Kickboats, Float Tubes, and Belly Boats by Definition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A float tube, also known as a belly boat or kick boat, is a flotation device which anglers use to fish from. They were originally doughnut-shaped boats with an underwater seat in the "hole", but modern designs include a V-shape with pontoons on either side and the seat raised above the water allowing the legs of the angler to be the only part of his body to be submerged. Float tubes are used for many aspects of fishing, such as flyfishing for trout or lure fishing for bass, and enable the angler to fish areas otherwise not fishable from the bank.

Float tubes are either "U" or "V"-shaped, or circular. A standard float tube consists of an inflated bladder inside a sewn cover providing the seat, reserve air compartments, and tackle storage pockets. Many float tube anglers customize their crafts with rod holders, lights, and electronic fish finders.

The angler generally wears stocking foot chest waders and scuba diving flippers, so his legs remain dry. Seated in the float tube, he paddles across the water with a gentle movement of the flippers, then remains still over the chosen fishing ground. An alternative to diving flippers is the "paddle-pusher", or "duck fins." These fins strap onto the angler's feet and have paddles situated on the outsides of the ankles. The paddles fold back when the leg moves forward and open when the leg moves back, allowing anglers to move forward in a somewhat less efficient but more natural walking-type motion.

The competitive side of float tubing for bass is growing in the US with the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club which was the first of its kind and is by far the largest in the world and in South Africa with The Bass Challenge which offers a tournament trail called the Kickboat Bass Challenge for bass anglers who compete from float tubes.

Extreme Belly Boater - Gunther of Belgium!

A friend of the Scbbbc from Belgium. Gunther is what I would call a extreme belly boater. Gunther fishes from his U-Tube belly boat for fish bigger then his boat as you can see in some of his photos. He fishes lakes and rivers around the Netherlands. You can follow his blog here! cant wait to see what he brings up from the depths next!

Kickboat Bass Challenge 2011 Series Leg 3 - Murray Park South Africa

Congratulations to the top 3 winners at Murray Park, South Africa. 29 anglers showed up for what looks like a great day on the water

1st  Tristan Wood 5.01 pounds
2nd  Brian Richards 4.9 pounds
3rd Danny Creigh-Smith 7.74 pounds

Complete Results Here!

From Kickboater to Bassmaster Elite - Chris Zaldain!

California's Chris Zaldain best pro of 2011 in Central Open
5 qualify for 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series

October 22, 2011

BRANSON, Mo. - Chris Zaldain of San Jose, Calif., led the list of five anglers who qualified Saturday to move up in 2012 into the top tier of competition, the Bassmaster Elite Series, through the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open circuit.

With 804 points over the circuit's three events of 2011, Zaldain wrapped up the season as the top angler.

The other Elite qualifiers were James Niggemeyer of Van, Texas, second with 743 points; Jared Miller of Norman, Okla., third with 742 points; Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas, fourth with 738; and Kevin Ledoux of Choctaw, Okla., fifth with 734.

Casey Scanlon of Lenexa, Kan., finished short of the top five, with 722 points. As the sixth-place angler, he would be the first one tapped for the 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series if any of the top five decline the invitation.

Zaldain, 27, said he won't be able to help out Scanlon on that score.

"I'll definitely fish the Elites," he said. "That's why I joined the Opens this year."

The 27-year-old competed this season after a six-year hiatus since the 2005 Western Opens. He wasn't on hand at Saturday's final Central Open weigh-in in Branson, Mo., to hear the news in person. Because he didn't make the Saturday cut, he used the time to scout nearby Bull Shoals Lake, site of a 2012 Elite event, anticipating the need.

Miller, 27, who also said he'd accept the Elite invitation, headed home to get ready for the Nov. 3-5 B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship presented by Yamaha and Skeeter Boats in Monroe, La., on the Ouachita River. Miller is hoping to qualify for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic through the Federation.

Niggemeyer's top-five points finish double-qualified him for the 2012 Elite season; he had finished 58th in Elite points when the 2011 season was over in June. His 2012 Elite seat will be taken through the Opens, not awarded to another pro.

2011 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Mercury, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha

2011 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Supporting Sponsors: Humminbird, Luck "E" Strike, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats

Chris at the 2004 BnT Kickboat Open on Clear Lake

F.B.I Kickboaters in Japan!

Our brother Kickboaters in Japan really take there tournaments as seriously as us! I love these guys....Watching them is like looking in the mirror of our club....Sure would like to fish a tournament with them some day! Check out one of many videos they have...This video is of their 2011 season...

Rich Caro 2011 SCBBBC State Classic Winner!

48 anglers showed for this years Scbbbc State classic on Clear Lake and we couldn’t have asked for better weather this year! With sunny skies the battle was on! When it was all over and done it was Rich Caro taking the victory by only a few ounces. Rich had a 2 day total of 8 fish for 31.95 pounds beating our day one leader and 2nd place finisher overall Taylor Capilla! Rich reported catching his fish using his own Catchem Caro baits and Little Creeper Thrash Fish under docks. Congratulations Rich on your big win. 


Just coming up short on day two was Taylor Capilla with an 8 fish limit of 31.58 pounds for 2nd place. Coming in 3rd place with an 8 fish limit of 30.63 was Jered Brendal. 4th place goes to Dave Montero with the day 2 big fish of 6.78 and an 8 fish limit of 30.55 pounds. Topping out the top 5 was Jon Graves with an 8 fish limit of 30.27 pounds! Taking home the day 1 big fish award was Jordan Brendal with a nice 6.48 pound Clear Lake bass. Congratulations to all the top guys!

The Bass Challenge - South Africa Kickboaters!

Yet another one of our brother clubs in South Africa! These guys are fearless, fishing in waters with gators, hippos, and other creatures I don't want my legs in the water for......I believe Hugo Van Der Walt and Shawn Willment run this club and tournaments! Go get'em boys! Check out their web site here at  http://www.basschallenge.co.za/ They have photos, standings, and everything else a great club should have.

Bass Angling Tournaments in South Africa for Float Tubes, Pontoons, Inflatables, Kayaks and Small Bass Boats

Back to Back For Carson Riley - Bass-N-Tubes Open

Carson Riley claims victory for the second year in a row at Clear Lake.
Carson weighed in the big bag of the tournament on day 1 with 24.66 pounds topped off with the tourney big fish at 6.97 pounds. Carson's two day total weight was 41.82 pounds. In second place was Matt Nyiri with 2 nice limits for 37.49 pounds of Clear Lake bass. Taylor Capilla took home the third place money with 32.27 pounds.

Global Kickboat Big Bass Challenge - Catchem Caro Baits!

Kickboaters from around the world will be competing for one big prize from Catchem Caro Bait for the guy that catches the biggest bass in there club tournament.

Qualifying clubs include: FBI, Japan, San Jose Bass-N-Tubes, IBBF, Italy, KBBC, South Africa, and Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club

Congradulations Mike Ayers!!!!
With a 11.60 monster delta bass, you are now the new leader of the CatchemCaro World Wide Baits Big Bass contest.

The leader board had changed once again thanks to the smallest bait used by most club members, the "Drop Shot" of all things. Mike Ayers from the SSCBBBC takes the lead while fishing with the Sanjo Bass-N-Tubes club. The event was on the Cal Delta at a location called White Slough.

