Member Login

Date:3/22/2007 - 3/25/3007

Bassmaster Elite Series

California Delta

Stockton, California

March 22^nd thru 25^th, 2007

            I made the drive out to Stockton in high spirits after a solid finish at Amistad.  The landscape was barren – not a tree, not a house for miles.  If I came across a gas station, I filled up, because it might be 200 miles before I saw another one.  As I got into California, the grass greened up and the cactus gave way to fruit trees.  Apple, almond, and cherry trees lined the interstate – most in full bloom.  To a kid that grew up in rural Missouri, this was God’s country!

Not having any experience with tidal water made practice for this tournament difficult.  About every 4 hours, the water fluctuated about 3 ½ feet.  I’d find fish in a canal, only to go back later and have my productive areas high and dry!  I found that fishing the tules during high tide with a Sweet Beaver, and moving out to the edges with a Senko at low tide was a fairly consistent pattern, but the fish I was finding just weren’t the quality that I had expected.  I did catch a giant that I estimated at 9 ½ pounds in practice, but for the most part all I could catch were 2 ½ to 3 pounders.  I went into the tournament thinking that I could weigh around 14 pounds a day and hoping that would be enough for a check.

Day 1

            We had fantastic weather throughout the tournament, despite some chilly mornings.  The wind stayed calm and the skies were bright every day.  On the first competition day, I started in a small lake off the main channel called Venice.  I had a high boat number, and there were already five competitors there when I arrived.  I found a small open area and began working a red Speed Trap around the tules.  Since it was high tide and low light, the fish had pulled up shallow.  After about 45 minutes, I had thrown together a limit weighing about 12 pounds – but so had everyone else in the area!  Out of about 100 fish that I had seen caught, I estimated that not one was over 4 pounds.  I decided to head to Disappointment Slough and look for some better fish.  By noon the tide had bottomed out, so I started fishing a Senko on the outside grass line.  I caught fish steadily all day, but it wasn’t until around 2pm that I had my first good bite.  She weighed about 4 ½ pounds, and helped me out a bunch.  I had babies in the well!  About 20 minutes later, a good fish popped the stickbait.  I worked her up to the boat, but she made a quick run and came loose.  I estimated her at around 5 ½ or 6 pounds.  I hadn’t lost an important fish for a long time, but I guess we’re all due to lose some.  I couldn’t upgrade any more after that and weighed a limit of 14-06, which had me just inside the Top 50 cut.

Day 2

            Day 2 was more of the same, but I got a few decent bites early flipping a Sweet Beaver to flooded tules while the tide was up.  The problem was, I couldn’t seem to get rid of two cookie-cutter 1 ¾ pound rats.  I went through about 16 keepers, but every one was itty bitty.  It was strange – I had three fish around 3 pounds apiece, but I couldn’t find anything between 2 and 3.  I was frustrated because I knew I needed to cull both of those fish to make the cut, but I just never got the bites.  That 5 ½ from Day 1 kept getting bigger and bigger in my mind.  I was forced to weigh a little over 12 pounds, missing the cut by about 2 pounds even.

If there was ever a stimulus to wanting to whack them at the next tournament, it was finishing 55^th and not getting paid.  I drove up to Clear Lake with fire in my eyes and decided that I was going to practice for 4 pound fish or bigger, and not mess with the little guys.  Clear Lake had quite a reputation, and I knew it would take a lot of weight to do well.  Thanks for reading, and God bless!

Scott Campbell

scottyc32@hotmail.com

(660) 641-3973