Gone Fishin' Marine Team Trail

Takin' it to the Streets- ISE is January 19-22!

2012-01-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

Gone Fishin’ Marine may be your friendly neighborhood boat dealer, but our family-owned-and-operated business is consistently on the national map as a Boating Industry Magazine Top 100 Dealer- in fact, 2011 marked Gone Fishin’s fifth year in the Top 100. To land a spot on the prestigious list, we submitted what felt like reams of paperwork to a panel of independent industry experts who examine and compare dealerships across the country.

The evaluation covered the entire operation from customer satisfaction ratings, to sales and service department practices, to overall business management and marketing programs. Boating Industry Magazine’s criteria leave no stone unturned, and for a “small” dealer to come up on the list with such consistency is really an accomplishment! In the excitement of that honor, GFM plans to really celebrate the new year, and pull out all the stops for Sacramento’s International Sportsmen’s Expo, January 19-22.

Boat shows, the biggest of which is ISE, make up a major portion of Gone Fishin’s marketing year (to the tune of nearly 6000 square feet of exhibit space this time around). But the term “boat show” is nowhere near where it ends for our ISE plans. As a full-service dealership, GFM has something to offer to all on-the-water sportsmen. If the boat is fine, but your engine could use an overhaul or replacement, there’s already a lot to chat about with the service staff there.

Boat shoppers can enjoy numerous benefits dealing with a Top 100 dealer (besides the enormous inventory to choose from)- the shop will have boat show special financing options for qualified credit buyers, bulk rates for boat insurance coverage, and 3 year maintenance plans from Gone Fishin’s Certified Premier service department at a major discount off retail pricing.

Already have a boat? Then the fun has only begun- besides just strolling by to see what’s new on the market, current boat owners can sign up for programs like Triton Gold tournament rewards, the 2012 Triton Owners Tournament or Bass Pro’s Tournament Reward$ program. GFM’s service department will have a variety of custom-built specials on tap to keep your boat safely and reliably asail for the new season; plus discount offers for fishing equipment, boating accessories, and parts.... You name it, Gone Fishin’ can help.

Boat or no, everyone is welcome to grab the information at the show and later join GFM’s extracurricular offerings like Ultimate Bass University, boater education courses, and on-the-water boat tests. All this. All at ISE.

Stop by the Dixon, CA shop for a discount coupon, and plan on coming to Cal Expo between January 19-22. See www.gfmarine.com for more details and follow along at facebook.com/pages/Gone-Fishin-Marine for previews and special announcements and promotions!

Ultimate Bass University- July 19th, 6:30pm

2011-07-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

What on earth happened to July???

The fish are having a hard time knowing what to do with this weather too, and the guy to get you back on that Delta bite just happens to be our next Ultimate Bass University guest! Hope you can make it out this Tuesday, the 19th, to get some insider info from Bass Angler Magazine publisher, Mark Lassagne!

Mark is a longtime friend to Gone Fishin', one of the Delta's best guides, and an outstanding competitor with FLW and BASS (when he's not putting together our favorite magazine). He has pretty much covered every inch of the Delta either by boat or by interview, and puts together some of the best information on the fishery that you can find anywhere- wouldn't miss it if we were you!

Also..... Bring your spare baits and equipment along to donate to the FLW National Guard College anglers. Goodness knows the average starving student could use the help!

Not to Brag, But....

2011-05-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

This review just came in on gfmarine.com.... Kinda warmed our little hearts:

"As an avid boat builder and restorer with a [penchant] for building really wild and crazy outboard motors I was impressed with the quality and price of the Jetcraft Falcon. The only thing standing in my way was finding a dealership that wasn't going out of business any time soon. When I got off the phone with Mark the first time I knew I had found the right dealer. I wrote a check with total confidence the day I met Mark and Beau and saw how they ran their business. Trust me folks, I've been to a lot of boat dealers and bought a lot of boats and Gone Fishin Marine is NOT typical. As for the boat, it's everything I expected it to be. I've been welding TIG and MIG for several years now and I can look at a welded boat and tell if the welders knew what they were dong or not. My Jetcraft Falcon is an entry level boat but they still put a lot of care into using the correct welding processes where they need to be. I have no doubt it will last for many years. If something happens, it is constructed of good quality 5000 series aluminum and can be repaired easily. If you're thinking about buying an Aluminum boat keep the preceeding sentence in mind. It could save you a lot of money in the future. Would I buy another boat from Gone Fishin Marine... Without hesitation. Would I recommend others .. You bet! Thanks Mark, Beau and Emily for the fantastic experience."
By: Steve, Santa Rosa, CA

Big thanks to Steve for sayin' so!

Timing IS Everything...

2011-04-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lucky for us, the FLW Everstart Tournament is coming to the Delta in early May- the timing of the event and its practice period puts three-time US Open champion Mike Folkestad in town for April 19th's Ultimate Bass University! (And that's not to mention his cover photo in the most recent issue of Bass Angler Magazine that just hit the stands!)

Since his first tournament win in 1975, Folkestad has been a steady of numerous professional tours. He's one of the best finesse anglers in the nation, notably proven in his record for the lowest winning weight in a Bassmaster tournament; when the bite gets tough, it's this guy's artillery you want in your tackle box!

We're so pleased that a fellow with Folkestad's resume and travel schedule would make time for little ol' us- make him feel welcome, and hear about some fishin' history that will guarantee you a great future on the water.

We start at 6:30pm on Tuesday, April 19th!

FREE admission

FREE raffle

WEAR your Bassaholics apparel for more free stuff

BRING your new Bass Angler Magazine and a Sharpie for Mike to autograph his cover photo!... What? Not a subscriber?? No worries, we have them here at the shop!

Game On for CA Salmon Fishing!!!

2011-03-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

The decison came down from the Pacific Fishery Management Council earlier in the month- we'll have a Salmon Season from Humboldt County down to the Mexico border this year, starting on April 2!

Minimum size will be 24" total, with a two fish per day limit on all species (except for coho). The extent of the season is still up for debate, but at the very worst, we're looking at an early September closure- not half bad after the massive shutdown of the last few years!

BUT, we hope everyone will remember this is a population that is still a little shakey on its comeback trail. Given the pressures of our area's record water exports, and their distressed spawning areas, these critters have an uphill battle for survival without overfishing tossed on top of it all. Please honor the limits set by biologists, and speak up on the CalTip hotline if you notice anyone abusing one of California's most precious resources!

Tackle Tyler has been hard at work making sure we'll all have what we need, come April 2- make sure you stop in and stock up early!

Underplan and They Will Come

2011-02-16T14:52:00.000-08:00

Whoa what a night- Ross England's visit to Ultimate Bass University was a huge success! Y'all kind of caught us by surprise; we were expecting a lower than usual turnout since we didn't meet in January. You know, rebuilding the routine, realigning the ol' schedule, but no. The photo doesn't do it justice, since you can only do so much with an iPhone (thanks Kent) after dark. But apparently there was some pent up demand for a good seminar, or you really, really missed us, or something, becuase we blew through 10 pizzas, several dozen cookies, a jar of salsa with enough chips to scoop it all up, and gallons of soda. We all scrambled for chairs, seats in and on boats, and so forth, to make for a super party!

The Bassaholics nuts were out in force, including most of the GFM crew. Two lucky winners received Lucky Craft goods autographed by Skeet Reese, and this isn't a one-time thing either. The Bassaholics guys have stepped up in a major way to help support the class and our local fishin' community. It's only appropriate that we should all "be true to [our] school" and sport those Bassaholics clothes at every opportunity! We have the sweatshirts/T-shirts/beanies/ball caps/trucker hats, and whatever else your fashion sense demands in the tackle shop (thanks to Tackle Tyler), so no excuses. Wear Bassaholics to EVERY UBU (among all the other places you should be wearing them)- prize winning will ensue.

Ross England's presentation was probably one of the best we have had yet (and given the calibur of people we have already brought through, that's REALLY saying something)! His unassuming manner tricked us all, and left everyone stunned as he proceeded to answer all these questions we didn't even know we had about Clear Lake. Maybe it's just that he spends more time guiding than competing these days, but Ross had such great insight into what the weekend warrior needs to know to be successful out there.

He didn't share just what baits and what colors and what line he uses and wish us all luck. To kick off the class, he offered up his personal tackle box, and passed it around the room for everyone to check out- no secrets between us. Then he went on to give us a whole framework for thought process. How to find what we're looking for, more than just the facts and figures of where, when, and on what.

Speaking of "where," he also lent us a sneak a peek at his personal Clear Lake map.... It comes off as a primitive GIS overlay at first, but he showed us the lake map he keeps that has a waypoint for every big fish he's caught out there. And suddenly folks, we have a pattern. To bottom line it, this fella has done the research, and all we have to do is sign up for a trip to reap the rewards of his hard work! There is no doubt in our minds that he is second to none in Clear Lake expertise, and easily one of the most personable people on the water.

Of course, we enjoyed Kent's usual jokes at Rio Linda Frank's expense (welcome back Frank, we missed ya!), gave away a ton of free raffle prizes, sent Ross back home with some gas money (awesome participation for the pay in raffle- thanks guys, we don't take your support for granted), and finally called it a night by 9:30. Bunch of tired pups dragging in the shop this morning, but we decided, it was completely worth it!

If you feel like you really missed out, you can certainly sign up for a private tutorial with Ross- find him at ClearLakeGuideService.com!

Just Who DOES Spend the Most Time on Clear Lake???

2011-02-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

Run a search for Ross England on WesternBass, and you'll have your answer! His name and Clear Lake guiding have become pretty well synonymous, so who better to get us going on this year's Clear Lake bass bite? As Jody Only mentioned in a recent Stockton Fishing Examiner post, the skies are clearing, and the season is nigh!

Ross England is joining us for Ultimate Bass University on Tuesday, February 15th to give us the insider's edge for all seasons and conditions Clear Lake has to offer! (And we all know, it can offer some dismal results if you don't know what Ross does about the lake)!

Ross is not your average Clear Lake buff either. He is a regular qualifier for a number of TOC's, and has earned several Angler of the Year titles over his last 25 years of tournament fishing. If you can believe there was life before FLW, he also qualified for two Red Man All American tournaments back in the day. Check out his credentials, or reserve your guided Clear Lake trip now on Ross England's Clear lake Guide Service page- California licensed, bonded and insured.....he's the real deal!

