SACRAMENTO Ca. – Future Pro Tour anglers fishing the first two events of the season have enjoyed some phenomenal action targeting fish that migrate up from deep water points to the shallow coves where they usually make their spawning beds. Folsom Lake, the last event hosted by the Thunder Valley Outdoors/Future Pro Tour, clearly showed why Future Pro Tour members can consider themselves the best amateur anglers in the west, as 160 teams showed up for the “Capitol City Showdown” bringing in big limits of migrating fish - several of which that topped the ten pound mark.
The team of Vella and Rodriquez rocked the scales with a fish that weighed nearly 12 pounds, caught early in the morning on a big swimbait, and took big fish honors which consisted of a new Lamiglas Rod and the coveted George Gomes Memorial Big Fish plaque. “We were fishing the trees, and we saw her jet out from the base of a big stump to nail our Huddleston swimbait!” they noted as they proudly held up the pre-spawn monster to a crowd of several hundred spectators.
In the end, the “Capitol City Showdown” title was captured by Gabe Campbell and Rod Wilburn who, with an impressive limit of bass that went 20.56 pounds, took home the “lions share” of a purse that topped over $3,000 dollars.
Folsom’s best host “On the Water Pre-fish” seminars
On Friday, the day prior to the event, ten of Folsom Lake’s best bass pros hosted an “On the water” pre-fish seminar where they were stationed at key areas throughout the lake. FPT anglers pre-fishing that day could visit the areas they were stationed at to gather critical information about that particular area, which would possibly help them in the following day’s competition. During one of the “On the water” pre-fish seminars, multiple FPT anglers seeking information, found pro angler Andy Sayles, who was stationed in the Beal’s point area. As Andy proceeded to show the group how to work Senko baits at the base of trees, a largemouth weighing over ten pound inhaled his offering, and Andy proceed to punctuate his seminar on how to catch big bass, with a live demonstration on how to land them!
We would like to thank all of our FPT pro-support staff members for their efforts in our “On the Water” pre-fish seminars which helped make the promotion a great success. The FPT pro-support anglers involved with this promotion were:
Dean McDaniel, Russ Graves, John Maes, Andy Sayles, Charlie Almassey, Ralph Harkins, Chris Raza, Mark Fong, Dan O’Sullivan and Bernie Gaunt.
Preparing for the “BIG BASS Brawl” / Ish speaks out
And now with two deep-water venues in the books, it’s a good bet that all eyes will be focused on Clearlake...and the Thunder Valley Outdoors/Future Pro Tour’s next big event….”The Big Bass Brawl”, to be held May 9th at beautiful Konocti Harbor Resort and spa. If you have not yet fished a FPT event, you don’t want to miss out on this one as it will truly be an event for the ages. With some big females still on beds, and some making their way to beds, you can best believe that the monster fish Clearlake has become world famous for will both fulfill dreams - and break hearts as it will be imperative that FPT anglers bring their “A” game to the table while competing on California’s largest natural lake.
6-time B.A.S.S Classic qualifier, and FPT pro-support staff member, Ish Monroe likes the set up for this early May event and advises FPT anglers to look to what many consider only a summertime bait - a Snag Proof Frog. “Frogs..frogs..and more frogs”, admonished the 2-time B.A.S.S Elite Series champion, who has deployed his special version of the top water frog (the new “Ish Frog”) in competition throughout various lakes across country. “I even catch Snag Proof frog fish in the winter time…as I think that it’s the protein factor that is key with this bait. Big fish look for one good meal, so they don’t have waste a lot of energy chasing down forage during the critical spawning period…and a frog - loaded with protein, will hold them for a long time between meals” he noted.
To further help anglers understand how to fish Clearlake, on Friday, the evening before the event, from 4-7pm, the FPT will host its traditional (and optional) pre-registration/seminar mixer featuring top pro-support staff members who fish Clearlake just about every week. FLW Stren Series champion, and Clearlake local Mark Crutcher, who also set the all-time ten-fish record of over 74.4 pounds at the 2007 America’s Vanity Cup event, will be on hand along with Jerry “the Godfather” Tilton, a professional angler who has in his 30-year career, notched an impressive string of TOC victories, and has perhaps more victories on Clearlake than anyone fishing in both Pro-am and Pro-team competition. Guys and gals..If you don’t know much about Clearlake, this will be your BEST opportunity to find out what’s going on with the lake, as they will provide helpful information regarding productive areas, and bait selections.
And don’t forget…if you can’t make it up Friday, you can always sign up for the event the morning of the event from 4-7am at the Konocti Conference center. Limited membership fees for those that just want to fish this event will be available for only $5 per angler, so make sure you get to the lake EARLY to get registered before blast-off. Also remember…this event will be televised on Comcast Sports Net and aired April 30th, as a witness to the monster fish sure to be caught.
So are you ready to experience the fun and excitement of a big field of competitors for a low entry fee of just $90 per team? ….Are you ready to possibly catch the fish of a lifetime and have it put on TV for all to see?
Then let’s get ready to “RUMBLE” as the Thunder Valley Outdoors/Future Pro Tour heads to Clearlake to present….”The Big Bass Brawl”!
(A don’t forget your frogs..Ribbit..Ribbit)
See you all there!
FPT
For more information about the Thunder Valley Outdoors/Future Pro Tour and this event, please logon to:
www.futureprotour.net or call 916-768-0938 – ANYTIME
The Thunder Valley Outdoors/Future Pro Tour is presented in part by:
Ranger Boats Evinrude Outboards Toyota Motor Corporation NAVIONICS MAACO Auto Body Berkley Rockstar Energy Drinks West Marine Lucky Craft Gamakatsu USA Humminbird Minn Kota Costa Del Mar Abu Garcia Lamiglas SKIP’S Music Sawyer Cook Insurance The Law Offices of Anthony Harris
Vince Harris
President/Director, Future Pro Tour Tournament Trails
3117 Merrywood Dr.
Sacramento Ca, 95825
(916)768)0938
www.futureprotour.net
vince@futureprotour.net
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