“I didn’t have a fish at 9 AM and was worried about catching a limit.”
Morris made the right changes by working a Neko Rig slowly in 5 to 20 feet of water once the wind started to blow. He would rotate a few island tops with the same structure. His lure of choice for his Neko Rig was the Yamamoto Neko worm in green pumpkin. The last hour Morris caught an 18.00” fish that made the difference for his win.
Morris said, “My foot control steering was a huge factor for my success.”
Morris thanked his Bride for all her support, the good lord, and all the guys that had shared their techniques with him throughout the years.
David Oien finished in second place with 84.00”. Oien used a Drop-shot rig with a Robo purple worm and a shaky head with a large TRD worm. He used a small Z-Man head with a wire guard to work his large TRD through the wood. His big fish came first thing in the morning. Oien worked down the West bank and found a nice bush, tossed his TRD, waited a few seconds, his line had moved and caught a 23.00” which weighed 8 pounds.
“My lure was not in the same place, when she jumped, I was OMG!!”
“It puts you into a weird defense mode when you catch a big fish first thing in the morning.”
Oien focused on brush piles to catch his fish less than 10-feet deep. He would toss his bait into the brush and let it sit and then move it slowly through the brush.
“The key was to let the TRD sit and not shake it.”
Oien likes to use the 1/8-ounce head during this time of the year to keep the presentation slow. Oien thanked his friends that came up and practiced with him. Also, Lodi Paddle Sports Center for their support during this season.
Shawn Campos finished in third place with 82.75”. Campos had his limit by 9 AM by using a drop-shop rig with a Robo morning dawn worm from 5 to 10 feet deep. Campos headed toward the dam and caught two of his bigger fish. He then crossed the lake and caught fish near the Chowchilla ramp. During practice he was able to catch a few on an underspin but during the tournament all his fish came on a drop-shot.
“The drop-shot caught all my fish during the tournament.”
The bigger bites all came on the rocks with the Robo 5” morning dawn worm. Campos thanked his wife and family for all their support and his buddies Gustavo Rojas and David Oien. Also, Slay Nation for putting on a great event.
1.David Morris 84.25”
2.David Oien 84.00”
3.Shawn Campos 82.75”
4.Joseph Tax 82.50”
5.Richard George Jr. 81.25”
6.Gustavo Rojas 81.25”
7.Max Lee 80.75”
8.Rick Yang 79.75”
9.Jesse Landry 79.50”
10.Richard George 78.00”
Big Fish:
Richard George Jr. 23.50”
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