Big Fred finishes strong at Clear Lake
November 2, 2007
Big Fred Contaoi of Orange County Choppers put together quite a day on Clear Lake last Friday at the FLW National Guard Western and finished 15th for the tourney. He also took top honors for big fish with 11-pound, 1 ouncer. (Photo by Brett Carlson)
Fred was fired up to fish his home lake after being away for 11 months on tour. However, he returned to find Clear Lake to be a totally different animal than he expected. Due to a dry winter and hot summer, the lake was a good 6 feet down for the tournament — and most of Contaoi’s honey holes were high and dry.
He hung tough, however, and came up with a game plan that earned him his first top 20 finish and over $12,000 in prize money. Here’s how it all happened, in his own words…
“I had a tough practice in learning a whole new lake with respect to water level,” Big Fred said in an interview after the event. “Fall has never been my strongest time of year as I am usually duck hunting and river guiding. I found the primary bank that I fished throughout the whole tournament on the last day of practice. I fished the same three hundred yard stretch for all three days. I only left the spot twice for about an hour on the first day. I had confidence that the fish were there and they would replenish each
day.”
“On day one I had a co-angler from Japan that outfished me by four
pounds. I was both jig and finnesse fishing on day one. He was only
finesse fishing and he got a much larger bite on average. I felt his success
was due to using seven pound fluorocarbon. I made the adjustment on day
two. I started strong with the jig and then alternated for the rest of
the day with 5 pound Fluoro. I also found that I hooked larger fish on
the very light rig. I think the difference with the light line was
castability and the way the worm fished. You ask why I went to 5 lb over 7
or 8.
“I will only fish with Blackwater by Toray. The line is from
Japan and I have great confidence using it. I only had one light spool
with me and it was the 5 lb Super Finesse (I wish in hindsight that I
had 6 or 7). I lost a couple of big fish each day that would have took
me to top ten.
“The fish that mattered most was the 11.1 that I did land
after an epic battle. The fish ran in and out of the rocks several
times and two long jaunts off shore. I really had no idea the fish was
that big but when I saw her I felt confident I could land her as she had
already been on the line for 7 or 8 minutes. The big fish came to
the surface several times. I knew she was close to hand , so I told my
partner to slip her into the net the next time she came up (if she was
calm). She came up one more time then sounded all the way down to the
bottom in twenty five feet. The next time she came up she was ready.
“As
she came to the surface the net was gently slipped under her. When she
swam down she was securely in the net. What a feeling on 5 lb Test!
That fish alone almost put me to top ten. She took big bass for the day
and secured the SNICKERS big bass for the tournament day (paying an
additional $500). The battle with that fish was ten minutes or more with
as much pressure as I could without breaking her off.
I went from wishes of making top 50 and a great check to a photo finish
just 3 lbs from top ten. Any one of the big fish that got away from
my hook during the tournament would have made the cut.”
Big Fred is now prepping for the kickoff of the 2008 FLW Tour, which is just around the corner.
Hell of a fish, Fred!!
A bruiser.
I mean the fish.
Although Big Fred is kind of a bruiser too.
Wow, Way to Go Big Fred…pulling from 75th to 15th with that one big monster Bass!!! That was awesome!!!