Well, they only weighed in 4 fish - but they weighed over 20 lbs total! Awesome job, dudes. Todd's big fish was something like 8.3 lbs, he had another just under 6 lbs, plus a nice 4 lb'er (& one fish of about 2 lbs). Great work! Since Todd joined the club in 2000, we've fished 5 tournaments there, & he's won 4 of them, & finished 2nd the other time.

Also, a tip of the cap to my partner, Binh, who made some adjustments & did an outstanding job to lead us to 2nd place. Binh caught both of our 2 1/2 lb fish & was da man! Good fishing with you, dude! That's Binh's 2nd straight 2nd place finish!

Oops - sorry about the typo on your name, Todd. I'd fix it on the original post, but I don't know how. Well, anyhow - congrats again!

It was an unbelievable night for those big dogs! Wish everyone could have caught some more fish on what turned out to be a tough night. Great job to you two on your 40+ fish night. That's a whole 'lotta fish!

Also want to congratulate Eric Keith and Kevin Marcheschi for a 3rd place (along with a beautiful 4+ lber) and 4th place finishers Andrew Wilber and Pheang (new guy) which included a 5.49 lber.

Here's some pics below!

Pheang & Andrew:
http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3d3c1eae1ad133c3.jpg

Kevin & Eric:
http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3d3c1f0b1bd93f83.jpg

Binh & Andy:
http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3d3c1feb1ea97381.jpg

Todd & William:
http://www.calfishing.com/dcforum/User_files/3d3c1f521caba77f.jpg

Team Boca Bearings - www.bocabearings.com
Smelly Jelly
Paycheck Baits - http://www.paycheckbaits.com/
Big Bear Fishing Rods - http://www.bigbearfishingrods.com
http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/toddiwamoto.htm
www.geemoto.com

Thanks for posting the photos, Todd. Man, you've raised the bar on Sonoma this year. Only a couple years ago, a 2 lb average & a limit & you most likely win. Now... Well, great job out there!

Way to go guys those were some nice fish.Bill

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/billsweatt.htm

Those are some nice fish! Congrats you guys!

Way to slay guys ! I wish I could have been there, but when your stomach won't keep any thing down its hard to focus on catching toads.
Yoe guys, Im ready for some good detailed fishing stories of the night, how did my partner do, Jay? Who did he get teamed up with? Where you there Bill and if so how was it? Did Darren fish?
Rich

Prefishing really paid off for this one. On my 4th try, I finally found some fish on a point near the Marina. For the tournie, Binh headed for the dam & I kicked out to the point. I dragged a C-rig lizard & tossed a spinnerbait without success for a while. Then, some shad started boiling & I threw a crankbait & got bit on my 1st cast (I lost the small keeper that hit). Had another hit on my next cast, which I also missed, but it looked like the crankbait bite was on. Through the evening, I caught 14 bass & missed 5 more. Of the 14, 6 were keepers (I was able to cull a smallmouth), & of the 5 I missed, probably 3 were keepers, with one I'd estimate at 2.5 lbs or so. Binh caught 2 keepers @ the dam on the Ika, & while journeying back, picked up 3 more, this time on cranks (it helped having the walkie-talkie to stay in touch). Knowing we both had our limits really helped me to relax & enjoy the fun fishing. Binh did catch a long, skinny smallmouth that weighed only 1 lb. It had a split lower lip - maybe that was making it difficult for it to feed. We ended up culling 3 fish & managed a little better than a 2 lb average for the 7 we weighed-in, with Binh catching both of our larger fish.

In any case, it was a lot more fun than my debacle last year @ Yorty Creek. Between us, we had on around 40 fish for the night. Lot of dinks, but enough quality fish to make things interesting. I have to give a lot of credit to Binh for being so successful fishing water he had never seen before, & for switching over f/ soft plastics to cranks when that bite got going.

Couple interesting things - the bite was strong until the fog rolled in around midnight & obscured the moon. And, the largemouth seemed to move in after dark, while prior to sunset, the smallmouth were all over the point (some real dink smallmouth, too).

It turned out to be Todd & William's night, but I was very pleased. That's the best fishing I've experienced at Sonoma in about 4 years. I will no longer scoff @ Todd's claims that night fishing at Sonoma can actually be good.

Note to self : Do not compete on that Sonoma if Todd is there. Good job Todd and William as well as Binh

Thanks for the compliment and I only wish it were true! Whenever you seem to try you kick our butts!

Hey Rich, Deren and Jay actually got paired up together and ended up in 5th. I'll let Bill tell his story.

Here's my story:

The night started off with a bang as the first area I fished was a flat with a couple stumps Jay and Bill ended up passing. Bill had actually asked Jay if he was going to fish it and Jay kind'o shurugged it off. I made three casts with a buzzbait and WHAM! The 1.5 lber just slammed it on the surface. I'm thinking its going to be a terrific night for all and boy was I wrong! It took almost another hour + before I got my next hit, again on a buzz. This time I was fishing another weedy flat behind Jeff A. As I buzzed the grass a fish of about 4-5lbs just exploded right next to it but did not take. Darn! I'm thinking and threw everything else at the area for nothing.

A couple more subtle 'bumps' and a hookup with an ika (was about 13-14") but no fish landed. Somewhat frustrated and the night coming upon us I eventually switched to a spinnerbait about 45 minutes later. After talking to Bill who had one and lost another on a frog I pass him up and work towards the first campground. As I approached there were about 3 different tents and more than a few people walking around with their boats parked all around. I decided to fish hard anyway and was pounding the weed edges when it felt like a log ran into my lure. "Umph," I set the hook, nothing then, thump, thump, thump, wizzzzzzzzz, "OH YEAH!" After a couple more solid runs it comes to the surface and now I'm really excited and just thinking "don't throw the hook, don't throw the hook"!!! Reach down with my net and it doesn't fit! I quickly drop my rod and grab the beauty and YES! Pig of the night I'm sure of! Knew it was not going to go ten as it was too skinny but figured it was for sure a 7 maybe 8. Dropped her into my livewell and she had to go diagonal! Whew, I radioed to William "we got big fish, we got big fish!"

After letting my heartbeat come back down I kept working out towards the mouth of Yorty then headed into Brush Creek. After working a few areas (bare banks with weed growth) I finally get a 12" dink. Feeling a little better I make two more casts then the log again! Wizzzzzzzz, wizzzzzzz, wizzzzz, yikes! This fish was fighting WAAAAYYYY better then the first and I'm thinking 12+. Well, it surfaces and I'm dumbfounded to see what I thought was a 5lber. Oh, well, another good fish in the livewell!

I worked and talked my way back towards the launch ramp but had a couple last areas I knew to try. My last area was a tree with brush but in very shallow water with the water being low. I hit it with a spinnerbait, 10" plastic worm and jig but nothing. My last resort is my trusty ika which I pitch right into the thick of it (less than 2ft of water). I raise my rod tip and am like "dang, snagged up". Thump, thump, thump, OH YEAH! It comes out of the think stuff, runs around and I slide it into my net. 6lber comes to mind and I radio to William we got the win!

That was the end of my serious fishing. What a night! 20.03 lbs, fish of 8.34, 5.80, and 4.39. Wish I could do this every time!

Team Boca Bearings - www.bocabearings.com
Smelly Jelly
Paycheck Baits - http://www.paycheckbaits.com/
Big Bear Fishing Rods - http://www.bigbearfishingrods.com
http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/toddiwamoto.htm
www.geemoto.com

Geez, Todd, you make it sound so easy! You da Sonoma MAN!!! Congrat's!

- jeff

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Every day Congress convenes, we lose a little more of our LIBERTY!!!

(-- Mark Levin, radio-show host/KSFO 3-6pm)

Great story Todd. I gotta get some more night fishing in this summer. Cant wait to see pics