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Winners Jon McManis and Darren Cox

4/25/09  Jon McManis and Darrren Cox Win Don Pedro Anchored with a Huge Bass 

Lake Don Pedro was the third stop in the WRL Mother Lode Region.  The morning started out cold, 37 degrees with dampness in the early morning air at as the anglers signed up in front of the Marina Outpost Store.  It was so cold that insulated coffee mugs could not keep the coffee hot so we drank “iced coffee” and “iced tea”!  Cooler water and air temperatures, lower water levels plus wind added into the picture, you will find this has proven to make fishing tough this season on several bodies of water in Northern California for anglers of all skill levels.   

Several of the bass weighed in at this tournament were caught on worms using the drop shot technique.  This proved to be the hottest method for landing the bass because they were not “jumping into the boat”!  

At safe light the small boats were released followed by boat number 11 in the large boat division then the rest of the field were released one by one as the sun started to rise.  It looked like it was the start of an awesome day.  Then the wind made an appearance giving some anglers an edge on this event. 

In the Large Boat Division, Jon Mc Manis from Salida and his partner Darren Cox of Modesto told everyone they fished around the house boats and ledges on the lake using jigs in dark pumpkin to land their limit of bass weighing in at 16.14 lbs.  Jon caught a beautiful female large mouth that topped the scales weighing in at 9.49 lbs.  For their day, they took home winning of $1270.00 and First Place trophies in addition to Jon who took home the Big Fish trophy for his lunker at this event.  Several days of pre-fishing before this event paid off for Jon!  Congratulations guys! 

Mike Sanders of Hughson and Matt Lindsey of Modesto brought to the scales a limit of bass, four large mouth and one small mouth which weighed 10.89 lbs. with their largest bass weighing 3.37 lbs. giving them Second Place in addition to the 4^th Big Fish of the tournament.  They told everyone they drop shotted worms and fished the main lake.  They took home a nice paycheck of $630.00 for their winnings.  Great teamwork guys! 

Third Place was the team of Ron Howe from Elk Grove and Bob Miller from Sacramento who represented the Bait Barn - one of our sponsor tackle stores, brought a limit of large mouth that weighed 9.59 lbs.  Ron told everyone they drop shotted worms in the Moccasin area of the lake.  They received $430.00 for their efforts.   

Dan Perkins Jr. from Angels Camp and John Liechty from Arnold had a five fish limit which weighed in at 9.35 lbs. giving them Fourth Place and $180.00 for their day on this lake.  Nice job guys! 

Rounding out the top five was the team of Scott Stevens and Vincent Bernal both of Los Banos had a nice bag of bass weighing just .03 ounces less than the forth place team.  This was a close weight of 9.32 lbs. and with their largest bass weighing 3.61 lbs. this gave them Fifth Place overall with the third place Big Fish of this tournament.  They took home $245. 

STEVE PESTER AND RON WEAVER LANDED THREE BASS TO TAKE FIRST PLACE IN THE SMALL BOAT DIVISION 

Steve Pester and Ron Weaver both from Oakdale brought two largemouth bass and one spotted bass to the scales that gave them the winning weight in the Small Boat Division of 4.30 lbs.  Their largest bass weighed 2 lbs even.  They told everyone they drop shotted worms in the south end of the lake and received trophies for their hard day on the water. 

***WE WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE SMALL BOAT TEAM OF STEVE PESTER AND RON WEAVER FOR THE MIX UP IN THIS STORY AND POSTING THE INCORRECT INFORMATION ON THEM WINNING THIS EVENT PRIOR TO NOW.  THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION.  THIS STORY HAS BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT!!*** 

For Twentieth place, the 20-20 Award, Mario Ramirez and Brian Orange would have taken home Eye Surrender Sunglasses had they been present to win so these sunglasses will be donated to the TOC. 

For the smallest weight at this event, the team of Peter Kaprielian and Joel West were present to win a sponsor gift bag at the Awards Ceremony for their one small mouth that weighed in at 1.32 lbs.   

Manny, from the Bait Barn who is one of the WRL sponsor stores donated 10% off cards for anglers to use at the store for merchandise.  Thank you for your donation. 

We had one of the younger members of the audience draw the boat number for the Fenwick Rods and team who had boat number 15 would have walked away with them had they been present to win.  These rods will be donated to the TOC! 

Reminder, you must be present to win sponsor bags, Eye Surrender Sunglasses for the 20-20 Award and the Fenwick Rods.  

I would like to thank my staff for another great job well done, Kevin Ryan, Mike Tremont, Peter Kaprielian and Joel West.  A special thank you goes to my wife Sheri for keeping everything organized.  Thank you all! 

We will see you all next month at New Melones.  Check in will be at Glory Hole Sports. 

 100% Bass - Western Rookie League would like to thank the fine sponsors that make the difference between fishing and the quality events we are able to provide as a result of their support. BassCat Boats, Mercury Outboards, Berkley Trilene, Spiderwire Braid, Castillo Badillo - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Loomis Lodge and Lake Fork Guide Service, TheFishingInstructor.Com, Persuader Bass Baits, Fenwick Rods, Walton’s Pond in San Leandro, Hook, Line & Sinker in Oakley, Phil’s Props in Redding, Bait Barn in Waterford, Escalon Bait & Tackle, Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp, Valley Rod & Gun in Clovis, Berryessa Sporting Goods in Winters, MF Finesse Custom Worms, Comfortroll, Comfort Suites of Oakley, Cal West Concrete Cutting, Black Dog Baits, Eye Surrender Sun Glasses, Bass Angler’s Guide Magazine, Angels Inn Motel of Angles Camp and Russo’s Marina on Bethel Island.

Randy Pringle
Tournament Director