OAKLEY, Calif. (May 30, 2009) - Pro Ishama "Ish" Monroe of Hughson, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Western Division bass fishing tournament on the California Delta with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 66 pounds even. For his victory, Monroe earned $21,605 cash and a fully rigged Ranger boat.
"This event featured the best Delta guys around in it, and I am so happy to win it," said Monroe, who won the 2008 FLW Series National Guard Western Division event on the California Delta.
Monroe said his tournament began with a quick limit of small fish on the first day of competition. Then he began the routine that led to his eventual win.
"I picked up my flipping stick and started catching them big," Monroe said. "I culled two good ones on the Ish's Phat Frog."
Monroe opened the tournament in first place Thursday with five bass weighing 21-0. He then caught five bass weighing 27-9 Friday to make the crucial top-10 cut in first place.
Monroe said he used a Sprayed Grass-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver topped with a 11/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight on his flipping rod and a solid black Phat Frog to fish topwater mats. The strategy worked the first two days of competition and got Monroe through the cut with an 11-pound lead.
"Saturday I had a bed fish I started out on, but I left real quick and started throwing the frog," Monroe said. "I had to go with what got me to where I was."
The B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler said the competition in the Stren Series event was a challenge because of local talent, but the win is one he had pursued for a while.
"One of my goals has been to win a Stren event because I've been fishing them since they've been around," Monroe said. "Now I get to focus on another goal of mine - winning a FLW Tour event."
Rounding out the top five pros were Stephen Tosh Jr. of Modesto, Calif. (15 bass, 53-12, $8,642); Lorenzo Rossetti of Stockton, Calif. (15 bass, 53-5, $6,914); Rob Wenning of Sparks, Nev. (14 bass, 50-14, $6,049); and Sean Minderman of Spokane, Wash. (15 bass, 49-7, $5,185).
Brandon Burress of Discovery Bay, Calif., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday - an 8-pound, 13-ounce bass - that earned him the day's Big Bass award of $362.
Roy Desmangles Jr. of Lincoln, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and a 177TR Ranger boat and trailer, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 41-10.
Desmangles caught five bass weighing 12-14 Thursday while fishing with pro Dugan McIntosh of Palermo, Calif., to open the tournament in sixth place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 14-11 to make the top-10 cut in third place while fishing with pro Brody Bramlett of Kelseyville, Calif. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with five bass weighing 14-1 while fishing with pro Tommy Cardoza of Lakeport, Calif.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Greig Sniffen of Saratoga, Calif. (11 bass, 33-4, $3,548); Nick Drabec of Castro Valley, Calif. (11 bass, 31-13, $2,661); Pat Wilson of Penngrove, Calif. (15 bass, 31-12, $2,218); and Mark White of Tucson, Ariz. (14 bass, 31-9, $1,996).
Sniffen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday - an 8-pound, 8-ounce bass - that earned him the day's Big Bass award of $181.