Father-son duo ekes out victory in bass tournament

The Shorts — a father-son fishing duo comprised of dad Jay, 46, and son, Matt, 19 — had just enough weight to squeeze out a victory in Saturday’s Tri Valley bass tournament at Lake San Antonio.

“Although we caught 18 or 20 fish, all of them were boated while it was overcast,” Jay Short said. “It warmed up after 10:30, and our bite shut down. We were throwing top-water baits. Five of the six fish we weighed were smallmouth that ate Ricos. The only largemouth we weighed was a 3-pounder Matt caught on a Rico Grande. As the name indicates, the Grande is a larger bait.

“We set out to fish fast, but that changed on my first long cast. When I reached down to turn on my electronics, I had a back lash as well as a bite. I had to retrieve the fish hand over hand with line all over the deck. That was our clue that easy does it.”

The 13-pound limit the Shorts weighed was .12 of a pound more than the runners-up, Johnny Johnson of Santa Maria and partner Rob Marquez of Orcutt.

“We were feeling pretty good approaching the weigh-in,” Marquez said. “Johnny had pulled our biggest fish (4.68 pounds) out of a bush. It turned out to be the second-biggest fish.”

Tournament anglers were awestruck by the 6.96-pound largemouth Nipomo’s Aaron Quarles flipped out of a bush early on with a black and red Brush Hog. It was the biggest fish that veteran bassers had seen in a long time at San Antonio.

Tri Valley Top 10, No. Fish, Actual Weight—1. Jay & Matt Short, Templeton, 6, 13.00 pounds; 2. Johnny Johnson, Santa Maria, Rob Marquez, Orcutt, 6, 12.88 pounds; 3. Frank Fernandes, Ed Corteguera, Santa Maria, 4, 12.18 pounds; 4. Jim Keeney, Tom Ryan, Paso Robles, 6, 11.83 pounds; 5, Terry Wolf, Santa Margarita, Pat Schmidt, Templeton, 6, 11.29 pounds; 6. Brad Lum, Joey Reggio, San Luis Obispo, 6, 11.28 pounds; 7. Dan Dostal, Russ Mineau, Grover Beach, 6, 11.14 pounds; 8. Tip Martin, San Luis Obispo, Steve Vidmar, Santa Maria, 6, 11.08 pounds; 9. Charlie Fisher, Lockwood, Danny Conatser, King City, 6, 10.81 pounds; 10. Aaron Quarles, Nipomo, Roger Vogel, San Luis Obispo, 3, 10.75 pounds. 1st Big Fish, 6.96 pounds, Quarles & Vogel; 2nd Big Fish, 4.68 pounds, Johnson & Marquez.

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Port San Luis Boathouse

Last week’s salmon catch was highlighted by 79 fish bagged on Saturday. The total for the week was 115 salmon with 14 being taken on Friday and 10 on Sunday. Santa Maria’s Ray Cloud earned Whopper of the Week honors with a 28-2 salmon on Friday.

Cal Poly All-Americans

Cal Poly seniors Damian Bean of Oakland and Scott Hellesen of Whittier were named to the 2011 National Guard FLW All-American fishing team last week. Thirty anglers were selected based on an objective point system determined by College Fishing Tournament Director Kevin Hunt.

FLW College Fishing consists of 495 collegiate clubs and more than 3,300 anglers.

“The point system is based on the consistency of team performances in local tournaments and regional qualifiers in 2010 plus the 2011 national championship,” Hunt said.

In April, Bean and Hellesen placed sixth in the 2011 national championship on Kentucky Lake. The duo registered a fifth place at Lake Shasta, a second at Lake Mead and a first at The Delta in 2010. They punched tickets to the national by finishing fifth at the Western Regional at Folsom Lake.

Bean, a Forestry and Natural Resource Management major, and Hellesen, an Environmental Management major, placed 3rd in the 2011 Western tournament at Arizona’s Lake Roosevelt. The teammates have earned a spot in the Western Regional to be held in November at Lake Pleasant in Tempe, Ariz.

Should they finish among the top five teams, they would qualify for the 2012 national championship. Only two other teams from the Western Region, one from Sacramento State and another from Chico State, were selected to the All-America team, which is featured in the July issue of FLW Outdoors magazine, available on newsstands this week.

