“My area is greatly tidal influenced.” Yang said, “There were stripers in the same area.”
At the Delta, when striped bass are around where you are fishing, this is a great sign. The larger bass and stripers tend to share the same areas while working baitfish.
“I caught three stripers before I caught my first keeper, a 15” fish.” said Yang, “There was a deep ledge next to the grass line and this is where the fish were positioning to feed.”
Yang moved further into the cove he was fishing and caught a 19” fish on the edge of the weed line. As the tide moved out the weed line became exposed, this is when he started to punch visible weeds.
“The tide was half-way out, so I started to punch and caught an 18.75” and 19.00.” said Yang, “I was rotating through several different plastic baits.”
“My second to last fish was a 17” fish, but my last fish on day one, was my biggest fish a 22.25.” said Yang, “I had to pump my bait several times before the fish would bite.”
Yang’s big fish on day one was around 6.5 pounds and hit his punch bait on the fourth time he pumped his bait, just before he was going to make another pitch. Yang left his main location to try a different location and caught a 19.75”. He knew to leave his main location and save it for the next two days, so he moved to two different locations. Yang went home 30 minutes early on day one to make sure to save fish for the next two days.
On day two, Yang started backwards compared to day one, he started on his third spot where he caught a few small 14” and 15” fish. On his second spot he caught an 18” fish on a chatter bait.
“I finally made it to my main area around 9 AM and started working the punch bait.” said Yang, “The key was to have the tide halfway out and the sunup to see the visible grass patches.”
“I caught two stripers punching before I caught a bass.” said Yang, “I guess the stripers were ambushing fish in the grass with the bass.”
“I caught an 18” and then a 19” bass flipping my main location.” said Yang, “The punch bite just wasn’t there.”
Yang ended his day throwing a chatterbait near the opening of the cove he was fishing. His bite was much slower than day one. He decided to move back to his primary location and flip some of the deeper grass but never got a bite. Yang decided to leave an hour and a half early to leave the fish for day three.
Yang’s adjustments he made between day one and day two. Day two, he had to slow down and pump the punch rod bait more, even letting it sit there for a while. His chatterbait had to be worked deeper and slower.
Yang returned to the ramp a half hour early to assure he made it to the awards banquet. He was not sure if he had had enough to win but was confident that he did his best. Yang thanked his mom his wife and kids without them it would not be possible to do what he loves. He also thanked his crew, they know who they are, the crew gives me good vibes and confidence in my fishing abilities. Yang also thanked the Yak-a-bass crew James, Alden, Josh, Shawn and especially Bill for judging all the fish during each event. It’s not easy to give up your weekend starting at 6 AM judging fish, we appreciate you, Bill. Also, all those anglers that fished this weekend and especially the anglers that came from out of state. We all know it is not easy to travel so far to fish and be away from their families. Please return home safely.
Anthony Garcia finished in second place with a two-day total of 173.00” Garcia practiced for three days and found an area that was holding the larger fish. He used a chatterbait to catch the majority of his fish with a few fish on the Zoom Trick worm.
“My focus was to concentrate on the deeper weed lines.” said Garcia, “I had to slow roll the chatterbait and nick the tops of the weeds to get my bigger bites.”
“At low tide, I was sitting in 14-feet of water.” said Garcia, “I was using the Jack Hammer Hites Craw paired with a green pumpkin Zako.”
Garcia didn’t fish clean, he had one fish jump off the board that was over 19” and another fish that was bigger jump off right at the kayak.
“I had a big old girl spit the chatterbait out right at the kayak.” said Garcia, “The chatterbait caught the bigger fish for me both days, you just had to stick with the chatterbait.”
Garcia caught a ton of fish the two days of the West Coast Championship. He had to make an adjustment from day one to day two. Day one, the fish were chewing the chatterbait all day long compared to day two the Zoom Trick worm caught his first limit of fish which included a 17” and a 16”. Once the tide dropped out the chatterbait caught the rest of his limit he submitted.
“Day two was better than day one, but I had lost some big fish that would have helped my bag.” said Garcia, “The fish I didn’t lose had the chatterbait in their crushers.”
Garcia thanked his girlfriend Amanda and his family for all their support. He also thanked his sponsors Oldtown Kayaks, Dakota Lithium, IRod, Tackle Shack USA, Simms, BooneDox USA, Big Bass Dream and Defiant Fishing.
Alex Cox finished in third place with 172.75”. Cox threw topwater and chatterbaits to catch the majority of his fish. His first location was blown out due to the windy conditions. He traveled to a new location and launched his kayak around 9 AM.
“My first area was blown out due to the wind.” said Cox, “The new location was where I did all the damage.”
Cox ran about 2 miles from the launch ramp and found some nice fish willing to chew. As the day went on and the tide lowered, Cox upgraded several inches with his chatterbait.
“The outgoing to low tide was the best.” said Cox, “I was slow rolling the chatterbait on the outside edge of the grass to catch my fish.”
“I was using the Jack Hammer chatterbait in Hites craw paired with a Zako trailer to do all my damage both days.” said Cox, “Day two the tide was slower in the area I was fishing and the better fish bit later in the day.”
“Day one was like a practice day compared to day two.” said Cox, “Day two, I knew to keep the chatterbait glued to my hand.”
Cox tried several different lures but found the chatterbait was catching the better fish. He was fishing from 4- to-6 feet of water to entice the bass. Cox thanked his wife for holding down their home and their baby while a big storm hit their home. Also, he thanked the guys that he stayed with during the event and Vinny Dau for the Red Bull energy drink on Sunday morning. A special thank you to Bioenno batteries for keeping him on the water all day.
Top Ten: Two-day total
1. Pua Yang 187.50
2. Anthony Garcia 173.00
3. Alex Cox 172.75”
4.Calvin Dee 171.50”
5. Joseph Tax 167.25”
6. Sean Beach 166.00”
7. Matthew Brannon 165.25”
8. Shaun Leytem 160.25”
9. Dang Xiong 159.75”
10. Brandon Cabrales 159.00”
Big Fish Day 1
Morgan Swisher 22.50”
Big Fish Day 2
Will Harris 22.00”
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