Event #1
“The first Wild West Bass Kayak tournament was April 18th on the California Delta. I had found fish bedding along the deep rock walls when the tide was low. The morning of the tournament, the tide was high and moving out. I started off tossing topwater baits and crank baits hopeful to get a giant fish first thing, after an hour no bites. I moved to a spawning location that was protected from the wind. I tossed a weightless Senko next to a dock and caught a 15” fish. I worked my way along the docks tossing the Senko without a bite for the next hour. I pick-up my drop shot rod and tossed the rig next to the pillar and once it hit the bottom, I felt a thump. I set the hook and the fish shoots straight up and jumps off my hook losing a nice 3 to 4- pound fish. For the next three hours as the tide was going out, I hit every pillar in three deferent coves and caught 2 more fish and lost one. I noticed a nice green patch of hydrilla between two docks. I picked up my punch rod and started to flip the edges, no bites, and then I flipped in the dead center and I feel a THUMP. After a short fight, a 4 pounder breaks the surface and I swung her aboard! This was my fourth keeper, now I just need one more. I ran to every patch of weeds that I could see for the next hour and never got another bite. The tide is right, almost bottomed out and I need to go find some bedding fish. First place I checked, I see this 13” bass on a bed. It is essential to fill my limit. It took seconds to catch that small fish with a drop shot. Two docks over I find a pair of bedding bass and I start working on the male guarding the nest. The female is not far away and I can see her moving around the weeds watching my bait. I picked-up a Yamamoto Ika and toss it towards the female, to my surprise she inhales my bait. I just culled up several inches with that fish. It’s 2:45 PM the male bass is ready to bite, he’s getting really aggressive. I toss the Ika back at him and he inhales my bait, I don’t have time set the hook before he spits it out. I toss my bait back to him and I watch the bass suck my bait into its mouth. I set the hook as hard as I can and the 3 pounder jumps straight up and comes off, the time is 2:55 PM. Dang, that stings badly. I finish the day just 3 inches behind first place and came in second.”
Event #2
“Clear Lake May 23rd 2021, my favorite lake due to how many 3 and 4-pound bass can be caught day in and day out. I launched mid lake and headed to my first spot which was five miles away. My hopes are high because the weekend before there was this pile of big pre-spawn fish moving up to this rocky point. After launching at 6 AM, I traveled about two miles and it’s now it is 6:30 AM, lines in. I headed towards the bank and start tossing a buzz bait. Fourth cast I catch a 19” bass. I tossed that buzz bait to every patch of weeds I could see on the way to my primary spot for the next two hours with no success. The week before my primary location was loaded with nice 3 to 5-pound pre-spawn bass. After an hour, I knew I was in trouble because I had only caught two small bass. It’s 10:30 AM and I had to make a change so I made a mile run and started to punch some primrose. I caught two more bass for my limit. I check the TourneyX standings and to my surprise someone has 100”. Wow, that knocked the storm out of me. I told myself to have fun and just go fishing, no pressure. I moved around heading back towards the launch ramp and now I am at a location that in the past has produced several nice limits. It is the same type of structure that my primary location had, a rocky point between two spawning coves. For the first time all day, I reached for my TM (Tas Moua) jig. I toss the brown and purple jig to 20’ of water fishing the jig up hill. It hits the bottom and I start to snap my rod tip to make the jig look like a crawdad swimming. I give the jig two snaps of the rod tip, it hits the bottom wait a second, two more snaps, it hits the bottom wait a second. I snap it three times and on the third snap I feel this weight as if a fish has my bait in its mouth without hesitation I set the hook on a 20.75” bass. A bell goes off in my head and says, “the fish are suspended off this point”. For the next hour and a half I culled up from 46th place to 2nd place. Between a weightless Senko and the TM jig, I culled up to 97.5” on that one point. I culled everything I had but that 19” buzz bait fish. It was magical. I ended up once again in second place.”
Event #3
“Don Pedro June 13th on my home waters. I was feeling pretty good about catching lots and lots of fish. Fishing was good and limits were easy but the size was the key to a winning bag. Something special happened during this day, I fished clean. Everything that bit, I caught. I had a blast as I do every day I fish. I caught fish on bottom bouncing baits, early. The fish wanted the bait moving on the bottom and as the day went on the fish moved off the bottom and suspended. I made a change and started to make several casts on each point and cut I fished. The key late in the day was to let the bait fall in front of the fish and they would pick it up as it fell. I caught fish on 6” worms, TM jigs and tubes. They all worked through-out the day. I would pull up to a location and toss all three baits. I felt this gave me more bites by giving the fish more entrees to choose from. I finished in sixed place. As always, I had to make adjustment during the day to keep catching fish.”
Final Regular Season Event
"Going into the last tournament I was three points behind Damian Thao. Damian is a stick and he always finishes in the top of the field. I met Damian a few years back and we have become good friends. I knew going into the last event that I had a slim chance to achieve angler of the year (AOY). I would have to do extremely well and Damian would have to struggle. Since it was an open online tournament I decided to go to Clear Lake. Damian too decided to go to Clear Lake. Damian and I shared a motel room and shared our game plans for the final event. I felt good that we both decided to fish the same body of water because it evens the playing field. Damian’s launch ramp was the State Park and mine was Braitos. Three cast in after a short pedal, I get a bite on a chatter bait, the fish jumps and comes off. WOW! That’s not the way to start the day. A few casts later, I get another bite and land a fish 15”. I caught two more fish off the same large boulder jetty. In this area there were a few key jetties that had bigger rock on them that was close to deep water which held bait fish and bass. First cast at my secondary location and I have a giant on, it comes off. Next cast, my biggest fish of the day, next cast another good one. I move back and forth along this shallow rocky area and caught a few more small bass that didn’t help. I decided to make a move and try out the area where I had found some jig fish. Fishing was good and while using the TM brown and purple jig, I caught several fish culling up a few inches. The wind started to pick-up so I thought I could run some of the shallow rocks with the chatter bait and maybe cull some more inches. After about a half hour in that same area with no bites. I moved the kayak out to 20’ deep and tossed the TM jig in 5’ water and worked it out towards deeper water. First cast, I culled up a nice 17” plus fish. I had about one hour left and I caught a fishing rod (I released it back), culled twice and lost one fish. I finished in sixth place.”
Regular Season Wrap-up
“It was a battle against Damian all year, we battled it out like two warriors fighting hand to hand combat on the water. How do you become a better fisherman? Answer is - time on the water. This year I have fished 26 tournaments with 4 remaining and I have fished a total of 92 days so far. I set fishing goals each year and one of my goals was to earn the AOY and another is to win a kayak event. I have one more event left to achieve both my goals. I am going to bring my best game to the TOC. It’s going to be a battle of the best and I am ready for combat!
I would like thank Super Clean, Stage Stop, RC fishing, Headwaters Adventure and Wild West Bass Trail for all your support. I would not have been able to achieve AOY without all you support. I leave the best for last. To my wife that has supported me with my fishing all these years without you I would not be half the angler I am today. We are celebrating our thirty-fifth anniversary and I love her more now than ever before. I love you honey!”
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