Bass Classics of Santa Clara Valley

Well it was a beautiful day on the lake with partly cloudy skies and the threat of rain later in the night. It was a little cold but not as bad as the next day or as was predicted.

In first place with a limit for 12.55 lbs and the 2^nd big fish of the day a 3.50 lber was Chris Lee. He said he caught over 60 fish today with more than half of them keepers. He started in Dip creek where he had found a concentration of fish the week before pre-fishing and they were still there. He had his limit about 7:30 and was culling after that. Most of his fish came on a 5” smoke with purple flake hand poured worm on a 1/8 oz. darthead ( what else ). He also caught a couple of fish on the oxblood color. He said the fish were relating to the sides of points in about 20-25 ft. and it was best on the down wind side. The big fish along with some of his 15” fish were caught inside or near the 5 mph buoy in Snake Creek on the rocky points and the big one came at 3:30.

In second place with 12.20 lbs was Ray Garcia who back seated me again and caught the big fish of the tournament at the ramp a 3.50 lber on a robo worm creature bait Carolina rigged dragged over the School of big fish I saw on my graph. He also caught a few fish on hula grubs near another launch ramp on the lake in 10-15 ft of water. He also had one on his baby brush hog split shotting in 15-20 ft. and a couple on Carolina Rigged worms. The fish were few and far between for us with only a few over the 13” minimum.

In third place with 12.10 lbs was J.R. Taylor he had two fish up the river in the morning but caught his limit in a cove with a steep bluff bank and he used smoke hula grubs to catch his fish. He was fishing very tight to the vertical walls and fishing parallel very slow to get the bites.

In fourth place with 11.95 lbs was Ferdie Jusay who always catches them on Robo worms drop shotting.

In fifth place with 11.10 was Tom Mordue he said he caught most of his fish on hula grubs. He caught one in the morning on a crawfish Bomber crankbait he was fishing in a cove in 15-20 ft. Then he went up river and caught fish up against the walls around rocks and stuff using green weenie reapers on ¼ oz. and 1/8 oz. heads and 4 ½ “ worms on dartheads.

Well it was a little foggy and cold in the morning but it turned into a very nice day. The bite was tough for most of us but in first place with a heavy limit of 12.65 lbs was Ferdie Jusay. He was fishing with Chris Lee who took second place and he was using worms on a darthead to catch most of his fish. He said they found the fish on the sides of main lake points in 15-30 ft of water. He had a 16” in the morning on an island. Then he caught a nice 18.25 “ on a steep wall up the river. He only culled a couple of fish but the fish he caught all day were the bigger ones.

In Second with 30 fish or more was Chris Lee he said he caught all of his fish on main lake points near the temperance area first then they ran up over to the Horseshoe area and fished a rocky bank with boulders that had good deep water near-by and he caught two more 15” fish on the dartheads. Then they finished up the day up the river fishing the sides of points and steeper walls to catch lots of keepers. Then they caught more in the horseshoe area again at the end of the day.

In third place with 11.45 lbs was Ben Romano. He said they spent most of the day chasing schools of fish under the bridge up the river. Sometimes the fish were under the bridge near the pilings and other times they were up to 100 ft away in the sun or in the shade they kept moving around to catch the fish. He used a dropshot with a darthead on the bottom and caught fish on both rigs top and bottom.

In fourth place with 11.15 lbs was J.R. Taylor he said he also caught fish on or near main lake points and in the wind.

In fifth place with 10.80 lbs was Tom Mordue he said he was using pumpkin colored Hula Grubs on ¼ oz. dartheads. The bite was very soft and it was hard to detect the strike. He also used reapers and 4 ½ “ worms on dartheads to catch most of his fish on points with rocks on them. He also used brown with cht tail 6” worms and Oxblood colors two.

Well it was one of those really tough days at Berryessa with chilly wind in the morning and a nice day later but very few limits for this time of year. In first place with 16.43 lbs and the big fish of the day was Dieter Spicker. His big fish was a 5.73 lb largemouth he found in the afternoon in the back of long finger coves near the weedbeds in shallow shallow water. He caught that fish and three others using purple ghost worms spit shotting in the back of coves near the weeds with 30 ft of water 100 ft. away. He said he had to throw out the worm and wait and let it sit for a while then when he checked it they had picked the worm up. He also had one on an underwater hump on a brown worm using a drop shot rig.

In second place with 11.55 lbs and the second big fish of the tournament a 3.50 lber was Chris Lee. He said he caught his fish in 37 ft of water on a 1/8 oz darthead worm and he also had fish on a crankbait. He said he had to shake the worm in very deep water up the river arm in a spot he likes.