19 anglers went at it and Mike won the event with a limit weighing 25.10 and breaking a new B-N-T 5 fish limit record. And now Mike leads the CatchemCaros World Wide Big Bass contest.
The big girl eat a drop shot rig as Mike navigated his Bucksbag Bronco Extreme. Mike is also one of the members on the CatchemCaro Prostaff. Congrats Mike on taking over the leaders board. Just when we all thought Big Dave had it nailed down, Mike came from behind and BINGO!!!
There's still a lot of chances for a bigger fish to come to the scales. So stay tuned as we all watch the out come of the clubs from around the globe.

See all the entry's and more info on the challenge here

The Invincible Belly Boat Fishing Team - Italy

Our Brothers in Italy

Ibbf-Team (Invincible Belly Boat Fishing Team) was founded in Treviso in the fall of 2001, when three fans ciambellofili (Henry, Richard and Peter) decided to create a unique partnership with the prerogative of bass fishing from the boat and with the belly ' objective of "registering" new enthusiasts to develop innovative and original ideas, and above all create lasting friendships. Today IBBF-Team is an association recognized by the institutions and amateur sport ranks among the major Italian clubs. Our concept of fishing is realized in sharing experiences with others and have fun. Over time IBBF-Team has evolved, embracing also has changed the competitive spirit. Our commitment has been strong in the Italian championship belly boat (CIBB) for which, by nivizi, we managed to organize a final in one place "impossible" for many, but not for us (Nemi in 2009). We have held qualifying (first in Pietrafitta where now there is a row), we managed to fall for the first time in its history donuts in the lake Eur in Rome, we went on the radio and TV. We are committed in "a bass for a smile," involving over 100 people and donating a substantial sum to the cause that brings forward Sergio Lano years. The figure is helpful to build a school in Plan Tres Mil in Bolivia.We have done so much, perhaps too, surpassing all expectations, simply because we have acted in our own way. We have appeared in many newspaper articles, most popular and produced over 10 DVDs. The pure competition and an end in itself does not fit our philosophy and clashes with our beliefs. If we do compete having fun. IBBF-Team people who have come together in meetings, dinners, and whenever possible in the various Italian regions. We had sponsors, but are not essential for us, is a parenthesis. The association has about 70 members scattered in three different Peninsula, evidence that testifies to a mentality of 'simple, humble, perhaps, but definitely a winner.Being a member means being IBBF IBBF-Team-Team and then share with others in the group's passion, his secret place, and always give precedence to the group rather than individuality, while maintaining it, always give precedence allla opportunity to meet in a rally rather than a race.

For this reason in 2012 andreamo trend. We feel satisfied with the results achieved in recent years and Fipsas CIBB. From 2012 we will return to basics and spend all our energy solely in social life (meetings, fundraising activities and meetings) abandoning the commitment to racing.

Click Here for the IBBF-Team Website

Scbbbc 2010 Season Recap!



Every day is like a nightmare, no TOC for me. 2010 TOC looks to be off the hook. I wish all of you guys the best of luck and enjoy every minute of your weekend at Clear Lake on the SCBBBC. 1st place $1500.00 while fishing in a kick boat and last place is $100.00. That's totally wild guys. Free rooms at the Skylark and the food at T-N-T is great, Your dinner will be like a company Christmas party, but with real friends that you enjoy fishing with every month. All of you guys earned this two days of bass fishing as you have competed in the worlds best elite kick boat format around.

This years SCBBBC tour had an average of 35 anglers at every stop along the tour. Last year Noah Stevens promised me to take the club a notch higher and he did just that, and for that I thank you. We have all enjoyed what the SCBBBC has to offer and for 1/3 ish of the club it's not over yet. They will have the time of there lives fishing in the worlds highest ever payout event in the history of any float tube / kick boat organization on one of the worlds best bass factories. Have fun guys and please take lots and lots of pictures. 2010 was the SCBBBC's 27th year as an organized float tube / kick boat club. Believe it or not, it has only changed very little in all those years. The main thing that has changed over the past 27 years are the faces and the number of faces that I see at each meeting and each tournaments. Every new year brings new faces and ways to catch these little green fish we call bass. We have always had 10 tour stops followed bt the TOC. Some of the tour venues have changed as the number of faces grew over the years, but the goal has always been the same. We're all there at dark-O-clock in the morning to sign in and get ready to blast off and fish for five good bites.

At each and every tour stop, some of us get those five good bites while some only get a few and other get none as I did at a few stops on the 2010 tour. I can't quite pin point what it is that makes me have a great time even during tournaments that I didn't so much as get a nibble. It's hard to get a blank, but it is made easy when I see the anglers at the weigh-ins that did get the bites. This year I was able to be there when several SCBBBC members weighed in there first keepers while fishing with the club. I kind of relive per-curiously through them as I know the feelings they enjoyed from the minute they feel the bite and then putting that first fish in the live-well and opening that lid periodically throughout the day to see your Mr Greene. Those are some great feeling for sure, and then they're thoughts as they Oar there boats back to the weigh-in knowing that they have there first fish for the scale and they now get to get there picture taken in front of the SCBBBC Banner. Ohhhhh what a great feeling as you can't wait to see your picture on the clubs web site.



I won't soon forget my buddy Walt's first fish he caught with the club during 2010 at Clear Lake or the time we spent prefishing for the Open and I'm sure he won't forget those fish too. Then there was Michaela first keepers at Clear Lake and I know she is probably all ready planning her strategies to put more fish in the live-well in 2011. And that member we call AC /Zack. I met AC for the first time at a Lake Ralphine turkey shoot of all places. This guy joins the club a year or two ago and now is sponsored by one of the wests best anglers, Mr. Dobynes. This guy has became a hell of an angler over night it seems like. Then we have the Rookie of the year, Chris Lapoint. This guy came from no where and kicked some bass this season. Watch out for him next year as he'll be in the top 5 more often then not I bet.

Let's not forget Mike Ayers, your award wining web master for the SCBBBC and the guy who managed all the club funds for 2010. This guy pulls off another SCBBBC AOY. This wasn't his first and I'm sure it's not his last. Watch out for his drop shot in 2011. I think there's another angler out there that will be another AOY hopefully in 2011, Matt Nyiri. I remember meeting Matt at the ramp at Spring Lake a few years ago and doing my little SCBBBC pitch while walking my dog. And now he hold a Rookie of the year and runner up for AOY. Keep it going Matt and thanks for joining the SCBBBC and bringing Camel-Back along.



It's been one out of 27 years and it's one year I'll always remember fishing. This was one of my hardest fishing years yet. There's not much a guy can do if he doesn't get the bites. I wouldn't have changed a thing this year and I fished my butt off at each and every SCBBBBC tour stop. This was my first year fishing as an unemployed angler and a victim of the recession. One of the cool things about this club is that it's affordable. I couldn't and wouldn't afford to fish some other event I really would have like too, but that's all part of this economy. Regardless of the recession the club still enjoyed the highest membership ever. Where else can you get the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat for $40.00 plus a little gas?

We all enjoyed another great season while fishing these float tube / kick boat event, but we all must remember it all happens because of a few elected officers, Noah, DJ, Mike, Martin, Mr Bird. These guys are the ones that do more then anyone might think to keep this ball rolling. There main goal is to keep there every day lives going and then making sure we all have a smooth, organized and fun event and meeting all year long. Thanks again guys for all your hard work and effort in 2010. And thanks to the many sponsors that have always been there to make our Clear Lake State Classic the best two day event in the world. Even if it rains all three days we're there. Without those sponsors all we have is fishing.

2011 looks like we'll have some old faces in new official position and I'm sure they'll do a fine job, but they have some huge shoes to fill. Good luck guys and always remember that you have a lot of people behind you and always willing to help when needed.

