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Lake El Capitan experienced several consecutive days of rain prior to the ABA Ironman opener producing muddy and rising water. However, during the day of the tournament, the weather was perfect ranging from the low 50’s to the 60’s. The water temperature ranged between 56 to 57 degrees with little to no wind. Even though the fishing conditions changed severely, fishing was good for most of the field with thirteen limits submitted.
Once the lines were out and all the fish were submitted, Jeannette Graunke dominated the field with 85.50” besting second place by 1.75”. Graunke used a Neko rig to catch her limit. She was dead sticking a slim Senko on rocky points.
“I would just let the Neko rig sit there to get my bites.” said Graunke, “I found a point that had tons fish and caught fish on every other cast.”
Graunke stayed on that magical point all day until she moved just before having to leave the lake.
“I had to leave the tournament early to go to work.” said Graunke, “I stopped at one last point and caught my biggest fish just before I left, it was 19”.”
Graunke last minute heroics propelled her to the win.
“This is my first win, and it sure feels great.” said Graunke, “It has been a long time coming.”
The key to Graunke’s win was to fish the points with rock and let the Neko rig sit after moving it off of a rock. The fish were from 10 feet of water to 30 feet of water.
“Some of the fish were on the top of the ledge and some ate the Neko rig off the break.” said Graunke, “Some bites even came on the bottom of the break.”
Graunke thanked her sponsors Tactical Global Solutions Inc, Texas Lils Mesquite BBQ, Cali Bass Baits, Bioenno Power. A special thanks to Mike Craig for pushing me and teaching me in my off time and always giving me the courage I can win. Also, being a huge supplier of his homemade terminal tackle. Thanks to everyone around me for the support and meeting new people out on the water that share their knowledge and stories here in SoCal that helps me become a better angler.
Travis Curry placed in second with 83.75”. Curry used a custom poured 7” worm made by his brother John. He caught fish from 5 feet of water to 35 feet of water.
“My brother’s worm is basically a Senko style bait but 4 times the size.” said Curry, “I would Texas rig the worm weightless and would let it sink slowly to the bottom.”
“This was my first kayak tournament.” said Curry, “The first hour I had caught 6 keepers.”
“It would take a while to get down to 35 feet of water.” said Curry, “I did catch my better fish in the deeper water.”
Curry had an issue with his wiring to his trolling motor when he saw some smoke coming from his front storage. He quickly shut down his trolling motor and safely paddled his way back to the ramp.
“Seeing smoke coming from my front storage lid and finding some wiring issues, I paddled for the next hour and a half to make it safely back to the ramp.” said Curry, “Even though it shorted my fishing day, I still was able to finish well.”
Curry thanked his sponsors Anglers Marine, Performance Tackle, PSSAgency and Nucanoe. A big shout out to his brother John Curry and Chris Bonaparte for all their support and my friend Sonny Craig for his support.
Brandon Cabrales placed in third with 82.50”. Cabrales used a drop shot a 6” Robo worm in the Margarita color.
“My first fish came at 9:45 AM.” said Cabrales, “I thought I was going to blank.”
Cabrales caught his first fish in 8’ of water on an underwater point. After milking that area without another fish, Cabrales made a move to the main lake fishing main lake points with rock.
“The main lake points with rock in 20 to 25 feet of water was where I would get bit.” said Cabrales.
Cabrales would only catch one fish on a point, so he started to hit as many main lake points as he could.
“I marked fish in 20 to 25 feet of water.” said Cabrales, “I moved my kayak to the bank and would cast out to deep water and worked my bait uphill.”
Cabrales caught his last keeper at 3 PM lines out was at 4 PM. Cabrales jumped from point to point but couldn’t cull out his 14.25”.
“It was a grind.” said Cabrales, “It was tough.”
Cabrales thanked his family and his parents for all their support.
Top Ten:
1. Jeannette Graunke 85.50”
2. Travis Curry 83.75”
3. Brandon Cabrales 82.50”
4. Jonathan Demonet 82.50”
5. Anthony Barcia 81.75”
6. Adam Sleeper 78.25”
7. Jerry Douangsouphon 77.25”
8. Kerry Peeler 75.75”
9. Brian Leppke 74.25”
10. James Choi 71.50”
Big Fish:
John Cordell 23.00”
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