Shane Martin Goes Wire-To-Wire for the Co-Angler Trophy

By Jody Only
OAKLEY, Calif. – Pro angler Ish Monroe of Oakdale, California claimed a hard-earned victory on his home waters of the California Delta at the final stop of the BAM Trail Pro/Am West Division, presented by Tackle Warehouse and the City of Oakley.

With blistering temperatures and tidal challenges, Monroe remained unfazed, weighing a final-day bag of 23.48 pounds to cap a three-day total of 62.79 pounds—securing the win and a $9,250 payday.

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Monroe Finds Redemption on Familiar Waters

OAKLEY, Calif. – The past three days were everything that pro angler Ish Monroe of Oakdale, Calif. could have wanted as the final stop of the BAM Trail’s West Division’s Pro/Am presented by Tackle Warehouse and the City of Oakley played out on his home water the California Delta at his preferred time of year.

By scales closing on Championship Sunday, Monroe had bagged another 23.48 for the day, notching a tournament total of 62.79, hoisting the champion’s trophy and pocketing $9,250 including $250 contingence from Bass Boat Technologies for the W. Ish will also take home Skeeter Real Money, Yamaha Power Play, Power Pole Captains Cash and Costa bringing his winnings to $25k

“Everything went right, pretty much the whole week,” said Monroe. “This is my time of year. I love it because they’re always eating a frog and the punch. I don’t pick up a dropshot. I don’t have a spinning rod in the boat.”

Foregoing any type of finesse tactic, Monroe added a ChatterBait to his tournament arsenal and relied on it heavily for the final day of fishing.

“It was a JackHammer in B-Hites Hot Craw, a brown and red color with a Missile Baits Spunk Shad trailer in Rotten Tomato, a color exclusive to Fisherman’s Warehouse, so you got to go there to get it,” he said.

His punch rig held a Missile Baits D Bomb, and he rotated through three colors. Once again, the exclusive Rotten Tomato color from Fisherman’s Warehouse as well as Peanut Butter and Jelly and Monroe’s favorite Candy Grass. His frog fish fell to a River2Sea Phat Mat Daddy.

Although he managed to land more than two dozen keepers each day, Monroe’s fishing time was abbreviated as he made a 160 mile trek daily to his fishing location.

“I got into an area that you really cannot get into on super-low water; but we had the perfect tides; we had low incoming water to get in and high outgoing water to get out,” he said. “I ran my Yamaha 160 miles burning about 40 gallons of gas every day.”

Monroe was excited to finally get the BAM Delta victory as it had just slipped away from him the year prior when he finished 2nd on the tidal water fishery.

Also for his win Ish earns a spot in the BAM Pro Am Championship in September at Lake Almanor.

• JackHammer ChatterBait in B-Hites Craw with a Missile Baits Spunk Shad in Rotten Tomato (exclusive to Fisherman’s Warehouse)
• Punch setup with Missile Baits D Bomb in Rotten Tomato, Peanut Butter & Jelly, and Candy Grass
• River2Sea Phat Mat Daddy Frog in Yellow Head
• River2Sea Whopper Plopper in Yellow Head

Despite catching more than two dozen keepers daily, Monroe’s fishing time was limited by a 160-mile round trip run.

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Hunter Schlander Claims Second

Trailing Monroe by just over a pound was another NorCal pro Hunter Schlander of Modesto. Schlander secured 59.62 over the course of the three-day event to claim the 2nd place position. His biggest bag at 21.55 came in today when the conditions changed.

“The first two days there was no wind, and that made it really difficult,” said Schlander. “The fish were just not wanting to eat and cooperate; so, I punched and frogged the first two days and today completely changed it up. I threw a red ChatterBait most of the day.”

The ChatterBait that Schlander referenced was also a red and brown JackHammer. It was a ½-ounce version, rigged with a Missile Baits D Bomb trailer. He fished it with 20-pound fluorocarbon on a 6’8” ChatterBait rod and a Daiwa casting reel.

“Today it got windy; so, I ran around a little bit and tossed that thing (the JackHammer) around, when the reaction bite picked up.”

Hunter’s setup:

• ½-ounce JackHammer
• 6’8” ChatterBait rod
• 20-lb fluorocarbon
• Daiwa casting reel

Schlander earned $3,674 for his efforts.

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Christian Ostrander Rallies to Third

A formidable opponent on the Delta, Christian Ostrander of Turlock, Calif. finished his event landing in the third place spot with 52.22. Ostrander’s largest limit of 20.40 also came with the Day Three condition changes.

“I struggled the first day,” Ostrander recalled. “I had too much water on my mind.”

After dropping 13.55 on Day One, Ostrander regrouped and prepared for a comeback. He returned each day increasing his weight and catching fish on a variety of baits.

“I caught fish out of Frank’s Tract, out of Big Break, out of Mildred, I caught ‘em all throughout the Delta,” he shared. “I punched and threw a Plopper, and threw a ChatterBait, and flipped around through the tules with a ½-ounce weight. Today, I threw a squarebill with the wind.”

Although he transitioned through baits, he stuck to basics on colors. “It seems like a lot of the fish are eating bluegill and want that green color,” he said.

Ostrander shared that in addition to the ChatterBait which like the others was a JackHammer, he also employed a Missile Baits D Bomb, and a Yamamoto Flapping Hog for weigh fish.

A payout of $2,858 came with 3rd place for Ostrander.

Ostrander’s bait list included:

• Missile Baits D Bomb
• Yamamoto Flapping Hog
• JackHammer
• River2Sea Whopper Plopper

He took home $2,858 for third place.

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Co-Angler Champion Shane Martin Dominates Wire-to-Wire

Going into the final day paired with Ish Monroe, Shane Martin of Discovery Bay, Calif. got a lesson in OG fishing style and sealed the deal on his wire-to-wire win for the co-angler side with a tournament total of 40.03.

“I got new age fishing and Ish has got the old school technique,” Martin stated. “He caught ‘em good and basically, I was junk fishing. I tied on 10 different baits.”

A frog, a dropshot, a gold Colorado-bladed underspin with a 4.8 Keitech, and a ChatterBait that Monroe gave Martin were just some of what the co-angler tried.

“Ish pointed out a fish when I was waiting to get the net and I pitched (a dropshot) in there and that was around five pounds,” Martin said. “I fished it on a Dobyns spinning rod I bought for this tournament specifically with a Lews reel and 15-pound line. You cannot go under 15 or you will break off fish and a big shoutout to Pline Tactical that stuff doesn’t break!”

The BAM event was Martin’s first-ever big stage tournament. With a win at his first Pro/Am, he will pocket $4,670 and the memory of being a champion. It is hard to imagine he won’t forever have tournament fever.

His successful baits included:

• ChatterBait (courtesy of Monroe)
• Frog
• Dropshot
• 4.8 Keitech on a gold Colorado-blade underspin

Martin’s key setup:

• Dobyns spinning rod
• Lews reel
• 15-lb P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon