What can you say about the foothill lakes in the spring, other than they can be hard on you when the conditions are changing and Lake Don Pedro, being primarily a Largemouth Bass only Lake, led the way. While the sun was out and a small breeze blew most of the day, most teams found fishing pretty tuff. There was a fairly good jig bite but it was those few swimbait and rip fish that made the difference.
Finishing in the lead were Sonora’s Joe Bruce and Ceres’ Andy Stilley. Joe is know for throwing that Huddleston all day, and while he didn’t mention which swimbait made the difference he did say they got very lucky. They caught 2 fish on the same swimbait, on the same cast, both in the 5 pound range and then an hour later caught a fish that had broken of on a Carolina Rig earlier that morning. The fish still had his worm in its mouth. “When it’s your time, it’s your time” said Bruce.
Whatever they did, the 5 fish limit they brought in weighed 19.26 pounds which included the third biggest bass of the day, a very nice 6.77 pound Largemouth. Bruce told at the weigh in about the lucky bites and also how they burn over 40 gallons of gas running all over the lake. The key was fishing very slow over deep water with the swimbaits and dragging that Carolina Rig around at the same time. Congratulations to Joe and Andy for a great day, I’m sure you make good use of the $4585 you received. Remember to save a little for GAS.
Second place went to hard working Jeff Frey of Riverbank and Jason Remmers of Valley Springs. These guys had the Persuader Bass Baits, Big fish of the day (pictured left). This Largemouth weighed in at 8.97 pounds and anchored their bag of 17.43 pounds. Frey told at the award how they fish in the “Graveyard” area of the lake all day using jigs and swimbaits. The real key for them was keeping everything moving very slow. The Jigs of the swimbaits, “It didn’t matter as long as it was slow”, said Frey. He also thanked St Croix Rod as they received their reward of $3065. Nice fish Jeff and very good fishing.
Third place went to former Anglers of the Year, Kyle Rasmussen and Jody Menzes of Angels Camp. Their third place bag came in at $1728 which brought them $1470. Rasmussen said they were also pretty lucky on this day. After dragging a Carolina rigged worm around most of the day, they pulled up on one point in the lower lake area and on back to back casts with a Lucky Craft Rip Bait, they landed a 4 and a 5 pound bass that made the day.
Forth place went another pair of good guys, Robert Mansor of LaGrange and Gerry Johnson of Modesto. These guys had 5 fish for 16.31 pounds which included and 5.23 kicker bass. It came in handy and brought them $1005. Rounding out the top 5 were Bruce Wallace and Robert Ratzlaff with a 5 fish limit of 16.31. They received $655.
100% BASS would like to thank the fine sponsors that make the difference between fishing and the quality events we are able to provide as a result of their support. BassCat Boats, Mercury Outboards, Mossdale boats in Tracy, Berkley Trilene, Spiderwire Braid, Persuader Bass Baits, Walton’s Pond in San Leandro, Hook, Line & Sinker in Oakley, Phil’s Props in Redding, MF Finesse Custom Worms, Comfortroll, Comfort Suites of Oakley, Jims Pro Bass Tackle in Paso Robles, Cal West Concrete Cutting, Kosich & Callahan Insurance Services, Black Dog Baits, CoverLure, Castillo Badillo, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Angels Inn Motel of Angles Camp and Russo’s Marina on Bethel Island.
For complete details please see our website at www.100percentbass.com
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