HUSBAND AND WIFE – TEAM BIRCH TOP THE FIELD AT THE DELTA
Early check in began at 4 PM on Friday in the Russo’s Marina office on Bethel Island. With only a few teams checking in to take advantage of arriving a little later on Saturday morning, also gave them some insight on what the Delta was offering in bass fishing for the following day. Several questions were answered and “dock talk” took place. At 6 PM the office was locked and the day ended for sign ups.
With this tournament taking place on June 15th, it happened to be the first six hour event for the BBT in 2013. This will be in effect until September 15th, Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations. The six hour tournaments will not affect the TOC in October as that takes place after the conclusion of these regulations this year.
Saturday morning check-in began at 3:15 AM however it was all quiet until about 3:35 AM as anglers started to arrive. Then it was a steady flow of anglers signing up for the tournament and boats checks began. Obedie Williams drew boat 46 in the Big Boat Division to be the first boat out.
The wind was mentioned in many conversations as it was calm and the temperature was in the mid 50’s in the wee hours of the morning. Once again anglers were hopeful that the wind would be kind to all of us and it looked to be a possibility that we may just have conquered one tournament without the wind’s presence – which turned out not the case once again!
Teams started weighing in at 12 PM with some average size limits and no really big bass were brought to the scales during this shorter day of fishing.
Mike and Lori Birch from Oakley came to the scales with their limit weighing 21.64 pounds, with their largest bass weighing 5.08 pounds, caught by Lori. Mike told the crowd that Lori did very well during this event. They fished the West Delta using frogs, spinner baits, drop shotting – basic “Junk Fishing” for their bass. They took home $2,580.00 in winning for First Place.
Jon Jackson from Galt and his partner Ron Stover from Granite Bay took Second Place with 20.56 pounds. Their largest bass was caught by Ron weighing 5.73 pounds. They told everyone they fished Sherman Lake using Chatter baits for their limit. They took home $1,440.00 for their efforts. Sweet!
Our 2012 Anglers of the Year in the Delta Wine Region came in Third Place. Dan Sweat of Livermore and his partner Jeff Asturias of Livermore weighed in 19.27 pounds with their largest bass weighing 4.97 pounds. They fished sparse tulles and punched mats in the north-east Delta. Their baits of choice were weightless worms, Double Buzz, frogs and punch rigs for their limit. They took home $885.00 for their day on the Delta!
Fourth Place was the team of Mark Casey from Fairfield and his partner Ed Christo from Fremont who came to the scales with 19.22 pounds anchored with the First Big Fish of the tournament weighing 844 pounds, caught by Mark. They took home $1,285.00 in winnings and Mark carried out the First Place Big Fish trophy to show his family and friends!
Fifth Place was the team of Edison Hicks and Reggie Vaughn both from Sacramento. They had a nice limit weighing 19.21 pounds and their largest bass weighed 6.33 pounds. They took home $410.00 in winnings.
TIM MASTERS AND GENE WALL TOOK THE WIND IN STRIDE FOR THEIR FIRST PLACE WIN IN THE SMALL BOAT DIVISION
First Place in the Small Boat Division went to the team of Tim Masters from Roseville and his partner Gene Wall from Benicia. Even though it was a tough day and having a couple more hours of fishing would most likely had benefitted them to gain a fifth bass in their livewell, they still came in on top with a weight of 15.95 pounds for four bass. Gene landed the Fourth Place Big Fish that weighed 6.78 pounds. They told the crowd they fished Connection Slough and Mildred Island using reaction baits – frogs and rattle traps even weightless worms. Not only did they take First Place in their division, they took Fourteenth Place overall, giving them $250.00 for their efforts battling the wind. Congratulations guys!
Honorable Mentions:
The Second Place Big Fish was caught by Dustin Keen from Fair Oaks that weighed 8.21 pounds. This team of Dustin and his partner Troy Deguchi from Rancho Cordova weighed in 18.48 pounds overall so they took home $540.00 in winning, which included option money in Second Place Big Fish.
