The Fish From New Melones | Vella and Johnson on Their Win

Vella and Johnson Day Two fish from Melones | Courtesy of Jacob Johnson

With two days of fishing on New Melones behind them, Matt Vella and Jacon Johnson qualified in the top-15 of the FPT Classic championship at Lake Pardee.

As previously reported, Vella and Johnson put the final winning five-fish limit together with a down bait.

"At lake Pardee, we threw a brown, 3/8-ounce football head for the 12-pounds that we needed," said Johnson. 

However, we hadn't heard much about the Melones fish - until now.

DAY ONE | MELONES

The Vella/Johnson team came to the scales on the first day with a bag of 14.43 that included their 3.71 big bass. It gave them a top-20 seat on the leaderboard, approximately five-pounds behind the leader.

"We only caught five keepers," said Johnson. "They were all on shakey heads."

DAY TWO | MELONES

After a change in strategy, the team rocketed up the field standings, sackin' up a bag that broke 20-pounds, putting them in 2nd place.

Their two-day weight of 34.79 gave them less than one-pound to make up on the leader, as the pulled through the field cut and moved on to fish Pardee on the final day.

"We ditched our game plan and fished new water," recalled Johnson. "We found fish blowing up on a baitball. We caught 'em on underpspins and jerkbaits."

DAY THREE | PARDEE

At day's end on Pardee - from jigs in hand - a limit of 12.22 was enough to earn Vella and Johnson the FPT Classic championship title with a tournament total of 47.01. For their win they received the keys to a brand new Nitro Z18/Mercury package valued at $38,000.