Earlier this month my teammate, Shane Soriano, and I ventured out to lake Don Pedro to get ready for our last Central Valley BBT tournament. We fished all over the lake trying to find the pattern or location that would give us the fish we needed. We caught lots of fish everywhere but nothing large enough to feel confident. It was definitely junk fishing. We caught fish on almost any technique we tried. Towards the end of the day we found the spot that had what we were looking for. We found a large flat in the graveyard region that had scattered rock piles on it. The fish there were hungry! It didn’t take long before we boated two nice fish and decided this is our spot and left it alone. Tournament day rolled around and we were in the second flight. We were a bit on edge thinking that maybe someone else would find the spot and we would have to scrap our plan. We were in luck. We got to the spot and Shane instantly started throwing a Keitech 3.8″ fat swing impact swim bait on a 1/4oz revenge head while I tried to go big by throwing an S-waver and an Ima Big Stick. Right away the Keitech started throwing keepers in the boat. Within the first 30 minutes Shane had filled our limit. That bite continued for him for quite a while. After about an hour or two we shifted gears and started working the bottom. We traded off between a 1/2oz brown and purple Keitech jig and a Texas rigged brush hog. We would fan cast around the different rock piles and drag the baits off the ledges nearby. We were getting bit on every cast but figured out that the quick tap, tap, tap was small fish so we would set on them. Every now and then you would get a solid thump and it would be a decent keeper. Our biggest fish was 3.41lbs which I caught dragging the brush hog. We spent the majority of our day going in circles around the different rock piles and making small culls. Then it slowed up a bit in the afternoon so we decided to let that place rest and make a run into Rogers creek. We pulled up on a shallow point and Shane made a key cull with the Keitech swimbait. With about an hour to go we went back to our rock piles to see if we could get one more good fish. We knew we had a decent bag but not enough when it comes to a typical don Pedro tournament. We weighed a total of 14.38lbs. Turns out that the bite had been a bit tough for everyone and our weight was good enough for a 3rd place fish. The crazy part was it only took 14.49lbs for 2nd and 14.66lbs to take the top spot. All in all it was a great tournament and season for us. I would like to throw a shout out to my teammate Shane. Thanks bud for taking a chance this season and teaching me a lot. It was a blast! I would also like to thank RB Bass for all the advice and support they give me, Monster fishing tackle for making it easy for me to order gear from the convenience of my home, IMA baits for sure because without their products we wouldn’t have placed as high in some of our tournaments, and Soriano Trucking for helping us with the cost of entry fees. Thank you again to all who helped us this year and remember SET THE HOOK!
