https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com
Folsom Lake started to change from the winter bite to the spring bite. With warmer than normal temperatures and daylight lasting longer, the water temperature moving to the upward 50’s locking in on the 60’s. The fish were moving to the secondary points and towards the back of the spawning areas.
Once the lines were out and all the fish were submitted, Michael Lavoie captured the win with 83.25” besting second place by 1.25”. Lavoie started out on an island throwing a big glide bait in search of a big fish. After a few minutes, he picked up a Branson Bait swimbait and caught his first keeper.
“My first keeper was a 16” on the Branson bait swimbait.” said Lavoie, “The fish smashed the bait.”
The wind started to increase so Lavoie moved to the windy side of the island using a rip bait to entice his second fish.
“I found the right cadence to trigger bites with the rip bait.” said Lavoie, “I caught several fish by letting the rip bait sit still after several erratic rips.”
Lavoie moved towards the dam fishing some secondary points leading into a cove. There, he used a 3/16-ounce cool bait underspin paired with a 3.3 Keitech to catch the rest of his limit.
“I would let the underspin hit the bottom and then slowly drag the bait on the bottom.” said Lavoie, “I had to keep contact with the bottom to get the bites.”
Lavoie’s adjustment helped him catch a 17”, 17.5” and a 15” to move up enough to capture the win.
Lavoie thanked his wife and family for all their support and encouragement. He also thanked his sponsors Lowrance, Branson Baits, RELiON, Motor Guide, AFTCO, Daiwa and P-line.
David Oien captured second place with 82.00”. Oien started off on his typical milk run for the winter pattern. He quickly found that the fish had moved to a different location.
“After moving to a new location, the Ned Rig and Shaky Rig started catching fish.” vocalized Oien, “I noticed that the fish were eating off the bottom.”
“When there was bait around, I would use a ball head paired with a Keitech to entice bites.” pronounced Oien, “I would swim the bait just off the bottom or drag it.”
Oien caught his fish from 15 to 20 feet of water in and around brush. He would work the deeper edge of the brush to catch his fish.
“I found that the straight tailed worm worked better than the paddle tail.” said Oien, “The key to my bites was to just move the tail and not the bait with just a slight movement of the line.”
Oien thanked his family and friends for all their support. Also, he thanked the Greenfishnation crew for bringing us kayak fishermen another option for tournaments out here in California and the rest of the folks that came out and participated.
Danny Miller captured third place with 44.50”. Miller started his day working a spinnerbait on rocky points.
“I caught my first fish on a spinnerbait on a rocky point right off the get in the morning.”
Miller used a rip bait along the same points in search for a second fish but was not able to trigger a bite.
“I used a drop shot with really small baits along the rocky points.” said Miller, “I saw some fish in about 45-feet of water and dropped a spoon on it.”
Miller caught his second fish on a spoon and his third fish on the ball and chain. Miller found the fish harder to catch; however, he was happy with the outcome and would have done the same if he had to do it over. Miller thanked his wife Kelly and his best bud Ron Lewis, also, Blade Runner Tackle for the best spoons ever!
Top Ten
1. Michael Lavoie 83.25”
2. David Oien 82.00”
3. Danny Miller 44.50”
4. Mark Cook 44.00”
5. Lowell Hackney 28.75”
6. Darren Kennedy 18.00”
7. Ryan Murphy 14.50”
Big Fish
David Oien 19.50”
Advertising