P.S. I can't wait to see what 2011, the 28th year of the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club has to offer the lucky anglers who join them. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated in a SCBBBC tournament and meeting. Have a great Thanks Giving and be sure to spend a lot of quality time with your family members and friends. See ya all on the water.

Rich Caro

Another Successful Year 2009 in the Books!



WOW, another year under the bridge for the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club. This was our 26th year and it shows no signs of slowing as we have some great guys stepping up to take the club forward. Thank's guys for stepping up.

I'm looking forward to the new 2010 season and to seeing every one on the water. I met a lot of new anglers this year and made some new friends. I also look forward to meeting some new anglers and watching the new guys from 09 march up the standings in 2010. Remember to always introduce yourself to float tubers and kick boaters while your out on the water. Spread the word "SCBBBC" and lets keep the club growing.

We might have out grown some of the small bodies of waters we fished in the past, but the larger bodies of water have a lot more to offer a club such as our's. Don't forget to always support the Bass-N-Tubes club too. Try to schedule a few of there events into your 2010 season. They will offer some new bodies of water that most of us have never even seen. I know that more often then not, when I fish somewhere Iv'e never been I usually kick bass. The reason for it is that I just go out and fish. The Bass-N-Tubes club is as well organized and fun to fish as the SCBBBC. I'll be fishing a few of there events and hope to see more SCBBBC there too.

Rich Caro

2008 Season Flashback!

Now that the holidayzzz are over and I have a few days to think back on my 2008 season with the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club. 2008 was my 25th year of hitting some of Californias best float tube fishing holes. I had been Vice President for many years until 2006 when it was my turn to help take the club into the future. 2008 was my third year as the clubs President and it was my last year leading the worlds largest float tube / kick boat organization. WOW, and what a year it was! The club rouster grew to 47 paid members and our tournaments had averaged about 30 anglers. We put on 10 tournaments with B-N-T putting on one, the Clear Lake Open. We also added two new team events for the first time. This was the first time that Claifornia float tubers had the chance to pick their own two man teams and compete against each other. It proved to be a hit as 18 teams showed up for the first event on the Delta. One of the many benifits of being a part of the SCBBBC is meeting new anglers and 2008 brought several new anglers to our club.

In 2008 the SCBBBC had one of our very succefull members get real close to making it to the worlds biggest bass fishing show, The Bassmasters Classic. It was Pat Wilson , AKA, The Back Deck Pro, who represented the SCBBBC at the Bassmasters Federation Nation Championship in Kansas City. Pat had the worst fishing conditions any angler could face, but he did his best and came up empty handed as did most of the feild. 25 years ago when 9 float tubers hiked up to lake Ilsanjo for a little bass derby I don't think any of us thought that a club member would be one tournament away from competeing at the Classic.

In 2008 the club traveled with live game fish while fishing one of the worlds best bass factories, Clear Lake. The California Department of Fish & Game had worked with me and ironed out some of the details for us to recieve a special permit for transporting our catch while fishing our Clear Lake tournaments. We had to make some sacrafices with a 3 fish limit, but we did it and it proved to still be a great season on Clear Lake. This situation with the running permits had also helped to improve our clubs live-well standards and our education of the handling of our fish. Our mortality numbers for the 2008 season speak LOUDLY of our acomplishments as we only had 5 dead fish. Now I'm sure there might have been a few more that swam away after weigh-in and then past away, but I will bet the numbers are probably as low as the ones that came to the scales dead. With everyone working together our live-wells and our handling of fish will only get better.



2008 had some of the highest gas prices I have ever seen, but once I'm in the water those prices go out the window. These same high gas prices brought our club some new members. Some anglers just couldn't afford and didn't want the high cost of their glitter rockets and so they decided to sit a little lower in the water and save some money while still enjoying some great compitition. The SCBBBC can fill the void when gas goes over $4.00 a gallon. 2008 had a real bad ecomony, but it just didn't seem to faze our club rouster. This is a good sign for the future of our sport as the possabilities are endless with our growth. As a club we can work out any situation and still end up with great tournaments.

2008 was our clubs charity year. As a club we raised some canned food for people that don't have it as good as we do. I put the challenge out and all the SCBBBC members came through as we raised 672 cans of food for the Redwood Empire Food Bank. I personally would like to thank everyone for helping us feed the hungry. And thanks to Todd Iwamoto and Iwamoto jigs for donating 25 cents for every jig that our club members bought during the 2008 tour. We only do charity acts every other year so start thinking of another good charity act for the 2010 season.

The year started with some ruff weather as the winds blew at Lake Sonomas Yorty creek in Feb. This was our season opener and we kicked it off with 41 anglers. The rollers were rolling onto the ramp as I was launching my Bucksbag Bass Tech Kick boat and the wind was triing its hardest to blow my hat off. This tournament was the first in 25 years that I had beached my boat and sat in it while fishing just to get out of the wind and give my legs a rest. Jon Graves and I sat in our kick boats like beached whales, but to my surprise I caught a small keeper. Go figure. I was happy with my 8th place finish as Yorty creek is always my most humbling stop on the SCBBBC tour. When all the fish were weighed it was the only real float tuber of the day who won, Pat Wilson showed us that a angler doesn't need to have a fancy fully rigged kick boat to compete with the SCBBBC. All you need is a old school round belly boat and a few rods to catch 20.07 pounds of fish when the wind is blowing 35 plus miles an hour. What a way to start the 2008 tour.

http://scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008lakesonoma.html

Lake Sonoma, Yorty Creek, Feb, 24th
Anglers = 41
Limits = 1
Fish = 34
Big Fish = 5.63 Pat Wilson
Total = 101.3
Dead = 0

Now it's March and I'm checking in 39 anglers for 19 teams as we kicked off the second stop of our tour at the California Delta, Beacon Harbor. We were welcomed with a fly by by a Black Hawk as the FLW Nation Guard tour was having there last day of compition. Thier top 10 anglers blasted off with our 19 anglers. The fishing was wide open as it seemed as if everyone caught fish on this day. The team of Dan Chester and Dan Babala took 1st place with 21.81 for a 5 fish limit. CT Beach and I brought home 3rd place and we had a great day on the Delta with some real nice weather and a lot of canned foods being handed in at check-in.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008deltateams.html

Delta, Beacon Harbor, Mar 15th.
Anglers = 39
Limits = 15
Fish = 85
Big Fish = 6.82 John Hatfield
Total = 287.24
Dead = 0

It's April and we're taking the 2008 tour to Highland Springs in Lake County. Here is the body of water that our club record fish lives and it's one of my favorite places to fish. This lake has always felt very much like lake Ilsanjo to me. I have always liked it as if fishs similar to Sanj, but the fish are much bigger. We packed 36 anglers on this little lake, but I never felt as if my water was cramped by other anglers closing in on me. This was probably our coldest morning as my braid was totally frozen. It felt as if someone had tied a bunch of little knots in my line, but it was ice. I felt like I was Stealhead fishing, but I was in my Bucksbag Bass Tech kick boat. This cold snap made for some tuff fishing too. We only had two limits and it was our Vice President who took 1st place. Binh Phi weighed in one of the two limits of 13.78 and he also had the days big fish with a whopper of 7.64.

