Former tour pro Stephen “Bub” Tosh, Jr., of Modesto, California, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces to win the Western Toyota Series event at the California Delta and earn the top payout of $25,604. Tosh’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 59 pounds even earned him the victory by a 4-03 margin over second-place pro Lane Olson of Forest Grove, Oregon, who caught 15 bass weighing 54-13.
Tosh said he combined a duo of baits that are out of production with a modern-day staple.
“I had two 6-pounders this week and a couple of 5-pounders, but no giant fish,” he said. “Most of my fish came on a Transporter Frog made by Paycheck Baits that I designed years ago. They haven’t made them in years, but they’re going for $60 to $80 on eBay.”
Tosh’s other legacy bait was a Paycheck Baits Punch Skirt, another throwback to another time that he still has a few of in his tackle shop.
To supplement those baits, Tosh added a ChatterBait, a wacky-rigged Senko and a Lobina Rico Popper that helped him cull up with mostly 3-pounders. He boated them in secret, in hidden cuts and pockets tucked deep in the Delta’s maze, and that, he said, was by design.
“I think about my grandpa out there,” he added. “I think about my dad who doesn’t fish much anymore. I think about that older generation watching and fishing vicariously through me. I’m a tournament warrior that was raised by an extreme angler who fished until he couldn’t anymore.”
Here's how the Top 10 finished up:
1st: Stephen Tosh, Jr., Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 59-00, $25,604
2nd: Lane Olson, Forest Grove, Ore., 15 bass, 54-13, $9,922
3rd: Nick Salvucci, Atascadero, Calif., 14 bass, 53-12, $7,681
4th: Randy Pierson, Oakdale, Calif., 15 bass, 52-09, $7,401
5th: Ronald Lorenzo, Princeton, Calif., 15 bass, 52-07, $5,761
6th: Christian Ostrander, Turlock, Calif., 15 bass, 52-05, $5,621
7th: Phillip Dutra, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 52-00, $4,481
8th: Brett Leber, Dixon, Calif., 15 bass, 50-14, $3,841
9th: Benjamin Byrd, Moab, Utah, 15 bass, 48-06, $3,200
10th: Michael Caruso, Peoria, Ariz., 15 bass, 47-15, $2,560
Gregg Leonard of Wilton, California, won the $500 Day-1 Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division Thursday with a largemouth weighing 9-09. Ostrander earned Friday’s $500 Berkley Big Bass award with a 7-12 specimen.
