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6/20 Delta - Winners - Gary Hall and Damon Wight with Cliff Lidy (Owner Persuader Baits - Center) |
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This was our first half day event for the “Wine Region” as the Fish and Game Regulations state that all tournaments have shorter fishing hours, making bass fishing events six hours during the hot summer months, from June 15th to September 15th in their effort to keep more bass alive. Persuader Baits, one of the sponsors of 100% BASS combined the Persuader Bass Bait Day at this tournament for the Western Rookie League making it a fun event for all who came out to fish on the Delta held at Russo’s Marina. The evening before the tournament, several anglers came out to meet Cliff Liddy, the owner of Persuader American Angling and see what kind of baits Persuader offers in addition to getting some ideas of what was catching bass in the Delta. Anglers were handed sponsor gift bags of Persuader products when they checked in. In the early morning it was extremely windy in many locations. Some anglers traveling to Russo’s before dawn had mentioned the wind could be a big factor for the day. While some worried if this would affect their fishing skills others were happy that the wind kept the temperatures down making it pleasant for the most part. When our staff did boat checks early Saturday morning, in addition to signing the anglers boat number cards, bright orange ribbons were tied to the trolling motors of every boat fishing the event. This made it easier to locate participants in this event. During the tournament, when our staff boat approached the anglers and if they were fishing with Persuader baits tied to their lines, they were given additional Persuader baits. All but three boats that were approached were fishing with Persuader products! First Place was the team of Gary Hall from Stockton and his partner Damon Wight from Linden who came to the scales with the winning weigh of 20.25 lbs and had a nice kicker, 8.68 lbs. caught by Gary that gave them Third Place in Big Fish as well. Gary and Damon were proud to except a “one year Pro-Staff Persuader American Angling contract” from Cliff Liddy in addition to trophies and $3060 in winnings that they took home. They told everyone they fished in the east Delta using top water frogs, flippin’, drop shotting and weightless worms to land their limit. Congratulations guys and thank you for attending the 100% BASS – WRL and Persuader Bass Baits Day Tournament! Joey Letsinger from Sacramento and Chris Garner of Yuba City have been doing very well at several of our tournaments this season. This tournament was no exception as they came to the scales with a weight of 19.03 lbs. and the Second Place Big Fish that added 8.83 lbs. to their limit. They told the crowd they fished the rocks using a variety of baits in the south end of the Delta. They were happy to receive winnings of $2000 and trophies for Second Place. Great teamwork guys! Jim Griffin from Rio Vista and his partner Angel De La Rosa from Isleton had a nice bag of bass that weighed in at 16.77 lbs. giving them Third Place. They told everyone they caught a lot of their bass on Persuader Spinner Baits and Swim Baits in the San Joaquin River and Franks Tract for their limit. For their efforts they took home $950 for their few hours of fishing. Sweet! David Cole from Escalon and Aaron Walker from Hughson brought to the scales a limit of bass that weighed 15.25 lbs giving them Fourth Place and $670 in winnings along with their trophies to show off to their friends and families. Tim Edmonston and James Huckaby traveled a great distance from Fernley, Nevada where they both live and took home gas money as they came in Fifth Place for this event and won $300 for the time they spent on the water. They had a nice kicker that weighed 7.22 lbs., not enough to place in the Big Fish payback but she added to their total weigh 14.63 lbs.! Thank you for going that “extra mile” to fish the WRL. Gary Smith from Sacramento fished alone at this event and even though he only came to the scales with two bass putting him in Twenty – Fifth Place, his large bass weighed a whopping 9.53 lbs. giving him the Big Fish of the tournament. His smaller bass looked like bait compared to this beauty! His total weight was 10.81 lbs. Gary told the crowed he used “ima” Rumba to catch this awesome bass. In addition to winning $810 for his Big Fish, Cliff Liddy handed Gary a Gift Certificate for $300 from Persuader American Angling to go toward the purchase of Persuader products. My hat’s off to you! RETURNING ANGLERS OF THE YEAR, JEFF HARDIN AND PAUL EUSEY TAKE THE SMALL BOAT WIN AT THE DELTA Jeff Hardin from Chico and Paul Eusey from Elk Grove came in First Place in the Small Boat Division and with a weight of 12.09 lbs. This team also took Thirteenth Place overall. They told everyone they used Persuader Jigs, Persuader Buzz Baits and other baits in Franks Tract by drop shotting and top water techniques. They took home $115 for their efforts. Congratulations guys! Nice to see you back. Honorable mentions in the Small Boat Division taking Second Place was Grant Hall from Reno, Nevada and Sam Huff of Gardnerville, Nevada who had a limit weighing 11.74 lbs. also giving them Sixteenth Place overall and $95 in winnings. We don’t know who, what, when, where or how they caught their bass as they left early and will be congratulated at the next event when they collect their money! For the Eye Surrender 20-20 Award, Gary Diana from Livermore and his partner Brandon Burruss from Discovery Bay won the two pair of Eye Surrender Polarized Sunglasses! Here is a funny story; Brandon brought his dog Sady along for the ride while they fished but sad to say, she missed the boat, literally! She was abandoned on the dock, not intentionally. She was in their boat and jumped back onto the dock as they pulled away, which they were not aware of. Sady was looking in other boats as they were launched for her owner. Once all the boats were out fishing, I called Brandon’s cell as he had written it on his entry form….good work there! Sady visited with us as we did the paperwork in the office until her other owner came to claim her! Thirtieth Place winners were not present to win their sponsor tackle bags so these bags will go where? To the TOC! Scott Norton from Rancho Cordova and Eric Anson from Orangevale came in Fortieth Place and were winners of the sponsor gift bags. They were in the Small Boat Division and were present to win. Boat number 17 was drawn for the two Fenwick Rods however this team left early so their rods will be donated to the TOC. The store receipt was drawn however Steve Kruzic had left prior to that time so his gift bag will also be donated to the TOC. For all the anglers who did not receive their Persuader gift bags, they are on the way. Sheri emailed Cliff the “Boaters” addresses (except for a few which will be sent to the “Non-Boater” as some full addresses were not written on their entry form). So look for them to arrive soon. To all the anglers who came to fish this event for the first time with 100% BASS Western Rookie League, thank you for taking the “test drive”! We hope to see you again soon! I would like to thank my staff for all their help at this event, Kevin Ryan, Rich Reeser, Matt Moreau and Jon DeVries, also Peter Kaprielain, one of my staff members from the Mother Lode Region who drove his Bass Cat around the Delta with Cliff Liddy and also Bob Kornhauser, owner of 100% Bass who was present at this event, looking for our WRL anglers who were fishing with Persuader Baits during the tournament. Great job as always guys!
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.
Work -
209-543-6260 www.thefishinginstructor.com |
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