REDDING, Calif. – In a come-from-behind victory, Frenzy Baits pro Greg “Double G” Gutierrez, of Red Bluff, Calif. brought in the big bag of Championship day, eclipsing the nearest five-fish limit by more than two-pounds. Over the course of the three-day event, Gutierrez consistently climbed the leaderboard. He trailed by six-pounds from his starting point of 11th on Day One with 12.74.
On Day Two, he increased the weight of his bag by little more than a half-pound with 13.35, however it was enough to secure a spot in the top-10 cutline.
Blasting off in 8th place on the final day of competition, Double G pushed past the remaining field when he added 14.88, sacking up a tournament total of 40.97, and claiming the crown as the first-ever BAM Tournament Trail Pro/Am Champion on his home waters of Lake Shasta.
“This is an accomplishment,” Gutierrez exclaimed. “There will never be another first BAM Tournament and that means a lot.
That and the fact that I’m fishing against some real hammers out here and I came back from 11th place to win it; so, it feels awesome.”
Gutierrez started the day believing he needed to catch 15 pounds, but wanting to get 16, just to be safe.
“The whole (top-10) field was separated by three-pounds, so to make a move like I did is a big deal on Shasta,” he said.
Fishing The Weather Conditions At Shasta
The condition change from rain and cloud cover to bluebird skies challenged many of the anglers; however, Gutierrez banked on it.”
“I knew I could catch ‘em in this weather and I figured it would shut everyone else down,” he shared. “And there is another issue right now, the water is dropping. They’re pullin’ the plug on the lake and it’s dropping a foot or a 1 foot and a half per day.”
Although the flux in the water hit some anglers hard, Gutierrez had staged for it. The first day, he worked spots up the McCloud arm and back down into the main lake.
Day two, he returned on his path up the McCloud after boating a few key fish on bridge pilings and hopping around to cull out his early limit. For Day Three, it was a whole other strategy.
“I knew there was a club tournament going out of the other ramp and I knew one of the other anglers would be on the bridge pilings, but I went ahead and fished it,” he said.
It was a good stop for Gutierrez as he stuck a Shasta big about four-pounds first thing in the morning. A few casts later and he had another 2 ½ in the box. It started the day off on a good note.
“Then, I made a run up to the Sacramento,” he said. “I caught a couple fish that helped; but I came back down.”
The Baits To Catch Shasta Bass
Frenzy Baits Nail Shakey Head (Green Pumpkin)
Double G revealed he had two rods on deck. One was an IROD tied up with a Frenzy Baits Nail on six-pound-test Gamma married to FINS braided line.
“The IROD has the tip to really get the worm to work; but still get a good backbone set fishing in brush and deeper water,” he explained. “When I would hit a bridge piling, it was a G2 Ultra-Finesse, with a custom dart head that I make. This is probably what caught the lion’s share of it today.”
Credit for both presentations went to five-inch worms.
Reaction Innovations Flirt Worm Green Pumpkin
“I’m throwin’ Reaction Innovations; but some of the colors that I usually use were just too shiny,” he said. “I used duller worms and kept getting short bit to the point that they got to 3 ½ inches and then, the fish started eating it. The whole day, I was just really blessed.”
Chris Trumbell Tops Shasta Co-Angler Field
Co-angler Chris Trumbull of nearby Shingle Town towered over the non-boater field in the draw event with a three-day cumulative weight of 42.12. He bested the backseater side by more than five pounds over his nearest competitor and more than a pound over the pro side. Trumbull’s take of the prize purse was $4,284.
“It’s good to get the first one; no one else can get the first one,” Trumbull said of his win.
He noted all three of the pros that he was paired with were throwing reaction baits.
“And I was just dragging behind them; nothing special, just doing the exact opposite of what they were doing,” he added. “I stayed on the bottom in the deep channel.”
Ironically two of his pro-anglers fished the same small area, which kept Trumbull in a familiar target spot for most of the event.
“I was there the first day with Scott (the first day leader) and then again today with Jodie (the leader after Day Two),” he shared. “I think it helped me out quite a bit because I knew what the bottom was. I knew where logs were. I knew where stumps were, and I was purposely not casting into the trees where they were.”
Trumbull reported his better weigh fish fell to Z-Man Worms and Bobby D Jigs that he fished on Phenix M1 rods mated to Abu Garcia reels spooled with Seaguar line.
Top-10 Pros
PLACE PRO DAY 1 WEIGHT DAY 2 WEIGHT DAY 3 WEIGHT TOTAL WEIGHT TOTAL PAYOUT
1 Greg Gutierrez 12.74 13.35 14.88 40.97 $9,937.99
2 Jodie White 13.68 14.99 11.75 40.42 $3,123.37
3 Chris Parks 14.60 13.52 12.29 40.41 $2,839.43
4 Scott Stanfield 16.49 10.38 12.57 39.44 $2,555.48
5 Tanner Spohn 15.93 12.44 10.05 38.42 $2,271.54
6 Jordan Kunde 16.32 12.00 08.89 37.21 $2,497.60
7 Randall Doyle 13.38 12.63 10.59 36.60 $1,419.71
8 Zack Thompson 12.73 13.50 10.25 36.48 $1,419.71
9 Asher Haynes 12.13 12.87 11.41 36.41 $1,419.71
10 Wyatt Debusk 12.84 13.58 05.59 32.01 $1,929.71
Top-10 Co-Anglers
PLACE CO DAY 1 WEIGHT DAY 2 WEIGHT DAY 3 WEIGHT TOTAL WEIGHT TOTAL PAYOUT
1 Chris Trumbull 12.88 13.82 15.42 42.12 $4,284.00
2 Ugene Downing 11.32 12.06 13.13 36.51 $1,346.40
3 Ronnie Orbaker 12.19 11.36 10.01 33.56 $1,224.00
4 Bill Townsend 10.22 11.73 10.67 32.62 $1,101.60
5 Joe Cote 12.95 10.66 08.97 32.58 $1,204.20
6 Andrew Richter 12.23 10.72 09.08 32.03 $856.80
7 Dustin Noffsinger 10.69 11.22 08.50 30.41 $612.00
8 Gasper Busalacchi 13.39 10.55 03.53 27.47 $612.00
9 Scott Farley 12.32 10.39 04.65 27.36 $612.00
10 Rodney Brown 11.70 10.82 00.00 22.52 $612.00
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2024 BAM Trail Pro/Am Next Stop
After the debut of the BAM Tournament Trail on Lake Shasta, the next stop for the circuit’s Pro/Am events will be at Lake Oroville on March 15. Registration is underway.
BAM Shasta Event Sponsors:
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BAM Lake Shasta Pro / Am Tournament Details
The BAM Tournament Trail features the BAM Pro Tour, Pro-Am, and Kayak events, each designed to test the determination of western anglers in a competitive and environmentally-conscious format.