The Bite Was on Fire! Tournament at Lake New Melones

Fishing the Central Valley Kayak event on Lake New Melones. Was really looking forward to fishing this lake with the water being so high. It has been over a year since I've been back here but figured this event would be a good practice before the Yak-a-Bass touranament on the following weekend. Hopefully we get lucky and stumble across a few good ones.
Use code: DAMIAN10 for 10% off-yakbassangler....
Lures Used
-Owner Range Roller-amzn.to/3wgUl1G
-Deps Sakamata Shad-amzn.to/3xYHJwF
Teckel Kicknocker www.tackleware...
Fishing Line
Pline TCB amzn.to/44U19zg
-Pline Tactical-amzn.to/3y13xI2
Trolling Motor
-motorguide xi3-amzn.to/45uPmYj
Fish Finder
-Garmin 106sv-amzn.to/3WiJVJF
-Garmin 106sv-amzn.to/4aTsfsq
-Garmin Livecope-amzn.to/44qayhV
PFD
-amzn.to/45tQ5ZZ
Camera
-amzn.to/3XqKotV
-external battery-amzn.to/45r84jE
-Micro SD-amzn.to/4cm0Z65
Kayak Nav Light
-red/green nav light-amzn.to/4b6ppzH
-360 light-amzn.to/3z5JRmS
N3L3GAQ4XFNKDDRE
DISCLAIMER: This Video and description contains affiliate links, meaning that if you click on one of the product links, I'll recieve a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make similar videos. Thank you

[@StonerCreek74]

I would love to see Thao disect the ledges on Kentucky Lake and Barkely sometime with his deeper water fishing abilities. I bet he would figure them out.

[@djmyslinski7613]

Oh hell yeah he would.. someone needs to put him in a boat in the opens .. give him 2-3 years he'd be in elites. Hell might do it his first year.. this guy's different

[@shawnPATSFAN]

Reports have multiple fish putting in an official request to DFG to suspend Damian's fishing license for at least 30 days to give their lips a chance to heal...

[@djmyslinski7613]

Dudes a beast.. like out of guys in bass boats whatever this guy is good

[@johnhill2298]

What a show! You completely dominate the field! Keep doing what you do brother!!🤙

[@granvillej3316]

Damian wow sir that was pretty fun to watch one after another bringing them in. Thank you for sharing your day on the lake the weather was beautiful and you knew where to find the right ones awesome job! Brought home some hardware and some money no practice and took it to the lake and these fish were fighting with you and you kept them in the boat still, tight lines take care brother till the next week tournament and God bless!

[@hmoobshow2482]

Congrats Damian way to go

[@Davvid1]

Thanks a lot again Damion.

[@billythao152]

Congratulations brother

[@ichabod13]

Nice job you killed it! Good practice to win a tournament before another tournament haha!

[@toroblanco1637]

Congrats on the win!

[@bretking5907]

Congratulations!

[@salvadorlimon7051]

Right on Damien!!!🎉🎉I enjoy all your videos!🙏🏼

[@dthao92]

Thanks brother! Glad you enjoyed it

[@markcordero786]

Damian is on PED for fishing. JK This guy is a monster. Congrats, Damian.

[@channel2drew983]

🥱 ohhh Damian Ohhh Damian hahaha congrats brotha as always great job

[@MikesFishingAdventures]

Need to rent a storage for them trophies dude 😂😂😂

[@dejakixiong9142]

Damian keeps saying he just got lucky.......it ain't luck man.....hahaha...DAMIAN A BEAST!!!!!!

[@simonsaysher]

Great fishing, I do the same exact thing as well when they start flopping around 15:08. Sometimes it just ain’t worth getting stuck by their spiny fins. 😂

[@inquieto714]

Congrats bro !!!

[@dinks5592]

Good job brother 🙌👏👏

[@Tommebouy]

Damian always figuring em out

[@Wilford_j]

Congrats

[@johndrx165]

Great job!!

[@TWC6724]

Damian don’t play. Drops the hammer….again 🎣

[@jamesschnell4919]

Nice tourney dude

[@Jsizzle6194life]

Damian D train Thao

[@Banger101Vaaj]

Nice dub…

[@pit1982]

Good job !!! #1

[@pmm422]

Once again really appreciate the wrap up summery some of those details were not evident in the video footage, thank you! I'm curious when the fish haven't wanted the flutter spoon have you tried the Berkley finisher. It seems like it would be a competing technique but a bit smaller presentation. I haven't had an opportunity to use them yet and I was wondering if they actually catch fish. Oh and congratulations on the win, I'm guessing you're out of wall space for all those 1st place plaques.

[@dthao92]

Thanks! I have not tried the finisher yet but I’m sure it will work. I just didn’t feel like the spoon was going to get me the right bites at this tournament. It’s hard to put that topwater down when they are crushing it lol

[@pmm422]

@@dthao92 absolutely!

