FLW – EverStart Series – California Delta, CA
May 10, 2011 by Charlie Weyer
Filed under Featured, Tournament Results
California pro Charlie Weyer was the only competitor to break 30 pounds on day one. (Photo by David A. Brown)
Day One – Weyer’s wide open in Cal Delta - The only angler to break 30 pounds, Weyer holds a 4-pound, 8-ounce lead heading into day two. Buoying his effort was a massive 10-pound, 10-ounce fish that earned Big Bass honors and $254.
Having spent a lot of practice time running and looking, he had located several big fish late yesterday afternoon and went right to work on day one. This morning’s high tide kept a lot of fish hidden until the water started falling. However, that didn’t impede Weyer’s strategy.
“There were fish I marked in practice, so I blind-cast to them because I knew they were there,” he said. “If I was up looking for them, I’d be able to catch them, but I stay off of them because it’s easier to catch them that way.
The 20-pound mark extended to fifteenth place – occupied by Arizona pro Ron Colby.“I caught two fish in the first 10 minutes – that 10-pounder and a 5 – and I lost one about 6. I ran around and tried to find new fish, and then I ran to where I saw them in practice, backed way off and caught them when the tide went down. I was just blind-casting to them.”
Weyer said he covered a lot of water today from the central to northern parts of the Delta. He hit 70 to 80 spots and caught fish on about 30 percent of his stops. His was an aggressive strategy designed to hit quick and stay mobile.
“I put the trolling motor down, and I was fishing fast,” Weyer said. “You can’t sit in one area. You have to keep moving because once you catch fish in an area, it’s done.”
Weyer, who’s no stranger to punching heavy rigs through dense cover, used weightless and lightly weighted plastics – mostly Roboworms and Yamamoto baits. He was pitching his baits into tule pockets with a particular complement of vegetation.
> FLW Press Release – Weyer on top at Cal Delta
They’re out there - Hailing from West Hills, Calif., Weyer topped the day one standings with a massive sack of largemouth bass weighing 32 pounds, 9 ounces. Crazy thing is that he knows of at least that much in the Delta waterways. Some, he left; some left him.
“I lost a couple of big fish, and I shook off 25 pounds,” Weyer said.
With the morning’s high tide lasting about an hour longer than that of day one, anglers will find their fish Day one leader Charlie Weyer is confident that he has enough fish to retain the top spot. mostly hidden by depth until the water starts rolling out around mid-morning. As the tide drops, the shallow fish will become easier to spot.
Weyer said he’s not too concerned with water level, as he caught his fish yesterday by staying off the bedding zone and casting to the areas he had identified in practice. On day one, he got what he needed and saved plenty of potential bites for today.
“I have a couple of areas where I left them biting yesterday afternoon,” Weyer said. “I shook off probably 10 fish before I came in. I shook off three 5-pounders, probably six 4 ½-pounders, and then I saw several other big ones.”
Thinking ahead, Weyer took day one measures that hopefully will yield more opportunity today. In his main area, he specifically left the bucks (male bass) on the beds yesterday because he noticed several big females staging in deeper water, clearly intent on moving shoreward. By leaving the males alone, he maintained the scenario that would entice some of those females to make their move.
Tule pockets will be one of the main targets for EverStart anglers.“There are 6-, 7-, 8- and 10-pounders trying to move up. It was an unreal amount of fish that I could see on the outside edges, just hovering. I’m just going to camp out on four or five of the beds I saw. I’m just going to stay off of them and work it really slow. There’s a lot of big fish in that area.
“Yesterday, I had so many big fish to go to, I didn’t think that area was a key area, but when I got there, it was like, ‘Wow!’ I didn’t know they were bedding in there, so I didn’t go there until about 12:30, but I found them about 1 o’clock and just sat there and caught the heck out of them.”
Weyer’s day-two outlook: “I know for sure there’s a 25-pound bag (in my main area). If I get lucky and get one of those really big ones, there could be another 30-pound bag.”
Charlie Weyer caught half of what he bagged on day one, but still retained the pro lead. (Photo by David A. Brown)
Day 2 – Weyer keeps EverStart lead - On day one, Weyer sacked up the only catch over 30 pounds and his 32-9 included a 10-10 that one the Snicker’s Big Bass award. Today, he caught a little more than half his first day’s weight, with a limit of 16-12 raising his total to 49-5. Weyer was not alone in his struggle, as overall productivity was down. By comparison, 15 pros broke the 20-pound mark on day one, but only eight did so today. Total number of fish, total weight and limit catches were also lower on day two.