Mr. Scotty Beem has really sharpened his fishing skills over the past few years of fishing with the SCBBBC and once again he stayed on Binhs heels with the second of only two limits that weighed in at 11.52. I was able to take home 11th place and I almost got a little money. My fingers didn't thaw out until the following day. I won't forget my gloves ever again.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008highlandsprings.html

Highland Springs, April 20th
Anglers = 36
Limits = 2
Fish = 63
Big Fish = 7.64 Binh Phi
Total = 127.27
Dead = 0

Now I'm able to go to Clear Lake in May for the B-N-T Open. This is great as an officer because Mitch and Paul do all the work at this tour stop and it's a great time for the clubs to mix with eachother. I missed the first day as I qualified to fish the Bassmasters Federation Nation Divisinals at Lake Coude' lene in Idaho. When I flew home on Saturday the plane flew over Clear Lake and the sky was clear. I flew into Santa Rosa so the plane was dropping as we flew over Clear Lake and I was able to see kick boaters competeing in the keys on day # 1. It was way cool knowing I would be joining them the following morning. I checked-in Sunday morning and started fishing my favorite Clear Lake spot in the spring, the Keys. I love fishing in those keys when the fish are in there.

60 anglers were signed up and fishing this tournament and I was lucky enough to bring home 40th place and some good SCBBBC points towards the TOC. When you have 60 of Californias best kick boaters on the states best bass lake it's never easy to win, but for Todd Iwamoto it looked easy. Todd had the heaviest two day 5 fish limit of 34.61 and day # 1s big fish with a whopper that weighed in at 7.55. I'm sure most of Todds fish came on Iwamoto hand tied jigs. If you haven't stocked up on his jigs then your not catching as many fish as you can. It was the kid, Randy Kidd that smoked all 60 anglers when it came to big fish of this event. Randy weighed in a monster bass at 8.73. Bass-N-Tubes always puts on a great tournament and I can't wait to fish there Open tournament next year.

http://bass-n-tubes.com/dc/user_files/402.html

B-N-T Clear Lake Open, May 17th &18th
Anglers = 60
Limits =57
Fish = 391
Big Fish = 8.73 Randy Kidd
Total = 970.16
Dead = ?

It's back to the Delta's Whites Slough during the month of June and we had 27 anglers fighting the howling wind on an outgoing tide. The bite wasn't great, but a few guys always seem to figure it out. This time it was Mr. Doug Tyler who caught the bass need to win 1st place and show all of us who the # 1 stick was. Doug weighed-in only 2 fish for 11.02 and proved that you don't need a limit to take the top spot. Doug had the days big fish with a 8.63 monster that tried to eat his frog. It was our clubs newest President, Steve Wilson that did all he could to bring home the win and he came up in second instead. I was able to bring home 14th place while only weighing in one fish. Some times the fish just don't want to bite, but I still have a great day on the water fishing with the SCBBBBC.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008delta2.html

Delta, White Slough, June 14th.
Anglers = 27
Limits =2
Fish = 48
Big Fish = 8.63 Doug Tyler
Total = 116.96
Dead = 0

Once again I'm back on the Delta in June fishing the first of two new trial ( Pick Your Own Team )tournaments. My partner was Jon Graves and we were fishing against 17 other highly qualified teams. We all blasted off from Beacon Harbor on a nice day. The bite was much better then Whites Slough as eveyone was catching fish. The winning team was Mitch Teman and Chris Zelanka with a limit of 18.05. Graves and Caro came in 10th place and we were happy with that. We planned on winning, but the fish didn't plan on letting us.

Lake Sonoma
Anglers = 36
Limits =14
Fish = 81
Big Fish = 7.29 Capala
Total = 226.63
Dead = 0

It's July now and I'm fishing another team tournament on the regular SCBBBC tour and we're at Yorty creek again. It's our night tournament and I'm teamed up with Mike Casey. The team of Ayers/Marcheschi showed us how it was done by using Frogs / Jigs & drop shoots to bring in a limit that went 14.85. Mike and I took home11th place and some SCBBBC points. This tournament had a good turnout with 34 anglers ready to fish into the warm July night. The fish didn't bite like they should have on a summer night. One of these days I'm going to really get into the toads at Lake Sonomas Yorty creek and win one of these things. Maybe 2009 will be the year.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008sonomateams.html

Lake Sonoma, Night, July 12th.
Anglers = 34
Limits =2
Fish = 37
Big Fish = 6.44 Rolo Villanueva
Total = 90.21
Dead = 1

August is here and the SCBBBC is at Blue Lakes. This year no one fished the upper lake and we all stayed at the mud lake. This was our ( Early Bird ) tournaments so the long drive started very early as we checked in at 4:00 AM. The wind welcomed us as it was blowing in from the north.

We had 28 anglers check-in and Doug Tyler once again showed all of us how to win. Doug weighed in 5 fish for 10.52. Doug didn't just win, Doug won after fishing a night tournament with the Bass-N-Tubes club on the Delta. After weighing in with B-N-T Doug drove to Blue Lakes and checked in and loaded his boat down the small Deer trail in the dark before launching for another tournament. Doug found some fish and stayed with his patturn for another win. My hat goes off to the marathon man. We were also joined by Berrett Klien for the first time. He came and fished with us and made it to the scales with one keeper. I'm sure when he finishs school that he'll be a member of the SCBBBC. That's if he doesn't hook some great job after he gets a degree and move away. I look forward to fishing with him in 2009. I was able to scrape up 20th place and a few more of those SCBBBC points. I have TOC on my mind now as AOY isn't in reach this year.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008bluelakes.html

Blue Lake, Aug 17th
Anglers = 28
Limits =5
Fish = 80
Big Fish = 4.06 Join Graves
Total = 143.52
Dead = 1

It's still August and I'm back at the Delta with Jon Graves as my partner for the second of two new trial ( Pick Your Own Team ) tournaments. 24 anglers total with 12 teams ready to do what they do best, FISH. The bite wasn't what it's been in the past, but there is alway someone who will figure things out and this time it was the team of Iwamoto and Phi. They won with a nice limit of fish that weighed in at 21.63 I had a chance to watch Steve Wilson catch a toad while flipping a Vertical Tube bait. This was the last of a great new float tube format. I'm already looking forward to fishing the team events in 2009. I hope Mr. Graves will help carry us again for a few wins.

Delta, Whites, Real Team, Aug, 23rd.
Anglers = 24
Limits =7
Fish = 41
Big Fish = 8.80 Steve Wilson
Total = 106.79
Dead = 0

The month now is September and 23 anglers have there trucks loaded and ready to run to there secret spots on Clear Lake. This will be the first time our club has a 3 fish limit as the DFG put this restriction on us so we can "Run" legally. I wasn't sure how this new 3 fish limit would pan out, but it seemed to work good. My area I went to had trucks lined up to launch so I went to plan B. I only shared the ramp at plan B with one other kick boater. This time I came home with 6th place. I had a great day as I was able to cull a few times and get fish on the Speed Trap. I love catching fish on crank baits. I wish I knew were Matt Cahill fished because he took home 1st place with a 3 fish limit that weighed in at 13.56 and he had the big fish of the day with a toad that weighed 6.5. I'm sure glad we were able to "Run" as it really helps to spread us out and not crowd us together. The water was low so if we couldn't have ran it would have made for a ruff day on the water no matter were we launched.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008clearlake.html

Clear Lake, Sept, 20th.
Anglers = 23
Limits =10
Fish = 40
Big Fish = 6.50 Matt Cahill
Total = 115.30
Dead = 1

Finally it's Oct and time for the 24th SCBBBC State Classic. This was the first year that the Bass-N-Tubes club put this tournament on there schedual. It started off with rain, rain and more rain. There was also a million dead carp everywhere you went on Clear Lake. This didn't seem to faze the bass as they were still on a good bite. Once again we were able to run legally and spread out over the entire lake. After day # 1 we came back to a great BBQ put on by the State Federation Nation, thanks to Andrew Sayles and Captian Jack. The raffle was off the hook and the Evans Williams was flowing and great sponsors product was flying. I still feel a little hangover.

