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!
