Oroville, Calif. – As 84 pros and their amateur partners converged on Lake Oroville for the season opening Anglers Choice Pro-Am opener, a weeklong warming trend and rising water levels brought an air of excitement to the competitors’ conversations. Word amongst the field was that the incoming water had brought color to the normally clear impoundment, and sunny, warm skies would bring Oroville’s spotted bass into aggressive feeding modes.
As often happens in tournament fishing, a storm began to build and temperatures ahead of the cold front began to drop, causing anglers to discuss adjustments they might have to make to their strategies, and the predicted winning weights. With the pre-tournament warming trends in mind, anglers had begun talk of possibilities of heavy bags of Oroville spotted bass, some claiming that it would take 15 pounds a day to take home the trophy.
However, as Anglers Choice tournament officials began Saturday’s launch, the weather had begun to turn for the worse, and the normally cooperative nature of Oroville’s spotted bass population began to transform with it. The predicted high weights never materialized as much of the field found the average size of their creels lighter than the size they had thought possible.
However difficult the bite became, the truth in tournament angling is that when you gather a field of top quality anglers somebody will have figured them out, and that is precisely what happened.
Pro Brian Ruthman of Oakdale, Calif. rode an aggressive jerkbait pattern to earn his first Pro Am victory. His approach produced consistent limits on both days that proved to overcome the up and down performances of his competitors. His 11.22-pound day one was followed up by an 11.53-pound limit on day two, giving him his 22.75-pound total. His steady excellence produced a $9500 1st place payday.
“I spent both days running points from the main lake to the West Branch and North Fork with Lucky Craft Gary Dobyns Staysee 90 version 3 jerkbaits,” Ruthman reported. “I threw them on a Dobyns Rod 705 jerkbait rod and kept them in 5 to 10 feet of water. I had a little easier time of it on Saturday, as I caught 20 to 25 fish, but only caught 11 or 12 today.”
The victory was Ruthman’s first on a Pro Am level, in only his second pro entry. “I’m totally blown away right now, I can’t believe that I won this,” Ruthman said in an excited tone. “I entered my first tournament as an amateur in 2004, and am really excited to have won on this level now.”
Ruthman’s effort helped him overcome a late charge by Richard Dobyns of Yuba City, Calif. Dobyns, the son of longtime western pro Gary Dobyns, proved that his skills are on par with the best in the west, as he finished the event in 2nd place. Dobyns used several different methods to produce his 22.22-pound total, which included a 10.28 opening round weight followed by his strong, 11.94 pound weight on day two.
“I junk fished mostly, I caught them on a pair of Lucky Craft jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and darter head Roboworms on Dobyns Rods,” said the young pro. “I am pleased with my performance and happy for Brian [Ruthman] but I really made some bad decisions yesterday that cost me the win. “I thought the weights were going to be higher, so I ended up leaving two pound fish in search of bigger bites; I should have weighed more than 11 pounds yesterday, but was able to adjust today and make a run at it.” His 2nd place finish was worth $5500.
Amateur winner Bill Peunggate of Benicia, Calif. credited his pros and adapting to their techniques for his first tournament win. “I fished with two real pros, Phil Strader [of Glide, Ore.] and Jim Davis [of Plumas Lake, Calif.] they put me in position to win,” said Peunggate. “I threw a darter head a little bit on day one, but the main pattern was throwing a Lucky Craft Flat CB in Table Rock Shad. This is my first win, and my stomach is turning quite a bit right now; I can’t believe this is happening.” Peunggate earned $4800 for his win.
The Lake Oroville Pro Am was the first event of the 2009 Anglers Choice Pro Am schedule. The tour stops next on the California Delta May 2 – 3 followed by the season ending event at Clear Lake on June 6 – 7. Anglers Choice operates the largest team tournament trail in the country and is sponsored by Legend Boats, Mercury Outboards, MotorGuide Trolling Motors, Lowrance Electronics, BassTackleDepot.com, Dobyns Rods, Westernbass.com and Gator Grip Inc.
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