In third place with 9.30 lbs was Mark Smyth he also was one of the three guys to catch there limits today. He said he caught all of his fish drop shotting morning dawn worms.

In fourth place with 9.15 lbs was Ray Garcia.

In fifth place with 8.15 lbs was Ferdie Jusay he caught all of his fish drop shotting up real shallow in the Spanish flat cove where the marina is. In the last half an hour he caught three fish on the bank drop shotting a 3” cut off robo worm in a red and brown color right up on the bank near fallen trees.

We had another great day of fishing with clear skies and very little wind. In first place with a limit for 16.87 lbs was Mark Smyth. He said he caught all of his fish on a crawdad Timber Tiger crankbait in or next to the weeds on a rocky bank fishing the front of John Robles boat. He caught the big fish of the tournament a 6.72 lber and he had a 4.15 to go with it. They were fishing the same water where John had 20 lbs and a 9 lber two weeks before drop shotting but this time Mark had all of the good fish.

In second place with 13.65 lbs was Dieter Spicker he also was using a crawdad crankbait outside or in the weeds. He also had the second big fish of the tournament a 6.45 lber in his limit. He said the better bites were on the outgoing tide and he used a Norman Middle N orange craw with a green back.

In third place with 13.20 lbs was mister consistent Mark Serrano he said he used a red Robo worm and a Salt river Craw worm outside the weed lines drop shotting. He said he had to dead stick the worms for a while to get them to bite. He also had one on a blade.

In forth place with 12.20 was Roger DiFate he said he also caught his fish on cranks and drop shotting and on senko’s in current. He said you had to have current and he caught his big fish in the last 10 min in an opening next to a current break on a crankbait.

In fifth place with 11.80 was J.R. Taylor he also was on the crankbait bite and was fishing weeds with a red crawdad dd22 deep diving crankbait. He also used a drop shot rig with a green and black flirt worm outside the weed lines.

Wow what a weekend of incredible fishing all of the three pounders you could want and clear skies and warm weather.

In first place with 45.12 lbs was J.R. Taylor he said he caught most of his big fish (he had two over 22 inches)crankin a crawdad speedtrap on rocks near Henderson Bay, Soda Bay, and in Corinthian on the rocks in 2-5 ft. of water. Then on Sunday when the bite got tougher he switched to brush hogs Texas rigged on rocks in the same areas in 3-10 ft. of water. So J.R. Had the big fish of the tournament a 6.72 lber on the speedtrap crankin rocks on Saturday.

In second place with 36.46 lbs was Scott Chong he said he caught his first 19” bass on a spinnerbait because he saw fish chasing shad all over. Then he started drop-shotting under docks and caught a limit including his 21.5 inch 2^nd big fish of the tournament. On Sunday it was more of the same some of the fish were shallow next to sea walls and others were on the docks next to the pilings. He also fished some rocky banks and he caught another 19 incher on a jig with 30 min. left to go.

In third place with 36.15 lbs was David Malley. He said he caught all of his fish on cinnamon blue flake spider grubs under the same dock both days on the north end of the lake.

In fourth place with 36.10 lbs was Chris Lee he said on the first spot he caught one 5.25 lb fish and one 5.75 lb in the first 45 min.cranking. He later cranked another 16 on a sea wall and another on a jig. Then he fished dartheads and dropshots in docks to landed several limits. On Sunday he cranked one more 17 inch bass out of the first spot from the day before. Then they fished the docks and caught several fish drop shotting and finished off the day on a deep rocky point and used a jig to catch another 18.5 inch fish.

In fifth place with 33.12 lbs was Ray Garcia. He said he caught his fish on small Carolina rigged brush hogs, hula grubs, and drop shot rigs and cranked a few on white crankbaits. He also said he caught the bigger fish on hula grubs and brush hogs on rocky island with deep water nearby and most of his fish were in 10 ft. of water.

Well we had another one of those hot weekends with 112 degrees on the way to the lake. Thank goodness it was a night tournament and it finally cooled off to about 75 at 4 a.m.

In first place with 13.60 lbs and a limit was no surprise since we were fishing lake Dieter at night his favorite time to fish it. Dieter was catching fish all night long about one an hour and every fish he caught was a smallmouth. He was using his Rodstrainer ½ oz. football head fine wire jigs in brown color with black tadpole size super pork like he always does. He had the big fish of the tournament a beautiful 3.65 lb smallmouth that fought like crazy and jumped in the dark night before I landed it with the net. He was fishing off shore humps and long points that were 100 yards off the bank for many of his fish. They were anywhere between 5-20 ft deep and in the morning he had a small one on a spook that helped a little but he had his limit by midnight.

