BORBA
& BRAY TAKE NEW MELONES TITLE
WITH 18.68 LB LIMIT
Saturday, March 9,2002
Angels Camp, CA
By: Tim Paes 
Glory Hole
Sports hosted the morning check-in for the 3rd stop on the
Nor-Cal Bass Pro-Am Tournament Trail at New Melones. Eighty anglers came
out to compete for the more the $7,000 in prize money to be awarded at the
end of the day. Joining Nor-Cal for this event, all the way from Australia
was George Voysey, Kim Bains and Steve Bains. The trio made the trip to
support George’s entry into the BASS Western Open at Lake Mead. George
qualified to fish the tournament by winning the BASS Federation
Championship in Australia. Steve, who heads the Federation in Australia,
along with his daughter Kim, who is an outdoor writer, were along to cover
the tournament at Mead. Kim, as well as being an accomplished writer also
holds 21 light line tackle records in Australia. George and Kim fished our
tournament and both reported having a great time fishing a much different
style of fishing then they were accustomed to in Australia and we were
pleased to play host to our Australian neighbors.
Recent warm
weather had heightened the anticipation that spring was on the way and the
annual migration of huge bass would be making their way to the shallow
spawning flats of New Melones. However, Mother Nature wasn’t ready to
release her grip on winter just yet. A storm front moved through central
California during the week dropping rain and lowering the temperatures
throughout the area.
 Many
of the anglers reported catching solid limits of shallow fish during
prefish, which would lead one to wonder how much would the weather play in
the tournament catch. The impact of the front did slow the shallow
migration, but didn’t stop it. All forty teams brought fish to the
scales with 33 of the teams bringing in 6 fish limits. A total of 221 bass
came to the scales weighing 433 lbs. With nearly a 2 lb average per fish,
several solid limits were weighed in and each division weighed in a huge
lunker. A 7.86 lb toad topped the pro ranks while a 6.28 lb beauty took
the am division.
Escalon, CA
Pro, Alvin Borba, sealed up the championship when he landed the 7.68 lb
tournament Big Fish. Borba along with partner Butch Bray, of Murphy’s,
CA brought in a 6 fish limit weighing 18.48 lbs. The pair’s limit came
on jigs and dropshotting worms. Borba’s big fish came on a brown jig
tied to 20 lb Seaguar Fluorocarbon line spooled on a Shimano Curado reel
and Lamiglass flipping stick. Borba, who thanked Escalon Bait & Tackle
and Boat Country, reported fishing the main lake and Angels Creek, keying
on rocks and brush in water up to 20 feet deep. Borba took home $2,065
while Bray earned $990 for a team total of $3,055.
Second place
went to Pro Dan Perkins, of Arnold, CA and his partner Scott Burke, of
Oakdale, CA. Perkins and Burke brought in a solid 16.20 lb 6 fish limit.
Perkins, who is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Mercury Motors, California
Custom Marine and Outboard Technology, reported that all their fish came
from the backs of coves in Angels Creek, Mormon Creek and Bear Creek in 1
to 5 feet of water using black and blue V&V Jigs with Super Pork Bubba
baits. Perkins went on to say that since he switched to Berkley
Fluorocarbon line the number of bites he gets has doubled. That teamed
with Diawa reels and G Loomis rods secured the teams 2nd place
finish. For their finish, Perkins took home $936 while Burke earned $595
for a team total of $1,531.
Riverbank,
CA pro Jeff Frey and partner Jason Remmers, of Modesto, CA finished in 3rd
place
with their 6 fish limit that tipped the scales at 16.10 lbs. The team
keyed on breaks with chunk rock and wood in 10 to 30 feet of water in the
river. Frey, who is sponsored by Auto Life Sporting Goods, reported that
their fish came on brown jigs and dropshotting with Shimano Curado reels,
Shimano V Rods and P-Line Fluoroclear Line. Amateur Division Big Fish went
to Remmers with his 6.28 lb lunker. Remmers caught the fish dropshotting a
4” Aaron’s Magic worm on 10 lb. Fluoroclear line. Frey earned $641
while Remmers won $520 for a team total of $1,161.
Rounding out
the top 5 in 4th place was La Grange, CA Pro Gary Dodd and his
partner Eileen Taylor, of Elk Grove, CA. Dodd and Taylor brought 6 fish to
the scales weighing 15.52 lbs. Dodd took home $325 while Taylor won $223
for a team total of $548. Fifth place went to Pro Don Mutchler, of
Modesto, CA and partner Shelly Gentry, of Oakdale, CA. Mutchler and Gentry
weighed in a 15.08 lb 6 fish limit. For their finish Mutchler won $250 and
Gentry earned $125 for a team total of $375.
Nor-Cal is
proud to have St Croix as our official rod sponsor. St Croix awards an
Avid and Premier rod to the highest finishing pro and am out of the money.
These rods are valued at $150 and $90 respectfully and make
finishing out of the money a treat! Norval Pimentel, of Modesto, Ca, took
the Pro Division rod while John Benedix, of Oakdale, Ca, took home the Am
Division rod.
The 2002
Angler of the Year Points race saw Modesto, CA Pro Ron Schultz slip to 2nd
place as Denair, CA Pro Rudy Linn took over 1st place. In the
Am Division, Fresno, CA angler David McEwen made his move into 1st
place over Curt Grissom, of La Grand, CA. This year’s race will hold
tight to the very end with the inclusion of a throw out this season.
Special
thanks goes to Stratos & Javelin Boats along with Boats
Unlimited as our major corporate sponsors. Nor-Cal pays back 100% to
their anglers each season because of their sponsor support. Visit
nor-calbass.com to see all our sponsors and remember to thank and support
them because they are supporting you!
Special
thanks goes to Glory Hole Sports for hosting our event. Dan and
Melanie Lewis opened up the store for our check-in that morning and hosted
our awards ceremony after the tournament. Glory Hole also awarded two $25
gift certificates for our anglers. Thanks also to our Trophy Sponsor at
New Melones, Fandick Trucking, along with all our Pro-Am Tournament
Trail sponsors: Stratos & Javelin Boats, Boats Unlimited, St. Croix
Rods, C&C Marine, Bob’s Marine, Auto Life Sporting Goods, Joe Coelho
& Sons Trucking, Ron Rice Trucking, Winchester Farms, Super Pork,
Thermo Oil Batteries, BANG, Fishin Musician Worms, Keeper Custom Worms,
Predator Worms, Ex-Cel Lures, Tom’s Truck Repair, Escalon Bait &
Tackle and Hildebrands Auto Repair.
The 4th stop on our Pro-Am Tournament Trail
takes place at Clear Lake. The event date is April 7, 2002 and will be
headquartered in Lakeport, CA. Check in takes place from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m.
on the morning of the tournament. This is a Sunday event with an official
Saturday prefish. Our first Open Team of the season takes place March 23,
2002 at Lake Don Pedro. Visit our website for more info on these and all
our tournaments. |
