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Central Valley Kayak Fishing held their second event at Lake Eastman. The weather leading up to this event was rainy and cold causing the water temperature to drop during the cold rainy week. However, on Saturday the day of the event the weather was perfect, calm and warming trend with the highs in the 60’s. Normally, tournament days the weather is windy and rainy but today was a special day and Mother Nature gave our anglers a Blessed day with amazing weather. Once the lines were in and everyone had submitted their day’s catch another record-breaking event with an amazing 106.25” won the event. Damin Thao posting this record. Thao had been fishing the lake since January and was able to stay on active fish culling 15 bass over 20”. Damian Thao total of 106.25” besting second place my over 11”. Thao had over 100” by 9 AM and culled up throughout the day.
“First thing in the morning, I noticed that the water temperature had dropped several degrees so I targeted the deeper fish.” mentioned Thao, “I started off throwing a big swim bait because I saw lots of fish chasing trout.”
“I caught a quick limit and had over 100” by 9 AM even though I had lost three fish right away.” declared Thao, “I made some moves and culled up with a 6.5-pounder.”
“The LV 500 accounted for several fish in the 5 to 6-pound range that I submitted during the tournament.” Pronounced Thao, “There was a small window then they were crushing the LV one of those fish was a 7-pounder.”
“The Sakamoto shad accounted for a few fish as well that helped me cull up.” voiced Thao, “The Sakamoto Shad was paired with a 3/16-ounce Jaw dropper that accounted for an 8-pounder.”
“After 11 AM is when my bite was the best.” said Thao.
“I caught several fish over 6 pounds with the swimbait that didn’t help me cull up.”
Thao thanked Kayak City, 559 Fresno Bait and Tackel, First Gen Fishing, PLine, Dranc Ararzy for all their support.
Jorge Mosqueda placed in second with a nice limit that measured 95.00”. Mosqueda practiced and found small fish wanting to eat. However, on a 2.8 Keitech caught a 12.55-pound lunker. After catching that fish Mosqueda decided to start at that location during the tournament.
“Hello fellow bass fishermen.” said Mosqueda, “If you see me on the water please stop and say hello.”
“During practice I had found small fish willing to eat but I did catch a 12.55-pound bass on a 2.8 Keitech.”
“On my first cast, I broke off a big fish on a Yamamoto Senko during the tournament.” stated Mosqueda, “I felt it was a big fish because of how it was fighting and broke my line under my kayak.”
“On my third cast I caught a 21.00” bass in the same area.” exclaimed Mosqueda, “I decided to stay in that area during the event.”
“My second fish was an 18.00” fish on the Senko.” remarked Mosqueda, “I used the 2.8 Keitech but they didn’t want to eat it, so I used a jig and Senko to catch all my fish.”
“The fish wanted something dragged on the bottom or bouncing along the bottom during the tournament.” mentioned Mosqueda, “It was a great tournament for me.”
“I fished the North end almost to the back and was fishing in 40-feet of water while I was sitting in 17-feet of water.”
Mosqueda thanked Damian Thao because he was my inspiration to start bass fishing. I met Damian Thao with my son at Sycamore Island years ago, he took a picture with me and my son. Max Lee a big shout out to him for all the help he is so willing to give me when I asked about how to use the lures. I appreciate these two anglers for all their help and inspiration they have giving me.
Max Lee placed third with 81.75”. His main goal was to target the winter bass staging before the spawn. He only caught 4 fish but they were big enough for a third-place finish. Lee Caught the day’s biggest fish that measured 25” that weighted in at a little more than 9-pounds.
“Once I arrived at the lake, I noticed the water temperature was 51 degrees.” stated Lee, “Even though we had some warmer weather prior in the week, a cold snap kept the water colder than normal.”
“I focused on main lake points for the staging fish.” exclaimed Lee, “My main bait was a Crush City Mooch minnow and a pink dice.”
“I did get one bite on a big swim bait but it seemed the fish bumped my bait instead of eating it.” said Lee.
“The main depths I was targeting was 25 to 40 feet deep with the Mooch minnow.” said Lee, “The fish were on the bottom and would come up to eat my bait compared to fishing for suspended fish.”
“The dice, I was drop shotting it and moving it like a finesse jig with a slow craw.” proclaimed Lee.
Lee said, “Congratulation to Damina Thao for the win. Thank you to Kayak City, 559 Fresno Bait and Tackel, and Nu Canoe.”
Top Ten:
1. Damian Thao 106.25”
2. Jorge Mosqueda 95.000”
3. Max Lee 81.75”
4. Chushizonh Lord 80.75”
5. John Myers 80.50”
6. Mark Steiner 77.25”
7. Dave Nunes 72.75”
8. Lavee Yang 71.00”
9. Tas Moua 69.00”
10. David Morris 65.00”
Big Fish:
Max Lee 25.00”
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