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Lower Otay Lake is one of the most southern lakes in California. The lake has tulles, aquatic weeds and many offshore and shoreline rocks. The lake has only largemouth bass that feed on massive schools of bait and crawfish. Lower Otay lake has 25 miles of shoreline with 1100 surface acres at full pool. There are two major arms Harvey and the Otay arm. For a kayak bass fisherman, this lake is a perfect fishery due to its size and the amount of shoreline cover. During the recent ABA kayak tournament, Lower Otay was fishing tougher than normal. Out of 29 anglers only 9 had a five fish limit and a total of 97 fish were caught. However, at every bass tournament there is a winner, and that winner was Mark Christman. Christman won with 83.50” conquering second place by an impressive 3.5”. Christman concentrated on the main lake area with a reaction bait first thing in the morning.
“I started off with a rip bait but no luck.” said Christman, “I was working a Senko by lifting it up and letting it fall and as I quickly reeled in the Senko an 18.25” bass crushed the Senko.”
Christman stuck with the Senko pattern for a while but never was able to repeat. He changed to a jig and quickly found the bass were chewing it on the rocky banks.
“I caught most of my fish on the jig.” Christman said, “I was using a fancy Picasso football jig in black and blue color with a Yamamoto Flappin Hog trailer.”
When the sun got high in the sky, the jig bite slowed considerably so Christman moved to the dam area and used a rip bait to catch his final fish for his limit. Christman went back to using the jig and culled two more times before lines out. Christman thanked his family for all their support but especially his wife for all her support with his fishing.
Brandon Cabrales finished in second place with 80.00”. Cabrales started his day off with reaction baits without a single bite. He made an adjustment to a drop-shot.
“On my first cast with a drop-shot I caught my first fish.” Cabrales said, “Then on my third cast, I caught my second keeper.”
Cabrales fished in about 9-feet of water on top of the submersed tulles. He would fan cast around his kayak picking off fish. Cabrales has his limit 7:45 AM using a 6” Robo worm in the Margarita color.
“I changed up to a chatterbait and made a cast to a random tule and caught a 16” culling up 3”.”
After moving to several different areas, Cabrales caught a 14” fish that culled once again to move him up to 80”. After 12 noon fishing was extremely tough and Cabrales was unable to cull. Cabrales thanked wife first and foremost, his children and his parents for all their support.
Gilbert Garcia finished in third with 78.50”. Garcia fished history at Lower Otay. He started off with a top water bait but never caught a fish. Garcia changed to a Texas rigged 6” Robo worm in Aaron’s magic color.
“First cast with the Aaron’s magic, I caught a keeper.” Garcia said, “It was only a 12.25” bass but it helped me figure out the puzzle.”
Garcia’s next cast he caught another bass in the exact location. He was fishing a ditch in the submersed tulles in 5 to 10 feet of water. His Texas rigged worm was the key to working the tulles without getting snagged.
“I caught a limit of fish in the ditch quickly.” Garcia said, “It was a small limit.”
Once Garcia had a limit, he uploaded his limit to TourneyX. Garcia switched to a 4.5” Robo worm once the bite had slowed, he culled up several 15” fish. Garcia area slowed so he moved to two different locations. Both locations did not produce a bite, he returned to the ditch where he caught several fish and caught a 16” bass culling several inches. On his way back to the ramp, he stopped and culled with two 16” fish. Garcia thanked his girlfriend, his sons Anthony, Timothy and Adam for all their support and ABA for putting on such a great event. Also, Garcia thanked his sponsor St. Croix Rod, Simms and Tackle Shack USA.
Top Ten:
1. Mark Christman 83.50”
2. Brandon Cabrales 80.00”
3. Gilbert Garcia 78.50”
4. James Choi 74.75”
5. Juanillo Median73.75”
6. Kerry Peeler 73.25”
7. Chris Harris 70.25”
8. Trevor Heck 70.00”
9. Shawn Haynes 67.50”
10. Jonathan Demonet 63.25”
Big Fish:
Johnathan Demonet 19.00”
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