Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

smokin_reels
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Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:11 am

Its been a while since i contributed, largely due to having caught the Mulloway fishing bug ( no actual mulloway yet, hopefully getting closer).
:rofl:

I travelled to the mountains in Northern California early this June, that's where my Mrs, Hails from and having decided to get hitched, we've settled on getting married in India and America so that are rather large families can make it to what ever is more geographically suitable.

I was based out of a town called Placerville ,CA . About 90 min from Lake Tahoe and 3 Hours from San Fransisco
Its absolutely Gorgeous out there, touching distance to the snowline and every piece of water is crystal clear, snow fed.
There are some spectacular lakes and dams that these rivers feed into, full of trout and other salmonids in the higher reaches of the range and bass in the lower ranges.

Having prior knowledge of my travel dates, I decided to on a whim try and get in touch with someone over the interwebs , looking for advice on how to catch a bass , landbased. Figured If I was going to be marrying an American, It would be rude to have not a caught a bass first right?
A few enquires on the Hobie Kayak Fishing FB page had me talking with some guys who fish tournaments for Bass fairly regularly out of their Kayaks and one of them offered to take me out for half a day. To make things even sweeter, the only day he was free was my Birthday!


I arrived in the States on June 1st and had a few days prior to the upcoming nuptials which had me exploring the wilderness with my brother in law for a bit. He'd never fished before , but after spending a few days with me, he ended up getting some fishing gear and an annual license. :a_goodjob:
Lee.jpg
Lee trying his hand at catching some fish
duo.jpg
Duo Jerkbait

I was absolutely blown away by the scenery! Every turn I took was like walking into a Windows Screensaver in real life.

The morning prior to us getting married, my best man and I took an early morning stroll around a lake.
Trusty 2-4 Shimano Travel Raider + Stradic 2500 , handful of lures .

I had some Trout enthusiastically have a go at a Bent minnow a few evenings before and I started with that.
I had some Bass chase the lure out from the snags. Micro Bass. I switched to a size 0 Mepps Black Fury (Meppstas Would approve) .
Started catching them after that, Largemouth Bass and Spotted bass . 2 New species for me!
lmb.jpg
First Largemouth Bass
The wedding got over, smoothly. Everyone had a grand old time and it was great to see 2 families from different continents, heritage and race amalgamate.

Finally, it was my birthday! My wife(still getting used to saying that) dropped me off to the meetup spot and promised to pick me up later.

Alden, was an absolute gem. Had a Spare 2012 Outback that he loaned me for the day and let me use an assortment of baitcasters, spin reels.
We were fishing a place called Lake Comanche. Typical Blue water lake, with a maximum depth of over a 100m.
hobie.jpg
Heading out
We were targetting largemouth and spotted bass, fishing open water drop offs between 8-15m , dropshotting plastic worms and carolina rigged creature baits.


Over 25 fish were caught that day, a mix of both species. I have told Alden, that if he ever wants to fish in Melbourne, hes welcome to come. Honestly couldn't have met a nicer bloke. International fishing expeditions are hard, and this sort of red carpet treatment was extremely generous.
Indebted for life.
alden.jpg
Alden, the Yank who took me out for a day
kayak solo.jpg
Happy Me!
hobiesunset.jpg
Hobie Sunset
hobie bass spotted.jpg
Spotted Bass
coors.jpg
Beer
bluegill.jpg
Blue Gill and Bream Cranks



I was sitting at the servo waiting to be picked up around 10:30 at night, tired, covered in slime.
I paused, and took a picture of the last bite of a Sandwhich that i was eating, just to remember that moment and was thankful for a a truly blessed birthday.

I honestly couldnt have been a happier man.
:super:
:cheers:
:water:

Looking forward to wedding No 2, There will be some Mahseer in that Wedding report.
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

smokin_reels
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:18 am

More pictures!
wedding venue1.jpg
Wedding venue
Wedding venue.jpg
Wedding venue
trail.jpg
Leafy Trail Hikes
Stradic.jpg
Trusty Travel gear
spotted bass.jpg
First spotted bass
Sly Park Lake.jpg
Gorgeous lakes
sandwhich.jpg
Last bite for the day
rings.jpg
She's a keeper
Redshack trail.jpg
Windows Wallpaper

Hope you liked that!
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

purple5ive
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by purple5ive » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:24 am

Congrats on the wedding Mate, love that contrast between the two hands in the pic.
And don’t worry about getting used to the Wife Terminology, I had the same problem, it will eventually just fall in place.
I had to do the same with the weddings, have fun doing it all over again!!!
And well done on the bass too
cheers

Lightningx
Bluefin
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:26 am

Top report with some great pics mate!!!
Congratulations on the wedding and all the best for the future ahead :thumbsup:

Nude up
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by Nude up » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:26 am

Congratulations on the wedding, great read and photos I find Americans once you get out of the major cities the friendliest people oh and another thing Coors is not beer it’s flavoured water

smokin_reels
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:29 am

Nude up wrote:Congratulations on the wedding, great read and photos I find Americans once you get out of the major cities the friendliest people oh and another thing Coors is not beer it’s flavoured water

hahaha , when in Rome :cheers:
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

smokin_reels
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:33 am

purple5ive wrote:Congrats on the wedding Mate, love that contrast between the two hands in the pic.
And don’t worry about getting used to the Wife Terminology, I had the same problem, it will eventually just fall in place.
I had to do the same with the weddings, have fun doing it all over again!!!
And well done on the bass too
cheers

Thanks buddy. Its actually not that bad , thankfully my boss let me have 2 months of paid leave this year so I can travel at will and not have to worry about job security. Mahseer gonna be a blast
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

smokin_reels
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by smokin_reels » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:33 am

Lightningx wrote:Top report with some great pics mate!!!
Congratulations on the wedding and all the best for the future ahead :thumbsup:

Thank you! :thumbsup:
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

Nude up
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by Nude up » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:42 am

I thought mahseer rang a bell it’s a fish grows pretty big too. I don’t think you’re travel rod will cut it for them

Lightningx
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Re: Birthday Bass Bash and a Wedding

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:45 am

I heard those masheer go very very hard and often caught in fast running water.

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