Peak performance

Top co-angler crawls to Stren Series victory at Cal Delta

OAKLEY, Calif. – Continuing the momentum of his day-three lead, San Jose, Calif., co-angler Charles Peak posted a 20-pound, 14-ounce final-round weight that gave him an even 75 pounds and a Stren Series Western Division victory on the California Delta.

Breaking from the traditional routine of wacky-rigging Senkos and drop-shotting finesse worms, Peak said he caught his fish on a Zoom Swamp Crawler – an extremely limber and lifelike worm impregnated with salt. Preferring the watermelon color, Peak rigged his worm with a nail weight in the head and a hook positioned about mid-body. The rig’s head-first fall imparts a tantalizing wiggle that tempted many bass.

His victory earned him a $5,000 payday, but Peak was quick to point out the intangible rewards of fishing on the back of the boat. “As a co-angler, every morning you get into (a pro’s) boat, you say `hello,’ you tell him your name, but you don’t know him from Adam. By the end of the day, you have a new friend.

“You meet a lot of nice people and you learn a lot (about fishing). One of the nicest things is the friendships you make.”

Baker bags best bag for second

Nineteen-year-old Kyle Baker of Lancaster, Calif., caught the heaviest co-angler stringer of the final round – 27 pounds, 2 ounces – but his 73-6 total was not enough to eclipse Peak’s numbers. Nevertheless, the second-place angler caused quite a stir as he pulled one big bass after another from his bag.

Baker caught all of his fish on a Senko, rigged wacky with a 1/0 Gamakatsu wide-gap hook. He fished his bait on a spinning outfit with 10-pound line and pitched the worm into isolated gaps in tule cover.

“The big ones seem to peck at it, and the little ones take off with it. I try to pull them away from the weeds as quickly as possible. I had one run into the weeds today, but luckily my boater and I were able to pull up next to the weeds, and I was able to ease it out of there. It took a good five to 10 minutes, but we got it out.”

Baker, who also finished third at the Stren Series event at Clear Lake (April 19), said he’s more motivated than ever. “This tells me to stick it out and keep doing what I’m doing. Eventually, good things will happen.”

Hughes goes slow for third

Orangevale, Calif., co-angler Chris Hughes caught 17 pounds, 5 ounces and turned in a third-place total of 70-3. He spent most of his time fishing wacky-rigged Senkos and drop-shots with Roboworms in Aaron’s Magic color.

Hughes said that presentation speed was critical to his performance all week: “I fished very slowly all week. I was basically dead-sticking the baits.”

Reitz wrangles his way into fourth

In fourth place, Soda Springs, Calif., co-angler Aaron Reitz weighed 16 pounds, 6 ounces to cap a 64-8 total and sneak past fifth place by 2 ounces.

Reitz, who led his division on day two, fished his signature drop-shot rig with a Margarita Mutilator worm. Echoing his second-day success, he also caught a couple fish on a ChatterBait.

With a second-place finish at the Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division event at the same venue in March and seventh at the Stren Series Clear Lake event in April, Reitz is stoked for more competition. “I know one of these days I’ll get a win under my belt.”

Desmangles takes fifth and AOY title

Roy Desmangles Jr. of Lincoln, Calif., threw an AC Minnow and Bassectomy worms rigged Japanese-style (weights inserted into body), caught a limit weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces, and completed a fifth-place total of 64-6. Two years prior, Desmangles took first on the same stage.

Through his top-five finish, Desmangles secured his spot atop the Stren Series Western Division. “Winning at the tournament level was great, but I always wanted to win (Co-)Angler of the Year. That’s the one that means the most to me.”

The 2008 Stren Western Division season played out like this for Demangles: 11th at Lake Shasta, 22nd at Lake Havasu, 25th at Clear Lake, and fifth at the Delta. Demangles won the Co-angler of the Year award in only his second season of fishing a full season in the Western Division; last year he ended the season ranked No. 6 in the points.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series California Delta event:

6th: Paul Fontaine, Brentwood, Calif., 58-7

7th: Wayne Antoine, San Francisco, 56-8

8th: Pat Leiser, Antioch, Calif., 54-12

9th: Joseph Smink, Modesto, Calif., 52-11

10th: Joseph Bricker, Pleasanton, Calif., 47-4