OAKLEY, Calif. – Toyota Series angler Logan Huntze of Discovery Bay, California, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces to win the three-day Toyota Series tournament at California Delta in Oakley, California. Logan’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 64-12 earned him the win by a 1-pound, 6-ounce margin over second-place angler Phillip Dutra of Antioch, California, and earned him the top payout of $24,293 in the first tournament of the 2021 Toyota Series Western Division.
Putting more than 27 pounds on the scale on Day 1, Logan kicked off the event with a bang. After weighing a mere 18 pounds on Day 2, he fell to second behind Ish Monroe; however, with another 19 pounds, 7 ounces on Day 3, Logan earned his second MLF win.
Logan’s brother Colby Huntze also took the top prize on the Strike King co-angler side. Leading wire-to-wire, Colby weighed 11-8 on the final day for a total of 45-13. For his win, Colby earned a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat.
Logan has fished the California Delta events for the past three years on the boater side and his finishes have gotten progressively better each time. He had an 11th-place showing in 2019, followed by an eighth-place finish last summer, before notching the win on Saturday.
The week ended extremely well for Logan, but a rough start threatened him early on. Engine issues on the first day caused him to only be able to idle and cost him valuable hours of fishing time toward the end of the day. Fishing the central Delta, Logan caught his winning bags by punching and throwing a frog, two of the best ways to catch big bass on the California Delta.
“I was fortunate that I found some mats that were protected from the wind,” said Logan. “My area was calmer and that really helped me on the first day. I caught an 8, a 5 and a 4 before my engine troubles. My co-angler that day was really positive and that helped, and I couldn’t really complain because I already had a good bag. I was able to catch two more 5-pounders in areas I saw while I was idling to get a ride back in.”
His key fish on the first two days came on a Missile Baits D Bomb in either green pumpkin or candy grass. He fished them on a 4/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover Flippin’ Hook with a 1 ¼-ounce tungsten weight.
On the second day with a fully functional outboard, he ran back to his best area from the first day.
“There were a bunch of sea lions in the mats, and I couldn’t get a bite,” Logan recalled. “I had to run some new stuff and I was able to scratch up 18 pounds punching, including a 6-pounder. I was fortunate to get a good bite each of the first two days to keep me in it.”
On the final day, he switched gears again and primarily threw a frog en route to the win, although punching also contributed to a few bass.
“I fished more new stuff and caught two big ones on a frog and about ten smaller ones,” Logan said. “With the wind blowing so much the first two days, today was much easier to run around and fish where I wanted to.”
His frog of choice was a Snag Proof Bobby’s Perfect Frog in either sparrow or tweety.
With so much vegetation in the system, Logan said he keyed in on areas that were deep enough to hold fish based on the tide chart during the event.
“I was fishing hyacinth mats, some primrose, and dead tules,” he said. “Some of the areas had some grass mixed in. They had three to four feet of water on them during the high tide, which made for a good bite each morning. On the last day, I focused on the cheese mats with the frog.”
The top 10 pros on the California Delta finished:
1st: Logan Huntze of Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 64-12, $24,293
2nd: Phillip Dutra of Antioch, Calif., 15 bass, 63-6, $9,413
3rd: Mark Lassagne of Dixon, Calif., 15 bass, 58-6, $7,788
4th: Ish Monroe of Oakdale, Calif., 14 bass, 57-2, $6,073
5th: Nick Salvucci of Atascadero, Calif., 15 bass, 55-12, $5,466
6th: Blake Dyer of Concord, Calif., 15 bass, 52-5, $4,859
7th: Michael Caruso of Peoria, Ariz., 15 bass, 51-4, $4,251
8th: Michael Moreno of Salida, Calif., 15 bass, 50-5, $3,644
9th: Tuan Nguyen of Woodland, Calif., 15 bass, 49-3, $3,037
10th: Jordan Collom of Canyon Lake, Calif., 15 bass, 49-0, $2,429