Welcome to a segment we are calling “Catching up with Anglers!”
We love to stay in touch with our Searcher family to share 🎣fish stories, recreate the excitement, swap tackle tips, reunite with old friends and maybe make new ones. We thought it would be fun to see how our anglers are holding up and share some of their stories. Hopefully they can give you ideas of things we can be doing with your time or help you feel better. Let’s catch up with an angler.
Today we have a special, long-time Searcher family member, Dave Roti! We invite you to get to know Dave and the other volunteers with CCA-San Diego’s chapter here: San Diego Chapter of CCA
What’s your typical day like?: Up early, seek out something informative/educational/inspirational to read. Address the construction industry work issues, keep that on track. Reward myself with a few hours outdoors; continual home projects, maintain our mini fruit orchard, exercise. Volunteer/support California Conservation Association & other fishing interests.
Share your best tackle tip: Familiarize yourself with your gear, practice with it. Include casting and knot tying. There are many benefits; it lessens fish fighting mistakes/failures, takes you into fishing mode even when not on the water!
- Who or what got you into fishing? My uncle Doug would take me fishing often and pay me to dig worms for us to use as bait. A highlight was catching a sturgeon at Big Bend Dam on the Missouri River.
- A “must have” in your tackle box is: A wide assortment of quality hooks. It’s an inexpensive way to increase your odds of enticing fish to bite, when all they want is bait and the bite is picky.
- Favorite fish dish? Grilled yellowtail, Fish Pros seasonings, Temecula Olive Oils/Balsamic Vinegars, lemon/lime juice from our trees. Different ingredient combos each time, great results every time!
- What kind of fish is inside your fish taco? Dorado. The sweet/moist/mild flavor has wide appeal, is our go-to for BBQ parties & guests!
- Favorite hobby other than fishing: Woodworking/building projects. Love the creative process, renovating something from old to new.
- What Searcher trip are you most excited about? Steve Carson’s Penn University. He’s a wealth of knowledge, and I’ve made some great friends on those trips.
- Favorite fishing memory: On one of those Searcher trips, I caught a personal grand slam in one day: yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, dorado, and wahoo. On another trip, while dropper loop fishing in the dark, I saw a huge white shadow swim alongside the boat. It startled me, so I sheepishly asked Art to confirm what it was. He laughed, informed me that it was a 30’ whale shark!
- Fish you are looking forward to catching: Roosterfish
- What motivates you? Blessing others…blesses me!
- Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Reading. Also the design process involved in construction projects, a part of my job description that I love.
Bucketlist fish/fish you haven’t caught but want to? Two: big eye tuna or an opah