The Third Place Big Fish was caught by Leonel Brown from Vallejo weighing 8.17 pounds. Leonel and his partner Cory Woodruff from Suisun City weighed in a limit of 17.99 pounds and took home winnings for Third Place Big Fish and Tenth Place, $360.00.
Fifth Place Big Fish went to the team of Timothy Liu of Fremont and his partner Mike Chen from Stockton that weighed 6.70 pounds, giving them $350.00 for Seventh Place plus Fifth Place Big Fish.
A funny thing happened during the weigh-in, one of our BBT kids who fishes this circuit with his dad came to the scales with two bass, the largest one weighing 4.99 pounds, caught by Eric and the smaller one caught by ten year old Jon. Jon joked around when asked who caught the big one and he said he did, then said, “no not really, my dad did!” Once the bass were weighed, Jon was handed his weigh-in slip and he walked over to our bump tank to dip his bag to add more fresh water inside for the bass and at that very moment, half of the smaller bass was inside the larger bass’ mouth, head first! Jon asked if he “could weigh the two together as one bass since the smaller one was being eaten by the big one now! We explained to him that they would weigh the same and he was OK with that. Bobby Delameter with Lowrance was there at the tank and offered assistance to the smaller bass and with great success, both bass were fine and released back into the Delta alive!
The 20/20 Eye Surrender Sunglasses were awarded to the team of Mike and Brian Henry for taking Twentieth Place. (If you look on the Results page and notice this team came in 19th Place and are curious why they received the Twentieth Place Award – Remember, the team of Tim Master and Gene Wall in Small Boat Division took 14th Place, which bumped this team down one position OVERALL so they were in 20th position with the Small Boats mixed into the pack.)
The Irwin – Lenox Tools Award Mystery Weight drawn was 12.64 pounds and the team coming in closest to this weight without going over weighed in 12.52 pounds however they left before the Awards Ceremony so they have forfeited their prize and it will be awarded at the TOC in October.
Boat Number 28 was present so Darren Vieira and Andrew Stanz, both from Martinez, were happy to receive a California Wear It Live Jacket!
A Sponsor Tackle Store receipt was drawn and John Hennecke Sr. was present to receive his Sponsor Gift Bag containing Yakima Baits products - Timber Tiger and Poe’s and Berkley Baits – Power Baits and Havoc.
AN ADDED ATTRACTION: The Bass Fest will take place on Friday and Saturday, August 23rd and 24th! We are inviting all sponsors and companies to attend to show off their newest merchandise on Friday and again on Saturday. The tournament will take place on Saturday– which is OPEN to EVERYONE! The cost for this tournament is $50 per team! This tournament will be held on the Delta out of Russo’s Marina however you can launch at other locations and boat over. If you would like to be a sponsor of this event and set up a table with your canopy, the cost is $180 and one case of water for our anglers, contact Grant Olguin at tackleshot@gmail.com. Sign-ups will take place on Friday at Russo’s Marina on Bethel Island from 3 PM to 6 PM. For more information, visit The Bass Fest website http://www.bestbasstournaments.com/bassfest or contact Randy at 209-543-6260 or at randy@bestbasstournaments.com
Congratulations to all the winners of this tournament and thank you to all the anglers who stayed for the Awards Ceremony to support your fellow anglers. You are a class act and this act of kindness is appreciated.
If you are not present when your boat number is drawn or your name is called, you forfeit your prize and it is donated to the TOC as you MUST be there to win prizes. If you happen to win money and/ or trophies during a tournament and you leave before receiving it, you will have to meet up with your tournament director as winnings and/ or trophies are not sent through the mail.