Don't forget that this month's UBU is also brought to you by Bassaholics Lifestyle Apparel, so show a little school spirit, wear your Bassaholics gear, and gain entry to a special raffle! (Don't worry, the free raffle will also feature, along with our customary eats, and general good time).

We'll see you for ULTIMATE BASS UNIVERSITY at 6:30PM, Tuesday, February 15th

Post-Show Whirlwind

2011-01-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

What a show, what a show. True to form, the ISE crew put on the biggest and best sports show Sacramento will see this year- always a class act!

As for Gone Fishin'? You can see from the young man's face, the deals were incredible! Mark, Luke and Beau manned 5640 sq ft worth of boats-for-sale all weekend, and did themselves proud. It probably required a Rockstar beverage or two to get through the long hours and lines of customers, but they got a lot accomplished and will be putting a bunch of lucky families on the water in new boats over the next few weeks.

We all know, "it takes a village," and Gone Fishin' owes a big thank-you to our volunteer crew for such excellent support. They towed boats, they set up the display, they cleaned boats, they sold boats, and they turned around and worked until late Sunday night getting everything back to the shop. We couldn't have made the show such a great one without Ron Brown and his Nitro expertise, Bruce Sheldon who knows Lund boats like the back of his hand, Lloyd Carter who could be an engineer for Lowrance, Preston Henson our Z9'er who knows how to play through the pain, and Billy Hines who knows something about everything. Thanks guys- you rock!

We had some guest stars in the booths from our own staff- namely Tackle Tyler, taking a swing at boat sales, and one of our behind-the-scenes movers and shakers, James, spent a couple days trying on a new hat. Tyler was also kind enough to lend his artistic eye to the booth and let us borrow some of his studio lighting- we didn't manage to get the disco ball hoisted in time, but the boats looked ready for a Saturday Night Fever showdown by the time he was done with 'em!

Another highlight was the CIFFI booth... no other vendor space was capped by a 16' boat to give away. And we do mean "capped." The prize boat was lofted a good 12' in the air for display above the booth walls! It looked majestic, and prompted a bunch more entries for the raffle, and inspired a whole new crowd of members we can't wait to meet!

If you missed it, never fear. There's still one more show left in March!

New Year, New Look....

2011-01-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

And new resolution to keep this end of things up to date!!

Frankly, 2010 kept us on our toes in a big way- we considered ourselves lucky to be so busy, but did a lot of burning that midnight oil, and cutting certain corners (like blogging). Happily, we have a lot of great new help (come on by and bid a good day to Brett Penrose in Service and Beau Carr in Sales) to help us meet the demands we forsee in the new year.

Speaking of the new year, it is, of course, time to break out the boat show mojo and hit the ground running for this year's International Sportsmen's Exposition at Cal Expo! It's coming up next week- January 20-23 to be exact. You can find us in a number of different places in the main pavilion this year- three separate display spaces devoted to Lund, JetCraft, Tracker, SunTracker, Tahoe and Nitro boats. Together they'll make us the largest exhibitor in the show (probably by a long shot)!

After keeping things under wraps for a while now, we're more than ready to show off some of the awesome new product and freakishly low price points that our manufacturers have on the table for the 2011 model year (Sneak a peek here).

We have a lot of new programs for trade-ins and re-powers, as well as first time boat owners, and all kinds of great staff available for Q&A for everything boating. Plus, you'll find plenty of professional anglers if you want to pick their brains for the places to be right now, service professionals to listen to you duplicate the goofy sound your boat engine has started making, and (of course) our knowledgable sales staff to guide you in your boat purchase! Here's the Show Schedule!

A Year of Ultimate Bass University!

2010-05-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

Indeed, we have been at it for a year now! Courtesy of Triton Boats and Mercury Outboards, Kent Brown hooked up with us a year ago this month to create Ultimate Bass University here at Gone Fishin' Marine.

The Ultimate Bass radio host has been the king of the social hill bringing in some of the greatest anglers the West has to offer. The likes of Gary Dobyns, Bub Tosh, RJ Bennett, Mark Lassagne, Tony Franceschi, Preston Henson, Russ Graves, Gene Buchholz, and most recently, Zack Thompson have graced our showroom floor.

We've covered topics all over the map (literally- Tony Franceschi committed the enitre topology of Clear Lake to memory) for our local water, new techniques (punch, punch, punch says Bub Tosh), electronics (Kent loves the new beeps that come with the Lowrance HDS/Structure Scan
units). We've given away thousands of dollars in free raffles every month. We've taken a boat load of donations for the CBAF's Toys for the Troops' Kids tournament and toy drive.

Best of all? We've built a great community of good anglers and outstanding people that we look forward to seeing every month! (Really, how many other events can boast Rio Linda Frank as a regular??)

The greatest things about the Anniversary Edition of Ultimate Bass University:

- Dave Sisti brought the makings for pulled pork sandwiches.... There were no left-overs, suffice it to say!

- Zack Thompson knows his stuff. He could have gone on for two more hours and still would have had us all riveted. Besides that, he's just a heckuva nice fellow!

- All kinds of kids attended with their parents- we can't wait until the next generation is ready to get outfitted for a lifetime of angling!

- Rich Thiel was so generous- he donated a guided trip on the delta to a lucky raffle winner!

- Birthday cake...

- ...and ice cream.

We'll see you for the next Ultimate Bass University on JUNE 15th!!!

Game ON for Swap Meet 2010, April 24!!

2010-04-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

IT'S FINALLY HERE...SWAP MEET 2010!
Make one man’s trash another man’s treasure…clean the old fishing stuff out of your closets, spare room and garage and bring it all over to Gone Fishin’ Marine for our April 24th 2010 Swap Meet!

Here’s the plan:

-Grab your gently used fishing and boating gear and bring it to Gone Fishin’ Marine by April 22nd.

-We’ll help you price your items, tag everything, and set it up to be tracked in our computer system for the day of the sale.

-Come to the April 24th event and feast on our complimentary BBQ fare, shop for deals on those things you just can’t see paying full price for (we’re kicking in lots of brand new non-current items too), and watch your GFM account pile up as your items sell.

The Terms:

-Have your items to us by April 22nd

-Decide whether you want your sales to be applied to a GFM credit (you get 85% of your sale price back), or cash (you get 70% of your sale price back)

-Pick up the items that didn’t sell within the week after the meet

-Give us a week to send you your cash/credit

Some ideas as you go through your treasures…

-Those life jackets your kids outgrew that are still in good shape (it’d be great to see someone else’s kids outgrow them too, wouldn’t it?)

-The reel you thought you couldn’t live without three years ago, and the tags are still on it

-The enormous box of baits you kept out of your wife’s sight to stay out of trouble and then forgot about and never used

-A perfectly good rod/reel combo that your fierce skills have outgrown but would be great for someone to learn on without having to make the huge investment of buying new

-The tube your kid had to have for you to pull behind the boat, and decided it wasn’t all that fun after the first run.

-Water skis- who has time for ‘em when there’s fishin’ to be done?!

-Shoot- just bring in your old boat while you’re at it!

-Electronics that you traded for HD units (but they DO have to work)!

As ever, CALL or E-MAIL us with ANY questions!

Spring? ALREADY?!

2010-03-10T11:35:00.001-08:00

Yes, the air is still a little brisk, but with all the trees blossoming and flowers starting their spring bloom, it's clear, boating season is just about here. How else do we know? The Sacramento Boat and Offroad Extravaganza is in town at Cal Expo! Tomorrow, March 11th through Sunday, March 14th, we have an unbelievably huge display of the best boats to start your family's boating and fishing season off right:

-For the recreationalist, we have pontoons, deckboats, and family runabouts all polished up and ready to hook up to the back of your truck.

-More of a fishin' family? Our Tracker and Lund aluminum deep vees are second to none, and bass boats from Triton and Nitro are on hand for the species specialists.

-Need a good compromise? You'll definitely want to take a seat in the Nitro and Triton sport boats- they ski well, they fish great, and are reasonably priced for the average family.

Bottom line? There's something for everyone!

What's more, this year's show has some exciting off road displays and demos, RV's on display, fishing seminars for anglers of all stripes, and tackle vendors showing the latest and greatest to guarantee your next big catch! Don't miss it- it could be your last chance to save a bundle!

Click here for more info

Click here for free tickets...don't forget to include your name, address and how many tickets you need!

What a Year! Heck.... What a Decade!

2010-01-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

This first decade of the 21st century has been a doozy with the extraordinary highs of the boating industry followed by one of the biggest crashes the ever seen. Little bit of the legend of Icarus to it all, isn't there? Thankfully, GFM came under new ownership at the mid point of the decade, and the innovation and savvy Mark brought to the table has made us one of the real fighters in this fishin' game!

And we sure polished the decade off with a bang- 2009 was a biggie in the boating industry, in the bass world, and certainly at Gone Fishin’. Really, the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race between Skeet Reese and Kevin Van Dam was enough to call it a year right then and there! California anglers did a lot to put our state on the map nationwide, and more locally there were shakeups throughout state tournament circuits with a huge changing of the guard in WON Bass and National Bass West expanding to include Northern California divisions. And that doesn't even graze the surface, I know.

Closer to home, Gone Fishin’ had a pretty incredible year- thanks to all of you who made it what it was! We lucked out getting to add Alan Fong from Fisherman’s Warehouse to our pro staff- the guy knows more about fish than most biologists I suspect. Along with himself, he brought his Al-E-Baby swimbaits, and we’ve been slayin’ ‘em ever since, suffice it to say! We also snapped up the opportunity to bring Triton bass boats aboard. Amazing, the fan club those boats have- it has been SUCH a pleasure getting to know the Triton crowd as well as fishing out of these awesome boats. We had an absolute blast at the Triton Owner’s Tournament in October (do NOT miss the next one), and had the honor of delivering the prize boat to Bill Scharton after he made the lucky draw the last day of the tournament.

Biggest and best though, we teamed up with Ultimate Bass Radio host, and Triton/Mercury pro, Kent Brown to bring Ultimate Bass University to the Gone Fishin’ showroom on a monthly basis. Thanks to Kent, GFM has jumped in with both feet and met some outstanding professional anglers, gotten to know a huge number of local bass aficionados, and had the best time in the world doing it. Along the way we all have seen an incredible array of styles, techniques, and philosophies in the effort to put more fish in the boat. We only started the University in May, but already, more people have been catching more fish, and GFM has been stocking all kinds of new gear to keep up with everyone.