The rains let up and the tournament ended up being good. We had 40 anglers this year show up and fish with us. It was our own Deren Kozenko who took the top prise. Deren weighed in a total of 6 fish for two days that went 25.07 and he had the big fish of the tournament with a 6.67 toad. This has always been a fun event for me as I can remember when Jimmy Reese used to be the one putting it on back in the day. He had two weigh-ins each day and when you came in for the first weigh-in on Saturday he had a BBQ going for lunch. We'd come in and weigh-in , grab some food and take off again. Boy O boy, those were the days my friend. This year I was able to take 8th place and a few more SCBBBC points towards that big end of the year TOC.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008classic.html

Clear Lake, State Classic, Oct 4th & 5th
Anglers = 23
Limits =10
Fish = 40
Big Fish = 6.50 Matt Cahill
Total = 115.30
Dead = 2

As we wind on down the season we come to our last official stop before the 2008 SCBBBC TOC. We all checked in at Blue lakes for our last tour stop of the 08 season. It's November and the weather was cool and the wind was mild. I fished my fins off at this stop and I wasn't able to catch a keeper. So out of the 24 anglers that entered this tournament it was myself who came in last. After 25 years of fishing with this club I have came in last many times, but this time it didn't feel so bad. Don't ask me why, but it just wasn't all that bad getting my butt kicked. The weather was good and I fished as hard as I could all the way to the end. I had just finished another great year with a great club. I had met a lot of great people along the way. I had already came to terms with myself about stepping down from leading the worlds oldest and largest float tube / kick boat organization. I knew I had qualified for the 25th TOC and I would have a chance at the $1000.00 TOC prise money and that I would enjoy another dinner with the top 1/3rd of the club. I wish the whole club could join us for the TOC dinner.

On the other hand big Dave Sternitzke was a happy angler as he wrapped up a day of fishing with a big fat WIN with a limit of bass for 10.30 and his second SCBBBC Angler Of The Year 2008 and he wasn't sharing it with no one. I said it once before and I'll say it again. It's one thing to have won AOY back in the day when our tournaments averaged 10 anglers, but now they average 30 well rounded anglers with a lot of knowledge. My hat is tipped to big Dave.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008bluelakes2.html

Blue Lakes, Nov, 8th.
Anglers = 24
Limits =3
Fish = 57
Big Fish = 3.10 Jon Graves
Total = 101.09
Dead = 0

It's still November and 17 of the SCBBBC TOC qualifiers are back at Clear Lake and there trucks are idealing alongside the Skylark as we prepair for blast-off. It didn't feel the same as Bill Sweatt wasn't with us. This is the 25th SCBBBC TOC and we're fishing for $1000.00 for 1st place. We had great weather and some hot sticks ready to fish. We had several new faces that had never fished with the SCBBBC before 08' and several who had never made it to the TOC. After two days on the water it was one of our 2008 Rookies that out did eveyone. Rolando Villanueva caught a two day, two limit total for a total of 20.13. Rolo quietly joined our club and quietly fished throughout the season while quietly weighing in his fish all year. This was Rolandos first year fishing the SCBBBC and he is one of the new people I have had the pleasure to meet and fish with. The 2008 TOC could not have went to a nicer guy.



I once again got skunked on day # 1 and with some help from Dave Sternitzke I was able to get a limit on day two for a 13th place finish. If I would have found those fish on day # 1 things would have been a lot different for me. I still had a great time while fishing with the club on a great lake.

http://www.scbbbc.com/archives/2008results/2008toc.html

I also tip my hat to another new friend as he capture Rookie of the year. Dominic Doans aka The Dominator. Congratulations Dom on a job well done. He learned a few hard lessons in 2008 and he probably fished more then any SCBBBC all year. Watch out for this guy in 2009. We had a few members that were only able to fish with us one time and I'm sure they had a good time while fishing with us nut cases. We also had a couple members join that were not able to fish with us in 08, but we'll try to get them out with us in 09.

2008 was a great year and all the SCBBBC officers did a great job at makeing these tournaments go very smooth. This was Jon Birds first year at donating his time to be your Tournament Director. He weighed 773 fish that weighed a total of 2041.68 pounds. If I didn't know any better I would have thought that Jon had been the Tournament Director for the SCBBBC for a long time. We have had some great TD's in the past, but Jon worked some magic with everyone who brought him fish. Thanks Jon for a thankless job well done. 2009 we'll see a new face weighing in the fish. DJ Von bima is taking over for Jon as Jons back is hearting from weighing in all your monster bass.

I would have to say the Matt Cahill kept our check book balance down to the penny all year. Our account had never had such a large balance and Matt took care of it while we all fished. Thanks Matt for a job well done.

Now it's time for me to step aside and let Steve Wilson take his turn at steering the worlds largest float tube organization into the future. I needed to take a break and focus on some other things such as my wife who suported the club and me all through the year. I also want more time to jam on my new Les Paul, but don't think you wont see me on the water. I plan on winning every tournament throughout 09' and I think an Angler Of The Year award is in my future. LOL

I'll still be in the shadows of the new officers and maybe in a few years I'll run for President again, but for now I just want to fish and meet new anglers and help others catch fish.

I hope you all had fun while fishing with the SCBBBC I also hope you learned some new ways to catch a bass. I hope you fished some new waters with us and I hope to see you all at the 2009 SCBBBC tournaments.

Rich Caro

P.S. I would also like to thank Rebecca for all her help with the paperwork at the end of each tournaments weigh-in. And thanks to DJ for helping Jon weigh all those fish. And thanks to all of you for joining the SCBBBC in 2008 and helping to make it the best float tube club on the planet.

Big Fish 2008 = Steve Wilson 8.80 Delta, Whites Slough.

Heaviest Individual 5 Fish Limit = 20.07, Pat Wilson, Sonoma, Yorty Creek.

Heaviest Team 5 Fish Limit = 21.81, Chester/Babala, Delta, Beacon H.

Heaviest 1 Day 3 Fish Limit = 16.41,Matt Cahill, Day # 2 Clear L, Classic.

Lightest Winning Weight = 10.30, Dave Sternitzke, Blue L.

Limits =112

Fish = 773

2008 Total Weight = 2041.68

Total Dead = 5

Wilson nets co-angler lead at Forrest Wood Cup

Sonoma County belly Boat Bass Club Member Pat Wilson Leads Forrest Wood Cup!

