A Day To Refresh

Saul's Day Starter

As you are probably aware, life for the Cave Clan has been just a bit on the hectic side for several weeks. So, when my buddy SoCalBassAssassin (aka Saul) called and asked if I wanted to join him on his 19′ silver-sparkle Monarch bass boat for an early spawn Largemouth Bass (LMB) session on Lake Casitas (near Ojai, CA), my response was a resounding “#@%& YEAH!”. After all, a day of fishing sounded like the perfect way to get my overdone head back in the game … and what fish would be a better target on St. Patrick’s Day than the green LMB?!?
The last time Saul and I ventured out together, I had to get up around 3am to make it to his house by 5am, and arrive at the lake before the 6:30am opening. But, now that we live 45 minutes closer, and because I prepared my BTA Turkey Sandwiches the night before, I actually was able to “snooze in” until 4am. After getting the boat ready and a quick traditional stop at Sam’s, the Vietnamese Doughnut Guy (aka VDG), for a plain buttermilk and a cup of Joe we headed out for a day of fishin’ fun. Until the sun got above the surrounding mountains, it was a chilly 42° on the water. But, when it did warm up, we were treated to a beautiful, mostly sunny 75° day. Though it did get a bit breezy in the afternoon.

Cave's First

At first we saw tons of huge Carp busting the shorelines in search of Bass beds to raid, but we couldn’t find any of the early spawners to target. Though, after about an hour of searching, we found our first LMB guarding the nest. It didn’t take Saul long to entice him with a Texas-rigged Roboworm and pose with our first fish of the day. He nailed a couple more, then I found one just off the beds and got myself off the schnied.
We nailed another nine fish between us, on a variety of baits. I actually wrapped things up with our last fish, who threw in several acrobatic ariels before agreeing to a photo op. If you’d like to see pics of all our catches just click here. FYI, all the fish were safely released to fight another day.

St. Patty's Day Band

After cleaning up the boat and heading back to Saul’s, I raced home to have a fun St. Paddy’s dinner with the family at one of our new local hangs … The Alamo Restaurant – purveyors of fine Mexican cuisine in Newbury Park. I didn’t plan on doing a review of them quite yet, so I left my camera in the car. A move I regretted when a 10 person bagpipe band suddenly descended upon the south-of-the-border brasserie. We all gathered ’round as they deftly played Irish classics like Danny Boy and emotion stirring folk hymns like Amazing Grace. While a full review in the near future is warranted, for now let me just say that the homemade guacamole is amazing and the Chili Verde is full of flavorful, tender pork in – what else on St. Patty’s Day – green sauce! The margaritas weren’t too shabby either. 🙂
Best of all, this day of fun, food and festivities really recharged my juices. There still is a ton to do to the new cave, and the VO workload has suddenly exploded, so time is still at a premium. But, I am feeling a constant release from the grip of the insanity that has reigned recently. Who know’s, I might even get a new recipe up on here before the next lunar cycle! 😉

©2010 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.