SHASTA LAKE, Calif. – Apparently, Johnny Walker is a quick study. The Tacoma, Wash. co-angler learned a new tactic in practice, employed it during the FLW Series National Guard Western Division tournament on Lake Shasta and dominated his division for three days.
A National Guardsman and member of the National Guard fishing team, Walker practiced with smallmouth and spotted bass specialist Ronald Hobbs Jr., who showed Walker how to fish a “rigged” worm. Essentially, this tactic fits the standard wacky-rigged worm with a 5/16-ounce weight inserted into the head. This makes the bait fall faster and imparts an erratic darting action when twitched.
Acknowledging Hobbs’ helpful instruction, Walker said that a slow, almost jigging action at the bottom was
the key to his successful presentation. The longer he kept his bait in a promising spot, the greater his chances of tempting what he described as lethargic bass.
“I had to wait on the bites,” he said. “You have to drop that bait right in front of their mouths. They don’t want to exert a lot of energy because there’s plenty of food available.
“I had a tough day – I didn’t have a fish until 10:30. My pro was around some good fish and he was whacking them, so I said if I can stay true to (the wacky technique), I know if works.”
Walker fished today over a ledge in 36-42 feet and caught a limit weighing 8 pounds, 10 ounces. He jumped to an early lead on day one with 11-13 and followed on day two with 8-8. His winning total was 28-15.
Bauer stays at second
Max Bauer of San Diego, Calif. held the second place spot all three days of the event and ended there with a total of 26 pounds, 9 ounces. His daily weights were 10-1, 9-8 and 7-0.
Bauer caught all of his fish on tubes, with a lighter color working best on day three. Fishing points and working his baits slowly proved most effective. Day three’s mostly calm conditions presented a limitation for Bauer.
“Today, the lack of wind kept me from getting bit on the bigger tube,” he said. “Also, I couldn’t get bit on the jig. I think having some more wind would have helped.”
Wright winds up third
J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif. tied Bauer for second place on day one with 10 pounds, 1 ounce. He slipped
to third on day two with a catch of 8-8 and ended the tournament in the same position after a day three weight of 7-9 gave him a 26-2 total.
Wright said his was not a fancy tournament. “Basically, I did what I always do, I just junk fished. Pretty much my go-to bait for the bigger fish was a rigged Senko. After that, I would just pick up a tube, a dart head worm, a dropshot and just go to work from there. I’d look at the situation and pull out whatever bait I thought would fit me. Today, I had to downsize to my 4-pound line and a small worm.”
For most of the tournament, Wright found himself fishing offshore structure in 30-60 feet. Today, he fished the trees in Shasta’s Pit Arm and there he caught a 2-pounder and culled three times.
Billy Dehart of Burlingame, Calif. stayed in fourth with 24-11 and Jimmy Zanotelli of Redding, Calif., took fifth with 24-9.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the FLW Series Lake Shasta event:
6th: Tony Zanotelli of Redding, Calif., 24-5
7th: Toshitada Suzuki of La Jolla, Calif., 24-4
8th: Bruce McCune of Anderson, Calif., 24-1
9th: Guy Williams of Menifee, Calif., 24-0
10th: Gary Haraguchi of Brentwood, Calif., 23-15