Folsom Bass Team

Dancin' on the Delta - April 2011

In the midst of a steady 25mph breeze with gusts of 40, a solid field launched out of B&W Resort on April 30th. Big bag dreams crashed quickly as many simply couldn't get to or fish their own personal promised land. Overall small bag weights at weigh-in reflected Lady Delta's bad mood. ( if you listened closely you could hear her laughing at the scales).

Farres Everly and MIchael Booker grabbed a quick limit of 9.71lbs caught mostly on heavy chatterbaits. Farres added it was the heaviest reaction bait he had with him and about the only thing he could manage in the wind. Their limit was good enough for third place.

Jay Leclerc and Kim Adkins fished docks all day and found a 10.50lb limit wiling to eat their dropshotted worms and earn second place.

Mike Tremont paired with first timer Nick Kolvalcin and tried to run to a spot down the San Joaquin. A few hundred yards of unbeleivable pounding was no way to treat a new member so they hooked a U turn and headed for a protected marina. They were presented with challenge #2, a broken T-motor cable. Call it resourcefulness, or desperation, they tied up to docks and shimmied along offering dropshotted plastics wherever they could. !3.84lbs and first place was their reward. (What is it that Ike's always screaming?)

Rick Lloren hosted a guest Dennis Smith who took Big Fish honors with a swimbait toad that weighed a tidy 8.14lbs.

Next stop: a new venue, Rollins Lake in the foothills on May 14th. See ya there.

Bullard's Bar Brawl

Folsom Bass Team put twenty boats in the water on February 12th for the Bullard's Bar Brawl. This was the first journey to this spotted bass lake which has been receiving a great deal attention. In reality, it wasn't much of a fight as the winning team basically put a spanking on the rest of the armauda. Third place was taken by Mike Bugliarello and John Harris, with John's 5.49 lber taking second big fish award. They dragged worms very deep, and delberately, off red clay walls for a 11.20lb bag. Mike Hara was joined by Blake Schnabel, and tossed jigs also very deep. They culled up a respectacle 14.82 limit for second place. Brandon Holleran stuck Chris Sisto in the back of his boat and the duo went to work. Tubes fished in about sixty feet of water accounted for a spotted bass limit that likely will be a club record for some time. Apparently, they each culled out limits that would have beaten all the other boats, with Chris pulling a 6.14 for big fish emphasis. Their winning bag tipped out at 26.84lbs. That's all spots boys and girls! Did someone say spanked? Hat's off to ya.

We're heading up to Clear Lake next month for a pre-spawn party.

Camanche Chiller - December 2010

Folsom Bass Team took on the Motherlode's Lake Camanche on December 5th. Reports had been promising so hanging Christmas lights would have to wait ; there were bass to be caught. The teams were decked out in raingear but were treated to bright skies and flat water for most of the morning until one heavy and dark cloudbank took the reins at about noon. The ensuing whitecaps made the main lake untouchable and most of the teams scrambled for the south bank and the river arm. The raingear which had been shed earlier returned to use by the 3 o'clock weighin.

As teams assembled at the marina there was a mixed bag of reports. Fish were moving and either you found them or you didn't, period. Jonathan Ashcraft made a guest appearance and coaxed a 4.12lb bigmouth to eat a wakebait on his third cast. It turned out to be Big Fish of the contest. Welcome back Jonathan. TD Mike Tremont teamed with Treasurer Larry Baltezore and ran breaklines and points. They culled thru three limits of fish caught on Larry's special jig and weighed 11.96lbs for third place. Word has it that Don Stanley is renting a room from Mike Hara to secure their "random draw team". They paired for like the fifth time this year, and again scored well. Their 11.76lb limit fell to darter head worms and jigs in relatively shallow water landing them in second place for the event. Top honors went to Irv Schnell and Scott Hamman who worked the river arm. They were on fish most of the day, and culled up with a variety of jigs, worms and spoons and turned in a solid 12.96lb bag with a 3.69 kicker. Good work guys.

2011 will have the FBT at Folsom Lake for the January event. This could be a fun one with some big fish to be weighed in. See ya there.

