Angel Sanchez wins CVKF TOC at Santa Margarita Lake

[basstrophy]

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The Central Valley Kayak Fishing held their Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Santa Margarita Lake. The dock talk was a frog bite in the shallow grass and a good top water bite near the steep bluff walls. However, mother nature had other plans with a morning marine fog layer hovering over the lake until almost noon. The weather changes compared to practice days put a wrench in most angler's game plans. One angler that had the best game plan was Angel Sanchez. Angel Sanchez used a magnum spoon to put up an amazing limit of 94.25” besting second place by 9 inches. Sanchez said that he made a long run to the dam area where he worked his spoon to entice his massive 20 lb. limit.

Note: I was unable to interview Angel Sanchez, so I just went by memory at the awards. Our timing and work schedule just didn’t work.



Damian Thao placed second with 94.25”. Thao had not been to Santa Margarita in over a year and the lake had risen to almost full pool compared to the year before with the drought conditions.

“I studied the map for a cove that had deep water near shallow water.” said Thao, “I found a high spot in the cove, and this is where I caught most of my limit.”

“I found the fish not in grass patches but in the open dirt.” said Thao, “I used 3.3 Keitech with a flashy swimmer to catch my biggest bass.”

Thao also caught several fish on the drop shot rig with a Robo worm in the Bold Bluegill color and the Margarita color.

“I had to position the kayak in a very specific location to catch the bass off the high spot.” said Thao, “I would circle the island and once I returned to the best spot, I would catch a nice bass.”

Thao would use his Garmin forward facing Panoptic to scan around the area to find the fish. He said that the fish were in about 10-feet of water. Thao thanked his sponsors Kayak City, PLine, 1st Gen Fishing, 559 fishing, TM Custom Lures, LA Custom Jigs and Duo Realis for all their support.



Jeff Sander placed third with 76.00”. Sanders used a drop shot to catch his limit. He used Aaron’s Morning Dawn in the 6” Robo worm. Sanders would let his worm sit for long periods of time before the fish would bite.

“I would let the worm sit in about 6-feet of water for several minutes before the fish would bite.” said Sander, “I worked the back of a cut for the bites.”

“I rotated four different cuts near the dam area.” said Sander, “I dead sticked the worm for several minutes for each bite.”

Sander thanked Copes Tackle and Rod Shop for all their support this year with CVKF. Also, 559 Fishing for all the amazing lures at the shop and their support with the TOC. Thank you, Tas Moua!



Top Ten:
1. Angel Sanchez 94.25”
2. Damian Thao 85.25”
3. Jeff Sander 76.00”
4.Robert Yamamoto 75.50”
5. Eric Rodriguez 75.50”
6. John Myers 74.00”
7. Justin Zack 71.75”
8. Jess Coulter 70.50”
9. Bryan Vogt 57.25”
10. Max Lee 45.00”

Big Fish:
Jess Coulter 21.75”