Kent kicked our seminars off himself, but then he brought through some really outstanding local pros like Mark Lassagne, RJ Bennett, Bub Tosh (and yes, he brought those Paycheck Baits punching skirts into the tackle department mix), and most recently, Tony Franceschi. And let’s not forget the cast of characters in the audience- we had Dave Hudson and Jon DeVries bring big groups of teen anglers as special guests, we met CBAF’s Jerry Fournier and threw together a boat load of Toys for the Troops’ Kids (literally), we found out that Jody Only is a super writing talent in her Stockton Fishing Examiner column online, and have a whole modeling portfolio from Rio Linda Frank ready to go as soon as Mr. DeMille comes calling. The personalities we’ve seen have been great fun, but the knowledge we all came away with, and the new friendships forged hold the promise of a fruitful 2010 on the water. Here’s to 2010!!

2009 Reindeer Games (Or December's Ultimate Bass University)

2009-12-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

Greetings weary shoppers!

Tis the season for fishin' freak out- just as we get through the holiday stress, sports show seminars lurk around the corner, and Mike Iaconelli & Co get set take Sacramento by storm with The Bass University in just a couple weeks. That's a lot of bassin'. So we're taking a break from the academics to have a little fun with this month’s Ultimate Bass University!

We’ll still let you in on all the secrets for 2010's new products, and we'll offer some extra help (and discounts) for your Christmas elves. But we plan to have some fun along the way, challenging your fishing prowess, and bestowing gifts and bragging rights on the flipping masters and trivia buffs among you.

Food and merriment are on the agenda; come on down to the shop, bring the kids, bring a buddy, and your A-game to Ultimate Bass University. Play hooky from school with us on Tuesday, December 15th beginning at 6:30PM!!

Stipers Coming Unhinged!

2009-11-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here's Rich Reeser's latest.... He and Ron Brown both came by the shop on Wednesday with hands completely raw from their day on the Delta Tuesday!

Well the striper fishing on the West Delta has really taken off. There have been a number of large fish being taken along with large numbers of fish being caught on each outing. Larry Kitchen caught a 28 pound beauty last week trolling in the west delta. Steve Ayers caught a 27 pounder this past Saturday fishing off the Sacramento River. With all the great fishing I have been hearing about I planned a trip out on the river with Butch and Pat Carpenter this past Sunday. Well we didn’t hook into any large stripers but we did get the numbers of fish catching 25 plus fish trolling for a half day trip. I also hooked a very large fish which I never saw but we all knew it had to be a sturgeon. After battling this fish for close to 10 minutes he pulled free. We ended the trip with 6 nice keepers.

On Tuesday I got together with Ron Brown for a day on the water of running and gunning throwing Hippo Swim Baits and Rattle Traps. What a day did we have, we were on the water at first light, but it was a slow start not only fishing but just getting to our fishing spots. The fog was so thick you couldn’t see more than 30 to 40 feet and even less at times. We had to deal with the fog for over 2 hours and during that time never had a bite. When the fog burned off it was as if someone threw the main switch when it comes to getting bites. I had no idea at the time but it was about to be the best day I have ever had casting for stripers. During the next 5 hours we put 63 striper in the boat, yes you read it right 63 fish. It was an amazing day on the water. I can’t even tell you how many fish we lost. We went fish for fish Ron throwing the hippo swim bait and myself throwing a rattle trap. It was a toss up on who caught the most, but Ron took the big fish honor throwing the swim bait. Most of the fish went between 6 and 8 pounds with the better fish going 11 to 15 pounds. Ron pictured below with 4 of our better fish. So if you have some free time and can make a trip to the delta now is the time for some great striper fishing. And remember you don’t need to own a boat to get into the action, there is a lot of fish caught off the bank using fresh bait. If you are wanting to go out on a boat and don’t have access to one you can take a guide trip.

The trout action is starting to happen up at Lake Berryessa according to Troy of T-Roy’s Guide Service. The lake has turned over and the trout have come to the surface. The bass have moved deeper with the colder water, so if its bass you are after you need to slow down and drop shot or use spoons.

How Did I Miss Posting This!?!?

2009-11-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

It's become a little chilly, a lot "breezy," and the first snow has fallen in the Sierra...looks like it's time to prepare for the winter bite. And believe it, there are plenty of fish down there for the taking! This Tuesday, November 17th, Kent Brown is going to help us re-learn everything we forgot from last winter; spoons (just in time for us to pick up the new Blade Runners in the tackle shop), jigs, deep reaction baits and so on.

Also, we're going to get to hear first hand Kent's experience with the new StructureScan offering from Lowrance Electronics. Sure, we're all familiar by now with their HDS units, but the imaging available now is absolutely incredible! That's not to say the standard electroncis on most boats can't take you a long way toward bagging a limit of those deep-dwelling spotted bass- Kent has been at it long enough, he'll be able to tell any of us with any graph technology just how to turn what we have to our best advantage this winter.

We're operating on the buddy system for the night- bring a friend with you who hasn't been to UBU before for entry into a special raffle!!

We'll see you here at the shop at 6:30PM for Ultimate Bass University, Tuesday November 17th!!

Incidentally, the "Toy Boat" is still here. So if you have some extra Toys for the Troops Kids, bring 'em!

Triton Owner's Tournament Wrap-up

2009-10-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Bill Scharton, lucky winner of a brand new Triton 20 X3 with a Mercury 225 Pro XS. Here's the video footage of his moment of utter disbelief:

Bill picked his boat up from Gone Fishin's rigging department weekend before last, and boy did he have some plans for it already! The fishing was pretty good for the tournament weekend (as the winning pair, Michael Rothstein & Joe Pool can tell you- 40.26lbs over two days), but the comraderie was even better. All those Triton fans in one place really seemed to please Triton president, Earl Bentz, who made a special trip all the way out to Clear Lake just for the event! And everyone enjoyed raising a glass to what they all knew was the best bass boat on the water. It was Gone Fishin's first year participating in the Tournament, and we can't wait for next year's reunion!

The Latest from Rich Reeser of the Independent Voice

2009-10-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Dixon Boat Club had one its many fish derby’s it puts on when the stripers are running. It’s just lucky for me that I was unable to make it because had I been there I would have got my butt kicked along with the rest of the members fishing in the derby. I had to spend the weekend with my wife at the coast celebrating our anniversary.

Ed Schumacher was fishing with Joe Soares when he hooked and landed a 45 inch striper that weighed 36 pounds which took the big fish award in the derby. According to Soares fishing was on the tough side for most of the anglers. There were a few other fish in the eight to 10 pound range that were brought to the scales but none compared to the one Ed brought in. And from what I’m told, this one is on his way to the taxidermy so it can hang on the club house wall with the many other trophy’s that are there on display. Earlier in the week Soares caught [a] nice sturgeon which measured just under the maximum length of 66 inches after being on the water less than an hour. I guess if you are launching along side Joe anytime soon you might want to follow him around the slough, it is apparent that he know where they are biting right now.

Rio Vista---Vinny at Rio Vista bait and tackle has weighed in a few nice sturgeon over the past week-end up to 65 inches. The striper bite slowed slightly with the weaker tides that we have been seeing this weekend, but there have been a few nice stripers to 43 inches brought in. Grass and ghost shrimp have been the bait of choice for sturgeon and mud suckers and shad for the stripers.

ISLETON---This last weekend fishing for stripers was a little slower than earlier in the week due to the slower tides. As the tides begin to build again the fishing should get better. The action even on the smaller fish slowed down. The weather was nice and the water temperature is
still up at about 60 degrees. As the days get shorter and the cooler weather hits the water should start lowering in temperature and the bait fishing should be very good. We have been fishing in about 13 to 20 feet of water and have been presenting threadfin shad and bullheads as the best bait for the stripers.

LOWER SACRAMENTO RIVER BETWEEN REDDING & RED BLUFF---The
Steelhead are starting to show up we hooked a couple the last trip out and many Wild Rainbow Trout, one Salmon with all the fish moving in to spawn you don‘t know what you will hook on your next cast. Have been using cadis fly’s, may fly nymphs, glow bugs or side drifting crickets and pulling plugs with great success.

Markley Cove Resort---Penny at Markley Cove reports that the bass bite is still decent but the trout and salmon bite hasn’t taken off as of yet. We are still waiting for the water to cool and when that happens the lake will turn over and that bite will get red hot.

Remember to be safe on the water and wear your life jacket. See you on the water or in the great outdoors. Remember if you come by and the boat’s not there I’ve probably…“gone fishing!”

Ultimate Bass University meets Toys for the Troops Kids

2009-10-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

This coming Tuesday, it is our pleasure to present one of Clear Lake's most venerated natives, Tony Franceschi, for Ultimate Bass University, October 20th at 6:30 in the GFM showroom! This UBU also is the kickoff for our annual toy collection for CBAF's Toys for the Troops Kids Tournament. So this time around, there is a price of admission- please bring a new, unwrapped toy in order to be a part of the Ultimate Bass University raffle. It's as simple as making a quick stop at Wal Mart on your way off the freeway!

A little bit about why you might want to make it a point to come by: Tony Franceschi has a West Coast Bass championship title to his name, as well as the record for largest bass ever caught in a Western Bass tournament on Clear Lake (and who among us wouldn't like to know how to crack that code and beat him at his own game!). You have probably seen him on WesternBass TV, and he is easily one of the most knowledgable guys on the lake that a nation of anglers will travel thousands of miles to fish. It only makes sense to ask Tony to take us through the patterns Clear Lake puts in front of us every season of the year; so bring your maps, and Tony'll bring his Sharpie to show you where it's all at on Clear Lake!

Outside and On the Water with Rich Reeser

2009-10-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

Gone Fishin' Marine Team member, Rich Reeser just landed his own fishing & outdoors column at The Independent Voice! We're proud as can be, and so glad he's agreed to syndication here on the blog. Here's his first column...enjoy!