Fickle bite on Lake Murray yields tightly packed leaderboard heading into second day of competitionBy Gary Mortenson - 14.Aug.2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – As expected, Lake Murray proved to be a tough first date for the entire co-angler field during the opening round of competition at the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
With difficult summer fishing conditions abound, coupled with a dramatic shift in the weather over the past 24 hours, co-anglers were left scrambling to find whatever bites they could. In fact, when all was said and done, only eight co-anglers in the field of 77 managed to land five keeper bass. However, by the time weigh-in had concluded, a few co-anglers did manage to break through the Lake Murray morass.“It was pretty brutal out there,” said Pat Wilson, who ended day one atop the leaderboard with a yeoman-like catch weighing in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces. “So I feel pretty blessed right now. I wound up catching eight keepers total and I had a limit in the boat by 12:30 p.m. My first fish was a 3-pounder and that really helped. Overall, I feel pretty good right now.
”To be sure, Wilson has plenty of experience fishing pressure-packed tournaments. With three Wal-Mart BFL titles, a 2005 FLW Tour co-angler title on the Potomac River and a 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Series co-angler title at the California Delta already under his belt, Wilson knows what it takes to win.“I went pre-fishing with (pro) Jimmy Reese the first two days and that really helped me figure out what the fish were doing,” said Wilson, who boasts 14 top-10 finishes in his FLW Outdoors career since his rookie season in 2000. “My goal was to get three keeper bites today. I figured that if I got anything more than that it would be a bonus. Today, everything just worked out. I had a great partner in David Fritts and he put me on fish. And that’s all you can ask for.”Wilson said he fished in anywhere from 10 to 25 feet of water using soft plastics, targeting bass on a variety of flats and breaks.“I’m going to do the same thing tomorrow,” said Wilson, a native of Penngrove, Calif. “The good thing is that I can use this (pattern) pretty much anywhere on the lake.”While he’s excited to be in the lead, Wilson said he’s just taking the tournament one day at a time.“Right now, I’m just trying to make the top 10,” said Wilson. “This is a great field. We have the best co-anglers in the country. But I think if I can make the top 10, I’ll be in pretty good shape. But like every tournament, you have to get a little lucky. So I’m just going to go out there tomorrow, fish hard and see where the chips fall.”

From Kick Boat to Kicker Fish - Chris Zaldain

June 20 2008. Article from FLW on Bass-n-Tubes member Chris Zaldain. You can read the whole artical here in PDf format. Click Here

Belly Boater Chris Zaldain Making it Big with FLW

2007 SCBBBC TOC Video!

Looking Back on the Scbbbc 2007 Tour of California



The 2007 Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club northern California tour is in the record books. This was a year to remember for sure as it was one of our biggest tour's on record. We had an average of 29 angler's at each event. This made for some great competition while kicking around in a kickboat.

A little some thing new for the SCBBBC members to fish for in the 2007 season was the SCBBBC Winner's Shootout. This is when all the angler's who have won an event and who won the Angler Of The Year award will have a chance to fish for $200.00 with no entry fee's. We have also invited the 2007 AOY from the Bass-N-Tubes club to fish the Winner's Shootout. The water's have been picked and the date is still needing to be picked. The location will be at Clear Lake so we can have a chance to hook some of California's biggest and baddest bass swimming today.

We hit all the club's regular location's. We started the tour off with a trip to Berryessa on Feb 24th with 29 float tubers ready and willing to rip some lip's. We met for the first time who our rookie of the year at this event would be, but no one knew this was him. He was floating around in the standard rookie style. This kid started off his season in pure rookie fashion while fishing in a U-boat. Anthony Duffany will prove to be a force to be seen throughout the tour. The weather was overcast and the wind picked up some while we all tried to nail a limit of Berryessa bass.Out of 29 angler's we weighed in 9 limit's and 92 total fish weighing in at a grand total of 170.05lb's. When all the fish were weighed in I was lucky enough to take home the win. It's alway's a great day on the water when the fishing goes your way.

With some new fee's for Berryessa permit's looming over us it's still not clear if we'll be fishing this great location in 2008. Let's all hope for a little luck with these fee's.The club's next tour stop was on March 24th at the California Delta's Beacon Harbor. This was a team tournament that brought out 16 team's and a total of 33 angler's. We blasted off at O dark in the morning and we had to dodge several big gas guzzling bass boat's as the idealed into there check-in area at Russo's. This didn't stop us from slaying Delta toad's in pure belly boat fashion. The bite was on as it seemed as if every one had fish in there live well's. The weather was great and the fishing was good too. We shared the water with the best in the world as the Bassmasters Elite series was on the Delta also. Mr Bill Sweatt fished along side the Elite winner Aron Martin's. When all was said and done it was the winning team of Brendal and Riley with five fish weighing in at 23.56 with an 8.32 kicker to help put them over the top and secure them both a slot in the SCBBBC's Winner's Shootout. We weighed in a total of 13 limit's and a total of 80 fish that weighed at total of 235.38 lb's. With the help of Mike Ayer's and crew this event went as smooth as alway's.



The tour then takes us back the Lake County to chase the fish at Blue Lake's on April 15th.Once again we had 33 of California's most hard core float tuber's arrive on the side of the highway to enter this event. The wind was howeling before the sun had a chance to peek over the mountain's. We all had the choice of fishing the upper or lower lake's, but once again it was the lower muddier lake that kicked out the winning limit. This win went to Mr. Scotty Beem. This guy called this one from the beginning and has taken a win here in the past. Scott came to the scale's with the winning weight of 17.25 with a kicker of 7.01 that put Scott over the top. I wonder if he used his Spiderweb patturn? I have been stuggling at this upper clear lake, but next year Im going to the muddy lake to change it up. We weighed in 16 limit's with a total of 114 fish for a total weight of 245.84 lb's.

The fourth stop on the tour was with the Bass-N-Tube's club at their Clear Lake Open on May 19th and 20th. This is always a huge tournament with member's from each club coming out of the wood work to fish this award winning bass factory. The wind blew at about 100 mile's an hour the intire weekend and kept all of us in the key's. This didn't stop the bite from being wide open as every one seemed to have had limit's. If you wanted to be catching fish this was the place to be, in the key's. It was a close race between two of our sport's biggest angler's. Our own Dave Sternitzky and B-N-T's Tim Zandbergen duked it out from there kick boats, but it was Tim who came away with the win while weighing in a total of 43.50 for two day's. Dave had a SCBBBC record breaking two day total of 42.87 for a second place finish and a spot in the SCBBBC record book's and a slot into the SCBBBC WSO. This tournament was also a wake up call for a few float tuber's to be carefull while fishing in the wind. It got a little hairy for a couple of angler's who were stranded do to the wind and needed to be rescued. Maybe some day you can read their story as it's a good one. We had 18 two day limit's with a total of 207 fish caught that weighed a total of 602.73 pound's. These totals only reflect the SCBBBC member's. Thank's again Paul and crew for a great tour stop alway's.Now it's time to go back to the water were our club's record fish still swim's waiting to be photographed again and make the new's.

It's Highland Spring's on June 10th. 31 angler's once again make the drive to fish with the SCBBBC on a small body of water sitting in the hill's of beautiful Lake County. The weather wasn't all that bad, but the fishing was tough for a few. Then there's Mr. Jig Master, Travis Tarver. This guy can catch anything that swim's as long as there is a hand tied jig on the end of his line. I bet he could catch a Marlin on a jig if he tried. Travis schooled all of us at this event. While we fished shallow he stayed a little off shore and kept to his jig. His jig dragging along the bottom was what it tolk to take the win at this event. Travis weighed in a limit of Highland fish at 17.05 It was the other jig master who nailed the biggest fish of this event, Mr Todd Iwamoto came to the scales with a 5.98 lunker. My guess is it was caught on a Iwamoto jig. We weighed in 7 limit's with a total of 74 fish weighing 72.51lb's. Once again out tournament staff ran a great show.

Now is July 28th and it time once again for a night time team tournament at Lake Sonoma. This is alway's a tour stop that kicks my bass. We had 14 team's for 28 angler's show up to this Army Corp Of Engineer's lake. This was one of those night's that all you needed was a Tee shirt and a kick boat. This water hole once again kicked my bass as it always doe's, but that wasn't the case for the team of the two jig master's, Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Taver's. I knew as most of us did that this was a jig dream team. These guy's snatched up first place with a five fish limit weighing in at a total of 18.01. We weighed in 5 limit's with 49 fish that weighed a total of 130.25 pound's. This lake is alway's a body of water that will humble an angler while other's are slaying. Im going to start prefishing now for next year's Sonoma tournament.





