According to a story in USA Today, the amendment passed an important hurdle when it cleared the House Appropriations Committee last Thursday. The bill’s sponsors (Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn, and Jack Kingston, R-Ga) noted that  taxpayer money to the tune of $110 million dollars has been budgeted to help in National Guard recruitment (most going to NASCAR), but the representatives believe the cost per recruit is exorbitant.

Given the current tenor of the public opinion (certainly outside the sports world) cutting back spending in this particular area could find broad support. In any event, whether these tax-supported sponsorships are diminished or entirely eliminated, it will have some effect on a handful of prominent western pros, most notably, Brent Ehrler of Redlands.

Ironically, just when one sponsorship door may be closing, it appears another may be opening as Lucas Oil, (with its corporate headquarters in Corona) seems to be on a spending spree supporting a number of racing events and most recently throwing support behind a June bass tournament at Lake Mead, including advertising dollars to get the event televised.

Also, in April, Lucas announced its sponsorship of John Murray of Phoenix, a Bassmaster Elite pro, which could have been especially fortuitous on his behalf. While Murray has been a successful competitor for many years and a 2-time U.S. Open winner, Ehrler has been especially “hot property” over the last two to three years and would have been a likely candidate for Lucas, had the timing been different.

Or is Lucas smarter than that? Were they aware of the impending legislation and have timed their grand entry into the bass fishing arena? (Lucas Oil has yet to respond to my emailed request for a statement, but pro anglers present at the Wounded Warrior event at DVL Saturday were raising a number of questions.)

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The Lucas Oil Summer Classic is set for June 25-27.

AN OVERVIEW of the DVL lot on Saturday...

The fifth annual Wounded Warriors event, hosted by the Lake Elsinore Bass Club, and staffed by National Bass West, enjoyed a successful day, Saturday at Diamond Valley Lake.

A high percentage of the military contingency were first-time participants, keeping the activities fresh for all. The industry and volunteers showed great respect for the military personnel, providing many awards and drawing prizes and lending a hand wherever needed.

I collected a few photos from the event that you can view if you continue on.

BANNER says it all

ALGAE BLOOM greeted anglers

TOP FLIGHT BARBECUE served over 200 guests

WINNERS were Team 29, Ron Janke, Adam Friess and Antony Villa with 17.48 pounds.

PATCH respresenting Freedom Station was given to volunteer boaters, this one to Tammy Morrow.

TEAM VEHICLES were clearly marked and provided special parking on the day.

CAPTURING THE MOMENT, Bill Siemantel took video of the angling vets.

TAGGED in a photo...

The red boat is seeing blue this week. And my partners are living right. Just got back home from the short haul to Lake Perris  (where I went armed with boat inspection info from guide Pete Marino) only to find yet another lake closed to launching. Yep, they’re blue-stoning the lake this morning!

Oh, they said I could come back this afternoon when they’re finished, but copper sulphate has never been a big stimulant when it comes bass action. At least I kept my composure and went through the process of a boat inspection, and got the boat tagged–just to see that I could.

As Pete suggested, it’s pretty straight-forward–they just don’t want to find moisture anywhere under any of your hatches, including life vests, boat fenders, tie-lines or ice-chest. Actually, he hadn’t mentioned the ice-chest, but I took the opportunity to put all my ice and drinks in a separate container in the truck where I would have transferred them to the boat, if I had got the chance.

Oh, and that about my partners? They cancelled both on Tuesday and today and luckily didn’t have to deal with the aggravation. The good news? It will be awhile before they blue-stone again this coming summer.

(Now you can go back to the previous post and win the HOF quiz.)

1. What tool? His anchor (and rope) that he banged on the bottom looking for changes. Had someone responded, Murphy built his own  Heathkit, flasher sonar before he ever bought a production unit, I would have been tempted to give it to you.

2. Carl Lowrance, father of Darrell Lowrance, had a commercial waterdog farm.

3. Yep. Living or live rubber and Dead-sticking.

4. Asked for sub-group–that would be “Twin Spin.” Group would have been spinner, spinnerbait or blades. The Shannon Twin-spin is a classic, the Sabre, a popular Lake Powell bait in the 1980′s, right?

5. Bob Crupi has the largest California bass, according to the IGFA–but the State of California still recognizes Mike Arujo as the record holder.

Okay. We did a little researching and a little chewing the fat and I’ve come up with the five questions for the latest bass fishing quiz. In the end, I’m going to reward the very best set of answers with a very unique prize, provided by the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, in Hayward, Wisconsin.  (click here, please)

So you know, that prize (valued at $65) is a “Silver” membership in the Hall and consists of:

a. Printed version of quarterly Splash and Record Book
b. Annual family pass to museum
c. Membership patch/subsequent annual rocker
d. Name permanently added to the Wall of Fame in museum
e. Annual Hall calendar

Feel free to chime in your answers, and don’t worry about what you don’t know. These things always stir up some conversation and maybe add a little to our knowledge pool–in case they ever host “Bassmaster Jeopardy.” But no, you don’t have to put your answers here in the form of a question.

