OAKLEY, Calif. — In a hotly contested battle on the sprawling Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, better known as the California Delta, Dennis Sisto and Timothy Rhyme won the Wild West Bass Trail California Team event, held April 13, 2019.
Launching out of Big Break Marina in Oakley, the winners brought in a seven-bass tournament limit weighing 32.96 pounds for a 4.71-pound average. They capped their catch with a 7.08-pound lunker. For the effort, Sisto and Rhyme collected $6,500 for winning the event. They also pocketed another $1,750 in bonus cash from Dobyns, P-Line, Yamamoto, Lowrance and Ranger, plus an extra $785 for the big fish.
“We had a spot north and a spot south,” Sisto explained. “We tried to run the tides and it worked out for us. We ran a wakebait all day. The four biggest fish all came on a wakebait and the rest on a Senko. When we caught the big fish, a male was pushing the female off the bed. We threw the wakebait a distance from the bed and the female ate it.”
In second place for the 159-boat event, the team of Gerry Johnson and Dave Homen also brought in a perfect seven-fish limit for 28.43 pounds. This included a 6.33-pound kicker. Johnson and Homen won $4,000 for second place.
“We started on one backwater area and missed one fish,” Johnson revealed. “We ran to another backwater spot and flipped Senkos in fallen trees all day. Everything came in that one location.”
“Everything came on a Senko,” Homen advised. “We each caught 6-pounders. Everything pretty much went right for us. We lost the first fish in the morning and never lost another one.”
Right behind, Nicholas Cloutier and Joey Skym landed seven bass for 26.29 pounds to lock down third place. The team went home with $3,000 in their pockets.
“We made about a 10-minute run north in the morning,” Cloutier said. “We started throwing frogs first thing in the morning and caught two fives and a four right off the bat. Then, we waited for the tide to get right and ran farther north. That’s when we caught our biggest fish on a Cloutier Custom Chatterbait. We filled out the rest of the limit on a frog or a Senko, fishing really shallow.”
Rounding out the top five teams, Jody Jordan and Dan Sweat finished fourth with seven bass and 25.57 pounds. They won $2,200, plus an extra $785 for their 7.92-pound big bass. Less than an ounce behind, Edison Hicks and Paul Howard finished fifth with seven bass weighing 25.52 pounds including a 5.58-pound kicker to earn $1,800. Jason Kincannon and Mark Crutcher took the big bass title with a 9.43-pound bucketmouth.
By John N. Felsher
The California Teams compete again in the trail championship, to be held at Clear Lake on Oct. 26-27. The California Teams Championship will run out of Konocti Vista Marina, (konocti-vista-casino.com/marina) located at 2755 Mission Rancheria Road in Lakeport.
Complete results here
For more information on the Wild West Bass Trail California Team, call Bill Cook, the tournament director, at 661-319-3014 or email Bill at bill@wildwestbasstrail.com.
2019 Wild West Bass Trail Events
Columbia River Pro/Am June 21 – 23
Lake Havasu Anderson Toyota Open March 8 -10
Lake Pleasant Surprise Ford Open April 13-14
PRO/AM
Lake Shasta, CA – January 25-27, 2019
New Melones, CA – March 29-31, 2019
California Delta – April 26-28, 2019
PRO/AM CHAMPIONSHIP
Clear Lake, CA – May 31- June 2, 2019
ARIZONA TEAMS
Lake Pleasant – January 19, 2019
Roosevelt Lake – February 23, 2019
Lake Havasu – March 16, 2019
ARIZONA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Roosevelt Lake – May 9-11, 2019
CALIFORNIA TEAMS
Lake Shasta – January 12, 2019
Lake Don Pedro – February 23, 2019
Lake Berryessa – March 23, 2019
California Delta – April 13, 2019
CALIFORNIA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Clear Lake – October 26-27, 2019
COLLEGE TEAMS
Lake Don Pedro – February 24, 2019
Lake Berryessa – March 24, 2019
California Delta – April 14, 2019
About Wild West
The Wild West Bass Trail holds multiple events in California, Arizona and other states. For more information on the Wild West Bass Trail see www.wildwestbasstrail.com or call 480-571-1919.
The Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) is the first and only exclusive west coast Pro/Am tournament series to be televised in its entirety. WWBT delivers multiple opportunities to showcase the talents of western anglers on a professional platform, all while providing the highest payback in the industry.
As WWBT continues to provide and refine a platform of elite events for competitive anglers, it simultaneously creates a logical avenue for sponsors to have direct contact with customers. Wild West is dedicated to creating a complete package of advertising opportunities including on-site activation, internet/social media, and television series that reach a large number of viewers each day.
Tournament events include opens, college teams, pro teams, pro/ams, and the new Pro Cup format. Televised Pro/Ams can be viewed on the Pursuit Channel and YouTube. Learn more about WWBT at Wild West Bass Trail.com Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Media / Advertising Contact Jeremy DeHart