Bright skies, bright hopes

College anglers set to tackle another day of Cal Delta heat

STOCKTON, Calif. – This one should be about as predictable as it gets for anglers in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Regional Championship on the California Delta. Plan the day around heat and falling water.

A cool morning with a peppy little breeze will quickly become an increasingly hot day with minimal wind. That means anyone wanting to try their topwater baits had better get that bug out of their system soon, because the rest of the day will be about finding fish in deep, cool or sheltered locations.

Unlike yesterday’s partly cloudy morning, day two dawned with clear skies Sunday. A full day of direct sunlight will keep fish locked into their cozy hideaways where anglers will have to use tactics that take the baits to the fish. Flipping Texas-rigged plastics into tules and punching similar rigs through matted vegetation will be productive today. Other likely tactics will include jigging, drop-shotting and wacky rigging.

Leading the field, San Jose State’s Glen Wyatt and Eric Andersen carry a 1-pound, 2-ounce lead into the second day with their weight of 14-13. On day one, the leaders fished a variety of baits and tactics that included topwaters, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and various soft-plastic presentations. They will likely mix it up again today, maybe a little lighter on the hard baits.

“We’ll give them a lot of different looks and see what they want,” Andersen said. “We’ll both be throwing something different until we see what they like.”

Wyatt adds, “Let the fish talk to you – they’ll tell you what they want.”

At yesterday’s weigh-in, Wyatt said he was hoping for a cooler day two, but today’s forecast does not favor that request. “I was looking for some clouds today, but it looks like it’s going to be a little hotter today, so we’ll have to jump on them early. We just want to get a good bag today and get them in the boat as quickly as possible and then worry about the big fish.”

With a high tide around 8 a.m., competitors will fish falling water most of the day, with a brief window of incoming flow about an hour before they’ll need to trailer their boats. Tidal fisheries can be tricky for those used to inland waterways, but the current and depth fluctuations position fish in predictable locations for feeding and comfort.

“Hopefully, the tide will offset the heat a little bit,” he said. “We should have a lot of moving water. We’ll have a slack tide later in the day, so we’ll try to take advantage of our opportunities and get our fish in the boat early.”

Sacramento State’s Stephen Lesieur and Matthew Paul finished day one in fifth place, mostly on the strength of Paul’s work that included a 4-pounder. Admitting that he did a lot of netting on day one, Lesieur predicts more success on day two, but with a reassignment of duties. “He’s gonna be the net man today!”

Oregon State’s Ryan and Carter Troughton – the event’s only sibling team – placed ninth with a limit weighing 9-7. They kept busy with small fish, but Ryan said he and his brother will take a different approach to day two: “Today, we’re going big-fish hunting. We’ll probably start off throwing some frogs and buzzbaits around some structure that we know. Then we’ll probably throw some jigs and drop-shots.”

Steve Reed of UC Davis placed 16th on day one with his partner Ken Gunderson. Reed, who bagged a nice 4-pounder yesterday, finished third this year in FLW Fantasy Fishing and won a Chevy Truck for his skill at picking productive pros. He’s hoping to pick the right baits and fishing spots today: “Our goal is to move up and make the top five.”

At the morning takeoff from Buckley Cove Park on the San Joaquin River, most boats headed downstream, but a few hooked around the flag boat and ran upriver.

Tournament logistics

The top five FLW College Fishing teams from each of the four regular-season Western Division tournaments gained automatic entry into the 2009 Western Regional Championship at the University of the Pacific. During the three-day regional event, 20 two-man collegiate angling teams will compete for a top award of $50,000, which includes a 177TR Ranger wrapped in school colors and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard engine.

Qualified teams include Arizona State University, Chico State, Fresno State, Humboldt State University, Sacramento State, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, UC – Davis, University of Nevada – Reno, University of Oregon and Washington State.

Collegiate bass anglers will take off daily at 7 a.m. Pacific time from Buckley Cove Park at 4311 Buckley Cove Way in Stockton. Weigh-ins begin at 4 p.m. daily at the University of the Pacific Aquatics Center Parking Lot in Stockton. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free to attend and open to the public.

The top five teams from each of the five National Guard regional championships (Western, Central, Northern, Texas and Southeast) will advance to the National Guard National Championship April 10-12, 2010, in Knoxville, Tenn. The winning team at the national championship will qualify for the prestigious 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.

Sunday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:51 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 60 degrees

Expected high temperature: 91 degrees

Water temperature: 72-73 degrees

Wind: NW at 5 mph

Max. humidity: 80 percent

Day’s outlook: sunny