UBU Alum, Zack Thompson, Goes Double Wacky....

... And not because we drove him to it! 

We haven't seen him for a couple years, and we're way overdue for a check-in with Zack (ProZack) Thompson!  Since his FLW Angler of the Year title in 2009, he has kept his name at the top of the standings, and is in-it-to-win-it for this year's AOY title. Hanging on to his 2nd place standing in the Western Everstart series, Thompson is absolutely a contender! 

Of late, Thompson has also put his name on the map for fishing tackle innovation in the Double Wacky Hook for weightless baits (like Senkos). Everyone knows the Senko is a surefire in these parts, and with this new hook design, we're sure to see more fish making it to the boat! Zack plans to cover the rig, give some great pointers about how to fish it, and make sure we know what we need to do for the spring bite coming up on Clear Lake and the Delta. Your tournament buddies won't know what hit them! 

For all the wins throughout the West, Zack is also a local "kid"- a California Delta bass maestro and instructor, and a Clear Lake prodigy, Zack Thompson is a fantastic resource for the areas we fish most. Bring your checkbook, and set up a trip to get the best education the water has to offer!

We'll see you at 6:30, Tuesday, March 20th for Ultimate Bass University!
~Free Admission
~Free Refreshments
~Free Raffle
~Priceless Entertainment

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

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!

Timing IS Everything...

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!

Underplan and They Will Come

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???

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

A Year of Ultimate Bass University!

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!!!

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

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)

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!!

Ultimate Bass University meets Toys for the Troops Kids

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!

Hurry up and Wait

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!

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

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!

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!

Ultimate Bass University- This Tuesday, July 21st!

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!!

School May Be Out, but Class is Just Starting!

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!!

Ulitmate Bass University...May Recap

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!

Ultimate Bass University...about to kick off!

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!