[@michaelventriere8572]

Damian you have to do a video on the knot you use. I may be seeing it wrong but from what it looks like you have no tag end?

[@cmxvirunit9468]

Was at Melones 2 weeks ago on a busy Saturday.. caught 5 keeper bass only.. I must be doing something wrong 😆

[@dthao92]

It can be quite tough if the fish aren’t around. I just got lucky and stumbled across a few that wanted to eat

[@cmxvirunit9468]

@@dthao92 I threw everything.. football jigs, drop shot, flicshakes, Ned rig, jerk, popper.. at the end of the day i resorted to a weightless senko and got bit.

[@johnnyboombatz7328]

Congrats Damian!! Just wondering if you still like your xi3 or would you prefer a stern mount motor instead?

[@dthao92]

I still like my Xi3. Only downside is that it’s much slower than the stern mount so I get beat to a spot I want almost every time. But the Spotlock is a huge help if you are offshore fishing. I have a stern mount motor too, I just pick which motor is best for the lake I’m going to be fishing. If I’m planning to fish shallow all day I’ll go with the stern mount

[@everydayangler3244]

💪💪🔨

[@chuymercado9003]

Damn you use cvkf to practice for yab lol

[@davidprovost112]

great job. were you picking all those fish up on the ffs?

[@dthao92]

A few of them when I was throwing the topwater. but all the ones I caught on the jig. I didn’t see anything on the FF sonar.

[@db9818]

I am curious about measuring fish when caught outside the mouth? Fish and Game rules state a catch is inside the mouth any fish caught outside the mouth may not be retained. In past big name tournaments like Bassmaster on Clear Lake years ago a pro had to release multiple big winning fish due to being hooked outside mouth, boat judge present. As a tournament anglers is it fine to measure a “snagged” fish? I know I don’t but I’ve seen it done in multiple tournament videos in Ca.

[@dthao92]

It varies on tournaments. It will be listed in the rules for the specific tournament you are fishing. For Yak-a-bass, you can score a fish that’s not hooked in the mouth as long as it wasn’t a bed fish or a fish you can visually see. When I was fishing Wild West, every fish must be hooked in the mouth. So it really just depends on the trail you are fishing. Even big boat trails like NewJen is the same. As long as it’s not a sight fish then it can be scored.

[@db9818]

@@dthao92 interesting, it would seem like all tournament trails would have to follow CA law which isn’t subjective to bed fishing, simply states a legal catch is inside the mouth. Thanks for your input

[@dthao92]

@@db9818 I know what you mean, but it will be similar to some of the lakes that has a 1-2 fish bag limit or slot limit to keep or boat. Tournaments are exempt from that reg and tourney anglers are allowed to bag 5 fish and anything over 12 or 13”. I just follow the tournament rules lol

[@venkust]

what jig were you using?

[@s1jvilla]

Who makes that phantom craw jig?

[@dthao92]

A couple guys make the Phantom Craw. Tas Moua of TMCustomLures makes some, LaCustomJigs and JigSuckinLips makes them

[@s1jvilla]

Awesome. Thanks! Keep tearing it up!

[@idontstunt2613]

What size sakamata shad do you use

[@dthao92]

It’s the 5”

[@Danxiong]

What is ur go-to color for the Sakamata Shad?

[@dthao92]

Shoot idk. It’s all in Japanese lol. But looks like Tennessee shad

[@Danxiong]

@@dthao92lol I appreciate the reply

[@seanycha]

Your link for the teckle kickknocker doesn't work

[@dthao92]

Thanks for letting me know. I fixed it

[@steveseagraves529]

Foul hooked fish should be released and not counted!

[@dthao92]

If it’s bed fish/sight fish then it doesn’t count but if it’s not a fish you can visually see then it’s scorable. I don’t make these tournament rules.

[@steveseagraves529]

Swimbait fish same way, you can't keep. Watch bassmaster elite series etc. Guess it depends on what league you're fishing in. But, foul hooked fish never should be kept.

[@dthao92]

@@steveseagraves529 I believe that was way back in the days if I remembered correctly? Clear lake? Yeah it just depends on the trail you fish. When I was fishing WWBT every fish must be caught in the mouth but I believe majority of bigger boat trails like NewJen allow fish to be weighed in as long as it wasn’t a sight fish/bed fish hooked on the outside. So just depends on what trail you are fishing. I remembered when I was fishing a WWBT tournament, I was catching a bunch of giants on a 8” magnum spoon. I couldn’t score any of those fish because they were hooked on the side of the mouth and not inside.

[@wolverinex4243]

Try it at Bass Lake. You ain't gonna do that. Try it at Mazanita. Try it at Millerton. Would love to see you clowns out there.

[@tonyh.9957]

Damn you got whupped by Damion so bad you had to come back to the comments to be relevant. LoL

[@dennistidwell7188]

Really enjoyed watching you solve that spotted bass 🧩. Definitely learned a thing or two as well.......

[@dthao92]

Glad you enjoyed it