Date: May 30th 2019
Time: 0830-1530
Location: Tracy Oasis Resort, California Delta
Tide: Low outgoing
Water temperature: 66-72
Water clarity: 1-4 feet
Wind direction/speed: 5-15 mph WNW
Seasonal Fish Pattern: spawning/post spawn
On May 30th 2019 my son Vincent and I decided to fish the turkey shoot bass tournament at the Tracy Oasis Marina and Resort, located at 12450 Grimes Road, Tracy California.
My son Vincent, who is seven years old, just completed second grade, and he was currently out of school on summer break. Vincent’s report card was exceptional, so I gave him one reasonably request for his efforts. Vincent said he wanted to fish a bass tournament with me, and it just so happened the following day was Thursday.
For those of you that don’t know Tracy Oasis hosts a turkey shoot bass tournament every Thursday from 08:30 A.M. in the morning to 3:30 P.M. in the afternoon. The buy in to the tournament is $40 which includes your launch and big fish option.
The following morning Vincent woke me up at 04:30 in the morning thinking we were late to the tournament. I told Vince to go back to bed because we didn’t have to be there until 8:00 A.M. Vince woke up again and we went downstairs to prepare the boat and eat breakfast.
We arrived at the tournament plenty early, and the other anglers were pretty pumped up I took my son to his first tournament. Shortly after blast off we ran North to a dead end slough where we started flipping. Our setups consisted of 3/8 to 1 ounce Texas rigged creature baits in bluegill patterns. We targeted sparse grass on the edge of deep water.
We caught several bass throughout the day in a variety of sizes. The wind picked up thirty minutes prior to weigh in so we headed back in a little early. Vince and I didn’t win first place, didn’t win any money, however we made memories that will last a lifetime. I hope he looks backs on this day, and it gives him the desire to chase bass in a tournament environment for the rest of his life.
