Lake Shasta – 5/6/2006-5/7/2006
2 Day Pick Team Tournament


With 13 boats for 26 anglers the BassBusters of Santa Clara trekked 250 miles north to scenic Lake Shasta to fish the 5th tournament of 2006 launching out of Bailey Cove.  The majority of our members stayed at the Fawndale Lodge and RV Resort where our gracious hosts Amy, Debbie, Don, and Randy made sure our stay was pleasant.  Without hesitation, they even offered ground transport to Logan’s Roadhouse for Saturday’s dinner outing!  A big ‘thank you’ from our club to them for their hospitality!  The BassBusters enjoyed sunny skies, light breezes, and warm temperatures making things right for a great getaway and tournament weekend.  Mornings were cool, in the upper 50’s and mid and upper 80s by afternoon.  Water temps varied throughout the lake depending on which arm visited.  I observed water temps from 62-69 degrees fishing the McCloud and Sacramento Arms.  The lake level was 20 feet from full pool.  The fishing was hot and the fish were cooperating with many members reporting catching plenty of fish.  But, as always the case with Shasta, it’s the bigger ones that are hard to find.

Edging out the competition on day 2, the duo, Don Snell and Bob “Grandpa” Schmidt, put together a fantastic tournament and finished with 24.43 lbs taking home first place trophies.  The pair found their primary success on dartheading Grandpa’s Atomic Shad that are apparently no longer made (probably on limited production, limited to the team, hah).  Hopefully Grandpa will start making these great baits available to share again.  They fished main lake points in 15-30 feet of water to consistently weigh 12 lbs sacks each day.  Way to go, gentlemen!

Falling a spot after leading day 1, second place honors went to recently converted boater, Michael Chen and guest, Sandy Sueoka, with 22.55 lbs.  The team fished the O’Brien area of the Sacramento Arm, targeting large rock banks and points.  One key to finding better fish for this couple was finding shady steeper walls or the back of cuts with wacky rigged cinnamon w/black flake or clear w/black flake Senkos and Hula Grubs on 3/8 oz football jigs (same colors).  As a side note, if anyone fishes the O’Brien area in 35-40 feet of water and snags a Calcutta 250 and Crucial 7’ MH rod that happened to get kicked over by my dog, there’s a reward…  Great outing, team!

Our third place trophies went to the team of Kyle Mulhair and guest, Steve, who finished with 21.63 lbs.  They fished the Pit Arm with an assortment of techniques, their primary success coming from targeting trees with Salt and Pepper Senkos.  Nice job, guys!

Landing in fourth place was John Neibel and guest, Marilyn, who finished with 21.55 lbs.  The couple was in 3rd place after Saturday’s weigh in, but, couldn’t get the better fish to go on day 2.  The team used a variety of lures, but, pointed out that plastics accounted for the majority of their weight.  John managed 2nd Big Fish of the tournament with a 2.81lb spot good for a little gas money (especially at $3.40/gallon).  As an aside, during our awards presentations and reports, John mentioned he tried to wrestle the Aaron’s Magic Roboworm out of Marilyn’s hands and lost.

In fifth place with 20.37 lbs were Ryan Caldwell and Dennis Pachucki.  The team relied on ripping and Senkos to get fish to go. 

Taking sixth place were Rashaun Woods and wife/guest, Mrs. Woods.  They weighed in 19.55 lbs saying that whenever they found a wind blown bank or point, they found fishing to be considerably better.  The pair fished the main lake body.

Spiro Stamos and Tyler Linscott weighed 18.91 lbs for their 2 day weight good for seventh place.  The accomplished this by cranking, ripping, and throwing blades.

Landing eighth place were Joe Alvarez and wife/guest, Mrs. Alvarez with 18.89 lbs.  A rainbow colored Senko accounted for Joe’s Big Fish of the tournament, a 4.05 lb bass.

Francisco "Boogie" Segoviano and John “Bucket” Fernandez finished in ninth place with 18.67 lbs.  They employed topwater, ripbaits, dropshotted plastics, and a whole other slew of tackle for their bag of fish.

In tenth place, Mike Clark and Rick Marquardt brought 18.47 lbs to the scale.  Hula Grubs, dropshotted plastics and Lucky Craft pointers accounted for their weight.

Eleventh place went to Ron Shikashio and Glenn Hayashimoto with 17.94 lbs using jerkbaits, jigs, and “everything else”.

With 16.39 lbs, twelfth spot went to Robert Nelson and Joseph Costa who dartheaded, cranked, ripped, and threw blades for their fish.

And rounding out the tournament in thirteenth were Mo Martinez and Jon Wagman with 16.08 lbs who threw Rapala X-Raps and junebug w/chartreuse tail worms.

Our next club meeting will be a week earlier than usual, on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 at IHOP starting at 7:30pm, due to the early Clear Lake (TOC) tournament dates.  As a reminder, the pairings draw will be made at the meeting, so, if you plan to fish and cannot attend the meeting, please let someone know beforehand.  It is your responsibility to make sure the club knows whether you are participating.  We do have a special rate going at the Konocti Vista Casino hotel lakeside rooms if you mention you’re a member of the BassBusters.  Make sure to book your room soon before the offer ends.  

Until next time, tight lines…

The best time to go fishing is when you can get away. - Robert Traver