Giving back to the community

Giving back to the community.

In May of this year we held the 2nd annual Fish-n-Fun event. This is a charity event that me and my wife (Sarah) put together last year. This is a day for the handicap and disabled people in Southern Utah to go fishing with some pro fisherman and women from Utah and Nevada.
This year we had about 23 participants and as many boats. Every boater takes one individual for some one on one time to learn how to catch bass. Using a new rod and reel combo donated to each person to keep as their own. As usual every participant caught a lot of bass. I think the boaters are as excited about this event as much as the participants are.
After fishing for 3 to 4 hours we follow up with a great bar-b-que and some gifts for everyone. This is also a great time for everyone to bond.
A lot of what happens during this event is because of some great businesses and individuals donating their time and money.
For the last 2 years I have been blessed to meet and get to know some very special people who are handicapped or disabled . As I have gotten to know them and spend some time talking with them and their families, the question popped into my head. Who is really handicapped here? These are people that are always happy and live life to the fullest each and every day. While we complain, worry, stress and forget how valuable life really is.
I know personally how this has impacted my life. I have learned to relax a little more and try not to take things for granite. To see the smiles and joy on the participants face is truly priceless. It brings a tear to my eye, a tear of joy and happiness knowing that I have done something for someone for just a day, to make life a little easier, and forget about everyday life. I am so proud to hopefully make this day a day that these individuals will never forget. And to know I have made friends for a life time.

Thank you to: All of the volunteers from Utah and Nevada for taking a day to give to these special individuals and unforgettable day. All of the boaters and non-boaters, Utah National Guard, Itchy Baits, Sportsmans Warehouse, Sand Hollow Res. Jenkins Oil Co. Sneekee, Rolling Rubber, Tinks Auto Parts, CMSI, Albertsons of (Cedar City) ImagePro, Inxterior Painting and Okuma Fishing products. If I have forgotten anyone, I apologize it was not on purpose. Thanks again.

The Spawn

The Spawn. April, 2008

Spring time is here and the bass are getting ready to spawn. With water temperatures rising it won’t be long. The magic temperature is 57 degrees, and holding.
This is a great time for anglers who love to sight fish. It is also a time for novice anglers to actually see the bass on their beds. If you cruise the shore lines you will find beds in the shallow water, anywhere from 1 to 15 feet deep. Look for black or white blotches depending on the lake bottom composition. The bed or nest will range from 1 to 3 feet across. The male (buck) fish, which is always much smaller than the female, is the one who sits on the nest and protects the eggs while the female is out cruising for food. When the female is on the nest, there is no doubt, she will be a toad. At times when you find the nest it will be empty, you need to back off and look for the fish out cruising. If you don’t see her, come back later and she will be hanging around.

Some great baits for bedding fish are: tubes, shallow diving crank baits, worms, rattle traps or spinner baits. Any time you can flip a tube or worm onto the bed, just let it sit there, this will aggravate the fish and in defense the fish will eat it. (a cool sight to see). You need to pay attention to your bait and keep a tight line. The bass will spit the bait out quickly to get it off the nest.

Spinner baits and crank baits can be thrown past the bed and ran slowly across the bed and again in defense to protect the eggs the bass will attack your bait.

Try any of these techniques, be patient and you can count on catching some huge bass. Good luck.

Fishing with your dog.

We all know that dog is man's best friend, but how does a dog rate as a fishing partner? For the most part, I think taking your dog out on the lake can be quite enjoyable, unless your dog wants to make life difficult. My dog is very spoiled; he’s like one of our kids. So when my wife left town for a few days, if I was going fishing, so was our dog. It was a night tournament on Quail Creek Res. I was very excited. Night tournaments can produce some huge bass. The fishing was going very well. We had caught some good fish before the sun went down and the reaction baits were on fire. As most of you know, being on front of the boat we always have a few rods on the deck with different baits. For some reason, my dog Duke got excited, ran up to the front of the boat by me and accidentally kicked one of my rods. My heart skipped a beat as I watched it head for the water. It was a nice St. Croix rod with a brand new Quantum reel. There was no way I was going to let that rod go down to the bottom of the lake. In a panic, I hurried over to the side and reached out of the boat to catch it. I had just caught the rod in my hand, when I realized I was going overboard. When I surfaced, I breathed a sigh of relief; I had saved my rod and reel. As I swam toward the boat, with my blood boiling and the anger building toward the dog, I could see him standing on the deck. He looked down at me with that happy, loving face, tongue hanging out and his tail wagging 100mph. Then it hit me, my phone and wallet were still in my shorts. Too late now, after climbing back into the boat and receiving a million kisses of happiness from Duke, I soon realized that a phone was a lot cheaper than a new rod and reel. No harm done, I had to laugh about the whole situation. It’s now about 2:00am. The tournament had come to an end. After loading the boat onto the trailer I started making sure everything was secure for the ride home. Suddenly there was a familiar sound coming from the darkness. I turned to see what it was and something struck me in the shoulder. I jumped back and realized that the familiar sound I had heard was the whirring of the blades on my trolling motor. I had forgotten to turn the power off in my weary state. My curious dog had come up front to see what I was doing. As luck would have it, he managed to step directly on the trolling motor pedal. It set the blades turning at high speed and I had unknowingly stepped directly into them. I turned toward him angrily, but again saw the loving eyes of my beloved pup staring down at me with tail wagging. I quickly realized that he had no idea what he had done. I couldn’t stay mad at him for long. I learned a few valuable lessons that night. When taking your dog fishing, always strap your equipment down, shut off all power when not in use and pay attention to what your best friend is doing. We still had a great night of fishing and did well in the tournament. As once said on a credit card commercial: Gas: $25.00, entry fees: $35.00, a new cell phone $150.00. Taking your dog fishing: PRICELESS.

Intro

Welcome to itchy’s blog. My name is Steve Miller, (alias: Itchy) the nickname given to me almost 20 years ago by a friend of mine and not for a bad reason which might of crossed your mind. While golfing one afternoon, I started calling him "scratchy"obviously because he kept scratching himself, which I think was for that bad reason. I am from southern Utah, and have been fishing my whole life, but I started fishing bass tournaments 14 years ago. I started is a local bass club, as a non-boater, and eventually bought my own bass boat, and began fishing as a boater. Last year Skeeter Boats asked me to join their elite team and be on the Pro Staff, along with getting about a dozen sponsors, a dream come true. Now I am living the dream that so many anglers work for. Through the years I have become very knowledgeable about bass, and their patterns through out the seasons. A lot of this knowledge I have gained, I give the credit to all of the great fishing partners I’ve had through out the years. I have had a lot of success on the tournament trails, while fishing the American Bass Association, Anglers Choice, and the FLW Stren series in the west. I have made many great friends through out the years, many for a life time.
This is my 5th year as the coordinator for the Utah Summer Games Bass Fishing, and my wife and I are on our 2nd year as founders, and directors for the Fish-n-Fun event that we put together for the disabled and handicapped children in Southern Utah. Last year was a great success, mainly because of the anglers, and volunteers who steped up and donated their time, themselves, and boats to spend a day with these very special kids.I have had a lot of success in bass fishing and have a passion for the sport, the happiness, friendships and joy is something all anglers should have. I decided to put this web site out there for all of you to enjoy. Also, we will have lake contitions, news, tip, basics, weather, a photo gallery and a lot of exciting things to come. I hope you all enjoy it.