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James Croco won the Ca Bass Nation Kayak Trail Series at Lake Pardee on March 3rd with a respectful 90.75”, which weighed around 17 pounds.
Yes, this is right, James Croco won two tournaments on the same day on the same lake. Kayak tournaments can have more than one tournament at the same lake on the same day. Yes, pretty darn cool, indeed.
Croco located a long tapering point that was around 100 yards long. After an insanely rough hour long run to that point, he found his first fish in the 25-foot range. He stated, “I saw a giant mark way off the end of the point with his Garmin Panopitx, about 80 feet from me.” Croco tossed his ¾ ounce Tour level finesse Dirty Jig in the green pumpkin color with a X Zone Muscle Back finesse craw trailer to the fish. Slowly, he dragged the jig with long pauses to entice a 19.50” largemouth bass that weighed around 5 pounds, not a bad way to start his morning. Croco fished a few other points in the area, catching two more fish. He decided to return to his starting spot and drifted over to the end of the point going with the wind, catching several more fish. His better fish were deep in the 30-to-60-foot range, this was his key to finding better size fish. James noted that he caught a total of 9 fish during the tournament and two of his fish came on a X Zone guppy head paired with a 2.8” Keitch. Croco said, “The wind changed directions, then it started to hell, I had no cell service, so I headed back to the ramp three hours early.” After an hour and a half without a bite, he was starting to regret his decision to leave so early. He stopped at a spot that he fished in the past, third cast to the point, he culled 1.25”. James declared, “This was the fish that secured the victory for me.” His decision to leave early was the right one. James appreciates all the support from his sponsors Headwaters Adventure, Bioenno Power Batteries, HOOK’D Specialized exhaust and automotive, Gregory water systems, PLine TKO tungsten, Nichols Lures, Dirty Jigs, The Rod Glove, and X Zone.
Thomas Willingmyre captured second place with 89.00” Willingmyre dragged an A-rig over the top of off-shore humps in about 35 to 40 feet deep. He paired his bladed A-rig with 2.8” teasers with 3.3” Keitech in the Pro Blue red pearl. Willingmyre found that the A-rig was the key during practice. He would make repetitive cast to the same rock pile on the edge of the hump. After an adjustment with changing his 2.8” Keitech to a single 3.8” between two 2.8”, he caught several key fish. Willingmyre wanted to fish in a location that was occupied with another competitor, once that angler left, he caught two key fish a 17.50” and an 18.50” on that spot within a few minutes. These two fish at the end of the day helped cull several inches that propel him into third place. Thomas thanked his better half, his wife, for all her support.
Bam Miller finished in third place with 85.75”. Miller fished an off-shore hump in 35 to 40 feet dragging a Ned rig in the PBJ color with 6-pound Gamma fishing line on a ¼ ounce head. He would make a long cast and let his lure sit for a while before slowly starting to drag the Ned Bait. Most of Miller’s bites came just after the pause with the slightest mushy weight change or ticking feeling that wasn’t rocks. Miller stated, “The wind kept changing direction which made it extremely difficult to stay on the spot and fish it efficiently. I would see fish on my graph and drop down on them.” The first fish he caught was an 18.50” smallmouth bass that he saw on his graph. Miller culled a 13.25” fish to a 15.50” at the end of the day, all but two of his fish were smallmouth bass. Miller thanked his sponsors Jackson Kayaks, Newport Vessels, and Bioenno Batteries. Miller would like to thank Bass Nation and Tim Author for putting on these events, but most of all, his girlfriend for all her support.
Top Ten:
1. James Croco 90.75”
2.Thomas Willingmyre 89.00”
3. Brandon Miller 85.75”
4. Alden Walden 78.50
5. Kong Yang 76.00”
6. Damian Thao 75.25”
7.Nathaniel Ferrand 74.25”
8. John Myers 73.25”
9. Dominic Vitali 72.50”
10. Sean Case 66.00”
Big Fish:
Calvin Vang 20.25”
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