Here we go:

1.      What tool did “Lunker Bill” Murphy first utilize for locating deep water structures on the San Diego Lakes?

2.       If you could point to one name that would link live waterdogs and modern sonar, who would it be? (Full name is best answer)

3.       In the bass fishing parlance, what bass fishing terms most directly associate with these: (A) alive and (B) deceased? (Hint–one is a component, the other a technique).

4.       In what lure sub-category would you find both the Sabre and the Shannon?

5.       Who does California recognize as holding the state record for largemouth bass?

Thanks for playing! And, of course, there are no trick questions–just specific ones.

Sure enough, the one thing they don’t tell you ahead of time at Lake Skinner is when they’re going to shut it down and blue-stone the darn place. And MWD got me this morning.

I was feeling pretty good, got a jump on the day, was down the freeway and  just making my turn into the park, when I spotted a truck and trailer on the side of the road, pointed the opposite direction. I knew that wasn’t good.

Sure enough, as they usually do twice a year, I learned the barge was out spreading copper-sulphate (blue-stone) to the reservoir, trying to kill the algae in this reed-lined fish bowl. The net result, not only is today’s trip blown up, but by most angler accounts, the fishing will get sideways for the next week or so before the bass settle into their “cleaner environment.”

Of course, sometimes we have to go where and when we can. But at least you know this: on May 15–they blue-stoned Lake Skinner. And the frog bite will have to wait a little.

There will be a 5-part question that won’t all be a quick search on the Internet, but will come from the realm of [bass] fishing lore with which so many of us are familiar.

Normally such a membership would not be transferrable, however, in this case, if the winner would like to “re-gift” then I will need the ultimate recipient’s name and address which I will pass on to the Hall. (As you can see by reading further, however, you might not want to do that.)

The prize is being provided by the Emmett Brown, the Hall’s Director. A silver membership is for one year and worth about $65 and includes among several things, an annual family pass to the museum and the member’s name permanently added to the Wall of Fame at the museum.

Kinda cool. Stay tuned.

RICK CLUNN

GARY KLEIN

Two national fixtures, both former U.S. Open champions, are likely to miss the 2012 edition of the long-running event. The reason, Gary Klein and Rick Clunn will each need every possible opportunity to qualify for the 2013 Bassmasters Classic–by points, or by an Elite or Open win.

While the odds are against them, these pros will fish to the bitter end to get there and such effort will all but preclude them from making it back to Lake Mead this year.

To begin with, as it stands today, Klein sits in 58th place in the Elites, while Clunn is in 35th–basically the cutoff point to get in. Any Elite or Open tournament winners qualify automatically, no matter how bad a season they are having. That’s already been a good thing for Ish Monroe who’s win in Florida jumped him into the Classic, despite sitting 47th in the points.

There are four more Elite tournaments left: three in June and one in August, that provide enough time to move up in the point standings. But with less than 100 in an Elite field, it’s harder to gain ground. That leaves four possible Elite berths  and one Bassmaster Open opportunity to get a win and the automatic Classic bid.

But it is those final two contests that are likely to block the former U.S. Open champs from coming West. The last Elite Series event is at Oneida Lake in New York, concluding on Aug. 26. The final Bassmaster Open, half-way across the country at Ft. Gibson in Oklahoma, starts 10 days later, on Sept. 6, with the U.S. Open, three more states away, starting on Sept. 10.  It’s a logistical nightmare.

Gary told me, “There’s just no way I can make the Open unless I qualify in the Elites. It’s physically impossible.”

That may not be a problem for other familiar names. Currently, Dean Rojas sits in 29th place for a Classic berth. Aaron Martens is 56th, Fred Roumbanis, 72nd, Byron Velvick, 83rd, John Murray 85th and Chris Zaldain, 87th. The September calendar looks open for those guys.

Klein did say, “I know Rick [Clunn] wants to fish the U.S. Open, but he’s also fishing the Bassmaster Opens. If he qualifies through the Elites, he said he’ll fish the Open.”

As for other Open possibles, Monroe’s, skill-set doesn’t really match up well with the desert and FLW’er Brent Ehrler has been timid about shared-weight tournaments. Since Jay Yelas moved back to Oregon, he now takes the late summer and fall off from tournaments, while Skeet Reese will surely maintain his record string of no-shows at Lake Mead.