Berryessa Brawl - November 2010

Unseasonably warm climate accompanied a sizeable field of FBT competitors on November 14th for the first visit to spotted bass country, Lake Berryessa. Mother nature clicked the fan into the "are you kidding" mode making anglers reconsider long main lake runs.

Indeed, those that took a chance with the wind were duelly rewarded. Jay LeClerc and Chris Hughes ground out a 10.06lb bag for third place. Mike Hara pounded thru the waves with Kevin Kolbo to Mike's favorite spot at, uh, I can't tell. Tossing jigs around produced an abundance of fish and they culled up to 11.12lbs and runnerup honors. Grabbing the first place prize was the impromptu team of Jeff Garmeson and Terry Arnold. The thirty plus gusts and ensuing rollers took a toll on the winners craft to the tune of deploying the T-motor while on plane, trashing the brackett. Ahh- nothing a bit of braided line couldn't deal with. They caught all their fish from one spot. Jeff was working reaction baits and little swimbaits on the pointy end and Terry slid his hula grub along off the back. A few limits of fish sorted out to the winning weight of !2.53lbs. Also, Beau Palley pulled a 3.34lb off their first stop with a wake bait to take Big Fish of the event. Congrats to all the teams.

December will bring the FBT to the motherlode and Lake Camanche. This one could be chilly.

October 17, 2010 Clear Lake

With anticipation of a great fall bite, the Folsom Bass Team departed for a Sunday event at the famed Clear Lake. October is known for multiple major fishing TOC’s and this month was no different, with the Triton Owners tournament hosting 120 boats the weekend before, and the US Anglers Choice TOC the same weekend as our event, with 140 boats. However, the Dock Talk was that the bite was very tough at both events, with many boats entering blanks for these events on Day 1.

The FBT event proved to be not much different. We fielded 12 boats, blasting off on the first day of an incoming cold front, with early morning light rain and some wind. Thankfully it seemed that some of the USAC boats did not fish the 2nd day and left more space for us. Nevertheless, the “lock jaw” that harassed anglers of these other events proved to plague the club too. No limits were brought to scale with the biggest bag being 3 fish, and 5 of 12 teams bringing in the goose egg.

First place was taken by prior Angler of the Year Mike Hara and the new VP Chris Hughes, who weighed a bag of 2 fish for 9.24 lb. Word was that they fished slow and deep in a rocky area. In 2nd place was Jay LeClerc and Blake Schnabel with 3 fish for 8.93 lb. Taking 3rd place was Joe Vogeli and Don Stanley with 8.73 lb. Congratualtions!

Next month is Berryessa, hoping the fall bite is on!!

Delta Double Down - August 2010

The Folsom Bass Team launched from B&W resort on August 7th with a freshening summer breeze to keep things comfy. That was the good news. The bad news was the same cooler weather would hamper an already tenuous summer bite that many had been experiencing. When all was said and done, finding keepers, or not, was the overiding conversation at the scales. Catching ten to forty fish and not scoring a limit was common place for many. However, as always, some figured a little something out. Farres Everly and Joe Voegli threw topwaters and cranks to post an early limit of 9.2 lbs but were unable to upgrade after sunrise. It was good enough for third place. Dustin Keen and guest George Norris threw junk on the Moke all morning and scratched out a 10.61lb bag and grabbed second place. Rick Lloren teamed with Rob Ridge and got burned on the big stuff then scrambled with finesse baits to bring in a 10.80lb foursome with a 5.97 kicker that fell for a drop shotted worm. The lucky bag earned first place and BF honors.

The season finale will be held at Clear Lake on Sept. 4th. A close AOY race will again be decided in the green waters. Thhis could be fun.

Pardee - May 20010

Beautiful Lake Pardee was the May destination for the FBT. Shared water with a Sonora bass club as well as an armada of kokanee tournament anglers made it all the more interesting. Despite it all, Mother Nature dialed up a pleasant day to chase oversized brown bass and bedding largemouths.

The team of Ryan Habenicht and Mike Tremont sacrificed their sight fishing height advantage and settled in on one bank for one Spook eater and a slew of solid keepers that fell for drop shotted worms. Their bag of 15.84lbs took first place.

Justin VonSpreckelssn and Chris Hughes weighed in only three keepers but one was a 6.37 biggie that finally ate a soaking senko at thirty feet. Their 11.01 lb runner up bag may have been a bit bigger had Justin's red belly board been on the boat to measure a few smaller fish, oh well.

