Once the lines were out and all the fish submitted, Pathan Yangthamada captured the win with an impressive 92.25”. Yangthamada launched up the South Fork and concentrated on a tree line along the river channel.
“I practiced upriver and wanted to focus on pools near the rapids.” voiced Yangthamada, “The rapids area, I was just not feeling it, so I moved downstream to a tree line.”
“I started off using a chatter bait in open water away from the tree line.” pronounced Yangthamada, “I didn’t catch anything, so I moved closer to the tree line.”
“I wasn’t getting any bites on the chatter bait, so I changed up to a Senko and caught two fish along the trees.” said Yangthamada, “I knew that I was going to start there for the tournament.”
“Tournament morning, I started on the tree line and caught a 17” spot.” mentioned Yangthamada, “It didn’t take long to get my first bite.”
“I pitched to a tree with my chatter bait and got a bird’s nest.” explained Yangthamada, “After I got the tangle out my lure was stuck in the tree, so I ripped it free and an 18” largemouth crushed my bait.”
Yangthamada knew once he caught his second fish, he had to focus on the trees with his chatter bait.
“The trees with brush were the key.” said Yangthamada, “I stuck with the trees the rest of the day.”
Yangthamada caught his limit ripping his chatter bait free through the trees.
“I switch over to a ¾ ounce chatter bait and would flip the bait into the center of the trees.” mentioned Yangthamada, “Once the bait hit the bottom of the tree, I would rip the chatter bait through the trees to get my bites.”
Even though Yangthamada had lost a few good fish in the trees, he stuck with this pattern to catch five fish.
“I had lost a few fish in the trees.” said Yangthamada, “I moved down to the last tree and finally caught my fifth fish, I only caught five keepers all day.”
Yangthamada used a black and blue chatter bait with a Berkey Pit Boss as a trailer.
“I would cut off about ½" of the top of the Pit Boss for a smaller profile and removed the inner claws.
Yangthamada thanked his wife and family for all their support. The Yak-a Bass crew, James, Josh and Shaun for all their hard work, but a special thanks to Bill for judging fish on his Saturday. A special thanks goes to my nephew, Devinvci Young for giving me the wig and chain and asking me to wear the them when I won another tournament. Also, Yangthamada thanked his supporters LNC Automotive and Asian Brothers Brewing Company.
Dustin Brown dart headed his way to second place finishing with 91.00”. He focused on fist size river rock in a 150-yard stretch of bank for his impressive 91.00” of Folsom bass.
“I fished the North Fork area.” expressed Brown, “I fished an area that I have done well in the past.”
“The Robo worm was dressed on a darter head was the deal.” pronounced Brown, “I would work the bait from the bank and let it drop off the rocks to get my bites.”
“I would let it free line off the rock with an occasional shake of the rod tip to get my bites.” expressed Brown, “The key was the little steeper small rocky banks. I would drift down the bank with the wind along a 150-yard stretch of bank.”
“The bank I was fishing had the better grade of fish compared to other areas in the same location.”
Brown thanked Yak-a-Bass for putting on such a great event. A big shout out to my grandparents for letting me use their kayak for the last two events.
“Lake Pardee was my first event that I fished; Folsom was my second.”
Joseph Silva scoped his way to a third-place finish with 88.75”. Silva launched from Browns Ravine and headed far up the South Fork to catch most of his fish.
“There was no one as far up the South Fork as I was.” spoke Silva, “I was Mid-Strolling to catch my fish.”
“I was using a Fluke with an 1/8-ounce weight jig head.” said Silva, “I had my motor on half speed and would scope around to find fish.”
“I had an 84.00” limit by 11 AM and then spent the next 4 hours looking for bigger fish.” said Silva, “Even though I caught around 15 fish, I did not cull any fish during this time.”
“The wind picked-up so I headed back to the boat ramp.” declared Silva, “It was 3 PM or 3:15 PM, I could see the boat ramp, it was not far away. I saw this tree with a live scope and tossed my fluke to the tree and drifted past the tree. The rod loaded up and caught my 21.00” fish with only 5 minutes left.”
“That last minute fish moved me up several inches voiced Silva, “Without that fish, I would have been down a few places.
Silva thanked his family for all their support and calling me. Also, a big shout out to Yak-a-Bass for putting on such great events and giving out cool prizes at the awards ceremonies.
Top Ten:
1. Pathan Yangthamada 92.25”
2. Dustin Brown 91.00”
3. Joseph Silva 88.75”
4. Michael Lavoie 86.50”
5. Joseph Tax 84.50”
6. Nicholas Bonnin 84.00”
7. Shaun Leytem 83.00”
8. Dang Xiong 83.00”
9. Brandon Miller 82.50”
10. Greg Hein 82.25”
Big Fish:
Joseph Silva 21.00”
Advertising