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Central Valley Kayak Anglers and BASS 559 held a double hitter at Eastman Lake. An angler can sign up for one or both. The top three anglers signed up for both events. Eastman Lake is a hidden gem and can be compared to Clear Lake for the size of fish that can be caught there; however, fishing can be extremely difficult as well. The weather was predicted to rain late in the day Saturday and winds pushing to 25 miles per hour in the afternoon. During the morning there was a stiff North wind that blew around 15 miles per hour and then in the afternoon the wind changed direction blowing South to 30-35 miles per hour with the rain arriving in force. Once again, amazing weather if one was a duck. Eastman lake didn’t disappoint the anglers that had figured them out gifting some fat pre-spawn and spawn fish showing.
During the awards ceremony the rain decided to deluge a flurry of heavy showers. During the awards, the anglers launching from the South side ramp found the wind treacherous and had to arrive back at the ramp between 10 AM and 11 AM for safety reasons. The anglers help each other get safely back to the shore and back onto their trailers and on their truck’s beds. These anglers found their fishing day shortened by several hours.
Even though the fishing conditions were not favorable, David Morris hammered a home run at the double hitter and even arrived back at the ramp at 11 AM with an impressive 97.50” besting second place by almost 4”. Morris used Senkos shallow to catch his impressive limit.
“I fished from 1 to 5 feet of water to catch all my fish.” said Morris, “I used the 924 five-inch Senko to catch all my fish.”
Morris just picked up his new Native Titan 12.5 X from Romel Labrador (The Magician). His rig has two trolling motors, an Xi3 Motor guide and a Newport NK300. This rig is set up for the serious tournament angler. He named her “The Foxy Lady”. Since this was her maiden voyage, Morris was not familiar to his new rig. Just a few minutes into his day, he found that the rudder control failed, and he had to use his foot control system to maneuver his rig.
“I ran for about 5 minutes to my first location and put the power poles down to hold my rig in place.” declared Morris, “I caught a limit at my first spot in about 2 hours.”
“I worked around the island and caught more fish.” stated Morris, “The wind started to blow so I headed to a cove nearby and power poled down there.”
“I know I caught all bed fish, but I couldn’t see the beds because of the wind.” announced Morris, “The key was to fish the Senko weightless and shallow.”
“Once the wind picked up and started to blow harder, I moved to a protected cove and caught more fish.” remarked Morris, “It started to get cold and the wind was brutal, so I headed in early around 11 AM and found a place that had service to download the fish to TourneyX.”
Morris thanked his beautiful Bride and of course the good Lord. He also thanked Romel Labrador, Kissler, Dobyns Rods and all the anglers.
Jeremy Sierra finished in second place with 93.75”. Sierra used a rip bait to catch his second-place limit. He practiced a couple days before the event and found a few bed fish and reaction fish.
“The rip bait I used was a Maga-Bass Vision 110 junior plus one.” said Sierra, “I stuck with the rip bait during the entire event.”
“I fish the North end of the lake.” voiced Sierra, “I found that the fish were around rock on the outside of the cove areas.”
“I used a fast twitch with hardly and pause.” declared Sierra, “The morning bite was better than the afternoon once the wind picked up.”
“After 11 AM, I never culled up after that.” announced Sierra,
Sierra thanked his wife, Gal, for all her support. My buddy Arthur, he and I practiced together before the event. A big shout out to CVKF for hosting such a great event, 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle for all their great advice and amazing store, and Valley Rod and Gun.
John Myers placed third with a total of 93.50”. Myers used a Neko rigged Senko to catch his limit. He also caught the biggest bass of the day that measured 22”, it weighed 6.97 pounds.
“It stated off slow fishing the Northwest bank, so I moved to the island and fished the rocky points.” said Myers, “The first set of rocks that I came to, I caught an 18” right away.”
“The wind was blowing straight into the point, and I had to let the bait sit to get a bite.” stated Myers, “Once I slowed down a limit came pretty fast.”
“The Neko rig I was using was a 5” green pumpkin Senko with a 1/16-ounce weight and a VMC weedless number 2 hook.” announced Myers, “I never lost a fish on that rig, it felt great to fish clean.”
“Once the wind changed directions and it became colder, I never culled up after that.” vocalized Myers, “I tried deeper and moved shallower and even fished some grass to try and cull up, but I only caught non-scorable fish.”
Myers thanked his best half, his wife, for all her support and everything she helps with preparing for each fishing trip. Myers also thanked his sponsors Stage Stop Gun Shop, Lunker Daddy Lures, TM Custom Baits, 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle, RB Bass and all of their great sponsors and supporters. A big shout out to CVKF and BASS 559 for hosting a great event.
Top Ten:
1. David Morris 97.50”
2. Jeremy Sierra 93.75”
3. John Myers 93.50”
4.Sean Beach 92.50”
5. Steve Melander 91.00”
6. Max Lee 90.50”
7. Matt Vang 87.75”
8. Robert Yamamoto 86.75”
9. Arthur Vidaurri 84.00”
10. Cheng Xiong 84.00”
Big Fish
John Myers 22.00”
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