Folsom Bass Team

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.

Camanche Chiller - January 2010

Folsom Bass Team fielded ten boats to crawl thru the "three dot" fog to Comanche Lake for the first event of the new decade. The preceding weeks reported big bags being taken but an abrupt switch in the weather placed a question mark on exactly what the lake would cough up in the dense fog. Several other events shared the lake and all the nearby structure quickly had a boat or two posted on them after "blast-off".

When all was said and done, things had definitely toughened up, and the previous dock talk didn't produce. Only three limits showed up at the weigh-in and accounted for the medals. Mike Tremont, paired with Troy De Guchi ran structure coast to coast and managed a 9.35lb bag, for third place. All fish were taken drop-shotting. Jeff Garmeson visited his hotspots and found "vacancy" signs glowing. With an assist from Kim Adkins, a 9.58lb bag was dredged up from multiple deep structure sights. Rick Lloren and relative newbie, Merle Drucker snuck up on main lake points and humps in Merle's "wallie wonder". Jigs bumped on rocks proved to be the winner, weighing a bag of 15.66lbs. Their limit was punctuated with Merle's PR 5.86 bigmouth that looked like it had eaten a down rigger weight.

Next up, back to Berryessa on February 13th. Hopefully, Markley's main ramp will be available. See ya there.

Berryessa - Dec. 13th, 2009

On December 13th Folsom Bass Team finished off 2009 with an event at Lake Berryessa. Mother Nature was gracious enough to take a sabatical from the recent snow and rain haunting the area. Seventeen teams took advantage of the calm and overcast conditions.

Jonathan Ashcraft and Alec Brassington caught a solid bag of 10.39lbs. off one spot working the entire water column. Their effort was good for third place.

Mike Tremont teamed with Dick McHenry and chased the wind. Their 12.84 bag was topped off by a 5.87lb spot that ate a ripbait. Several different roboworms fished on the rocks were responsible for the balance of their limit.

After much pre-game banter about nicknames, Dick "No Fish" Moore truly had the last laugh. Three fish caught with Don Stanley was all that was needed to secure the "W". Their 13+ lb limit was anchored by Dick's 9.95lb largemouth. As big fish of the event it would have beaten three fourths of the field's limits. Rumor has it that the big girl ate something brown with wiggly legs wigglin on the bottom, (take a guess).

Lake Camanche will host our next event on January 25th. It will probably be a cold one. See ya there.

Delta - November 2009

On November 15th fifteen teams ventured into the currents of the Sacramento Delta. The fall bite had been very tough prior to the event. Ultra clear water, blue skies, and pressure on the fish were among the discussed explanations for the difficult bite. Nonetheless the teams blasted out of B&W Resort in a relatively fogless morning hoping for some gameday magic.

As the boats rolled back in to ante up, the banter mostly consisted of frustration and tucked tails. Overall, the Delta was the winner, giving up only three limits.

Dustin Keen and Kim Adkins worked a deep ledge with Senkos, dropshotted worms and crankbaits to cull up a 10.52 bag to win the event. They also pulled the Big Fish award with a 3.33lb bigmouth.

Rick Lloren and Rob Ridge caught a 9.55lb limit with hogs and senkos off the main current. Their effort was good for runnerup.

Jeff Garmeson and newbie Mike Ritinger "trapped" their 9.46 lb limit for third place.

It's back to the lakes for now, Berryessa hosting the next tournament on December 13th.

Folsom Lake Opener - October 2009

Folsom Bass Team kicked off a new season at their home base amidst a pleasant fall morning and not so pleasant five mile per hour speed limit. Seventeen teams with high hopes of starting the new season right blasted out of Brown's Ravine Marina like a herd of thundering turtles. About half the field bobbed near the launch site to maximize fishing time while others took the chance on predetermined honeyholes all over the lake. A dockside weigh in proved Folsom would be pretty mizerly for most.

Larry Baltezore and Chris Hughes covered ground and drop-shotted a 10.04 lb limit for a third place finish.

Jeff Garmeson and Rich Reed culled out a 10.69lb limit on jigs and small swimbaits earning a runner up spot.

First place was awarded to Mike Tremont and Aaron Miller who with a borrowed rod and reel, dragged a 13 lb team into the livewell. They also stuck a 3.88 that took big fish honors. All told, it was a fun event to start the season.

Next up, FBT will be dumping the 6lb. stuff in favor big sticks and braided line for the California Delta on November 15th. See ya there.

September Slim

A dozen teams assembled at Red Bud Park on September 20th to launch the season's closer amidst the green muck which has taken over much of the lake. Pre-fish stories varied from thirty fish days to one bite woes, with a mixed bag of techniques used to arrange Sunday's plan of attack. Prior to blast off Mike Hara provided a tribute to Dylan Arriano, a fallen FBT member. Sunny days and tight lines to you Dylan.

The team of Mike Tremont and Joe Colwell (all the way from Germany) found fish on rocks and teased them with Baby Brush Hogs for 17 pounds even and third place.

Justin VonSpreckleson paired with Dick Mc Henry and plowed into the lightly pressurred Cache Creek area. They found willing fish in shallow trash and pulled them out with swimming toads. Their 17.10 bag earned second place.

Dustin Keen and George Barnett shook off a dismal pre-fish, went back to the drawing board and listened to the fish. They listened well, pulled 18.79lbs., and took the first place trophy. The pair landed over thirty fish through the day most of them falling to the Baby Brush Hog tacked to a zipper jig head. Their six pound kicker ate a drop shotted Robo worm. Shady docks seemed to give up the bulk of their fish.

Closing out a very tight AOY race, Mike Hara "came on strong" when it counted. With an assist from Rich Reed, a 14+ bag of jig eaters secured the title for Mike. Congratulations.

Folsom Bass Team will close out the season with a return to Clear Lake for the TOC on October 4th. See ya there!