Sponsor Tackle Store Receipts Program – If you purchase tackle valued at $20 OR MORE from our Sponsor Tackle Stores or go online to make purchases through the Optimum Baits and ima websites, you will receive a discount for being a member of the BBT. Keep your receipt and write your name and phone number on the back of it then place it in the bucket, which is at every tournament check-in. You will have opportunities to win prizes during the Awards Ceremony after each weigh-in. Remember you MUST be present to win. At the close of the Awards Ceremony, all receipts drawn are placed back into the bucket for more chances to have them drawn at future events in addition at the TOC. If you are not present and your name is called, you forfeit your prize and it is donated to the TOC.
Remember to support the sponsors who are supporting you in bass fishing whenever you can. A list of our sponsors is below and is also located on the Sponsors page of the Best Bass Tournaments website www.bestbasstournaments.com
Thank you for coming out and supporting the Best Bass Tournaments. It was great to see familiar faces and meet new anglers who will be fishing the BBT this season! We appreciate each one of you. If every angler would ask one friend to join and fish the BBT, you will have additional anglers to compete against and have more opportunities to win larger paybacks. Let your friends know that they will also be eligible to win prizes in addition to saving money on fishing tackle when making purchases through our Sponsor Tackle Stores.
Best Bass Tournaments would like to personally thank the sponsors who are supporting us and the anglers alike: Emerald Premium Snacks, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Lowrance, The Fishing Instructor, Yakima Baits, Technology Integrators, Hildebrandt, Poe’s Plugs, Timber Tiger, Ima, Optimum Baits, KLGD Graphics, Hooked on Adventures, Continental Tires, Irwin – Lenox and Helly Hansen, Eye Surrender Sunglasses, Out of Bounds Speed & Marine, AGS Apparel, Port of Subs, Oroville’s Best Value Inn & Suites, Clearlake Cottages, Applebee’s – Oroville, Central Valley Sportsmen’s Boat & RV Show.
Best Bass Tournaments sponsor tackle stores:
Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods/ San Jose, Walton Pond/ San Leandro, Guns, Fishing & Other Stuff/ Dixon, Coyote Bait & Tackle/ Coyote, CA, Clearlake Bait & Tackle/ Clearlake, Clearlake Outdoors/ Lakeport, Tracy Oasis Marina/ Tracy, CA, C & C Marine/ Modesto and Sacramento, Jim’s Pro Tackle/ Paso Robles, Bait Barn/ Waterford
If your company would like to be a sponsor of the Best Bass Tournaments, please contact Randy Pringle at www.bestbasstournaments.com or call 209-543-6260.
We would like to thank our Delta/ Wine Region Staff - JD Mc Millian, Kevin Ryan, Kenny and Kody Cramer, also Kathy Pope for all your help. Another great job helping the anglers in the morning, during the weigh-in, at the Awards Ceremony and placing all the BBT merchandise back into the trailer once the Awards Ceremony was completed. You all are an asset to the BBT and our tournaments could not run efficiently without each and every one of you! Thank you all!
Our next tournament in the Delta/ Wine Region will be on July 27th, launching out of Red Bud Park launch site. We will be checking in on Friday afternoon from 4 PM to 6 PM if you wish to check in then at Clearlake Bait & Tackle on Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake OR on Saturday morning starting at 4 AM at the same location – Clearlake Bait & Tackle. You do NOT have to check in on both Friday and Saturday. Friday is a convenient check in so if you are in the area and wish to get that done, you have that availability. You MUST get your Quagga Mussel inspection BEFORE launching your boat. Clearlake Bait & Tackle, Clearlake Outdoors, and other tackle store around the lake also inspect boats for the Quagga Mussels so have that done before arriving to have your boat compartments checked by our BBT Staff. If you boat over from another launch site, we will have BBT staff on the dock for you to get your boat compartments checked after you check in on Saturday morning. If you check in on Friday afternoon from 4PM to 6 PM at Clearlake Outdoors, you will receive your boat number and you will not need to come back to check in on Saturday – just have your boat number present to show our BBT staff. All your boat compartments, not just your live wells must be opened.
We look forward to seeing you at our next BBT event!
Randy and Sheri Pringle