BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. (June 3, 2022) – Pro Stephen “Bub” Tosh, Jr., of Modesto, California, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces to win the Toyota Series tournament at the California Delta and earn the top payout of $25,604. Tosh’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 59 pounds even earned him the victory by a 4-pound, 3-ounce margin over second place pro Lane Olson of Forest Grove, Oregon, who caught 15 bass weighing 54-13 to finish second and earn $9,922. To do so, Tosh said he combined a duo of baits that are out of production with a modern-day staple.
“I had two 6-pounders this week and a couple of 5-pounders, but no giant fish,” he said. “Most of my fish came on a Transporter Frog made by Paycheck Baits that I designed years ago. They haven’t made them in years, but they’re going for $60 to $80 on eBay.”
Tosh’s other legacy bait was a Paycheck Baits Punch Skirt, another throwback to another time that he still has a few of in his tackle shop.
To supplement those baits, Tosh added a ChatterBait, a wacky-rigged Senko and a Lobina Rico Popper that helped him cull up with mostly 3-pounders. He boated them in secret, in hidden cuts and pockets tucked deep in the Delta’s maze, and that, he said, was by design.
“I think about my grandpa out there,” he added. “I think about my dad who doesn’t fish much anymore. I think about that older generation watching and fishing vicariously through me. I’m a tournament warrior that was raised by an extreme angler who fished until he couldn’t anymore.”
The top 10 pros on the California Delta finished:
1st: Stephen Tosh, Jr., Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 59-0, $25,604
2nd: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 15 bass, 54-13, $9,922
3rd: Nick Salvucci, Atascadero, Calif., 14 bass, 53-12, $7,681
4th: Randy Pierson, Oakdale, Calif., 15 bass, 52-9, $7,401
5th: Ronald Lorenzo, Princeton, Calif., 15 bass, 52-7, $5,761
6th: Christian Ostrander, Turlock, Calif., 15 bass, 52-5, $5,621
7th: Phillip Dutra, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 52-0, $4,481
8th: Brett Leber, Dixon, Calif., 15 bass, 50-14, $3,841
9th: Benjamin Byrd, Moab, Utah, 15 bass, 48-6, $3,200
10th: Michael Caruso, Peoria, Ariz., 15 bass, 47-15, $2,560
Pro Gregg Leonard of Wilton, California, won the $500 Day 1 Big Bass award in the pro division Thursday with a largemouth weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces. Ostrander earned Friday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass award with a 7-pound, 12-ounce bass.
Pierson took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met.
Tyson Christman of Glendale, Arizona, won the Strike King Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 35 pounds, 4 ounces. Bloom took home the top prize package of a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard motor.
The top 10 co-anglers on the California Delta finished:
1st: Tyson Christman, Glendale, Ariz., 15 bass, 35-4, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp Mercury outboard
2nd: Brandon Gee, Yuba City, Calif., 15 bass, 34-5, $3,461
3rd: Scott Bern, San Rafael, Calif., 12 bass, 30-12, $2,799
4th: J.D. Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., 14 bass, 30-12, $2,317
5th: Jay Guterding, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 30-10, $1,986
6th: Dominick Mohameds, Oakley, Calif., 15 bass, 30-1, $1,655
7th: Cody Crist, Ramona, Calif., 15 bass, 30-1, $1,324
8th: Daniel Lutz, Las Vegas, Nev., 13 bass, 29-13, $1,159
9th: David Zavvar, Concord, Calif., 14 bass, 29-6, $993
10th: Tracy Patton, Oakdale, Calif., 12 bass, 29-2, $1,228
The Day 1 Berkley Big Bass $150 award winner in the Strike King co-angler division, was Bern with a largemouth weighing 8 pounds even, while the Day 2 $150 award went to Firuz Gizatullin of Discovery Bay, California, who weighed in a 6-pound, 14-ounce largemouth.
With the Toyota Series Western Division regular season now complete, pro David Valdivia of Riverside, California, has won the Toyota Series Western Division Pro Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 747 points, while Tyson Christman of Glendale, Arizona, won the Strike King Co-Angler Division AOY race with 750 points.