Anthony Garcia wins CaBass Nation TOC at Almanor

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basstrophy
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Anthony Garcia wins CaBass Nation TOC at Almanor

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CaBass Nation had their tournament of champions (TOC) at Lake Almanor. The weather was perfect for some smallmouth fishing, the air temperature was a beautiful 60 to 80 degrees and the water temperature reached 67 degrees. The smallmouth bass were stagging to spawn which meant the bass were moving shallow. After two days of fishing Anthony Garcia and James Croco tied with the exact inches 164.75”, but the tie breaker was the one-day largest length. Anthony Garcia wins the CaBass Nation TOC at lake Almanor. Garcia studied google map for off shore structure but found the off shore bite was not the deal.

“I moved shallow and started to see spawning fish on beds.”

Garcia marked waypoints for the bedding bass in hopes that they would be there the next day. Once Garcia arrived at the spawning cove, there were several bass boats fishing the same area.

“I had to wait my turn to move into the area where I had located the spawning bass.”

Once Garcia was able to fish that area, he was able to get a small limit for day one which kept him in contention in 6th place. On day two, Garcia went to the same area and found that a new wave of fish had moved up.

“I used 6-pound test with an 3/16-ounce ball head paired with a 2.8” Keitech to catch all my fish.”

Many of Garcia’s fish would pick-up his bait and drop it or take the paddle tail off the end. He grinded it out for two days to capture the TOC win. Garica thanked his girlfriend Amanda and his family for all their support. He also thanked his sponsors IRod, Oldtown Kayaks, Dakota Lithium, Simms, Big Bass Dreams, Defiant fishing, Tackle Shack USA, Boonedoz USA and Bass Slayer Baits.



James Croco came in second place with 164.75”. Croco ran to a location that was 6.5 miles away from the launch ramp. After the hour and a half boat run, he fished a 400-yard area with a point covered with large rock located near a spawning cove.

“I used a free rig in 14-to-20-foot range with a EWG 3/0 Gamakatsu hook paired with a Z-Man fatty Z in watermelon candy with ¼ ounce TKO tungsten weight on 6-pound Pline tactical fluorocarbon on a StealthStixx Skinny Pet rod.”

Croco covered the same 400-yard stretch of bank on day two but found the fish had moved further back into the nearby cove. On day two, he caught 84.50” compared to his day one 80.25”. On day two, Croco made an adjustment by moving further back into the cove to find the school of fish.

“The fish started to spawn in the cove, that’s why they moved further back inside of the cove.”

He used the same free rig to catch his fish on day two and a 2.8” Keitech. At 10:30 AM he had his second day limit and knew that his run back to the ramp was going to take longer because of the wind had started to blow and the lake had become rough.

“A few fish were caught on a 1/8 ounce Dirty-jig guppy head paired with a 2.8” Keitech.”

Croco worked a bank across the lake to catch a few of his limit fish there once his bite slowed down. Croco thanked his sponsors Headwaters Adventures in Redding, Hook’D Bait and Tackel in Ione, Dirty Jigs, Bioenno power, Pline, TKO tungsten, Rod Glove, Nickelous Lures and Specialized Exhaust Automotive.

Calvin Vang finished in third place with a two-day total of 157.50”. Vang’s practice fishing was not too good and never got a bite during practice. However, on Saturday the first day of the tournament, after a short 30-minute run, he made the right adjustment by fishing new water. He used a small 3/32-ounce crappy jig paired with a small Hazedong shad with 4-pound test. The slow fall was the key to catching fish, plus he was working his lure up-hill. One of Vang’s very first cast he noticed his bait had stopped falling and caught his first fish in two days. Vang knew then that this is what he was going to do for the tournament. Vang fished the same area both days grinding it out to get limits on both days.

“I want to thank my girlfriend, Vila Xiong, she is my biggest sponsor and supporter.”

Vang thanked his friends and family for all their support and ABIRC Asian Business Insititute Resource Center, Vang Dynisty, and Poke Mart.



The top 6 anglers have qualified for the 2024 Kayak Bassmater Classic. Congratulation!!

1. Anthony Garcia 164.75”
2. James Croco 164.75”
3. Calvin Vang 158.00”
4. Damian Thao 154.25”
5. Sean Beach 148.25”
6. Kong Yang 131.50”

7. Jamie McTaggart 129.00”
8. Dang Xiong 103.50”
9. John Myers 98.75”
10. Chase Murdock 98.00”

Big Fish:
Damian Thao 19.25”
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