MANAGING THE WATER
Occasionally snagging and ripping is part of cranking, but because he was working a narrowly defined zone, Schlander upsized his line from his typical 15-poundtest fluorocarbon to 17- pound test to keep his crankbait running a little higher. The change allowed him to fish aggressively and hug the grass edge with less |
concern about snagging. He threw the crankbait on a 6- foot, 5-inch Daiwa rod. For his Senko work, Schlander used a 6-foot, 7-inch Daiwa Tatula rod and matching reel with 17-pound-test fluorocarbon.
Keys to Victory
Having seen in practice the types of scenarios and reluctant fish he might be
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confronting throughout the duration of the tournament, Schlander formulated a game plan that addressed not only location and tactics, but also the technical elements of hooks, line and rod. Through pre-tournament experimentation with various multiple baits and tackle setups, he finally settled on the winning combination for covering a |
lot of water and getting reaction strikes.
“ The rod that I was using had a lot of flex to it so the fish could really get the bait,” he adds.“ When I’ d get them to the boat, it seemed like the bait was completely in their mouth. When I set the hook, the rod had so much bend that it wasn’ t pulling the bait away from them.”
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CONDITIONS
Weather | mostly sunny; post-frontal, with no precipitation Air Temperature | highs in the mid-70s on day one; upper 60s on days two and three Water Temperature | 62 to 65 degrees Water Clarity | 6 inches to 2 feet of visibility Wind | calm on day one; WNW at 15 to 20 mph on day two; W at 10 to 15 mph on day three Moon Phase | full Predominant Lake Features | tule berms, hydrilla, hyacinth, pennywort, primrose, riprap and shallow wood Fishery Type | tidal waterbody formed by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and encompassing a massive network of Central Valley sloughs, canals and flooded farmlands
CO-ANGLER CHAMPION
Name: Jordan Pinasco Hometown: Galt, Calif. Winning Weight: 40-04( 15 fish) Winning Program: Pinasco kept a diverse arsenal handy and caught his weight with a straight-up junkfishing effort. His top performers were a Texas-rigged Damiki Stinger with a 1 / 4-ounce tungsten bullet weight fished along the primary grass line and a Zoom Horny Toad fished in sparse tules or over isolated grass clumps.
In the early morning hours, when the sun was low and the tide was high, he caught fish on a Damiki spinnerbait and a 1 / 2-ounce Blade-Runner Tackle Wobble Head Swim Jig with a Damiki Knockout trailer.
MANAGING THE WATER
Schlander fished three riprap banks, each a few hundred yards long, and his best bite was during high tide. With early mornings bringing the last of an incoming tide, he had about two and a half to three hours before his first spot expired. After that, he“ ran the tide” to stay with his preferred stage.
“ You had to catch your fish fast because once the tide would go out the weeds would suck up to the rocks and you wouldn’ t be able to fish it with your crankbait,” Schlander says.“ I’ d start on the Central Delta, and as soon as it would switch, I’ d run south and try to catch that high water.
“ The only thing that was difficult was managing the boat traffic,” he adds.“ There were a lot of people fishing the banks I was fishing, and it just seemed that you had to be in fresh water. If you saw someone hitting the bank you were hitting and they got close, you had to pick up and run to another spot.”
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