In second place also with a limit of smallmouth’s was myself Mike Espinola with 10.10 lbs fishing with Dieter made it a lot easier to find fish. I caught the first beautiful 17 3/4 “smallmouth on a watermelon red flake baby brush hog split shot over an off shore hump just before it got dark. Then I caught one on a brown rattling weapon jig and super pork. Then I caught one on Dieters Rodstrainer jigs and lost two more that would have been real nice to land. Then in the morning when it started to get light I caught two small keepers on a Rico top water lure that gave me my limit.

In third place with 6.80 lbs was Ray Garcia he saved the day by catching a nice fish in the last few minutes of the morning.

In fourth place with 6.80 lbs was Mark Serrano he said he caught all of his fish on brown & green jigs with grub trailers in 10 feet of water on rocky banks.

In fifth place with 6.50 lbs was Paul Barry he said he was catching fish on or near main lake points and he used grubs to catch them. He was looking for rocky points with lay downs and caught small ones on top water lures but the big fish and his other keepers were on the grubs in the morning. He also had the second big fish of the tournament another 3.65 lb. Smallmouth.

Well we started the hottest tournament of the year with highs at 112 on Saturday and 108 on Sunday. Millerton was better for limits and Eastman had the big fish but only a few were caught.

In first place on Saturday and taking the pool money was Javier Cruz. In first place after two days with 16.15 lbs and 7 fish was Mark Serrano he used spinnerbaits and a single tail grub at Millerton to catch his fish mostly on main lake points and on shady banks up the river. At Eastman he fished by the damn and used a darter head and a 6 ½ in. Margarita Mutilator worm.

In second place with 14.00 lbs and 7 fish was Dieter Spicker at Millerton in the morning he had one on a top water popper style bait and then in the afternoon he fished cuts with trash piles in them and caught his fish on texas rigged worms. Then at Eastman he caught his fish on a swim bait in the morning .

In third place with 13.45 lbs was Ferdie Jusay. He said he was using 3/16 oz. darter heads and a Margarita Mutilator worm fishing rocky banks at Millerton. On Eastman he caught his biggest fish on a Sammy in the morning and the rest came on drop-shot using a Roboworm sculpin in oxblood - red color, pitching it tight outside the bushes.

In fourth place with 13.40 lbs and 6 fish was Javier Cruz he said he cranked some suspended fish and caught some on dart heads and single tail grub & spider jigs. He also was very disappointed when a 10 lb fish came un-buttoned about 12:45 at Eastman he was pulling out his line like a freight train and he could not stop it when it suddenly let go.

In fifth place with 13.35 lbs and 6 fish was Roger Difate. He said he caught his fish on a split shot rig at 20 ft. in the morning then in the after noon the fish moved real shallow and you had throw right up on the bank and he caught those fish on a green Senko. Then the next day after missing the big fish at Eastman with his Buzzbait he followed that up with a Senko and nailed that 3.65 lber. back in a cove.

In sixth place with 12.30 lbs was David Malley he said he caught his big 4.55 lber on a Zara Spook at Eastman.

We had cloudy skies and rain on Friday and cloudy conditions most of the weekend with a little rain.

In first place with big limits both days with 27.30 lbs was Chris Lee. He said he caught many of the biggest fish on crankbaits (Normans Deep Little N's) both days. On his third cast on Saturday he caught his biggest fish a 18.5” on a Lucky Craft Chartreuse shad crankbait in a protected area suspended over 30ft. of water and it hit very close to the boat. He then went on to catch a couple more 16 inch size fish on that bait and a Norman Deep Little N crankbait also. Later he went to the dart head worms and caught a 17.5 inch fish because his arms were tired from cranking so much. On Sunday he went back to the same spot and cranked another three 16” fish and then proceeded to catch more on his dart head worms including another 17” for a great day and the win. He also had the big fish of the tournament that 3.65 lber on Saturday.

In second place with 25.65 lbs was Mark Serrano he said he gather info from friends and locals for the best areas that were catching bigger fish. Then he used a single tail spider grub to catch better quality fish then average. On Sunday he had to slow down to get the bites.

In third place with 25.40 lbs was Dieter Spicker he said you had to catch 100 fish a day to get a nice limit like he had. He used grubs but they had smaller fish so he went to the spider grubs and caught better quality on the steeper banks up in the middle fork river arm. He said you would catch 20 fish and then you would get a good one then you had to cull through 20 more.

In fourth place with 24.90 lbs was Dave Osborne he used salt & pepper, brown, grey with red flake grubs to catch most of his fish. He said the fish in the north end of the lake the fish were more active. He fished on steep rocky banks and points in 15-20 ft worked real slow covered lots of water and he caught 90 fish a day to catch his better limit.

In fifth place with 23.65 lbs was Gary Caligirone who fished with Dieter and he caught most of his fish on grubs in the middle fork on steeper banks up in the river. He also said he caught 200 fish in two days and they just culled through them all to get the bigger weights.

We had the most fish caught in a long time with many people catching over 100 fish in a day. There were only two people that did not catch their limit.

In first place with 14.20 lbs and a nice 3:30 lb big fish was Paul Barry. He was fishing with Ben Romano and they were catching 100’s of fish but Paul caught a few of the biggest ones on his 6” shad worms with a dipped cht tails in the backs of coves and pockets with trash piles in them. He was also fishing flats in the morning and steep walls up the river with dart head worms shakin. He also had fish drop shotting and fishing for bedding bass. Paul had pre fished for three days before and caught 100 plus fish everyday so he definitely did his homework and deserved this win congratulations Paul.

In second place with 13:00 lbs using the same bait as he used last month for second place was Mark Serrano. He was fishing his Margarita Mutilator worms and Keeper reapers on a 1/8 oz. dart head on dirt banks with a little rock on them in 5-15 ft of water. He had never fished this lake before and he was able to ask people for information during the week and it worked.

In third place with 11.90 lbs was Javier Cruz. He also caught the fish on steep walls and rocky banks up the river past the first bridge on every color of grubs on a dart head he through in 15-20 ft. deep. The best color was a cht. grub that his partner gave him and he used it to catch over a dozen fish then he broke it off. Then Robert caught the same fish with the grub in his mouth still, so Javier put it back on and caught some more.

In fourth place with 11.90 lbs was David Malley he also said he used the same thing as last month a cinnamon spider grub on a football head in 20-30 ft. of water. He said he cast it towards the shore, secondary points, wind blown were better, bump the bottom and move real slow. (I heard he caught his best two keepers with his rod on the deck and he was eating his lunch bite.)

In fifth place with 11.80 lbs. was Chris Lee he said he caught his fish on everything all day long. He caught the better fish on blades and ripping and cranking near flats or on the steep walls up the river and in the cracks on his dart head worms with the wind blowing into them.

In sixth place with his last fishout before his baby is born and with 11.80 lbs was Scott Chong who said, after he talked to Benny and saw him catch a couple of fish he told them that the bigger fish were in the trash piles. So Scott went back in the cove to the trash pile and cast a 4” shad colored worm into the trash and caught an 18 ½ “ fish. He said he didn’t have his limit until 2:30 when they found this one rocky cut with the wind blowing into it and they caught about 10 keepers all on 1/8 oz. or 3/16 oz. dart heads and those shad worms.

The Big fish of the tournament was caught by Javier Cruz a 3.80 lber and the second big fish was caught by Scott Chong that was the 3.65 lber in that trash pile.

Well we had a good tournament at McClure even though it rained until 2 p.m. and we had wind up to 30 mph. We had 26 fisherman and they caught 117 fish for 268.15 lbs with 20 limits.

In first place with 15.45 lbs and the 3.80 lb 2^nd big fish of the day was George Yonekura. He said the key for them that day was a nice spot in the narrows that they repeatedly came back to during the day maybe 5 times and every time they caught a couple of limits from that area. He said he was throwing a ¼ oz. dart head with three colors of Yamamoto grubs brown with black flake, bluegill, and brown with blue flake. The real key to his success was the swimming action he used rather then a hopping action. The fish just kept replenishing themselves all day.

In second place with 15.20 lbs was Mark Serrano he said he caught his fish on muddy sloping banks with a 1/8 oz. darthead and a keeper 082 reaper. His first cast of the day in the wind with a big bow in his line he caught the 4.00 lb big fish of the tournament. On the next cast he caught his 3.30 lber on the same lure. Most of their fish came in 10-20 ft. in the river area on sloping muddy banks with some rock on it. He and his partner said it was easy and they were catching fish all day long.

In third place with 14.75 lbs was Chris Lee he said he pre fished the week before and caught a lot of fish on jigs and spider grubs and found some nice areas to try. In the tournament that bite was not working that well for him but his partner had caught 10 to his 3 on a darthead worm so Chris switched to that. He caught fish up the river in wind-protected areas with a 6” shad colored worm in 20-30 feet while bouncing the darthead along the bottom. Most of the fish were on rocky sloping banks with relatively deep water nearby.

