Steve Merlo: Ken Barnes Open highlights busy, fun outdoors weekend
| Thursday, Apr 02 2009 10:52 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Apr 02 2009 10:52 PM
Some of the world's best skeet shooters will be on hand at the Kern County Gun Club today through Sunday.
Named the Ken Barnes Open, honoring the local skeet champion, shotgunners from around the country will gather to test their mettle at winning the huge and very popular event. The general public is invited to attend the three-day shoot and watch a host of world-class skeet shooters in action.
Wayne Mayes, probably the best skeet shooter in history, will be on hand, along with Lori Desitoff, the best woman shooter of all time. Detroit's Kurt Graites will join an incredible list of other gunners vying for bragging rights and cash at the prestigious, sanctioned shoot.
Also joining the who's who of professional shooting will be Bakersfield's Brian Foley, 17-year-old winner of last year's California State All Around championship with a 399x400 score. After winning that championship, Brian headed east and took the Junior World Championship, then won the Open World 12-gauge event in San Antonio. He was recently named as captain of the Junior All-American team. He should be tough to beat.
Barnes, honored for his shooting contributions to the game of skeet, is the first man in history to break a perfect 400x400 score, breaking 100 each .410, 28, 20 and 12 gauge targets, all with pump guns and in terribly rainy and windy conditions. Between 1966 and 1975, Barnes won eight individual World Championships and is only one of five people to have ever won each gauge title at least once. Named to 12 Sports Afield magazine All American Teams, he was twice named captain. Barnes' list of accomplishments also includes 27 California State championships, and four consecutive all-around state titles. Barnes was inducted into the National Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame in San Antonio, Texas along with his friend and TV star Robert Stack.
Mostly retired from professional shooting, Barnes, married to Loretta, has five children and spends most of his outdoor time videotaping wildlife and waterfowl hunts. He remains an active Bakersfield Realtor.
The Kern County Gun Club is located along the north fence of the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area.
Cabelas' Memories in the Field on the Outdoor Channel will air some more of Barnes' video work at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. This will be the seventh time the program has shown Barnes' hunting trips, this one a Canadian adventure to shoot limits of mallards and Canada Geese.
The highly anticipated Isabella Lake trout fishing derby will be Saturday through Monday. Ten tagged fish worth $10,000 each will highlight hundreds of other tagged trout worth from $10-$100, including two worth a potential $20,000 each. Anglers must sign up at the Isabella Lake Moose Hall until midnight tonight and then again from 5 a.m. Saturday before fishing.
Merlo's hot tips for Isabella Fishing Derby:
Anglers need to realize that the derby is a numbers game. If I were going to fish Isabella this weekend, I'd spend our family's time trying to catch as many trout as I possibly could in order to garner as many of the valuble monetary tags as possible. Trying to simply catch a single fish will not total any huge dollar amounts, so I'd try to go the distance with everything the law allows. This would include multiple hooks and different baits, on two rods for each angler.
I'd also use flourocarbon line, from 2- to 4-pound test, and chemically-sharpened hooks, like Gamakatsus, which are usually needle-sharp right out of the bag. My simple sliding sinker rig would have multiple leader lengths, to reach every fish-preferred depth, and I would try both off- and on-the-bottom techniques, including small bobbers. Lately, the shorter, five-inches-to-a-foot off the bottom tricks have been working best. When the wind comes up, I'd use a slightly longer leader to offset the current flow. Use just enough weight to anchor your offering and go heavier when the wind comes up.
For bait, I'd use any of the specially formulated floating baits on the market, especially those that are sponsoring the two $20,000 trout, and air-injected night crawlers coated with garlic oil. Lately, believe it or not, some people have been using chunks of anchovies for trout, and it's been working well.
Make certain you have plenty of warm clothes, food and beverages, because the derby is usually cold, windy and wet. Nothing spoils a kid's fishing adventure faster than to be forced off the water by extreme cold. Also, this may not be the right weekend to haul a boat up to the Kern River Valley. High winds and rain are forecast, and everyone knows just how dangerous Isabella can be at times. Besides, I wouldn't want to wait in the long lines to launch my rig with all the trout in the lake swimming right next to the bank.