We're now into the dog day's of summer and it's August 19th as we have our early bird tournament on Spring Lake. Now it's time for a real challenge as we have 24 die hard angler's competeing on 75 acre's of water. You had to get to your spot fast and catch the fish that were there even faster before another angler got onto your water. This lake over the past several year's has gotten tougher and tougher, but this is what an old man once told me builds character. It also sharpen's your tournament skill's as the future of our sport hold's crowded water's as we grow and grow. We had no limit's come to the scales, but we still had one angler prevale over all the other's. Carson Riley came to the scale's with four fish that weighed a total of 14.80 with a kicker that tipped the scale at 6.84. This put Mr. Riley in first and gave him a slot in the SCBBBC WSO.We had a total of 0 limit's with a total of 34 fish that weighed in at 93.12lb's. I bet next year is going to be a challenge again.

It's Sept 23rd and the SCBBBC is back at the California Delta's White Slough. This time we have 29 angler's floating in the water buy 6:00 am when Mike Ayer's blast's us off. Some angler's go to the right while some went to the left and a few stragler's floated around the launch area. The weather was beautiful as we had the cloud cover that is always a welcome element to any float tuber. Some ask if prefishing is realy needed. I say yes. I prefished and found only small fish to the left. So on tournament day I put it all on the line and oared to the right. I went right past every float tuber until I had some water to my self. The bite was on fire if you went to the right and it was as cold as ice to the left. Our young gun rookie Anthony had his personal big fish of 7.43, but it wasn't big enough to beat Mr. Bill Sweatt's 8.66 toad that almost cost him his life and a few rod's. Im sure you'll here his story every time we fish White's, it's one of those stories you don't soon forget.Anthony had this tournament in the bag throughout the weighin until he helped me bag my fish. I thought I had only 14 pound's and some change, but that wasn't the case. I weighed in five fish at 16.19 just edging Anthony out by 1-100th of an ounce with 16.18. Im not sure but I think this was one of the SCBBBC closest finish's ever in the 24 year's we've been at this sport of float tubing.We caught 7 limit's and a total of 61 fish that weighed in at 143.42 pound's. This year the Delta has been very very good to me.Now it is that time of year that the leave's start falling and the traffic is building on 101 as rubberneck's slow to look at the pumpkin patch. This is when all the California float tuber's come out from their private pond's to compete at the historic SCBBBC State Classic.

This was our 21st year at this tournament and it proved to be another great event for all who fished it. We had 36 angler's come to Clear Lake Oct, 13th and 14th. We didn't have the large number of Bass-N-Tube member's at this year's event, but the one's that did show were welcomed as if they were family. With our new live-well standard's and our great performance from our tournament director we were able to get the special permit to live haul our fish again, ( RUN ) Once again I would like to thank the Department Of Fish & Game for giving us this huge privlage that will help our sport keep growing with quality event's on Clear Lake.This year's winner was our V.P. Mr. Bill Sweatt with a two day limit of 40.12. This was a great come back seeing how Bill lost some $$$$$ rod's and reel's while prefishing in the storm just before the Classic. He kept his focus and prevaled over the pack and won the historic SCBBBC State Classic. Big fish went to Matt Cahill with a 8.23 Clear Lake monster. On day #2 it was Jon Bird who came in with the big fish at 7.18.We brought back the BBQ thanks to the help of Dale Zindler, Andrew Sayles and Captain Jack from the Caifornia BASS Federation Nation. These guy's stepped up and helped make our event the best. Our sponcor's all came through as the raffle was off the hook.Bucksbag, Flowmaster, Bighammer, Outdoor Pro Shop, AC Pro Shop, Tackle it, Persuader, Minn Kota, BASS & ESPN2, and Rejuvinate bass med's. Bucksbag was the main sponcor and John Grave's walked away Sunday with another beautiful Bucksbag Southfork kick boat. We weighed in 42 five fish limit's with a total of 243 fish that weighed in at a total of 688.11 pound's. We only had 1 dead fish. Thank you every one for taking such great care of your fish as this is what help's us to get the Running permit from the DFG. Next year's Classic will be an official ( EVENT ) What does this mean? It means we can have as many angler's as we want and we can pay back as much as we want with no limit's. We also won't have to worry about sharing the lake with any other big tournament's as the lake belong's to the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club. So start planning on attending this big show.

Now it's Nov 3rd and time to go back to Blue Lakes for our final event for the 2007 regular season tour with 27 angler's. We have a close race for Angler Of the Year and another chance for one angler to qualify for the SCBBBC WSO. This will also be the tournament that lock's in 15 angler's who will be joining us for the best ever TOC at Clear Lake. So after a slug fest between Mr. Sweatt and Mr. Sternitzky they ended the season with a tie for AOY 2007. I bet Bill wish's Dave would have fished the clear upper lake as the bite there was as tough as nail's for the few of us that fished it.Congradulation's Bill & Dave on showing true class on the water all season with the club. Once again, Im fishing the lower mud lake next year so watch out guy's and make room on that path for the Bass Tech boat. I think we need to get up there while prefishing and clear the path and make it a little more kick boat friendly.When the fish were weighed in it was an old club member Mr.Triton, Steve Wilson who came out on top with a five fish limit of 11.34 just squeezing out Dale Zindler with 11.06. This tournament locked in our young gun Anthony Duffany with the Rookie of the year award. Good going Anthony on a great first season tour with your new club. We caught 13 limit's with a total of 89 fish brought to the scale's that weighed in at a total of 154.3 pound's.For the 24th year the top third of the SCBBBC are heading back to Clear Lake's Skylark motel.



The crowd's are all gone and the weather is mild. It's Nov 17th , 18th and the weather is going to be nice all weekend. 15 of California's best line up for the blast-off as we once again have the Runner's permit thank's to the DFG. After we wake Carson up and share a few word's with everyone Mike blast's us off. We all caught fish, but the fishing seemed to prove tough for some and on fire for other's. After weighing in on day # 1 I had 22.64 with a kicker of 9.01. Prefishing paid off again for me as I knew where not to fish.After checking every one into their room's at the Skylark we all showed up at the T-N-T Mexican food resturant. They had a room set up for us and gave us top notch service. This was a sign of the change's in our sport as we have moved beyond the Pizza parlor and into a nice place with good food and cocktail's. Im glad I walked to the resturant as those shot's and Margarita's where gggrrreeeaattt!Day # 2 the lake fished the same for me and it kicked out 21.81 with another kicker of 6.01.Once again my prefishing paid off along with some choices that worked out for me.I was able to set a new two day record with 44.45. We had 6 two day 10 fish limits with a total of 123 fish for two day's that weighed a total of 347.16 pound's. We also set a new record for payout;s in a float tube tournament with a $1000.00 1st place take home check. 24 year's ago no one would have ever emagined that float tubing would have became what it is now. We're still in for some surprises as this sport is going to keep on growing. I have decided to run for President again as I still have some unfinished project's for our club.I would personally like to thank all of our member's and the Bass-N-Tube's family for helping to make this year a totally great year in float tubing and kick boating. I would also like to thank Bill Sweatt for backing me up as Vice President when the ice got real thin during this whole live well thing. And thanks to Mike Ayer's for all his work on our award winning web site that all of us use every day for information and another place to talk float tubing. And thank you Mike and Dan chester for weighing in all 1166 fish through the long season. You two guy's handled a total of 2882.87 pound's of fish. Maybe next year the TD will need a back brace. And thank's to all of our member's for taking care of your fish. We had maybe 8 fish die throughout the year. The DFG has taken notice to our professional handling of our fish and they thank us for setting the standard for care of fish.If it wasn't for Mr. Russ Stansbury we wouldn't have had our check book balanced and our finance's organized. How would you like to balance my personal check book, LOL. Thanks guys for all your help. Next season Im going to have a new crew backing me up and helping our club move forward. If Im lucky enough to be voted Prezzz in 08 I will be looking forward to working with all of you. Last but not least here are a few statistic's.During the 2007 SCBBBC tour we fished a total of 11 tournaments including the TOC.We caught a total of 136 limit's. { Open & Classic are 10 fish limit's.}We handled 1166 fish.We only killed 8 fish.We had a total weight of 2882.87 pound's brought to the scale.Thanks again every one for making the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club a huge success in 2007 and the past 24 year's.

