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Yak-A-Bass Gamblers Series held its second event at Lake Pardee. Lake Pardee allows fishing only, no water contact. As a result, there are no skiers or wakeboarding allowed on the water. The weather was perfect with air temperatures ranging from 45 to 70 degrees and water temperatures ranging from 56 to 61 degrees. The bass were in the pre-spawn mode and moving to their staging areas. Overall, fishing was tough with the water dropping each day and the fish moving. It was difficult to find the schools of fish but when an angler found a school of fish, they were able to catch a few. There were only five limits on day one, four limits on day two and only one angler had a limit on both days. Nevertheless, Lake Pardee was not fishing to its true potential.
After two days of grinding, Brandon Miller takes the win with 150.00” besting second place by 5.75”. Miller was the only angler that caught a limit on Saturday and Sunday. On day one, Miller ran to the south end of the lake to fish some humps in 30 to 50-feet of water. He quickly found that the fish was not willing to take his bait and saw the fish run from his lure. After a location change, Miller found a nice stretch of bank with fish willing to bite.
“I caught 4 of my 5 fish on one 20-yard stretch of bank.” pronounced Miller, “I was dead sticking a Ned rig in green pumpkin to get all my bites.”
“Day two my game plan was to focus on that 20-yard stretch of bank.” expressed Miller, “I caught 4 more fish there and one fish on a bed off a long point.”
With only 30 minutes left of the two-day tournament, Miller stopped at a point and caught his day two big fish a 17” fish that culled him up 3”.
“I culled with a 17” fish by the boat ramp at 3 PM.” indicated Miller, “That was the only fish that I had caught north of the south end of the lake.”
Miller thanked Jackson Kayak, Yak-a-Bass and my wonderful girlfriend plus, Z-man for making such a great lure.
Terence Sullivan placed second with a two-day total of 145.25”. Sullivan had never fished Pardee and did some research before the event. He decided to go upriver in some deep coves. It was around 10:30 AM before he got his first bite.
“Everything I caught was on a Keitech Jig paired with a Yamamoto twin tail trailer in the cinnamon color.” indicated Sullivan, “Once I got my first bite on that jig, I knew I was going to use that jig the rest of the day.”
“I caught three fish in that one cove.” communicated Sullivan, “I moved to the next cove but didn’t catch any more fish, so I headed back to the ramp around noon.”
“I stopped by the cove where I had caught my three fish on the way back.” said Sullivan, “I fished the shoreline opposite side of where I had caught fish earlier.”
“I caught another keeper and then a short.” said Sullivan, “I knew I had to get back to the ramp with the time I had left, I never did get my fifth fish on day one.”
Sunday, Sullivan felt good because it was lucky St. Patty’s Day. His goal was to run back to his magical cove on day one.
“On Sunday, there was an angler in front of me and I was worried he would beat me to my day one area, but they kept going.” conveyed Sullivan, “After working that same cove without a bite, I moved to the next cove farther upriver.”
“It looked so good in that cove; I caught my first fish on a rock out cropping.” demonstrated Sullivan, “I tossed a Senko and caught my second fish.”
Sullivan worked his Senko towards the back of the cove but never got another bite. He switched back to the jig and caught his third fish.
“The fish were on main and secondary points not all the way in the back.” said Sullivan, “As I worked the point leading into the cove, I tossed my jig out to deep water and caught my fourth and fifth fish. It felt really good to get my fifth fish.”
Sullivan culled one more fish on that point working his jig uphill while enjoying his lunch.
“I saw a fishing buddy and stopped to chat.” said Sullivan, “I got hammered and set the hook, it was a nice fish, but the jig hook broke.”
“At 3:25 PM, I caught a 17” fish.” said Sullivan, “It was nice to cull up in the last few minutes of the tournament.”
Sullivan thanked his wife and son for all their support. The Dark Horse Crew for all their support and camaraderie. Yak-a-Bass and James for putting on such a great event.
John Myers placed third with a two-day total of 140.50”. Myers concentrated on the same rock island both days to catch his fish.
“On Saturday, the fish were chewing the shad baits mid strolling.” communicated Myers, “I would see packs of fish moving in about 15-feet of water and used my Garmin forward facing unit to catch my day one limit.”
“Once the sun came over the hill, the fish seemed to ignore the fluke, so I changed up to a Tas Moua Jig.” said Myers, “The fish were crushing the jig.”
“The key to my jig bites was to swim the jig on the bottom bouncing the jig over the rocks.” conveyed Myers, “I caught several fish and culled up covering water with the jig.”
Myers used a Tas Moua half ounce football jig in brown and purple paired with a green pumpkin twin tailed Yamamoto grub. He would cut off about a 3/8” of the grub to make the jig a smaller profile.
On day two, Myers quickly noticed that the fish were not on top of the rock pile or the island. He used his strolling technique to try and entice the suspended fish he saw on his Garmin unit but couldn’t get any bites.
“The fish moved on day two, there were only a few fish swimming around the rock island.” Myers expressed, “I knew it was going to be a tough day.”
“At 9 AM I caught my first fish; it was a 19” fish.” uttered Myers, “On the first cast with the jig, I swam it over a large rock and as it fell the fish smashed the jig. It felt great to finally get a bite.”
Myers caught three fish on the jig and one on a tube on day two.
“It was brutally tough; I was delighted to catch the fish I did on Sunday.” Myers explained.
Myers thanked his wife for all her support each day he goes fishing. Myers Also thanked his sponsors Headwaters Adventures, RB bass, TM Custom Baits, 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle, Lunker Daddy Custome Lures and Stage Stop Gun Shop for all their support.
Top Ten:
1. Brandon Miller 150.00”
2. Terence Sullivan 145.25”
3. John Myers 140.50”
4. Greg Blanchard 129.50”
5. Mike Ensign 125.75”
6. Sean Case 123.50”
7. Justin Dutcher 109.00”
8. Thomas WIllingmyre 108.25”
9. Daniel Balaba 87.75”
10. Richard George Jr. 77.50”
Big Fish:
Greg Blanchard 19.75”
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