Just a quick note to let you know who I am as I attempt to write a fishing column.
My name is Rich Reeser and I've lived in Dixon since 1960. When I was old enough to hold a fishing rod my dad started taking me fishing and I was hooked. So my favorite thing still to do in my free time is to go fishing.
My tournament fishing partner, Kevin Ryan, and I spent a recent weekend pre-fishing for the up coming Tournament of Champions for which we qualified for fishing the 100 percent Bass WRL circuit.
The tournament was held at Clearlake Ca. on October.3rd and 4th with 200 the anglers who qualified competing. We had a great pre-fish and were all fired up at the possibilities of winning first place and a new boat. I mean if you don't go in with the attitude that you're going to win you my as well stay home. Besides someone had to win the boat, why not us?
Day one started out with 35 mph winds and anyone who fishes Clearlake knew what a miserable day on the water it was going to be. But being tournament day you’re committed and its game on. We ran to our first spot and picked up a couple of quick two pounders and the day didn't get much better. We weighted in a five fish limit of just over 13 pounds for the day, which on Clearlake is not very good. We had some friends from Dixon that also fished this tournament Ron Frye and Bob Spencer. Bob and his partner weighted in 19+ pounds for the day good enough for fourth place. Ron and his partner had 17+ pounds, good enough for seventh to start the tournament.
We had a better day catching just over 20 pounds vaulting us up to 12th place for the final day. Bob and his partner finish 5th, Ron and his partner in 16th. We all finished in the money and had a great time.
We caught fish on a variety of baits plastic worms, jigs, reaction baits and many other types of bait. Clearlake is a great fishery and if you love bass fishing you need to fish this lake. You also have a chance of catching a bass of a life time. Big fish for the tournament was over 10 pounds and there are fish in the double digits caught at clear lake all the time.
But now that my tournament fishing is over for the season its time for some fun fishing, Stripers...and they are starting to move into the system. Lots of schoolies sized fish are being caught on both the east and west delta. With the weather cooling the big ones will start to show. You can catch stripers many ways, throwing lures, trolling and bait fishing. Most of the bigger fish are caught on bait.
The 62nd annual Rio Vista Striper Derby is going on this weekend. Anyone who enters has a chance winning a 14' Klamath boat with a 9.9 4-stroke Yamaha. They will draw a target length at the start of the derby for striper and sturgeon. The winner of the striper prize receives $2000 and sturgeon $1000. There are also prizes from second to fifth place.
The entry fee is $30 and $35 after 9/26/09. There is a kid’s derby also and they will have many venders and crafts and more for the entire family to enjoy.
For all your tackle and boating needs for the derby you can stop by Gone Fishing Marine right here in Dixon. They have a very knowledgeable staff to help you get set up with the proper tackle for catching the big one. They also have a great line of boats from fishing to pleasure, and a full line of boating parts and accessories.
Remember to be safe on the water and wear your life jacket. See you on the water or the great outdoors.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some...

2009-10-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

We robbed this fair and square from Facebook, but it was in direct answer to a question posed on Jon DeVries' page. And for what it's worth Jon, you had a rock solid season, so we're not too worried about the TOC, and frankly we can all identify- great job this year (and the last sentence here is particularly catchy)!

The TOC was a test of my patience and ability to endure tough conditions and ever sinking hopes of having a good finish to the year........ The wind and waves created a hardship and eliminated one of my patterns for the tourney on Saturday. On Sunday, the weather persisted but the water temp dropped 5 degrees over night. Not good when you're struggling.

At the end of the day Saturday we were in 25th place but were still in the running. We knew we needed to have a good day on Sunday to finish in the top ten but it just didn't pan out for us. We either made bad decisions or just weren’t able to make the right adjustments to capitalize on whatever fish were available in the areas we covered. Struggling was an understatement when you consider that we didn’t have a limit in the boat until 20 minutes before weigh in which, in itself, was nothing more than a moral victory.

In a nutshell, we had a very poor showing as it related to our ability to make the necessary adjustments with these other than subtle changes. However, our spirit, sportsmanship and continued love of the sport showed the true colors of the Gone Fishin Marine fishing team and the participants and organizers of 100% Bass.

Hurry up and Wait

2009-09-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

Looking back over the ads we sent out, the invites, the e-mails, the blog posts, etc. for our last Ultimate Bass University (the September 15th) meeting, we really sold Bub Tosh short. Yes, he puts on a great show; he is indeed hilarious and should consider a career in stand-up if he just doesn't feel like fishing one day (OK, doubt it'd happen, but he could do it if he wanted to); and of course, he can catch fish. Lots of 'em. Big ones too. But we neglected to mention something.... This guy is smart! An inventive, quick-on-his-feet, MacGeyver kind of smart. A lot of us go out thinking we catch fish on general knowledge alone- that's only a small part of the puzzle though.

Bub walked us through his thought processes for a number of scenarios that force the necessity of improvisation on top of layers of basic fact. Like it or not, it's the constantly thinking and innovating angler who gets the fish. It's in revising a snell knot that'll hold better for a punching set up (now that was a revelation), thinking to shrinkwrap a hook, changing up technique depending on what kind of grass or mat we're on (pennyfoil sounds like a great little jaunt if you want to hop out of the boat to stretch your legs without getting wet). We didn't even get to a thousand other environmental variables that come into play- if we went too much further, we were going to need a slide rule to hammer it all out. So to summarize: the take home message? Wait for it.

Bub's not afraid to work the same spot for "way too long" because he knows the fish are there. All it is, is thinking like a fish and figuring out what they want (who knew there were a thousand ways to present a punch skirt?) , finding the right combination of circumstances, and then.... Wait for it.

As it turns out, the object of the game, with a swimbait or a punch skirt, is not to yank the fish's face off the second you feel the slightest jiggle in your line. The too-early, too-fast hook set is the best way to lose that big fish (and everyone has had the biggest fish ever on the end of the line, only to lose it, don't try to kid). It becomes a game of endurance (mostly mental) to ease to a nice solid hook set position and get that fish right where we want, and then.... Let 'er rip.

It was a great lesson for any number of us out there that night, in addition to all kinds of practical knowledge (and Bub is a storehouse). We had a great turnout with another excellent show from a local youth group- this time Dave Hudson brought his "kids," Venture Crew 998 from Winters (hope those swimbaits are working out for you guys). Awesome bunch, and they now know the proper use of a Zippo lighter, thanks to our illustrious speaker! Mark catered us in fine style with all kinds of great eats, and Kent kept it all under control (well sorta) with a raffle that relieved us of several hundred dollars worth of inventory. We sold a lot of Bub's new Paycheck Baits punch skirts that night- we actually ran out, and thankfully he had a fresh supply with him, so our shelves are re-stocked. Next UBU is October 20th- if you have a group of teen anglers you'd like us to host, drop a line, we definitely want to hear from you!! In the meantime, we look forward to reports of how everyone does with this latest innovation to California fishing- send pictures!

Triton Owners Tournament West

2009-09-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Calling all Triton owners!!
The Third Annual Triton Owners Team Tournament is just around the corner- October 10-11 to be exact. Get your boat ready, grab a buddy and get set to hit Konocti Harbor on Clear Lake. $200 entry gets you in witha $50 contingency pot if you're feeling brave. 80% payback PLUS a fully rigged 20' Triton are at stake- can't go wrong with those odds! Hop to and sign up here!

Don't forget, Clear Lake has the Quagga dogs out there looking for invasive mussels, so make sure your boat's dry, and check in at the marina for your Invasive Species Inspection Permit!

See you on Clear Lake!

Delta Punching II

2009-09-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

You’re in for an evening of hilarity and startling discovery this Tuesday, September 15th- none other than Bub Tosh is in town for this month’s Ultimate Bass University! He built a reputation for his swimbait prowess on the BASS and FLW National tours, and brought home the FLW Cup Co-Angler Champion title. Bub added to his professional credentials this year by bringing the angling world Paycheck Baits Punch Skirts and Punch Hooks; the very baits that won the Delta Stren tournament for Ish Monroe earlier this year, and put Bub in second. The FLW National Guard tournament comes to the Delta just a couple weeks from now and Paycheck Baits are the favorite to win it all.
Come by the shop next Tuesday at 6:30, where Bub will show us how to catch fish in the heavy grass and weed cover of the Delta and Clear Lake with ease. Don’t miss it- Bub Tosh is one of the most dynamic presenters you could hope to find- he’s a perfect expert and completely hysterical to boot! (Though, with colors like Gas Money, Tax Man, and Mortgage, that probably didn't even need saying).
Ultimate Bass University: Gone Fishin’ Marine Showroom, Tuesday, September 15, 6:30PM

Photo Courtesy of www.TackleTour.com

Hang Out with FLW Pro, RJ Bennett on the 18th!

2009-08-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Yep, you read right- RJ Bennett... at GFM... for Ultimate Bass University!

Kent Brown and Gone Fishin' Marine welcome a favorite hometown hero to the showroom on Tuesday, August 18th- he's an FLW National Guard Angler, a two-time East vs West qualifier, and one of the youngest ever to qualify for the BFL All American. You'll find RJ on the cover of your next Bass West USA magazine for his newest title, 2009 Angler's Choice Pro Am Angler of the Year. The Pure Fishing national pro is among the best spotted bass anglers you will ever see, and is a top finisher on Clear Lake and the Delta. His knowledge of local waters and amazing talent promise a great night full of knowledge you'll want to play close to the vest as the fall TOC season comes upon us.

Don't Miss RJ Bennett at Gone Fishin' Marine, 6:30PM, Tuesday, August 18th! It's complimentary admission, and all are welcome, so bring a friend (we promise, we'll work on the seating)!

Wait a Second, I Thought This Was a Fishing Class!

2009-08-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

July 21st, 6:30PM…. I walk in and hear something about braids and matching skirts; I thought I had accidentally walked into a debutante ball! Turns out, it was Mark Lassagne struttin’ his Delta stuff in the GFM showroom. We a lot of really valuable information from the Bass Angler’s Guide publisher as he presented an awesome look at Delta fishing to a standing room only crowd (though some of us opted to “pull up a boat” once the chairs were taken). With the Delta fishery getting progressively more fickle, crazy weather, and the landscape changing so drastically in recent months, Lassagne led us though a huge gamut of techniques and set-ups he uses on his Delta guide trips and in tournaments. He also walked us through a number of things to think about as we work the water- troubleshooting our bait choices, getting our boats positioned right for various water conditions, and adjustments to make as we go. In other words, thinking like a fish got really complex really fast!

We got the inside line on dropshot, senko, zappo, jig, crank bait, spinner bait and frog fishing with a top secret look into his tackle box, great suggestions for rigging to suit each bait, and some “who’d-a-thunk-it” tips to make it all work better. But Mark saved the best for last. We talked a LOT about the new punching trend out here in California- and is there any better time to get onto that than now? (SEE Alan Fong’s post from a couple days ago if you disagree). We got a great introduction to the technique for those who hadn’t really tried punching before, as well as some cool illustrations and demos for Palomar knots and getting those bobber stoppers placed just right. The showroom was all abuzz for quite some time after he had wrapped up his presentation (pictured above)- great questions with lots of nods and note taking during the Q&A!

