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Lake New Melones was great fishing with 392 fish caught with a total of 49 five fish limits out of 69 anglers. Just about anything an angler wanted to use, they caught fish. New Melones has a huge population of spotted bass but also has giant largemouth bass that roam the same lake. The top four anglers all had a fish over 19.25” and up to 20.00”. The water temperature ranged from the low 80’s to the mid 80’s while the air temperature was a blustering 105 degrees. Kayak anglers normally hope for no wind but on this day, everyone was hopeful of a slight breeze at least. At the awards, the anticipation was unsure from two anglers, Pua Yang and Shaun Leytem. It was a close between the two anglers; however, Pual Yang pulls off the win at New Melones with an 85.75” which is around 14.5 pounds. For the summer months at New Melones, the 14.5-pound limit is very impressive even from a bass boat. Yang used a Chatterbait to catch his winning bag of fish. Yang was working his Z-man white Chatterbait in 25 to 40 feet of water to entice the bass.
“It was like my fourth or fifth cast she clobbered my bait.” said Yang, “I knew it was a good fish.”
Once Yang caught his 19.75” a 4-pound 11-ounce largemouth bass. Yang filled out his limit at his first location before 0730.
“My second fish was an 18.75” in the exact area.” Yang said, “It was not long before I had my limit.”
Yang changed his graph from side imagining to down scan and saw several nice arches below. He would position his boat near the shore and cast out to deeper water and let his Chatterbait fall to the bottom.
“The fish would hit the Chatterbait before it would hit the bottom.”
Yang left his first location and started to work points with his Chatterbait still casting to deep water and working this bait uphill. He caught several more fish culling little by little. His Chatterbait was a ½-ounce Z-man paired with a Yamamoto Zako and a white Reaction Innovation’s sweet beaver. Yang thanked his wife, his mom and kids and Yak A Bass Director James Snyder.
Pua Yang dedicated this win to his dad. Pua lost his dad last year. Pua has been doing some soul searching since and this win helped.
Shaun Leytem finished in second with 85.25”. Leytem practiced at New Melones for a few days and found that up-river towards Coyote Creek had the better fish.
“The Coyote Creek had the better fish.” Leytem said, “I just covered lots of water.”
He fished the Berkey Choppo on the shady banks and as he covered water, he would use a Texas Rigged 4” Senko in the cuts that had laydown wood. This double approach was the key to his second-place finish. Leytem worked his way to the back of Coyote Creek and caught one of his better fish there. Leytem kept throwing the Choppo covering water and culled up throughout the day. Leytem thanked James Snyder for running great events, RB Bass Outdoors, Dobyns Rods, HookD’, HookD’ Outdoors TV, The Rod Glove, Wicked Weights, Pro Point Fishing Lures and Tackle Workz.
Ron Lewis finished in third place with 79.50” Lewis did not practice before the tournament, but his decisions were the right ones to finish in third place. His first stop was an old waypoint that was in 80-feet of water, so he made an adjustment. He found a long point that reached out to the main lake where he used a Berkey Choppo to catch a fast limit with a nice 19.5” kicker. The Choppo bite cooled off, so Lewis made another adjustment to a Keitech jig paired with a rage menace. Lewis's adjustment proved to catch several more fish throughout the day.
“At 11:30 AM, I found a point where I caught a 17” fish that culled me up several inches.”
Lewis thanked James Snyder for always putting on a great tournament and his good friend Danny Miller at Red One Systems for his support.
Top Ten:
1.Pua Yang 85.75”
2.Shaun Leytem 85.25”
3. Ron Lewis 79.75”
4. Greg Blanchard 79.50”
5. Robert Yamamoto 78.50”
6. Joshua Bryant 77.50”
7. Jeremy Burt 76.00”
8.Jacob Dasher 76.00”
9. Matthew Brannon 75.25”
10. Johathan Hervey 74.75”
Big Fish:
Greg Blanchard 20.00”
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