Beau Palley and Alan Anderson fished the river arm amongst some bigger rock piles with drop shotted worms. They weighed in 9.08 lbs for third place.

FBT will be heading to Lake Shasta for the yearly summer celebration in June, an unofficial event for fun and families to enjoy. Lake Amador will host the next event on a summer night in July.

Dance'n in the Delta - 4/25/10

The Folsom Bass Team fielded sixteen teams to converge on the California Delta on a pleasantly warm day to chase a bite that been improving over the past weeks. An upcoming full moon cycle had been pulling willing fish up and anglers followed. A cheerful north wind kicked up on game-day just to make it interesting.

"Team Pink", Dustin Keen with Craig Laprath, fished one bank all day with cranks and senkos. Their 6.14 lb hog was big fish of the event.

Irv Schnell and Kevin Ward also fished one bank all day throwing cranks and senkos. As a matter of fact, they shared water with Team Pink. Hmm. Anyway, respective bags of 15.14lb and 15.60lbs earned third and second place. A nice cooperative guys.

Doc Lloren and newbie Alan Anderson hop scotched points from the north side through Disappointment offering worms, senkos and brush hogs for four keepers. At one stop, they turned into a slot to fish only to find a small line of boats, and left not knowing two of the boats were the above mentioned participants. Lucky guess as their next stop gave up a 5.9lb to seal the deal with a 16.94lb bag.

Next month it's back to the fine and fussy stuff for Lake Pardee. Oh yeah, did someone mention swimbaits?

Clear Lake - March 7th, 2010

Ten teams from the FBT took the short jaunt to Clear Lake's Red Bud Marina on March 7th for their third tournament of the year. Previous events had produced heavy bags but Mother Nature had dropped a series of cold storms from the north leaving a bit of uncertainty for both bass and angler.

Of course, someone figured it out. Mike Hara and Chris Hughes worked a precise spot deliberately and meticulously. They found themselves culling 3+'ers fooled by creature baits in short order. Mike's regained confidence in a magic fishing hat kept their bite going well into the afternoon resulting in a winning 21.25 lb bag.

Kris Sisto scored his second consecutive silver medal, paired with Robert Butt working rockpiles all over the lake with senkos collecting a 16.70lb limit.

Craig Laprath and Troy Deguchi claimed third place with a 16.31lb bag.

JVS's 5. 71 largemouth was big fish of the day.

Next stop is back to the Delta on April 25th. All stages of the spawn will be represented and should provide some interesting stories.

Berryessa Brawl - February 13th, 2010

On February 13th fourteen FBT teams launched from Markley Marina after enjoying several days of seasonally comfy weather. Hopes of crossing paths with a biggie getting the jump on pre-spawn dining were cautiously muttered by a few and on the minds of many. The muddy water that many had experienced in the past weeks was clearing nicely prompting the appearance of some big baits on the decks.

Early season sunburns were apparent at the weigh in, testimony to mainly flat water and tough fishing. Ironically, FBT member at large Steve Eason showed up to fun fish by himself and didn't sign up for the event. Bad move. His solo effort gave him about 14 +change, with a real bragger of 7.5 something or other. Those who did register were limited to more yeoman type results.

Despite a major "Mercurial" setback, Mike Hara and Dick McHenry managed to dredge out
a 9.20 lb limit from deep structure with jigs and soft plastics. Props to Jonathan Ashcroft for giving Mikes third place bag a ride to the weigh in.

Rumor has it that Chris Sisto caged a limit in pre-fish, and dumped them in the well on gameday. Hmmm. He and co-angler Merle Drucker later stated that shaky head worms tricked a 10.44lb limit. Whatever. They were awarded a Silver medal for either effort.

Rick Lloren teamed with Rob Ridge and worked a series of secondary points on the main lake with jigs and worms and squeaked out the win with a 10.67lb bag.

Big Fish honors went to Gary Coffman with a 2.89lb spot.

The next venue will be Clear Lake on March seventh. Rising water and milder temps ought to bring out a few heavyweights for the playdate. See ya there, and remember, if you don't sign up, you can't win.