My best friend and I just got back today from Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, CA and had an epic day.  There was a really bad algae bloom going on but for some reason when we switched to drop shot wacky rigged senkos we started nailing em.  We caught about 10 fish total between the two of us and it was my friend's very first time fishing ever.  His first cast on the senko and he nailed a 3.97lber and ended up catching more fish than I did.  Beginner's luck.  On his first cast with his wacky rig drop shot senko that I rigged up for him he caught a 4lber which at the time was bigger than my personal best of 3.5lbs.  I was so happy for him but was so taken aback that on his first day bass fishing, he caught a fish bigger than my personal best.

 

After catching some nice 1-2lbers working the coves with fairly little algae bloom I was able to hook up on a really nice fish.  Right when he thumped it I knew it was a big one. 

 

I caught this 5.97 lber.

and some 2lbers

 

 

I'll try to get the pics of my friend's 4lber.

 

I also ended up breaking my new Daiwa Tatula casting rod after losing a really big fish.  I think I got hit by a 5lber or so early in the morning because he just took off with my senko and pulled out my drag and quickly wrapped me against a tree and freed himself.  It happened so fast he was for sure bigger than 4lbs because my drag was set fairly well and he pulled it with ease.  I was too anxious in trying to untangle from the tree that when I was yanking on the line with both of my hands that I came too close to the tip of my rod and broke off about 1".  I still fished the rest of the day and caught that 5.97lber around 1pm.  All in all a great day even though I broke my new rod.  Fortunately I called a reputable tackle shop close by that said the repair would be pretty easy and cheap to fix.

Well done and a hearty congrats!!!

There ya go ~ all kinds of stuff going on.

A-Jay

Congratulations on your new PB.

Good job and congrats, sound like fun.

About that of your tatula casting rod is it reg tatula or tatula XT? Anyway just bring that rod to Daiwa in Cerritos Orange County, mostly they will change new rod for you right there. Actually I've done it with my MH/F 6'10" tatula as well.

Just now, JustJames said:

Good job and congrats, sound like fun.

About that of your tatula casting rod is it reg tatula or tatula XT? Anyway just bring that rod to Daiwa in Cerritos Orange County, mostly they will change new rod for you right there. Actually I've done it with my MH/F 6'10" tatula as well.

 

It's a regular tatula rod.

 

OH i just realized there is a Daiwa in Cypress right?  I didn't know we could just go there and have them just exchange it? Because it's not like the fish broke it, just my stupidity...  Do I need proof of purchase or anything?  I was going to go to SavOn Tackle in Santa Fe springs because they told me its a cheap and easy fix. 

They will have you write down date of purchase and where that about it. Your tip can be broke off by hook set. I like this rod a lot but the tip is so fragile. 

I think you have to be there before 2 or 3 PM in order to get a new rod while you are waiting. 

1 minute ago, JustJames said:

They will have you write down date of purchase and where that about it. Your tip can be broke off by hook set. I like this rod a lot but the tip is so fragile. 

I think you have to be there before 2 or 3 PM in order to get a new rod while you are waiting. 

 

Ok sweet.  I bought my rod of amazon.com... Do you think they'll still warranty it? 

 

Thanks again for the info bud! If this works I owe you a beer or something.

Here are some pics of my friend's 4lber.

 

2 hours ago, MTPanda said:

 

Ok sweet.  I bought my rod of amazon.com... Do you think they'll still warranty it? 

 

Thanks again for the info bud! If this works I owe you a beer or something.

Yup mine bought from Amazon as well. 

Ok sweeeeeeet!

Congrats on a great catching day for both of you.  Crappy about the rod breaking though.

Nice going on the new PB!

14 hours ago, JustJames said:

Yup mine bought from Amazon as well. 

 

I did as you said James, and within 5 mins they just gave me a new rod!  Thanks so much for the tip man!!  I owe ya for that.

U r w e l c o m e, and enjoy yr new rod. I like tatula a lot way better than my fav crucial drop shot rod but those broken tip story prevent me to buy another one. In fact I have one ready in the shopping cart and almost pull trigger so many times.

1 minute ago, JustJames said:

U r w e l c o m e, and enjoy yr new rod. I like tatula a lot way better than my fav crucial drop shot rod but those broken tip story prevent me to buy another one. In fact I have one ready in the shopping cart and almost pull trigger so many times.

 

I really like my tatula rod and I hope I don't have any tip problems from here on out.  Though the 5year warranty and easy replacement plan sure is nice.

Awesome fish and great work!

Congrats on the new PB. 

Congrats