WILL I be covered?

First off, I’m not selling insurance. However, as my fishing habits are set to change for later this year (U.S. Open in September), I’m suddenly a more interested consumer when it comes to bass boat insurance. And one of the things that I am reminded of is an insurance policy is a product–just like lures, rods and bass boats.

And you know what that means. There are all kinds of product levels, all kinds of features, and likewise, varying prices. Trouble is,  most bass fisherman are a lot more concerned about the features of a new baitcaster than they ever were for their boat coverage.

I’ve watched angler interest rise and fall over insurance coverage much as it has over sunscreen SPF (another kind of coverage). There was a time when we cared more about how sunblock smelled than how long it would protect your hide.

In like fashion, we’ve seen bass boats written into the same policy covering the other stuff in your garage. Only a bass boat used in competition, fishing for prize money and typically running at high speeds on the big waters, is a whole different category than your lawn mower.

Radio co-host Stan Vandenburg of 1-800-BASSBOAT would say as much.  When he determined to write bass boat specific insurance policies years ago, as a tournament fisherman (former Top 40 lister, BTW) he did so with his own fishing interests in mind. And funny, those are my interests right now as well.

Yet how often do we really ask/talk about our coverage?  I’m thinking, a good idea might be to ask an agent for some specifics. For instance, “What’s the difference in my out-of-pocket costs between a total loss and full replacement compared a partial loss?

One of the hidden “costs” in insurance is depreciation--when does it kick in and at what rate? I’m thinking I would really like to know how much depreciation costs me if I only somewhat bash my hull and lower unit.  A max coverage plan could range up to 10 years with no depreciation costs–but others not nearly so much.

Likewise, not every carrier treats a hull as they might cover “machinery.” And as you well know, there’s a lot more to a rig than gelcoat. Some policies just don’t cover engine or accessory replacement costs. Now, that may be fine with you (if the payment rate works for you), but it does sound like something you might want to know.

The good news though. You can pretty much find out with a phone call.

But hanging over everyone’s heads have been concerns over the dam work (earthquake proofing) and future water levels. For example, would there me a major drawdown? We’ve heard some horror stories about that, but with one phone call to Mike Giusti of the DFG  he cleared things up.

First, the lake level now is at an elevation of about 1562, the maximum it will be while refitting is underway, but also about 3 1/2 feet higher than a year or so ago. That’s why some of the pictures you’ve seen show actual brush in the water.

But you know how such construction projects go–and they ain’t fast. According to Mike, the actual work could start somewhere between the end of 2013 and early 2014, and then take approximately two years to complete. Yet, having a decent pool level is great news.

But the DFG is not sitting on its hands while waiting for a full reservoir. Already, artificial habitat (brush piles) have been placed in the no wake areas, however, while the lake is down even more these will be installed from the current elevation to near the height of a full reservoir at 1590 feet.

Obviously, scouting the lake basin at Perris with a camera could be time well spent while the lake is low, or perhaps the motivation to save up for that Humminbird Side Imaging Sonar or Lowrance Structure Scan to find the new targets.

Come 2016, it’s very possible we’ll have two lakes with new flooded cover: Perris, and also San Vicente, which is targeted to reopen in that time frame. I would say that’s something to look forward to.

NEWEST Heddon bait...

The taking of the new Lake Perris record largemouth (18 and change) on a Chug Bug, a Storm creation purchased by Normark, is exactly the kind of event that could start a rush to popularity for the bait–or not.

But one thing the monster catch pointed out, a walking bait that also sports a cupped mouth is a real fish-catching design. But wait a minute. Doesn’t that also describe a Gunfish or Vixen/Repo Man or something else?

About five years ago–maybe even longer, the largest size of Chug Bug suddenly became the secret to success at Canyon Lake, the private lake and community on the San Jacinto River. One fall, in particular, these rare-at-the-time lures were accounting for two-thirds of the larger (4 pounds and up) fish. The problem, you could hardly find one in the tackle pipeline.

Now of course, there are several options in those style of baits–the newest being the Chug’n Spook from Heddon. This thing is almost 6 inches long and weighs an ounce, and is clearly heavy duty–made for long casts and heavy landings.  Yes, it is also very similar to a Super Spook in body shape, but rides differently, having just two hooks and the underside of the head is flatter making more water contact.

This one is easy to walk, though the deep, narrow cup of the nose has a different spray pattern than any of the Japanese lures. It probably would be better fished with 17- to 20-pound mono (or like diameter braid) just to keep it from digging. But in light riffle to greasy calm surfaces, it’s pretty light on its feet for such a heavy lure.

What’s that they say? Something old, something new…. So I’ve got something new. But where did I put those Chug Bugs?