It was a GREAT workshop, and we’re extremely fortunate to have Mark all to ourselves from time to time as part of the GFM Fishing Team. We can’t wait to have him back for another UBU class, but until then, you can pick his brain for yourself by scheduling a trip and subscribing to the Bass Angler’s Guide magazine!

delta punching

2009-08-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Learning to fish the Delta as the weeds seem to never stop growing. I took a customer of GFM out to teach her how to punch the matts. Ceci also wanted to go for a ride in the new nitro Z-9 to see how it rode and fished! We were punching the matts with a 1.5 oz tungsen weight with a punch skirt and a sweetbeaver. The bass were under the matts and hyacinths in a foot of water. Ceci caught the first four bass in places she never would have thought to fish. A couple of times after she set the hook I had to help her pull the bass out of the heavy cover! By mid day she was convinced this was the way to fish for big bass in the middle of summer! She also commented (awesome boat) on how nice the Z-9 rode and how big the front deck was. Ceci borrowed her husbands Powell 766H flipping rod with 65# test braid to get the job done. I think Eric has to go get another rod & reel because Ceci going to keep this set up!

Ultimate Bass University- This Tuesday, July 21st!

2009-07-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

This coming Tuesday, July 21st, Kent Brown brings us one of GFM's own Team members, Mark Lassagne! Mark is a California born and bred Skeeter pro, and second to none in Delta fishing. With the Snag Proof Open frog tournament just around the corner, Mark will share with us some of the knowledge he has accumulated over the years that has made him a much sought after guide as well as a rock solid tournament competitor out on the Delta. Just a few of his tournament accomplishments include qualifying for the West Coast Bass Classic, FLW Stren Championship, Redman Regional and the prestigious Bassmaster trail.
Oh...and did we mention, he is the founder and publisher of one of our favorite Bass publications, Bass Angler's Guide magazine? Since there is clearly not a minute of the day this guy doesn't eat, sleep and breathe fishing, we stand to really gain an edge on the rest of the field with his Delta Fishing Workshop, in the GFM showroom at 6:30PM on the 21st!!

Al-E-Babies Take on Pardee

2009-06-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys went to Pardee this last Monday and caught a couple big smallies! Caught them on my al-e-baby's on the main body. Saw a friend of mine who was trolling for kokanee and he said the kokanee were down forty feet but they were all about 4 to 5" long. I was graphing lots of koks and nice arch's all around them as I think they were big smallies eating them. These smallies are suspended in deep water eating these small koks. My al-e-baby is a little to big but I did get a few to eat it. I will be going back soon to try and catch the state record which I missed last year by three onces!

School May Be Out, but Class is Just Starting!

2009-06-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Despite the look of things outside, summer is here! With the new season comes a whole new bite to figure out, and it's high time we really get to thinking about our finesse techniques for summer tournaments. It's not a simple matter of grabbing a couple bags of worms to throw in your tackle box either.

This coming Tuesday (June 16th) at 6:30, Kent Brown will get us going on the prep work for some great summer action. We'll look at dropshot and dart head ideas, scaling down our flipping and topwater baits, and figuring out just how to keep on the fish with all the extra boat traffic out there.

See you in the Gone Fishin' Marine showroom for June's Ultimate Bass University!!

All Hands for the C.O. Pro Teen!

2009-06-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is an event most of our Team participates in every year (photos abound of our last two years of wins for it too). So while we are all ready for that three-peat, we'd sure like to see some stiffer competition! They need more boaters- so get yourself signed up NOW! Here's a letter we got from Cooch, puttin' it all out there!

Hi Guys,

My appologies to those of you on this list that have already registered for this year's Pro-Teen, that have already received yer confirmation earlier. This mail is really for those who have not yet signed up for this years event. We'd love to see ya come back for this years event. At the moment we have 74 teens signed up and are sitting at about 28 boaters. I know we still got a month ta go, some of ya already have commitments and others may be on the fence. The date of this years event is July 19th, 2009.

If you haven't already signed up and can make this years event, please follow the link below to register. No matter whether ya can or can't make it this year, it would be a great help for us if'n ya could pound the pavement and talk to yer buddies too!

http://www.westernbass.com/dotcom/proteen/regform/

Thanks for yer time guys, yer past efforts and all the support you've given us over the years! You guys make this thing work!

Cooch

Berkley Big Bass

2009-06-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys just wanted to let everyone know if you didn't fish the Berkley Big Bass tournament in the Delta you missed out on all the fun! There was a record number of contestants (335) anglers. The tournament was a lot of fun and I saw three of GFM team guys there competing for the big prize (Tundra PU). Only problem was you had to fish with Berkley products and I will start using them so I can get some confidence in there baits. There were lots of big fish caught so I realize they work! I weighed a couple four pound fish but got bumped off the seat both times! Had a great time fishing catching lots of two to three pound bass both days just couldn't get the big bite! I will return next year as they already confirmed it will happen again in 2010! So I will start practicing with Berkley products asap!

Our Tournament Tough Guys Strike Again

2009-06-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

So, it looks like last weekend was full of all kinds of madness for the GFM Fishing Team.... Big congrats to Billy Hines for his win at the Angler's Choice Berryessa tournament with Preston Henson on Saturday, and huge 'atta boy to Mark Lassagne for that pay check he wrangled out of a really tough couple of days in the Delta Stren tournament. Way to go gang...keep it up!!

Ulitmate Bass University...May Recap

2009-05-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Kent Brown took on an eager group for our first monthly Ultimate Bass University workshop, giving us a great overview of everything topwater.

He started us off with a rundown on the baits, past to present, from those little poppers and walking baits all the way up through the newest swimbaits (we even got to have a little discussion about Alan Fong’s Al-E-Baby baits). Once through the basics, Kent gave us all kinds of tips for modifying the baits; like oversize Gamagatsu hooks for the Zara Spook, or a crazy custom paint job like what Corey Fenske does, and how to get the spinner baits chattering just right. He also gave some really great technique pointers for figuring out who might be lurking on the other end of the line to increase hook-ups and catches. Granted, the larger point of that discussion was the importance of keeping it simple (nothing more complicated than a white frog with a bit of chartreuse to the belly if you just gotta have paint), and using the basics to get plenty of action on the Delta or Clearlake, the local farm (or golf course?) pond, whatever.

With years of competitive experience, Kent has tried just about every combination of rod/reel/line with those baits (had us all on our feet trying to comprehend the San Diego knot for a front runner set up, pictured above), and probably saved us rookies a lot of time showing us some other great ways to set up and why. Basically, we’re now able to make topwater an all day technique wherever we fish…how cool is that?!

If you missed class and don’t want to flunk the final, Kent and Corey had lots of great topwater tricks featured in the May 15 issue of WON Bass, and Western Bass just reposted one of Kent’s articles on the topic.

Don't miss the next one...Ultimate Bass University happens the third Tuesday of every month in the Gone Fishin' Marine showroom, around 6PM!

Billy's Pretty Good Day

2009-05-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Billy Hines had called in saying he had a "pretty good" day out on the Delta last week. Yeah, I guess so... if "pretty good" is the same size as some livestock! It's looking like the Stren Tournament out there this coming weekend ought to be "pretty interesting!"

Swap Meet

2009-05-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Got to Gone Fishin this morning about 8:45 am and there were a lot of people already there checking out the fishing goodies! I saw a lot of familiar faces there and they asked me what I was doing there? I told them I was shopping! Soon everyone will hear that I am a part of the Gone Fishing Team! Hopefully we can get Fun Fishing back on the air soon!
Alan

Ultimate Bass University...about to kick off!

2009-05-12T14:19:00.001-07:00

So now that we're a Triton dealer, and a Mercury dealer, and a long-time sponsor of the Ultimate Bass radio show, we figured now would be the time to team up with Ultimate Bass radio host Kent Brown to bring local bass anglers the best advice the West has to offer in the form of Ultimate Bass University. The Third Tuesday of Every Month, beginning around 6PM, Kent will bring the best and brightest the sport has to offer through the GFM showroom for a couple hours of workshop and Q&A. What better way to learn the ins and outs of the sport than from the guys who are out there full time and winning the big dough?! We'll see ya there!

For our first outing, Kent will take the reins and get us going on topwater techniques and equipment. Naturally, we'll provide you with plenty of time & discounts to stock up once you know what you need!

Kids Weekend Recap...

2009-05-12T13:29:00.001-07:00

We're glad to say, it didn't take too much nagging after all to get some photos of an amazing weekend rolling here on the Team blog! Several team members joined up and hit the water the first weekend of May with C.A.S.T. for Kids on Folsom, and for the CBAF Kids Camp on Collins. Looking at the photos as they flash by, it seems the weather could have really made for a bad weekend for everyone- but all the grins and fish would indicate otherwise! According to Ron, the kids didn't care if they got soaked, and the boaters were having too good a time watching the kids to care what the weather was doing. In fact, he said he thinks the elders had more fun than the kids. We beg to differ- the pictures don't lie!!!

Thanks again to our Team members for constantly giving and to the community members who make events like these happen!

12 DAYS to Get Swap Meet Items to GFM!!

2009-04-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Time is running short, so make sure to get the last of those garage sale type things together and get them over to Gone Fishin' Marine by MAY 10th. Here's what we have set up:
- Have your things to us by May 10th
- We'll work with you to set prices, then we take over and catalog everything in our computer system so you don't have to sit and supervise the day of the event
- Come to shop and find your own steals and deals on MAY 16th, enjoy our complimentary BBQ, hang out with great local guys like our team members, Alan Fong (he promised some Al-e-babies in the mix), and the Dixon Boat Club (they promised cake)!
- Give us a week, and we'll send the money for what we sold out of the items you dropped off here!

Could we make it any easier for you to sit back and make some free money???

We'll see you there!

Taking a Break with the Kids...

2009-04-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Roll call: Ron Brown, Jon DeVries, and Billy Hines are spending this weekend with the kids. C.A.S.T. for Kids and CBAF are hosting events this Saturday and Sunday to make sure some young 'uns make it out on the water with area anglers. Our team members, as usual, generous to a fault, are taking to the road to hit both Collins Lake and Folsom Lake to make sure these kids have a great day. We guarantee, the kids will be keeping great company! After some nagging, we should have some pretty great slide shows up here after the weekend.

