By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
Talk about getting stuck with the leftovers.
That’s how the field for the California Delta Western Rayovac Series last week must’ve felt after seeing the Elite Series field and two other local tournaments take their best swings at the sprawling tidal fishery the prior week.
The Rayovac field featured some of the best Delta anglers, many of whom are used to seeing the Delta in all of its various stages, including after it’s seen sustained fishing pressure. Needless to say, they found plenty of fish throughout the system even though it seemed like they between spawning waves.
While there were no massive bags weighed in, the Delta still produced plenty of 20-pound sacks, including a couple in the 26-pound range. The result was a final day that saw the Top 10 stacked up with less than 2 pounds separating 1st from 10th.
Here’s a rundown of how runner-up Ken Mah and 3rd-place finisher David Valdivia went about their business.
2nd: Ken Mah
> Day 1: 5, 22-06
> Day 2: 5, 18-00
> Day 3: 5, 19-03
> Total = 15, 59-09
In all of his years fishing tournaments at the California Delta, Ken Mah had never seen a Top 10 so bunched up after two days of competition as what transpired at the Delta last week.
Heading into last Saturday’s final round, a mere 1-10 separated leader Joe Uribe Jr. from 10th-place Wade Curtiss. Mah found himself somewhere in the middle, sitting in 4th, 10 ounces behind Uribe and a pound ahead of Curtiss.
“I don’t remember that happening in the last … ever,” Mah said. “I’ve never seen it like that. Typically, first or second will have a 6- or 7-pound gap over third and fourth.”
Some of the closeness, Mah said, could be attributed to the various conditions the field dealt with combined with the fact that the fish seemed to be in between spawning waves. He noted the weather that played out during the Elite Series tournament the previous week was tailor-made for a big wave of fish to move on bed, which they did. By the time the Rayovac Series event got going, those fish had either been caught or pulled off and started their post-spawn routine.
“When the Elites were here, in my opinion, it was the biggest wave of spawners of the spawning season that week,” he said. “We had flat 90-degree temps and waves of big girls moved up. They had the right tide to sight-fish them and as that tournament wore on, more of them were pulling off and the wind starting blowing and the tide crept away from them and made it harder to camp on fish.”
Last week, with the tide cycle opposite what the Elite Series pros dealt with, Mah focused on the high switch time frame and followed it through various locales in the Delta to come away with a runner-up finish. He caught most of his fish punching and added a few bigger specimens on topwater baits.
“With this tide, I was able to run that high switch and just follow it,” he said.
He threw a bladed jig with a Missile Baits D Bomb trailer on day 1 along riprap banks. He said the retrieve was critical.
“I don’t know what it’s like this, but I had to crawl the bait like it was February,” he said. “In areas where you grinded it or ripped it, I couldn’t get bites. It’s May and the water is 66 or 67 in the morning and they just wanted it crawled slow along those riprap banks.”
The morning was key for him on the first 2 days, but he couldn’t get much going in the afternoon.
“I tried to change up every day,” he said. “I went to different areas with different presentations.”
Sticking to the game plan that centered around the tide was crucial to his success.
“It was all tide driven for me,” he said of his key area. “Once the tide turned, I’d fish for another 30 to 40 minutes. Day 1 was perfect. I got there as it was going out. On day 2, I had to wait for it. On day 3, I didn’t go there because some hyacinth had blow into my best stretch and I couldn’t present the bait the right way.
“I went to the central and south Delta following the high tide. The tide in the Central Delta is 45 to 50 minuter later than it is up north. Same with South. I waited for slack tide turn and got on what I felt were the best stretches.”
He said most of the bigger fish he caught or saw were in what are typical pre-spawn areas, indicating another wave of fish might be preparing to spawn.
On the final day, he spent the morning hunting for bigger bites with topwaters, but it never materialized.
“Basically, I was trying to catch 3 1/2- to 4-pounders because what I was doing later in the day was all about quantity,” he said. “I had to fish extremely slow and throwing that topwater, it just never happened.”
> Punching gear: 7’11” heavy-action G. Loomis GLX 954 casting rod, <Shimano Chronarch Ci4+ 150 casting reel (7.6:1 gear ratio), 80-pound Sunline FX-2 braided line, 1- and 1 1/4-oz. unnamed tungsten weights, G-Money Punch Skirt (various colors), 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu Super Heavy Cover flipping hook, Missile Baits Missile Craw (golden amber and love bug), Big Bite Baits Yo Mama (green-pumpkin junebug).
> As the event wore on, Mah had more success with the Missile Craw because, “the fish were getting more finicky.”