In fourth place with 14.40 lbs was Ray Garcia he caught a couple of nice fish in the morning on ¼ oz. dartheads and grubs near running water in the pockets up the river arm. Later about 1:00 we found a little pocket with rocky banks and deep water in it and he caught his 3.30 lb spot dragging Carolina rigged baby brush hog in watermelon red flake. Then 5 min later he dragged up another 3:00 on the same bait same pocket. So we proceeded to drag back and forth for the next two hours and he caught five more nice fish near 3 lbs each all in the same area same bait.

In fifth place with 12.50 lbs was David Malley he said he was fishing in 10-20 ft around the big island. Then when the wind got too much he went to find similar areas to fish. He caught them mostly on dirt banks with crawdads sticking out of there throats so he used his cinnamon blue flake spider grubs. The baits had to move very slowly on the bottom with being able to feel the bottom the whole time.

We started out a little cloudy in the morning and then in turned into a real nice spring like day with the lake about 2 ft from full it was really beautiful out there.

In first place with a limit for 16.00 lbs was Russell Witkowsky dragging those baby brush hogs again and fishing the docks again. He did say later in the day he found some fish on the main lake near Spanish Flat and in about 15-20 ft dragging his hogs out on the wind blown banks.

In second place with a limit for 14.10 lbs was Dieter Spicker. He said he cranked two fish in the morning on a Mann’s 15 plus. He also had fish in main lake pockets and coves with light pumpkin with grn & blk flake spider grubs on 3/8 oz. heads in 15-25 ft. deep. Later in the day he had fish on flatter pre spawn areas and had better fish in 8-15 ft. on the spider grubs.

In third place with 13.85 lbs was David Malley he said he looked for flats with 15-20 ft deep close to deeper water. He used cin/blue flake hula grubs and watermelon red flake gulp lizards Carolina rigged for most of his fish. He said the baits had to move very slowly and the bites were very soft like hooking grass.

In fourth place with 12.55 lbs. and fishing in the same spots as Dieter was Ray Garcia. He said he was fishing the flats with a morning dawn worms split shot for some of his fish and cin/blk flake spider grubs for the rest.

The big fish was caught by Jason Giammona on a blue gill colored spider grub on a secondary main lake point. The second big fish was caught by Tom Mordue and was a 6.72 lber also caught in the morning on the fourth cast on a main lake point on a shad crankbait.

Well we started out in the fog until 9:30 with five other bass clubs fishing the lake it was very crowded.

In first place with a huge limit for 14.35 lbs was J.R. Taylor. He said he was fishing up river after the fog lifted to avoid the crowds. He said he caught his fish on steep rocky cuts in the river with a spider grub like bait in 8-15 ft fished real slow. The water was muddy and the fish were more active up there. He also caught the big fish of the day a 3.30 lber on that same spider jig. He had pre-fished on Friday and caught a 15 lb limit so he was on them as usual.

In second place with a limit for 12.30 lbs was Scott Chong he said he was also up river fishing the sides of deep rocky cuts in the bank using his 6” darthead worm. He said he caught some on sheer rocky structure and also on rocky points. Then at the end of the day he caught a 16.75” on a jig with a trailer that really helped his limit.

In third place with a limit for 12.15 lbs was Chris Lee he said he was using a green pumpkin spider grub on 3/8 oz. & ½ oz. football heads. He said the fish were on the small cuts along the walls up river. He had the boat in 20-40 ft. and the fish were in 10-20 ft. most of the time. He also caught a few fish on a jig with a watermelon red twin tail trailer. He caught one fish on his darthead worm in 30 ft on a sheer bluff and one fish on a crankbait on a shallow flat with a few boulders on it.

In fourth place with 11.45 lbs was Dan Hitchcock he was throwing a musky size jitterbug on top for his limit. (Just kidding he forgot to e-mail me.)

In fifth place with 11.40 lbs was Gary Gill. He said he caught his biggest fish on his own homemade goldfish orange pattern twin spin spinnerbait in the back of a rocky cut in the bank across from the ramp in the fog. He had another fish on brush and stickups up the river on the same twin spin Kev Kel spinnerbait. He was also Carolina rigging witches-t colored Kev Kel worms in 20-25 ft. of water. He also caught fish on a 3” grub in watermelon red and black flake in 25 ft casting out to the deep water instead of the bank.

The second big fish of the tournament was a 3.00 lber and was caught by Jack Ray on a brown and orange grub in 15 ft. of water on a main lake point and as a matter of fact they picked up 5 fish on that same point. Everybody did real well this trip with 21 limits being caught.