Today’s sunny conditions mirrored those of day one. However, flags that barely moved at the 6:30 a.m. takeoff were whipping steadily by mid-morning – a prelude to the minor cold snap heading for the Delta.More high water in the morning and windier conditions made for a tough day for pro leader Charlie Weyer. Also, a later tide cycle saw the high water lingering longer. Combined, these factors created a challenging day for those who had made their mark sight-fishing on day one.
Putting eyes on bed fish was not impossible today, but the easy pickings of day one fragmented. Many of the fish that had recently moved up to the shoreline dropped back in the changing conditions and those that remained were harder to see. Weyer said he did not have a slow day – just a less productive one.
“It was a tougher day on the size of fish, but I still caught just as many as day one,” he said. “I probably caught like 20 keepers. I had a higher tide and then the wind blew, so I couldn’t pinpoint the bed fish and then back off. I basically went to pitching a dropshot.”
California pro Charlie Weyer gets a bucket of water on his fish after regaining the lead.Weyer fished Roboworms and an unnamed plastic on his dropshot. He also caught fish on a Texas-rigged Yamamoto Flappin Hog and a Speed Craw.
On day one, Weyer was like a kid in a candy store, as he worked an area where a huge wave of plump females had recently moved up to the shoreline. Today, many of those fish were either gone or fronting an obstinate disposition.
“I worked two fish as big as the (10-10) that I caught yesterday and there are several other big fish in that area – I just haven’t figured out how to catch them,” Weyer said. “I had one that looked like a 10- to 12-pounder sitting there on my dropshot just eyeballing it. Her eyes were as big as quarters.”
All things considered, Weyer said he was satisfied with his day two performance. “I was going for everything I could possibly go for. I didn’t lose any fish – I just didn’t catch any big ones.”
Final Day – Out of sight – 1st Place: Charlie Weyer, West Hills, Calif. - Weyer took the early lead on day one with 32 pounds, 9 ounces, but a tougher day two yielded only 16-12 for him. Yesterday saw the beginning of the cold front’s affects, so Weyer has had time to calculate what he needs to do today.
“I’m not going to be able to see them as well to find new fish, but I still have about 20-30 fish on beds that I haven’t been able to catch, so I’ll just be blind casting to them,
Weyer said. “One thing I’m going to do is switch to lighter line and get farther away from them. I’ve been fishing with 15-pound fluorocarbon or 65-pound braid and today I’m going to fish 10-pound fluorocarbon.”
Weyer will mostly fish dropshots with Robo Worms, but he’ll throw lipless and shallow running crankbaits early to try and trigger a reaction bite in the deeper water. Later, he’ll work a spot where he saw a hefty bed fish on day two.
“I’m going to go back to my big-fish spot because there’s on in there that’s bigger than the (10-pound, 10-ounce bass) I caught on day one,” he said. “I’m just going to go in there with lighter line and pray. If she bites, I’ll be chasing her for 10 minutes.”
Wind-weary Weyer winds up second
Final Day – Wind-weary Weyer winds up second - After leading days one and two, Charlie Weyer of West Hills, Calif., slipped a notch to second place. After leading days one and two, Charlie Weyer slipped to second on day three. started off with a bang, bagging the largest catch of the tournament – a massive 32-pound, 9-ounce limit. On that day, Weyer had located an area where a large wave of big spawners had moved up to the bank, and he went to town, grabbing all he could.
A day later, the combination of higher morning tides and windier conditions made it tough to spot the fish, so he had to blind-cast at the likely areas. Unable to find the big bites on day two, Weyer weighed 16-12. Today, he added 16-8 and finished with 65-13.
“The wind definitely pushed all the fish back, and you just had to slow down,” Weyer said. “I drop-shotted all those fish and caught a couple of bed-fish. I worked several big ones, but I just couldn’t get them to bite.”
Weyer fished an S-20 Iovino spade-tail worm on his drop-shot. His best action occurred right before high tide began dropping, at the bottom of the low and the start of the incoming.
Additional Press from this event:
examiner.com – Big Fish Charlie lives up to his name at 2011 FLW EverStart stop on the Delta
examinar.com – 2011 FLW EverStart results: Weyer walks away with lead on day two at the Delta
Advanced Angler Video – Weyer Grabs Everstart Day 1 Delta Lead
Advanced Angler Video – Weyer Holds Day 2 Lead at Delta Everstart
