Sacramento State maximizes homefield advantage
Matsuura, Lee grab overall lead after opening round of National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Regional Championship competition on Folsom Lake
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Heading into the FLW College Fishing Western Regional Championship, the Sacramento State team of Robert Matsuura and Peter Lee were definitely feeling the pressure. Fishing on their hometown lake as the only representatives of the host university, Lee and Matsuura desperately didn’t want to disappoint the hometown crowd. But in the end, they need not have worried.
Bolstered by a stellar catch of 13 pounds, 7 ounces, Sacramento State propelled their way atop the leaderboard, boasting a nearly 1-pound lead over their next closest competitors when all was said and done.
“It was going to be devastating if we didn’t come through,” said Matsuura. “Before this tournament I really hated Folsom Lake. I always have bad luck here. But today, the lake really came through for us. Maybe, by the end of this tournament, I’ll (have a different opinion) of Folsom Lake. At least for now, some of the pressure is off.”
Matsuura’s partner’s agreed.
“We definitely feel a lot better after weigh-in,” said Lee. “It’s really a blessing to take first place on the opening day. We really want to finish the tournament in the top five and right now it’s looking pretty good. But I don’t want to jinx it. We still have to take things one day at a time.”
“And we could get skunked tomorrow,” added Matsuura. “So you can never really relax.”
Amazingly enough, the Sacramento State team said they had no idea that they were heading back to weigh-in with a limit over 13 pounds.
“I knew the weights would be better today with the conditions,” said Matsuura. “But I really thought we had 8, 9 or 10 pounds at the most. So we’re definitely pleasantly surprised by our weight.”
The Sacramento State team said that they successfully employed a two-part strategy to land the majority of their catch during today’s competition. In the morning they threw a swimbait in shallow water taking advantage of both the wind and cloud cover. In the afternoon they moved to deeper water, targeting fish on drop-shots and Carolina rigs.
“I really don’t want to say exactly what we’re targeting, but what we’re focusing on is definitely key,” said Matsuura. “And we’re going to have the same gameplan tomorrow. If we get to Saturday’s finals, I’ll tell you exactly what we’re doing.”
Chico State finishes in runner up position
The Chico State team comprised of Frank Vogt and Bastian Golladay finished the day in second place overall after netting a five-fish, 12-pound, 8-ounce stringer. And they couldn’t have been happier.
“I’m really excited,” said Golladay. “But we know we have to take things one step at a time. For now though, it feels great.”
Ironically, it was a giant misstep that characterized the type of luck and perseverance the Chico State team possessed in today’s competition.
“At one point, I was getting ready to net (Golladay’s) fish but when I went to pull the fish up the net broke,” said Vogt. “So I jumped into the water. With one hand on the boat I grabbed the fish and pulled it out of the water and somehow got it into the boat. And that was pretty important because that was really our first big fish of the day.”
Chico State said that they targeted bass by throwing a combination of Zara Spook topwater baits (mostly in the early morning hours) and dropshotting a Robo worm.
“The drop-shot was clutch,” said Vogt. “The Robo worm worked great all day.”
The Chico State team said that they mostly concentrated rock piles and rocky banks to land their catch.
“We’re fishing in about 30 feet of water,” said Golladay. “We’re working the baits really slowly, working rock piles and rocky banks. But the key was that if we saw and mud or sand, we stayed away from those areas.”
San Jose State nets third place
Based on a total catch of 10 pounds, 13 ounces, the San Jose State team of Tyler Swasey and Anthony Lee grabbed third place overall heading into day two of competition on Folsom Lake.
“We’re very happy,” said Lee. “We didn’t limit out but our gameplan all along was to get three big bites a day and we did that.”
“It’s definitely a good start,” said Swasey.
Like many teams who experienced a difficult bass bite in practice, the San Jose State team was surprised by the weights to come across the stage in today’s competition.
“Tyler and I discussed what the weights were going to be beforehand and we both thought that 7 pounds a day would make the cut,” said Lee. “So we’re pretty surprised by the weights today. The fishing was pretty good.”
The San Jose State team said they used a combination of small baits and deep water to land the majority of their catch.
“We fished a lot of finesse baits,” said Lee. “We’re targeting really steep drop-offs and man-made cover. We’re basically fishing in anywhere from 25 to 40 feet. But tomorrow, we might actually try to throw some spoons as deep as 100 feet. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Northern Arizona snares fourth place
The Northern Arizona University duo of Nicole Albright and Brent Perkins landed in fourth place in today’s competition after netting a total catch of 10 pounds, 9 ounces.
“It was tough out there, but finishing in the top five is awesome,” said Albright, one of only three women to qualify for the regional championship. “We saw a lot of fish today, but the trick was getting those fish to bite.”
The Northern Arizona team said that they didn’t go into this tournament with any real gameplan. However, despite their lack of strategy, they managed to scramble around and still produce one of the top stringers in the tournament.
“It was frustrating at times,” said Perkins. “We caught fish on a bunch of different baits at different depths. We tried to explore the lake as much as we could today. We have a lot of spots. And we found fish. But it was just hard to get them to bite.”
Cal Poly rounds out top five
The Cal Poly team of Scott Hellesen and Damian Bean parlayed a 10-pound, 1-ounce catch into a fifth-place finish during today’s competition to remain well within the hunt for a tournament title.
“We caught them pretty good today,” said Hellesen. “We seemed to be in the right place at the right time all day.”
Hellesen said the team targeted bass in approximately 20 to 30 feet of water, focusing mainly on a drop-shot to land the majority of their catch.
“We did well today,” he said. “We’re in the top five and we’ll go out there and try to improve on it tomorrow.”
The 2010 National Guard FLW College Fishing Western Regional Championship will resume Friday morning at 7 a.m. Takeoff will take place once again at Folsom Lake Marina, located at 661 Green Valley Road in El Dorado Hills, Calif.
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