Lowrance Rewards the HD Angler

2009-04-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Now through July 6th, the Hi Def System you buy at the Gone Fishin' Marine tackle shop or on the online store can get you some cash back in pocket! A couple of great opportunities come to mind here- obviously the rebate is a deal, plus you can do this all online (no more paperwork); but get it all done before the May 16th swap meet and you can make even more money back by selling your old unit. How do ya like them apples? Rebate details are at Lowrance.com.

100% Awesome!

2009-04-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

A big WAHOO for Jon DeVries and Matt Moreau with the big win on the Delta in last weekend's 100% Bass WRL tournament. The two caught a limit for 20.45lbs, winning by nearly a full pound! Way to go guys...we expect to be similarly dazzled for the Clearlake tournament in May.

FLW Stren Series goes to Roosevelt

2009-04-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Best of luck to Mark Lassagne of Bass Angler's Guide, as he trucks on over to Roosevelt for next weekend's Stren tournament! We are looking forward to those live weigh-ins on flwoutdoors.com!

It's OFFICIAL...GFM is on Board with Triton Boats

2009-03-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true...after unending rumors, conjecture and all-out storytelling, Gone Fishin' Marine IS, in fact, the newest Triton Boats dealer in town! We're really excited to offer THREE different lines of bass boats now, for your fishin' pleasure. The devil's in the details, as they say, so you can also read the full story on GFM's website!

To answer a couple of the basic questions, YES- we are a fully functioning warranty facility for Triton owners, YES- we can take care of the outboard too, YES- we can get parts for you, and YES- we have boats on the lot!

Donations needed: Time, Talent, and Smiles

2009-03-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Our team members are constantly on the prowl for ways to share their love of the sport. Here are a couple of upcoming events you should make it a point to tune into this coming May!

Saturday, 02 May 2009: "Catch a Special Thrill (C.A.S.T.) for Kids" at Folsom Lake. Everything starts at 8AM courtesy of the Folsom Bass Team. Check it out, and be generous!

Satruday, 16 May 2009: "Purple Heart Anglers Fishing Event" put on by Markley Cove Resort. GFM has partnered up with Markley Cove on a number of projects, and this is our favorite yet! Inquire with Markley Cove at 707-966-2134- they need boaters to show some deserving vets a great time!

2009-03-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Gary Dobyns came by with a huge armload of new rods just this morning- get 'em while they're hot!!! Tyler should have them up online pretty shortly, so if you're paying for your fishing habit by economizing on gas, visit the online store.

Boat Show Wrap-up

2009-03-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

We're fresh off boat show season, and things are really beginning to swing here at the shop- between new business and a ton of new events kicking off, we've sworn off the winter blues and are full steam ahead! Before we get too far ahead of ourselves though, we have to extend an enormous thank-you to the legions of helpers we had at the Sacramento Boat Show.... Towing help from the CIFF crew of Dennis, Larry and Willie was so much appreciated, as well as the Fishing Team contingent of Ron Brown (who also sat through all 4 days of the show with us), Jon DeVries, Billy Hines, and Rich Reeser; Ultimate Bass radio host and Triton/Mercury Pro Kent Brown pitched in too making several trips between Cal Expo and Dixon. One and all, we can't thank you enough! It was a great show, and we were keeping great company start to finish.

Fairfield/Suisun Bass Reapers Tournament- April 4th!

2009-03-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

We have sign-ups at the shop by the front door, so you have no excuse to miss it! This coming April 4th is their 28th Annual bash of a team tournament. A great group of guys, a great location (Pleasure Cove Resort at Lake Berryessa), and Mark kicked in some pretty dang good prizes too!

FLW Stren Series Opener Hits Team Members

2009-03-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, mighty difficult day 2 with a major weather turnaround. The guys all have some points to get them started taking everything back in the upcoming FLW Stren western tournaments, but no top 10 finishes this time around. In further heartbreak news, long time GFM pal and Ultimate Bass radio host Kent Brown missed the cut by ONE OUNCE! Maybe he needs to start packing a little fish food in with his tackle to fatten those fish up in the livewells.

Team Members hit FLW Stren Tournament at Clearlake

2009-03-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a kinda tough day 1, but the abrupt change in weather could result in a total reversal of fortune for Corey Fenske and Mark Lassagne. Brett Leber had a pretty decent 1st day bag, so the top 10 is his to make or break today. Bottom line, with the sun coming out and shaking things up, it's still anyone's game! Weigh-in starts live on FLW Outdoors at 2:30pm for the top-10 cut.

CBAF Starting a New Division

2009-03-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

One of our Team's favorite groups, the Christian Bass Anglers Fellowship (CBAF, of Toys for the Troops' Kids fame) is kicking off the new season with a new Northern Division the weekend of the 14th at Berryessa. Under tournament director Dick Gold the debut season promises to be a great time. We'll be at the boat show, but we're sending some goodies along to keep things interesting!

Tournament Recap

2009-03-03T15:54:00.001-08:00

We had team members all over Northern California tournaments this weekend! Billy Hines took off for Clear Lake for the new West Coast Bass trail...not too shabby for the kind of challenges the lake presented for the entire field. Rich Reeser partnered up with Kevin Ryan for the Angler's Choic e Semi-Pro up in Berryessa, and did us proud. And at the same time at Berryessa, Mark Blanton & Luke Peacock, Ron Brown & Joe Gallegos, Larry Neal & and Matt Moreau & Jon DeVries hit the Pro division for the Angler's Choice Berryessa region. Bruce Sheldon had a great finish barely outside the money, but it turned out to be a tough day finding the right fish for just about everyone else. On the upside, it pretty much meant that the entire team was out of our hair for a day here at the shop!

Ron Brown appreciated the stellar effort from AC's newest ProTeam Director, Theresa Deschler. He's looking forward to a great season to come in this new division after they finish tweaking a couple small details.

Stay tuned...next weekend Corey Fenske takes on Clear Lake for this season's first FLW Stren Series Western Division tournament!

Shout Out to Randy Pringle!

2009-02-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Big Thanks to Randy Pringle, Jon DeVries and Matt Moreau for all the kind words and hard work during Friday's practice and Saturday's tournament on Berryessa! They sent a team out here who had a breakdown during practice, and we did our best to help out and make sure everyone had a great day on the water. We appreciate the recognition during weigh-in and on the recap posting!
http://www.100percentbass.com/

What's in a Haircut?

2009-02-25T14:33:00.000-08:00

Yup, he did it! Congratulations to Mercury Pro Skeet Reese for his Bassmaster Classic win last weekend. That should take care of the last of the blank spots on his resume, and tickles us westerners to death to see that trophy come out to Cali! (You know all the guys around here are lining up as SuperCuts as we speak...)

Big Sale in GFM's Service Department!!

2009-02-14T16:37:00.000-08:00

You asked for it... Our phones have been ringing off the hook with boat owners asking about service discounts. Nothing would please us more...here you go!

-Our every-day way to save...get a COMPLIMENTARY 38-Point Safety Inspection with any service!
-Save $25.00 on a 4-Stroke Engine Oil Change
-Save $50.00 on your Lower Unit Water Pump Service
-Save $100.00 on a Top-To-Bottom start of season Tune-Up

If you're serious about getting out on the water for the early spring action, schedule now so we can DO YOUR MAINTENANCE WHILE YOU WAIT! Put it off any longer and you could lose a great spot in line!

IT'S SHOWTIME!!!

2009-01-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

So...just what isn't going on at ISE this year?!

-Bassmasters Elite Series Veteran Greg Gutierrez (Double G) is in town again, and we're looking forward to some quality time in the Nitro booth learning from the best!

-Corey Fenske of Sticky Graphics has wraps on several of our boats (Ron Brown's Z9 and Mark Blanton's Skeeter) on display AND is going to show us how it's done in the Lund booth over the course of the weekend!

-The Gone Fishin'-Tracker street stock car, fresh off the track at the Great American Speedway in Roseville, will be somethin' to talk about in the Tracker booth.

-Our Factory Certified service technicians will be handy to answer questions pertaining to anything about anything in marine service in the JetCraft booth.

-We'll have offers on the table for Service Package discounts, Service coupons, Cash rebates on Mercury Outboard repowers, and BOATS!

See ya there!

Photo courtesy of www.greggutierrezfishing.com

2009-01-03T16:09:00.000-08:00

Check us out at ISE Sacramento at Cal Expo, 15-18 January 2009! Lots more than just boats this year- you can meet and greet local angling celebrities, talk directly with our certified marine techs about your outboard, hook up with local conservation efforts, and hang out with fishing team members!

Show hours are a little different this year:
Thursday: 11AM-8PM
Friday: 11AM-8PM
Saurday: 10AM-7PM
Sunday: 10AM-5PM
Another bonus... you can buy tickets online in advance!

New Bass Angler's Guide Hits the Stands

2009-01-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

The year's first Bass Angler's Guide is ready for you to pick up in our tackle department, featuring legendary cover model Gary Dobyns. It's truly a don't-miss issue...the calendar insert covers the entire year's tournament schedules!!

www.bassanglersguide.com to get your own subscription.

Team Turkey Shoot

2008-12-17T09:50:00.000-08:00

A few words (and bust-a-gut hilarity) from our own Jon Devries...

The “meet and greet” was a hoot in the parking lot at Markley giving everybody the chance to catch up, talk some trash and have some laughs. But the true moment of glory belonged to Pollard as he drove his rig into the parking lot and past everybody that was parked there and engaged in conversation. Pollard proceeded directly to the ramp – noticed that he was the only one there and then came back to the group realizing that he drove past us without even knowing it. We all got some mileage out of that one!!!

...Mother Nature and the weather man need to get on the same page – what we were hoping to be overcast skies and mild winds with the pre-frontal conditions moving in turned into blue-bird skies with gale force winds! Needless to say that the main lake was inaccessible for the most part – Matty and I tried to run it but got around the corner at “the rock” and the Nitro 901 was air born and at times near vertical as we got hammered by the waves!!! Matty was laughing and I was, well, in a nutshell, white knuckled and bug-eyed (I sure hope those stains come out of my pants)!! Matty asked if I wanted to run it to which I promptly replied “n-n-n-n-n-n-no”! Pollard was close behind and decided to shut it down after he saw our air time!!! Good decision Mark!!! But the site was a thing of beauty at the shotgun start with 3 and sometimes 4 boats running abreast one another through the narrows. I wish we could have had somebody on top of one of the surrounding hills to get a shot of that. Seeing the Z-9s and the 901’s and “the beast” (that would be Bruce’s boat) from one of those vantage points must have been awesome. On to the fishing…….

