Bonham bests EverStart pros to grab overall lead on California Delta

Bertolero steals spotlight in Co-angler Division

BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. – Despite dismal fishing conditions, a mandated four-fish tournament limit imposed by the state of California and an 8-ounce penalty for bringing a dead fish to the scales, Dewayne Bonham of Brentwood, Calif., still managed to ignore all obstacles in his path, shooting atop the leaderboard with an impressive catch of 24 pounds, 6 ounces to take the overall lead in the Pro Division.

“It’s nice to have the lead, but I’m not real excited yet, because we still have another day of fishing before the cut,” said Bonham. “Normally in this situation, you can lay back a little bit. But I can’t back off at all tomorrow with the weights that can come off this lake. I’m going to have to go back out there again Thursday and hopefully catch between 15 and 17 pounds. At least that’s my goal.”

While Bonham’s goal is lofty, he is proving to be a man of his word. Heading into today’s competition, Bonham decided he was only going to target huge fish after seeing some of the winning weights from previous tournaments on the Delta – a fishery known for producing some of the heaviest largemouth bass in the entire nation.

“I had an idea of what I wanted to do today after seeing what weights were needed to win a (previous) tournament here,” he said. “I really decided that I needed to go for a 6-pound average for each fish. I didn’t think I’d accomplish it. I thought maybe I could average 5 pounds a fish. But by 7:30 this morning, we had between 18 and 20 pounds in the boat. So far, at least, everything has worked out.”

Bonham said he concentrated on a sight-fishing technique to land the majority of today’s catch.

“It was all bed fishing today,” he said. “I had a few really good spots, and I spent a lot of time on the trolling motor. I really only used one bait all day today.”

Bonham hopes that his familiarity with fishing the Delta will give him an advantage tomorrow. But if not, Bonham says at least he won’t have that far to travel if he doesn’t make the cut.

“If it goes well, I’ll make the cut,” he said. “If not, I’ll get into my car and make the 15-minute drive back home.”

Great Scott

James Scott of Carson, Calif., decided only last year to make the big leap from the Co-angler Division to the ultracompetitive Pro Division. While he originally had some doubts about his gamble, if today’s performance is any indication, it was well worth it.

“This is the first time for me in this situation,” said Scott, who recorded a four-fish limit weighing 22 pounds, 13 ounces, a stringer good enough for second place overall. “And it feels pretty good right now. We’ll see if I can do this one more day and make the cut. I just hope my fish hold up.”

Scott says he’s throwing a wide variety of baits and not targeting any particular type of water – at least not yet.

“I really mixed it up today,” he said. “The key is just making the right decisions. That’s what it boils down to.”

Best of the rest

Current Western Division points leader Thanh Le of El Cajon, Calif., gave himself two early gifts today. Not only did he pad his overall lead in the year-end standings race by hauling in an impressive sack of 22 pounds, 8 ounces – outfishing his two closest angler-of-the-year competitors, Scott Mascardri of Sacramento, Calif., and Charley Almassey of Oakley, Calif. – but he also managed to land one of the day’s largest bass as well. By the time weigh-in had concluded, Le’s massive 10-pound, 2-ounce largemouth bass was good enough to win the big-bass award in the Pro Division, which came with a nice check worth $525. In the end, Le’s total catch was good for third place overall.

Fourth place in the Pro Division belonged to Jeff Lamy of San Jose, Calif., who turned in a 21-pound, 14-ounce stringer.

Wayne Hinrichs of Novato, Calif., finished the day in fifth place after hauling in a four-fish catch weighing 21 pounds, 12 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 pros at Wednesday’s California Delta event:

6th: Fred Roumbanis of Auburn, Calif., 20-15

7th: Zack Thompson of Orinda, Calif., 20-3

8th: Mike Folkestad of Yorba Linda, Calif., 19-11

9th: Bryan Roland of Brentwood, Calif., 19-0

10th: (tie) Carol Martens of West Hills, Calif., 18-15

10th: (tie) Nick Welton of Galt, Calif., 18-15

Bertolero nets co-angler lead

On the strength of a 22-pound, 10-ounce catch, Leroy Bertolero of El Macero, Calif., took top honors in the Co-angler Division.

Meanwhile, Ryan Brown of Orting, Wash., used a catch of 20 pounds, 7 ounces to grab second place overall. Brown also landed the largest fish of the tournament to date, netting a 10-pound, 13-ounce largemouth bass, good enough for the day’s big-bass award, worth $205, in the Co-angler Division.

Third place belonged to Steve Hayashi of Tracy, Calif., after he landed a total catch of 15 pounds, 8 ounces.

Tony Matuska of Ripon, Calif., landed in fourth place with a catch of 14 pounds, 15 ounces, while Tom Schultz of Foster City, Calif., finished in fifth place with a catch of 13 pounds, 9 ounces.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at Wednesday’s California Delta event:

6th: Brian Mlekush of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 13-7

7th: Gary Morris of Tracy, Calif., 13-4

8th: Gayle Janes of Bermuda Dunes, Calif., 13-1

9th: Clint Gooldwin of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 13-0

10th: Victor Cunningham of Phoenix, 12-8

Thursday’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. at Russo’s Marina, located at 3995 Willow Road in Bethel Island, Calif.