Im looking forward to the 2008 tour already. So get out to the garage or the spare room and organize all that tackle and get those special touch's finished on your boat. Keep in mind if you need help on your live well system or your in need of a real deal on any Bucksbag product's contact me and we'll take care of you. If you need some hand tied custom jig's contact Todd Iwamoto and if your in need of a great guide on Clear Lake contact Benno Heune. Be sure to stop by the Outdoor Proshop,Tackle-it, Limit Out and buy some http://www.Bighammer.com swim baits while your getting some Persuader Spinner bait's. If you can't make it to these tackle store's don't forget to go online and shop at the http://www.usacproshop.net site. Be sure you have a full jar of Rejuvinate for your live well in 2008. Don't forget to renew your Subscription to Bassmaster Magazine and Basswest. Have a great holiday and I will see you on the water.Rich Caro

2007 SCBBBC Tournament of Champions!

What a weekend. It started with confirming all the reservations for room and board for 15 qualifiers. Then prefishing on Friday. I started with my State Classic locations and they were slow, to slow to win any thing. So Mr. Stansbury passed on a little information that helped place me in the write area of the lake. That was near the huge clouds of bait fish. So I drove around and found bait fish in three area's.The clouds of these bait fish were huge. Millions of 2" & 3" shad swimming in formation.

So on day #1 I fished two area's down south and I missed my round tube while reloading all my gear to move from one hot spot to another. While putting in I had bait flipping and flopping every where and huge swirls in the skinny water from what I assumed were toads. As soon as I was in the water a giant swirl sounded off to my left. I grabbed my war eagle rod and on the third or fourth cast of day #1, BINGO. 9.1 pounder is pulling a little drag with one good head out of the water head shake. Then it came straight in to my thumb. I then nailed two more fish on my LVR while Yo Yoing it. Then I tried a number of baits before I pulled out the fish trap swim bait. This bait was the ticket for me as the fish eat them up. I had a limit just before sun up. Then the boat were on me, but thet were all cool. They watched as I landed several chunky fish while fishing in the Bass Tech Southfork boat. I watched them pull up and use all kinds of baits with no luck. I passed off some of my swimbaits and watched these boaters catch a few fish. Jay and Kevin pulled up to say hi so I was able to share my toad with them. I then loaded up the boat and fish and ran to my second hot spot. 

There I culled a few fish with the same swimbait. I would cast the bait into 15' to 20' of water in the area where the bait fish were. Then I would let it sink on a slack line directly to the bottom. I would simply just slow roll the bait back a slow as I could. I would get slammed about every 20 or 30 minute's. I only caught a few fish in the 2 pound range as most were the better part of 3 pounds and up.When all the fish were weighed I ended up with 22 pounds and some change.

After checking every one into their rooms at the Skylark it was time for some food. We put the Pizza Parlor behind us and went to T-N-T Mexican food restaurant. This was a sign of the changes our club and organization is enjoying. All the food and Margarita's were great! Not to mention the shot's.It was a good thing that I walked to restaurant.

Day #2 I passed my first area up as a fellow angler pulled into my secret parking spot. My second spot was clear of anglers and the baitfish were jumping. After getting in the water in noticed there wasn't near the bait fish as the day before. So I pulled out the blade for a little while before the sun came up, but nothing was happening. Then the swimbait came back out and wham, fish on. The limit came quickly and only a few boats showed up, but they where cool and I did give them a few baits too. They started catching fish with them as soon as they started throwing them.Casting in the area of the shad and letting it sink into at least 15' of water on slack line then the slow retrieve seemed to be the ticket. I never got bit while burning any baits or working the middle of the water column. Water was 58 - 59 degree's. 

We weighed in order of lowest weight first and up.I was waiting to see someone come up with some toads, but as they weighed in one at a time and I didn't see any monsters.Then I weighed in 21 pounds with big fish of 6 pounds. I'm totally stoked and to be honest I can't believe how you can have a few mediocre years and then BANG your on fire.I would like to thank Bill Sweatt for supporting me as VP through out these two growing years and backing me up in some rough water. Thanks also go out to Mike Ayers for weighing in all those fish and keeping up our award winning web page. And for getting our trophies for every tournament. Thanks to Russ Stansbury for keeping our finances straight. These officers helped build this club along with all our members who showed up at the monthly meetings and the event's. It was a long 10 lake tour. And thanks to the B-N-T crew for there support of the sport we all love. I can't forget Deren Kozenko for pulling his Ranger up to help release our fish. To be a part of this thing call the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club is unreal. My brother was at the very first turkey shoot that Roland Rich put on at Sanj. When he heard what the 2007 TOC 1st place was paying and where we all were staying and eating he was shocked. He said he never would have imagined this club would still be around let alone be paying $1000.00 with a no entry fee tournament. 

If you thought this was a fun year while running legally and fishing with an average of 30 anglers at each event then your really going to like 2008.Thank you every one for every thing. And thank you all for making the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club a great organization to be part of.

2007 Scbbbc Awards

Angler of the Year!
Congratulations to Dave Sternitzke and Bill Sweatt as your 2007 Co-Anglers of the Year! These guys both deserve this award as they are two of the best anglers in the club year after year. Both anglers finished the year tied with 443 points each. Their names will be forever remembered in the archives of the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club records with passed champions of this most coveted award, AOY. Great job guys no one deserves it more then you two!

Tournament of Champions is all set.
Congratulations to all 15 anglers that made it to the big show! 1. Dave Sternitzke 377, 2. Bill Sweatt 370, 3. Carson Riley 359, 4. Anthony Duffany 356, 5. Rich Caro 350, 6. Binh Phi 346, 7. Matt Cahill 339, 8. Mike Ayers 331, 9. Dale Zindler 328, 10. Jon Bird 327, 11. Scott Beem 322, 12. Dan Chester 320, 13. John Graves 319, 14. Paul Fontes 314 and second half points leader Dave Brown 192. These anglers will be competing for over $4000 dollars in prize money on November 17,18 at Clear Lake. Congrats to our first time Tournament of Champions Dan Chester, Anthony Duffany, Jon Bird, John Graves, Dale Zindler and Dave Brown. You guys did great this year!

2007 Rookie of the Year
goes to young Anthony Duffany with his 4th place finish over all in the points standing. In a close 2nd was rookie Jon Bird with a great first season coming in 9th overall. 3rd was John Graves fishing his first full year with the club. Watch out for these guys next year as they shoot for fame and fortune on the 2008 Scbbbc tour.