Don Pedro 7/28/07 – Fleming Meadows
Draw Team Night Tournament
The BassBusters held its 7th tournament of the year at Lake Don Pedro. We had 12 boats for 24 anglers show for our night tournament eager with anticipation after waiting 7 weeks since our last outing. Three club teams brought in limits and the club averaged 1.9 lbs a fish overall. Water clarity could be described as clear to fairly clear in most places of the lake depending on boat traffic. Water temps ranged in from 79-81 degrees and air temps started at 97 at launch to mid 60s during the night. Breezes from 10-15 mph down to near dead calm and clear skies were there to greet us as we set out to fish for the night. Here’s the breakdown.
First place distinctions went to Miguel Villavicencio (B) and guest, Shawn Hines (NB) who weighed in 18.38 lbs. The team also took 2nd Big Fish honors as Miguel weighed in a 6.2 lber (which by the way took 1st Big Fish Option). The two reported using dropshotting red plastic worms (Miguel’s secret bait). Congratulations, Miguel and guest, on your first club win!
Second place honors went to Ron Shikashio (B) and Tyler Linscott (NB) who weighed in 17.67 lbs. They utilized a number of techniques including, dropshot, brass n’ glass, and wacky rigged plastics in black and Xmas Tree colors. The pair targeted rocky bluffs. Right on, guys!
Third place credits went to the team of Jon Hagan (B) and perspective member, Ryan (NB) who threw Big Unit worms in black emerald, flukes, and jigs. They found working their baits slowly in 15-30 feet on points to be the ticket, saying they rotated amongst several main lake points to bag their fish. Excellent job, gents!
Landing in fourth place were Kyle Mulhar (B) and Tim Setzekorn(NB) with 16.47 lbs. They found success on dartheads and brass n’ glass with 6” worms.
In fifth place with 14.94 lbs were Mo Martinez (B) and perspective member, Bon G (NB), who employed wacky rigged Senkos with and without nail weights.
Taking sixth place were Michael Chen (B) and Jon Wagman (NB), with 14.43 lbs. They accounted for their fish using splitshot 6” worms and a topwater Sammy in chartreuse shad. Jon caught the biggest fish of the tournament, a largemouth going 6.91 lbs and secured another Big Fish trophy.
Spiro Stamos (B) and Joe Heylen (NB) landed in seventh place with an 11.81 lb total. They threw blades, jigs, and plastics rigged on brass n’ glass.
Eighth place had Joe Alvarez (B) and Glenn Hayashimoto (NB) bring back 10.69 lbs to the scales. They chose blue sapphire brushogs, dropshotted plastics, and poppers. It was reported their primary pattern was to wait for a shooting star, make a wish, and apparently catch them right after. Lucky for them the skies were clear!
Britt Brittain (B) and Adam Kern (NB) finished in ninth place with 8.85 lbs tossing jigs, 10” Power Worms, and topwater.
In tenth place, Tony Leyva (B) and Lloyd Bebilone (NB) weighed-in 8.33 lbs. The team threw crankbaits.
Eleventh place found Rich Clark (B) and Marshall Smith (NB) with 7.21 lbs. They reported using bubba shotted 7” and 10” worms. Unfortunately for Rob Nelson (B) and John Fernandes (NB), they ran into trouble coming back to the first weigh-in, where the team struck an obstruction and lost the ability to run. They were up the river where they found a good consistent bite using dartheaded and Carolina-rigged blue Big Unit worms and were on point to win this tournament. However, fate dealt them an unfortunate situation and they couldn’t weigh in. More importantly, the two were safe and in good spirits despite the situation. During our weigh-in and debriefing our members were weary having fished the night, but were all in good spirits, as fishing usually puts us in. Most teams found the bite to be intermittent, at best, with many teams weighing in less than limits. Our next meeting will be August 2nd at IHOP starting at 7:30pm. It will be a pick-your-partner team night event on Clear Lake. Last year it took over 30 lbs for 5 fish to win. As a reminder, if you can’t make it to the club meeting and you plan to fish our next tournament and get into the Big Fish pool, let someone know ahead of time whether you plan to fish or not.
