish let’s use a %$#!@! digital scale, not a Golden do-over weights are NOT allowed!” Rule, to “weigh” our big fish!! MINE was way, way

bigger!”

Bonus Coverage Dan Wolters’ 2019 PBM BFOY,

and his new personal best by 2.5 lb. A nice, fat 9.85 lb Canyon Lake September Special. Taken on a dropshot rig with 6 lb test Yozuri hybrid line. Netted most magnificently by boater Terry Johnson. Fabulous fish, Dan!

Very happy to $ee you bring it in.



Vince Borrego shows off his 0.02 lb bluegill that took How did we NOT get a photo of the 4 bass for 1st place in the Goon Fish Side-pot, for a cool $110. 10.77 lb with a 5.57 lb kicker for 1st place Total Note: 0.02 lb is 0.032 oz, a little heavier than a big Weight and Big Fish that newbies Sean Young hummingbird (the bird, not the graph). [Vince: your and John Bartels caught?! Do fish really count notes said 0.2 lb but Weighmaster Wolters said his if there is no photographic evidence? 0.02 lb scale weight is official. Still, a $110 fish!]

A Word FOR Our Sponsors We all have lots of options for where we buy fishing tackle but at the top of our lists should be our wonderful PBM Sponsors, which include, in alphabetical order: 5150 Plastics; A&M Graphics; BBS Lures; Big 5; Big Fish Bullies; Cross Bone Outfitters; Crossed Industries; DD26 Fishing; ES Advisement, LLC; Home Depot; Monterey Bass Company;

Native Grill and Wings; OHSO Brewery; Robo Junkie, LLC,

Boat Detail; Sportsman’s Warehouse; The Anglers Authority; and Voodoo Active Wear. Ok, maybe you can’t buy tackle or angler wear from a few of these Sponsors but you can still get great deals on other things that anglers use. Heck, if you use DD26 Fishing tackle, you might catch big fish like that nice Havasu smallie that Scott Brown caught!

In Closing Help us make 2020 a great year for Phoenix Bass Masters! Join the club and bring a friend or two with you. Boaters, nonboaters and guests are welcome BUT every boat in our tournaments MUST have at least 1 club member aboard. Adults (16 and older) may only guest fish in 1 tournament per tournament year.

For more information on Phoenix Bass Masters go to www.phoenixbassmasters.com Our public Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/phoenixbassmasters/

For information on Phoenix Junior Bassmasters go to https://www.phxjuniorbassmasters.com/

Remember, Bass Fishing Clubs are all about Youth, Conservation and Tournaments

AMERICA IS THE LAND OF THE FREE ------ BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE Please SUPPORT the TROOPS and FIRST RESPONDERS who protect us all

This space vacant in memory of

the 4 beautiful bass that

Sean Young and John Bartels

supposedly caught. LOL!

http://www.phoenixbassmasters.com/

https://www.facebook.com/phoenixbassmasters/

https://www.phxjuniorbassmasters.com/

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