First Bass Busters Tournament of 2008,Lake Camanche January 12th
The Bass Busters held its 1ST tournament of the year in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada’s Lake Camanche.
12 boats for 24 anglers show for the draw individual to launch from the North Shore Marina. Lake Camanche’s current elevation was 201.36 feet above sea level, a rise of .08 feet this week from the recent storms. Dam flows were reported “no water flowing into Lake Camanche, and water is flowing out of Lake Camanche at 225c.f.s.” (This writer’s guess would be 35 feet from full pool.) The surface water temperature at the marina has cooled to 53 degrees. We were met with mostly cloudy skies, some morning rain, which cleared up early, air temps in the 40s to 50s, and a slight breeze. “Perfect” post front conditions for a tougher bite?
Chen and Hawkins Capture Top Spot at Lake Camanche
First place went to Michael Chen (B) and Jeff Hawkins (NB) who weighed in 11.30 lbs for one of two teams with a limit of 5 fish. They report catching the fish on a splitshot and dropshot straight tail worms, tubes, and jigs in Morning Dawn, watermelon, and cinnamon colors. The team targeted mixed rock/mud banks with gradual slopes in 15 feet of water. Congratulations!
Second place honors went to Tony Leyva (B) and son, Miguel Leyva (NB). They used a variety of baits which included brown jigs, dropshot, and wacky rigged Senkos in Baby Bass. The team weighed a nice 9.64 lbs limit. Their fishing targeted rocky drop-offs close to deeper water in both the main lake and upriver spots. Way to get ‘em!
Third place went to Ron Shikashio (B) and Jon Wagman (NB) who utilized finesse techniques in green, purple, and oxblood plastics. Ron also grabbed Big Fish honors with a 3.20 lb spotted bass. The combined total went 9.32 for four fish. Good job, gents!
Fourth place was Rob Nelson (B) and Lloyd Bebilone (NB) with 7.14 lbs for three fish, including a 3.14 kicker caught by Rob. Dartheads with purple and green plastics accounted for their bass today.
Fifth place with 5.05 lbs were Rich Clark (B) and Glenn Hayashimoto (NB) who employed white deep diving Poes and Norman crankbaits.
Sixth place was Jim Fritz (B) and John Fernandez (NB) with 4.99 lbs. They threw a hot pink jerkbait and Senkos. Jim’s 2.88lb kicker won him 2nd Big Fish option!
Seventh Joe Alvarez (B) and perspective member, Dennis (NB) landed in place with 4.31 lbs using football jigs in greens and purples.
Eighth place had Jon Hagan (B) and Joe Heylen (NB) bring 2.44 lbs to the scales for 1 fish. The ‘afternoon’ bite occurred for them with 15 minutes remaining in the tournament on a Carolina rigged
watermelon brushog in 30 feet of water. Whew, got them points!
Ninth, Perspective member, Scott Crawford (B) and Marshall Smith (NB) finished in place with 2.07 lbs for 2 fish tossed the dropshot with Spring Break colored plastics.
Tenth place, Ed Hawkins (B) paired with perspective member, Bart Beltran (NB) took 1.16 lbs to weigh-in. The team reported catching it on a fluke up shallow early.
The teams of Moe Martinez/Ben Tamayo and Bob Williams/Tony (Perspective Member) didn’t fare as well in these tough post-frontal conditions but nonetheless exhibited good spirits despite their tough day.
Annual Club Dinner
Next month our club will be having our 2007 Year End Banquet, Feb 2nd at the Bold Knight Bistro in San Jose. We’ll be dining on fine food, enjoying the company of our members and significant others, and recapping the events of 2007 in grand fashion. Members are already paid for and guests are $20 at the door. The booze will cost you. For more info regarding the details and guest policy contact Spiro Stamos.
Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be Thursday Feb 7th at IHOP Start time is 7:30pm. If you can’t make the meeting and you plan to fish our next tournament let someone who is attending know, so that we don’t have any confusion during our partner drawings.
Next Tournament
Lake Pardee, Feb 23 Individual Draw. If you can’t make the meeting and you plan to fish our next tournament let someone who is attending know.