So, needless to say the bite was fairly tough for all of us but especially for those of us that couldn’t prefish during the week like some of the others (no names necessary). Matty and I started out fishing the north bank at the top of the narrows and low and behold, this Z-9 promptly pulls up in front of us and starts fishing our water!!!! That’s not very nice! Well, Billy decided to stick a fish right there in front of us and I’m thinking “hey! He stuck my fish”!!!! Well, for some reason unknown to me, they ended up following us around the narrows for the rest of the day. Go figure?! We moved down to the mouth of Little Portuguese and within minutes….there’s Billy. We moved further south of Little Portuguese working around a point and….there’s Billy!!! So as we’re working the shoreline towards each other Billy decides to hurl a swim bait towards us! Now mind you, Billy is fishing off the back of the boat which means he had to throw that bait over his partners head….well, all I can say is if I would have tried that I probably would have hit Matty in the head! But we all got a good laugh out of it and continued to egg each other on. On to the weigh in……..

Let me start out with this statement; “Karma is a thing of beauty”….more on that later. What started out the week before as bags over ten pounds ended up being bags under ten pounds for the tourney. Ron agreed to take on the role as Weigh Master which was greatly appreciated. But we soon realized after he threw the third or fourth bag of fish back into the water that he didn’t weigh anybody’s big fish. Well, that called for a quick modification to the rules which virtually eliminated the big fish category and just increased the size of the pot for the overall winner. So, without delaying any further, here are the results of the tourney:

1st place – Bruce Sheldon
2nd place – Gil and Brian
3rd place – Billy Hines and his partner (sorry, can’t remember his name)
4th place – Matty and Jon
5th place – Ron Brown
And the last and final position goes to… (Oh yeah; remember that Karma thing I mentioned earlier? Well, the king of trash-talking learned all about that on this day!!!!)….Mark Pollard!!!

Christmas Shopping Specials...

2008-12-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Our online store is ready to rumble! Visit http://www.gfmarine.com/ for discount codes (on the Special Promos page) now through 24 December. If you want anything shipped in time for Christmas, make sure you order by the 19th!

We are closing out a number of rods, reels, and electronics you're sure to be interested in, so peruse the online selection, or come by the shop for a look at our full inventory- EVERYTHING is discounted!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T14:06:00.000-08:00

For those not familiar with "Dandy Don," Don Long (of LSU fame) maintains a blog about team happenings and news, and every Thanksgiving sends along a really heartwarming bunch of anecdotes from his childhood in rural Louisiana. The following "fish story" is from this year's missive. The whole message is available at www.dandydon.com, and is well worth giving it the full read, but here's the teaser:

Another memory I'll never forget is of another event that took place when I was about 10 years old. My Dad loved to fish and money was tight, to say the least. One day, my Dad was able to come up with 75 cents by digging in drawers and other places and went to Winnfield to buy an artificial bait called a Water Scout. He showed the bait to us boys and put it on top of the dresser before going to bed. My brother Tom and I made plans to get up very early the following Saturday morning and run down to the river to try to catch a big bass that we had seen turnover a few days earlier. We did not have rod and reels to fish with back then, so we used a long cane pole with a line half as long as the pole and would flip the bait into the water and pull it to the bank. The first throw I made, the big bass hit the lure. As I was pulling him in, the line came untied and I lost the fish and Dad's Water Scout. My brother Tom and I knew that we were in big trouble. As we were walking back home through the field we saw Dad walking our way as fast as he could. When Dad got to us he saw that there was no Water Scout on the end of the line. With tears in his eyes and quivering lips he asked if we boys had lost his new bait. We told Dad what happened and were depressed the entire weekend. Tom and I managed to come up with 75 cents and on Monday skipped class to go to Matt Milam's department store to buy another Water Scout for Dad. When we got home that afternoon and gave Dad the lure, he went back to the same spot on the river and threw the bait by the same log. He hooked a big bass, got it on the bank and saw that it was the same fish we had hooked. The Water Scout was still in its mouth and I was one happy 10-year old.

New Agreements for Yamaha with BASS and FLW Outdoors

2008-11-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

Yamaha just announced new agreements with FLW Outdoors and BASS for Official Engine Sponsorship! On the FLW side, Yamaha will now sponsor the FLW Tour, FLW Series, FLW Stren Series, BFL, FLW Walleye Tour, FLW Walleye League, and FLW College Fishing (more than 200 tournaments around the country). Their new agreement with BASS has expanded to include presenting-level support of the BASS Federation Nation Championship nd the BASS Federation Nation Divisionals (presented by Yamaha Outboards and Skeeter Boats). Yamaha, an Official Engine sponsor of BASS, and Skeeter, an Official Boat sponsor of BASS, will continue to serve as premier sponsors of the Bassmaster Classic, Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens and the Womens Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Team Smackdown in 100% Bass TOC

2008-11-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Another two Top-10 finishes among team members, this time in the 100% Bass Tournament of Champions! Jon DeVries & Matt Moreau had a great tournament taking 7th place in the Western Rookie League, and Ron Brown partnered up with Joe Gallegos in the Pro division to land the 8th place spot in the final standings! Awesome end to an awesome tournament year guys!

Toys for the Troops' Kids, 2nd Annual Tournament!

2008-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, it's that time- best team tournament of the year for one of the best causes imaginable! Jerry Fournier and CBAF have gathered to put on the annual Toys for the Troops' Kids tournament the second Saturday of November (the 8th). More than half of the Gone Fishin' Marine Fishing Team is already committed to fish this one, and you can sign up at: http://thecbaf.com. It's a great, relaxed team day- just show up, toys in hand, ready to fish!

If you can't make it to the tournament, make sure you drop a toy or two by GFM's Dixon shop- team members will be making toy runs all season!

2008-10-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Now, if they had been catchin' em like this over the weekend, the Clearlake ABA tournament would have been big news here at Gone Fishin'. As it was, Ron Brown and Billy Hines were just not landing these kinds of monsters. But two days of disappointing fishing and a 102nd place finish still put these two in money- how, you may ask? Options, options, options. Good job finding the work-around guys...they fished for free and still had money left over to get gas for the ride home!

A Warm Welcome to Mark Lassagne!

2008-09-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Gone Fishin' Marine welcomes pro bass angler, Mark Lassagne of Martinez, CA to the ranks of the Fishing Team. Lassagne, a Skeeter Pro Staffer, successful tournament competitor, licensed guide, and outdoor writer, brings a great new dynamic to an already awesome group of guys. A versatile angler cashing in big tournament wins throughout the west coast, Mark is also creator and director of the western bass fishing magazine and tournament calendar, Bass Angler's Guide. Check it out and subscribe at www.BassAnglersGuide.com. We're looking forward to a great 2009 season with Mark as part of the team!

GFM Pros Take C.O. Pro Teen Two Years in a Row

2008-08-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

A huge thanks to Gone Fishin' team members Ron Brown, Billy Hines, Jon DeVries, Matt Moreau and Rich Reeser for volunteering their time, boats, and talent in this year's C.O. Pro-Teen tournament out of Russo's on July 13th this year! Added bonus, Billy Hines and his teen co-angler Matt Blanco took first place with 4 fish for 22.14lbs. A fine follow-up to Matt Moreau's first place finish last year. That means the pressure is on Ron, Jon and Rich for the three-peat next year!

The Pro-Teen is one of the best tournaments of the year, if you ask any of our team members. Everyone looks forward to it, and can't wait to get out there to show these kids a great day on the water. Jon mentioned how grateful he is (and the bass community should be) to Chuck Russo in particular for all of the personal time and resources he contributes to the event every year. Couldn't have said it better ourselves Jon, and you're absolutely right there. THANK YOU CHUCK for getting the next generation off to the right start!!!

Ron's First Live "Brad-cast"

2008-08-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ron Brown, ever the adventurer on the team, volunteered to help out on June 20th's Live Brad-cast over at KNCI on the Pat and Tom Show. The contest was all about giving away a couple of Brad Paisley concert tickets, and Ron threw in a guided fishing trip with him for the second place finisher. The field wasn't super-wide, but the challenge was serious- these anglers had to cast to hit Johnny O, dressed as a giant Goldfish cracker, using a rod and reel that Tom Mailey has probably had since he was about five years old. Ron supplied a smaller sinker than the original plan (thank goodness), and it took all the contestants several casts, flips and other alternative nameless tricks to get the prizes given away. After Ron's sage advice to the contestants, Robert Wagoner Jr. finally tagged Johnny O and won the trip with Ron. Afterwards, Ron spent a couple minutes on air, choppin' it upwith Pat and Tom, making Gone Fishin' look good. Thanks for being such a sport on such an oddball outing Ron!

GFM Father's Day Sale June 13-15

2008-06-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Make Gone Fishin’ Marine your TAX FREE headquarters for

Father’s Day Weekend, June 13-15, 2008!

Swing by the Dixon shop and spend a day with Dad to pick a gift from our tackle shop, enjoy a complimentary picnic lunch, get advice about his favorite fishin’ holes from fellow anglers, and maybe even win a big prize in our 3-day long FREE raffle!

WE pay the sales tax on your SKEETER purchase!

WE pay the sales tax on all purchases from our retail shop...the price you see is the price you get on that new fishfinder!

YOU get a free Bass Pro Gift card on your NITRO purchase!

What it's Really All About

2008-05-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

This just hit our inbox, and really is a testament to what's important to GFM. You're a prince among men Matt, and thanks Jon, for making sure we all keep it real!!!***********************************************************************************

"On another note, here’s a true example of the spirit and the mission statement of GFMarine’s fishing team in action.

After the Clear Lake tournament we were getting ready to pull the GFMarine Z9CDC out of the water when a gentleman on the dock said, “You’re just in time” and then started telling us about the bass his son just caught. Not being a fisherman, he started asking questions about what to do if the fish was hooked deep – should they try to pull it out or if they left the hook in there would the fish survive? Then his son wanted to rig a lizard and didn’t know how to do it, so without missing a beat Matty jumps out of the truck and starts showing the kid how to rig a plastic lizard and then shows him how to tie a Palomar knot and this kid and his father were just glued to what Matty was saying. Now mind you, I’m still stuck in the boat waiting to get pulled out of the water which kind of sucked but that was okay. It was a real treat to watch this man and his son get their free lesson on fishing, knot tying and hook removal, etc, from Matty – I was really proud of him.

