BY DAVE HURLEY
RAYMOND –Eastman Reservoir on the Chowchilla River is California’s first trophy largemouth reservoir, and it has a deserved reputation for trophy bass with many local anglers practicing catch and release with a variety of techniques. Eastman is a unique reservoir without spotted bass or threadfin shad, and largemouth bass grow large on plants of rainbow trout along with the lake’s crappie and bluegill population. After a few years where double-digit largemouth seemed to be on the decline, Eastman is back on the radar starting in December with a 16.01-pound largemouth caught and released by Max Lee of Fresno on a kayak. The lake turns 50 years old this year, and the best information is the previous lake record was between 16.90 and 16.10 pounds. Lee and Aaron Vang are part of a handful of local kayak anglers putting in their time at Eastman, but the best known is two-time world freshwater kayak gold medalist, Damian Thao. Thao’s reputation as a champion kayak fisherman is cemented, but he elevated his legacy over the past weekend with a lake-record largemouth weighing in a 17.46 pounds on his Rapala Scale.
Thao said, “The past seven trips on the lake have been incredibly productive with limits over 30 pounds each time with 6 or 7 double-digit bass. Several of the bass over 10 pounds were skinny, but with trout plants scheduled over the next two weeks, the bass will be feeding heavily on the planters. I’ve been finding bass in the 4- to 6-pound range on the BGC Custom glide bait, and most of my big fish have been hooked on the Workingclass Zero Tyrant 10. I arrived at the lake on Sunday, and after pulling up to the first spot, I landed a 7.5 and 10.5 on the Tyrant 10 swimbait within the first 20 to 30 minutes. After a few more casts with some tail grabbers, I switched over to a 10-inch Megabass Magdraft in Albino Pearl on P-Line’s 30-pound Ultimate Fluorocarbon line, making 3 casts toward a tree. On the third cast, I popped it free from the limbs and the big girl ate. She came to the net quickly, and at first, I thought she was just another 10, maybe pushing 12 until I held her up. The scale bounced between 17 and 17.70 pounds due to the high winds and wakes, so I went to the bank to get a better scale reading. She ended up going 17.46 weighed on land. A good friend was close by, and he informed me, ‘This is the lake record’. I ended up putting the fish in his live well to keep her alive while I went back to the ramp for cell service to reach out for a certified scale. I made multiple attempts at trying reaching Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ranger Station to obtain a certified scale to weigh the fish. When did finally reach someone at CDFW, I was told to fill out an application. Finding few options to get a verified weight, we reweighed her on a Bubba Smart Fish Scale at 17 pounds/14 ounces. Since the weights were all over the place, I decided to just drive the live fish to a certified scale. Finding a scale at a local business, the fish weighed 18.75 pounds before returning to the lake to release her where she was caught. I was informed the next day by a friend that the certified scale needed to be brought to the lake or fish needed to be dead to be transferred to weigh. This was a good learning lesson as I never thought I’d find myself in a position to hold the unofficial lake record fish in my hands. Even though it seemed like it was the right thing to do, it is against the law to transfer live fish. This didn’t even click with me until it was mentioned There were three different weights for this fish, and I’m going to go with the lowest at 17.46 for my personal-best. I share this information in the desire to be transparent.”
Thao added, “There have always been big fish in the lake, but you have to time it right as they move into predictable locations during the pre-spawn. I’m not specifically out there looking for big fish since I enjoy landing bass regardless of size, but this is the time to throw big baits. I have been throwing big swimbaits right now since I am trying to master the technique since we have kayak Nationals in Tennessee on the horizon. I spend a lot of time on the lake practicing a variety of techniques, and I have been helped by so many other anglers who have shortened my learning curve.”
It’s safe to say that Eastman is holding its end of the bargain as a big bass lake, and the potential for a world or state record largemouth bass is present if anglers are willing to let the big girls go.