> Topwater gear: 7’6” medium-action G. Loomis IMX swimbait rod,
> He also threw a buzzbait, but most of the fish he weighed came punching. “The topwater bite was dwindling for me since practice,” he said. “I weighed a 4.8-pounder on day 1 on it and had a couple nice ones come up and look at it on day 2. I had a good one eat it on Saturday, but it came off.”
> On the Whopper Plopper’s effectiveness: “It was critical because I felt like could catch big fish on it when I threw it,” he said, “but I only threw it in specific areas when the wind and tide were right. When I caught that 4.7, I made three casts with it. The wind really helped that bite.”
> Main factor in his success – "Having supreme confidence in how I was fishing and the areas I was in and knowing the tide cycles and how they affect the bite.”
> Performance edge – "My Power-Poles. I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t have caught the fish I caught without them on my boat.”
David Valdivia's 10-pounder on day 2 carried him to his first Top-3 finish.
3rd: David Valdivia
> Day 1: 5, 14-12
> Day 2: 5, 26-03
> Day 3: 5, 14-14
> Total = 15, 55-13
David Valdivia sandwiched two pedestrian days around one memorable day and it resulted in his best-ever finish in an FLW event.
“I’m really thrilled,” he said, “but it’s so key to land all the fish that bite. It’s always about the one that got away. It’s just a bummer. I lost an 8- or 9-pounder on day 3 on 60 pound braid, but it happens. I didn’t let it get to me. I just kept on fishing.”
A north wind in practice positioned the fish in protected areas, he said, and that narrowed down his bait selection.
“It seemed like the first day you almost had to fish and adjust,” he said. “I went from catching them on a bunch of different things to just a Senko. I caught the majority of my weight on a Senko and ChatterBait.”
He focused on the outgoing tide and stayed around certain islands where the tide would generate more current.
“I’d fish the lanes in the tules,” he said. “I’d pitch it in there and let it drift in the current coming out. My line would be moving and then all of a sudden it would stop. That’s when I knew I had one. I could do that pretty much everywhere, but the problem was getting good bites.”
The fish were more aggressive on day 2 as he caught several keepers on a buzzbait. The memorable catch, however, was the 10-pounder, his biggest tournament fish ever, that fell for a Senko.
“I saw a big one a couple days before the event and I put a GPS mark on it,” he said. “I went back there and timed it just right. I pitched in there and she bit. I think the weather and wind wouldn’t let her do what she wanted to do. When I found her in practice, she hadn’t laid her eggs yet. She was still rolling around with male. I waited until the tide starting dropping out around 9:40 and caught her on my very first cast.”
He could’ve had a monster bag that day – he said he lost four fish in the 5-pound class – but the 26-03 carried from 48th to 2nd after 2 days.
He spent the last day in areas he figured would put him around bigger fish. He stuck with a buzzbait and bladed jig all day long and nearly landed another giant.
“I threw my buzzbait up to a tule patch and there was this giant explosion,” he said. “This fish absolutely swallowed my buzzbait. I had it on for 2 or 3 seconds and then it snaps me off.”
He reeled back in, but could see and hear the fish still jumping. He tried to get close enough to net it, but the commotion suddenly stopped.
“Two minutes later, I hear this thrashing over by a tree so I get close enough and I can see my buzzbait stuck in the tree, but the fish was gone,” he added. “It was crazy. I was ticked about the fish, but happy I got my bait back. The hook was bent completely open.”
He fixed the hook and continued fishing with the buzzbait in the same area and caught a 5-pounder with it 10 minutes later.
“It was brutal to lose that one,” he said.
> Vibrating jig gear: 7’4” medium-heavy Performance Tackle Custom Rods ChatterBait rod, Daiwa Tatula casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 50-pound unnamed braided line, 1/2-oz. homemade vibrating jig (green-pumpkin), Lake Fork Live Shad trailer (green-pumpkin).
> Buzzbait gear: 7’5” heavy-action Performance Tackle Custom Rods frog rod, Daiwa Tatula casting reel (8:1 gear ratio), same line, Markey’s Lure Company Buzz Boss (white).
> Senko gear: 7’2” medium-heavy Performance Tackle Custom Rods casting rod, Daiwa Tatula casting reel (7.2:1 gear ratio), 40-pound unnamed braided line, 12-pound EverGreen Top Shot fluorocarbon leader, 2/0 Decoy heavy cover wacky hook, 7” Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko (watermelon red black).
> Main factor in his success – "It was key to have the right rod to throw the ChatterBait and buzzbaits there.”
> Performance edge – "Having those Power Poles worked. They helped a lot. Those are pretty sweet.”
Much of the tackle referenced above is available at the BassFan Store. To browse the selection, click here.