So I leave you with this……camaraderie amongst strangers….giving back to the community…all possible through fishing. That is just so cool!!!

Ciao Minions!!!!

Jon A. deVries"

Corey Fenske Gets the Big Win in Folsom

2008-05-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Corey along with his partner Marcel Collin won the A.B.A Folsom region tournament 5/18/2008 in GFM's Skeeter 20 iClass. They had a big bag of 25.17lbs with a big fish of 5lbs so all of them
were good quality fish. Awesome job Corey! Photo courtesy of tackletour.com.

Two Top-10 Finishers in Clear Lake Stren Tournament

2008-04-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Huge kudos to Corey Fenske and Rich Reeser for their respective top 10 finishes in the FLW Stren series tournament in Clearlake over the weekend! Corey took 9th on the pro side, and Rich took 9th on the co-angler side. I gave Rich a bad time when he came by the tackle shop telling me he "had a pattern." Guess he showed me! Congratulations guys!!!

Coincidence?

2008-02-29T10:08:00.001-08:00

Did anyone notice that the top three finishers in the Bassmaster Classic run the two bass boat lines that GFM carries? Alton Jones and Cliff Pace (1st and 2nd place) in Skeeters and Kevin VanDam in a Nitro. This might be a lucky year to buy!

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/index

Ron & Corey hit Pardee with Kent Brown

2008-02-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

Ron Brown and Corey Fenske represented GFM in fine style for the Lake Pardee Media Day, hosted by Ultimate Bass radio personality Kent Brown. Kent assembled a number of pros to show local media members and a few lucky radio listeners around Pardee, (and maybe set a new smallmouth record) prior to the big opener. The group got to enjoy the hospitality of Jackson Rancheria as well as a frigid day on the lake which just came under new ownership. There was a lot to tell about, and these writers did a great job of it. Go to http://tackletour.com/reviewpardee.html, http://www.anglerboys.com/PardeeLakeMediaDay.php, http://www.westernbass.com/dotcom/library/view.html?id=2958

for the full story and some outstanding phots!

ISE and a Shout Out to Double G

2008-01-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

We made it out alive! The Sac International Sportsmen's Expo was a roaring success. But for all the blood, sweat and tears that go into a boat show, we manage to have a little fun here and there too. The fishin' firefighter and Nitro Pro Greg Gutierrez made a surprise appearance and spent the weekend helping our Team members in the Nitro display when he wasn't speaking at the Ultimate Bass tank. We can't say enough how great it was getting to know probably the nicest guy in the entire pro circuit! And need we mention his lovely legs?

Other surprises from the weekend included a visit from Skeet Reese and his screamin' yellow...SHOES!!! Ok, there was a huge F-650 and Champion boat newly wrapped by Corey Fenske too. And he did a spectacular job!

All in all, it was an awesome show, with a ton of people and outstanding exhibits. Wouldn't miss the next one for anything!

Check these guys out and support them: http://greggutierrezfishing.com/, http://www.sticky-graphics.com/!

A Little Inspiration...

2008-01-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

Beller wins improbable title on Lake Shasta

Disabled Marine veteran lives out a dream as he nets co-angler title, $5,000 first-place prize

By Gary Mortenson - 12.Jan.2008

REDDING, Calif. - If you think being disabled and confined to a wheelchair is an impossible hurdle to becoming a tournament bass angler, don’t tell that to Matt Beller. Not only did Beller successfully compete for four straight days under grueling conditions on Lake Shasta, but he also somehow managed to walk away with a tournament title.

To say Beller’s achievement was remarkable would not even do justice to what the young man from Anderson, Calif., had just accomplished. Throw in the fact that this was Beller’s first FLW Outdoors event of his entire career and you start to run out of words to put Beller’s triumph in perspective.

Simply put – you had to be there to believe it.

“It means everything to me,” said Beller, who ultimately recorded a total catch of 34 pounds, 2 ounces. “I’m on top of the world right now. I don’t even know what to say. I just really wanted to do this for disabled veterans everywhere.”Beller, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps from 1994 to 1997, suffered a debilitating injury while attending the Mountain Warfare Training Center near Bridgeport, Calif. The injury not only left him confined to a wheelchair, but also left him wondering what he was going to do for the rest of his life. But to his credit, Beller never once used his injury as an excuse not to move forward. And what Beller wanted to do most of all was compete as a tournament bass angler.

For full text, visit http://stren.flwoutdoors.com/tournament.cfm?cid=3&t=news&tid=6061&atype=21

WON Bass 2008 Tour

2007-12-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Sign ups are on, and this year's sponsor for the WON Bass Tour is none other than Nitro Boats. 1st place will take home a $30,000 Nitro Z7 with a Merc 175 ProXS on the back...not a bad return on the entry fee investment! And don't forget that the grand prize at the end of it all is a Z9 with a Merc 250 ProXS!!

Entry blanks are available in Gone Fishin' Marine's tackle shop, or online at http://www.wonbass.com/.

Ending the Year with a Bang!

2007-12-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

He was all doubtful at the beginning of the year, constantly beating himself up. Then in an eleventh hour kind of way, Jon DeVries pulls out all the stops to win his last club tournament, AND locks down another Angler of the Year title! Congrats Jon!!!

In other news, Bruce Sheldon (who won't send in any pictures) and partner Larry Neal hit the Angler's Choice Foothills Division big taking second place AND the big fish prize in the recent Berryessa tournament.

Really, who knew we were among such greatness?!?

Special Events on Tap!

2007-12-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

Club Night Out for the area's bass clubs on Dec. 13th, 6PM at the Dixon shop!

And no, no one has to be in a club to attend, it's just a little social time off the beaten path for club members and anyone else who cares to join in the fun. Those of you in clubs (and heading up clubs for that matter), make sure you put the word out about what's going on!

The bass-only evening kicks off our 4-day Christmas event that'll run storewide, December 13-16. Gary Dobyns, Ultimate Bass Radio's Kent Brown, and the Dobyns Rods pro staff will run an open-forum set of workshops for area lakes and the delta. We're also collecting toys for the "Toys for the Troops' Kids" drive, so whatever you have to bring, bring it!

Other attractions:
- First crack at our retail store's electronics closeout (last year's models and display units),
- 10-50% off storewide
- Attendees can schedule priority service for their boats,
- We're also giving away a couple of Dobyns Rods and a free 100hr service in the course of the evening.

We will supply all attendees with a "Bass Angler's Wish List" to take home to their shoppers so no one gets something even worse than a lump of coal for Christmas. We expect you'll be able to find lots of ideas in the tackle shop, and when you send your shoppers in with that list, they'll get $10 off any purchase of $100 or more!

Questions?
707-678-1600
emily@gfmarine.com

See you there!!!

From BassFan.com...

2007-11-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

California Dreamer
Henson's Long Journey Could Pay Off At Wildcard

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Photo: Preston Henson

Preston Henson's desire to become a tour-level angler took him far from home for an extended period of time.

Preston Henson has just one more hurdle to clear to make a 3-year, cross-country odyssey pay off. He'll confront that hurdle this week.

The 28-year-old Californian is one of 37 anglers who'll compete in the Bassmaster Elite WildCard Thursday through Saturday at Florida's Lake Okeechobee. The Top 10 finishers will gain berths on the 2008 Elite Series.

He'd never seen Okeechobee before the official 3-day practice period got under way on Monday. Nonetheless, he likes his chances.

"I'm very confident," he said. "It's probably going to be a really tough bite, which is the way I like it.

"Anytime I've got a spinning rod in my hand, I'm really happy.

> The WildCard field will launch at 6:45 a.m. each day from C. Scott Driver Park (10100 W. Highway 78 in Okeechobee). Weigh-ins will start at 2:45 p.m. in the same location. For a list of competitors, click here.

For the full article text, go to http://bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=2610

Also, listen for Preston this coming weekend on Ultimate Bass!

Christmas Happenings at GFM

2007-11-24T10:14:00.001-08:00

Lots of goings on at the shop for this year's holiday sale! We'll kick things off on Thursday the 13th of December with Gary Dobyns and the Dobyns Rods pro staff. It's Club Night Out for local bass clubs, and everyone's invited! We're giving away some Dobyns Rods and an annual service, major price reductions in the tackle department, and we're sending everyone home with a "Bass Angler's Wish List" to help the shopping along on the home front. Plenty more going on that night too!

Tournaments Galore This Weekend

2007-11-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

Looks like just about everyone on the team is fishing something or another this weekend!!! Best of luck to Cory and Mark teaming up for the first time in this weekend's Angler's Choice TOC on Clearlake, as well as Bruce and Bob! Also, I look forward to great pictures from the Toys For the Troops' Kids tournament tomorrow. Good luck to Ron and Preston, and Jon and Matt. Heard a rumor that Jay Yelas will be there too? Should be great all the way around! Make sure and share what all went on.

Christmas Cards for the Troops

2007-10-30T08:54:00.001-07:00

KNCI's Pat and Tom morning show is promoting a special Christmas Cards for the Troops drive this Friday, Nov 2. It's a really nice opportunity to extend a caring hand during a tough holiday for our soldiers, and I hope everyone will spread the news. GFM is signed up to be a drop location, so get some cards together, write some quick messages, and send them our way or drop them off in person. It takes very little effort, and I promise it will make a very big difference. If you want more info, http://www.kncifm.com/pages/1129349.php.

CO Pro-Teen Individual Sponsorship

2007-10-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI that you can sponsor a teen for next years PRO / Teen event. Count me in!
http://www.westernbass.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33054&f=2

Preston Henson finishes 7th overall

2007-10-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody just got back from Lake Wheeler in Alabama. I finished 25th overall and ended the season in 7th in he points. I will find-out about the Elite series next Wednesday. If I do not make the Elites through the points I have another chance at the Elite wild-card event on Lake Okeechobee next month. I thank everyone for the support this year in my quest for the Elites.

Thank You,
Preston Henson

Way to be Ron Brown!!!

2007-10-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ron Brown finished this weekend's Angler's Choice TOC IN THE MONEY! Guess the next round is on him. Congrautlations Ron and George!

See the results for yourself at http://www.anglerschoice.com/2007Region1TOCResults.html

Toys for the Troops' Kids Tournament

2007-10-07T16:42:00.001-07:00

Time is short to get signed up! Several team members are ready to go, so don't get left behind. If you can't fish that day, bring your toys by the shop and we'll get them turned in for you!

Go to http://www.thecbaf.com/ or http://www.toysforthetroopskids.org/ to sign up!!!