Patriot Sportfishing

The landings’ two boats will anchor off the Pismo Pier for viewing of the 4th of July fireworks Monday night. Ninety spots are available. Patrons need to be at the landing by 6:30 p.m. Departure will be at 7:30 p.m. Fares are $35 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. Call: 595-7200 for Reservations and trip schedules. The Fiesta is embarking out of Patriot for 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. salmon trips through Saturday. A 27-pound fish topped Wednesday’s catch. Four anglers caught three salmon.

Last week’s jackpot winners were: Rich Lopez, Grover Beach, 14-8 lingcod; Stacy Leg, Bakersfield, 14-6 ling; Hudson Reynolds, Shell Beach, and Fred Garcia, Bakersfield, both 12-0 lings; Nate Martinez, Bakersfield, 10-0 ling; Mike Patrick, Grover Beach 7-10 ling; Tyler Scheidt, Nipomo, and Ray Williamson, Santa Maria, both 7-0 lings; Marvin Pech, Arroyo Grande, and Steven Madina, Santa Maria, both 6-0 lings; Carlos Gonzales, Santa Maria, 5-0 ling; Dean Jones, Palmdale 5-0 cabezon; Kirk Romaine, Lompoc, 3-0 red rockcod; and Umberto Zul, Santa Maria, 2-0 gopher cod. Last week 271 passengers caught: 45 lingcod, 285 red rockcod, 1,538 assorted rockfish, 494 bolina, 36 cabezon, 17 kelp greenling, 27 Dungeness crab, and 10 rock crab.

Virg’s Landing

Tickets to view the Cayucos Fireworks from a Virg’s boat are priced at $39 for adults and $29 for children 14 and under. Participants need to check in by 6:30 p.m. for 7:30 departure. For trip schedules and reservations call 772-1222.

Thirteen of the 14 jackpot fish last week were lingcod. Pot winners and weights of their lings were: Ray Chavez, Cambria, 15 pounds; Nathan Daniels, Bakersfield, and John Van Dam, Tipton, both 10 pounds; Peter Ahn, Los Angeles, 9 pounds; John Macari, Bakersfield, Dave Wilson, Ridgecrest, Everett Trason, Bakersfield, and Steve Howell, Fresno, all 8 pounds; and A. Hernandez, Atascadero, 6 pounds. Jeff Banks, Paso Robles, was a winner with a 5-pound red rockcod.

Central Coast Sportfishing

Jackpot winners last week were: Jim Webb, Cambria, 9-pound lingcod, Jose Lopez, Bakersfield, 8-pound lingcod, and Ed Akin, Morro Bay 6-pound red rockcod.

For trip schedules or reservations, call 772-3474 or 704-2084.

Lake Nacimiento

Trusted source Dave Rymal of Heritage Ranch received a report last week from an excited fellow resident. Catie Garcia and her husband had an unusual harvest fishing with Kastmasters. They caught and released a mix of 20 white and spotted bass. However, a 14-inch rainbow trout, a rare catch, became dinner.

A foursome fishing from a pontoon boat on Monday bagged 20 spotted bass and 50 white bass up to 2 pounds. Santa Margarita Lake

Jeff Jackson of Santa Margarita reeled in a 9-1 largemouth bass on Friday. He was fishing in Murphy’s Bay baited with a nightcrawler. Cachuma Lake

“The crappie bite has kicked in,” says Ken Hemer, marina manager.

Mini jigs tipped with crappie nibbles, red worms or mealworms are working the best in back of Cachuma Bay, Jackrabbit Flats and Harvey’s Bay. Trout have gone deeper. Trollers need to pay out three-to-five colors of leadcore line. Some impressive catches have been made by the dam by drifting worms. Bass are biting on topwater baits, jigs, spinnerbaits and drop-shotting. Jackrabbit Flats, behind Arrowhead Island, and The Narrows are prime areas. Mackerel is tempting catfish in shallow coves. Bow hunting for carp is providing non-stop action and double-digit catches in The Narrows.

Whale Rock

Trout were caught eight weeks in a row, but it all ended last week when 16 anglers drew a blank. The reservoir will be open for fishing on Monday. Normally the facility is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. In the 43 days fishing has been allowed this year, 21 trout have been caught by 139 anglers.