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Central Valley Kayak Anglers held its opener at Pine Flat Lake. The scenery was majestic and looked like the Napali Coast in Kauai or one would say, exhibiting a spectacular view of Hawaii. The mountains were a dark green and disappeared miles high into the white clouds – it was a stunning view. The weather was perfect if one was of the duck family, the wind blew and the rain showered, poured and dumped almost the entire day. However, there was a few minutes of no rain, and the sun forced it way through the dignified white clouds. The air temperature ranged from the mid 40’s to the mid 50’s with the water temperature hovering between 55-57 degrees. The fish were in a pre-spawn stage and were eating bottom baits and the mid-water depth baits. The end results were very close with only .25” between the top 4 anglers and 3.25” between the top ten. There were 27 limits between 54 anglers with a total of 199 fish submitted.
Once the lines were in and the judging was completed Robert Yamamoto won with 75.50”. Yamamoto launched out of Trimmer. He had two locations; one a cove and the other was in Big Creek. After a 45-minute run to his first location. There, he caught a limit quickly, then decided to move to the cove with large boulders.
“I caught my biggest fish in the cove with large boulders.” stated Yamamoto, “It was a 16.75” spot.”
Yamamoto caught his winning fish on a drop shot rig paired with a Zoom finesse worm in the 5” size green pumpkin blue flake and a Robo worm.
“I caught my better fish on the drop shot.” said Yamamoto, “I did catch a few keepers on the shaky head, but my better fish came on the drop shot.”
Yamamoto nose hooked the Robo worm and wacky rigged the Zoom Trick worm. He fished between 15 to 35 feet deep to catch his fish.
“I caught around 30 fish all day long culling through several 13” fish.” expressed Yamamoto, “I headed back to the ramp to find reception to be sure to submit my fish. On the way back, I caught a 16.00” off some boulders inside of a cove.”
“With only a few minutes left of the day, I culled up with a 14.75” that pushed me to the win.” declared Yamamoto, “It felt great to cull that last fish with just minutes left of the day.”
“It was so close with the top 4 places, but my big fish it broke the tie breaker and gave me the win.”
Yamamoto thanked his fiancé Ashley, Copes Tackle and Rods, Fresno Bait and Tackle, Woo Tungsten and Yak rods.
Sean Beach placed second with 75.50” just missing a win with the big fish tie breaker. Beach launched out of Trimmer ramp. He started off with a Mega Bass rip bait to entice his first two keepers. After the rip bait bite died, he changed up to a drop shot paired with an Keitech easy shiner in the 3-inch size.
“Once the rip bite died, I switched up to a drop shot nose hooking a 3-inch easy shiner.” expressed Beach, “After the change in baits, I caught around 30 fish the rest of the day.”
Beach concentrated on steep bluff walls to catch his fish.
“I arrived a little late to the lake and was the last to launch.” said Beach, “Everyone went right, so I went left, I never saw anyone all day long.”
“Most of the fish I caught was from the bank down to about 20-feet deep on the bluff walls.” mentioned Beach, “On the long sloping points, the fish were caught in the 10- to 15- feet of water.”
“I caught fish all day long, culling up little by little to get my 75.50”.”
Beach thanked CVKF for hosting a great event and everyone that showed up on such a rainy day. A big shout out goes to my dad for all this support with my fishing.
San Saechao placed in third with 75.25” just missing the win by .25”. Saechao had big fish of the event that measured 18.00”. Saechao first location was way upriver where he caught his big fish within the first few cast.
“After catching a 18” fish on my third cast, the pressure was on to fill my limit.” indicated Saechao, “I had to back up that big fish.”
Saechao used a skirted jig paired with a twin tailed trailer to catch his fish. He covered as many banks as possible.
“With no motor, only a pedal drive, I covered as much water as I could.” Saechao specified, “I worked one side of the bank and made my way back on the opposite bank.”
“I would toss the jig to the bank and work the bait down to about 20-feet of water.” Saechao said, “I only caught 8 keepers all day long.”
Saechao thanked his wife Megan for her continuous support, and my uncle Rick Mcgovran for helping me build my confidence and knowledge in fishing. Donovan and Zach for their time and dedication to CVKF and the anglers that participate in the event which makes these events so enjoyable. Also, to the CVKF event sponsors 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle, Tas Moua for having such a great inventory and his knowledge to help anglers and Cope Tackle and Rod Shop for all their support.
Top Ten:
1. Robert Yamamoto 75.50”
2. Sean Beach 75.50”
3. San Saechao 75.25”
4. John Myers 75.25”
5. Max Lee 74.00”
6. David Morris 73.25”
7. Luis Flores 73.25”
8. Andrew Yang 72.75”
9. Zachariah Clift 72.50”
10. Alexander Cabatic 72.25”
Big Fish:
San Saechao 18.00”
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