04/27/2026
Yak-A-Bass Lake Berryessa April 18–19
Yak-A-Bass took over Lake Berryessa in full force, bringing together the Solo and Team divisions for one of the most electric weekends we’ve seen in years. With over 130 anglers hitting the water across two days, this event delivered on every level—competition, community, and next-level experiences.
For the first time in years, anglers launched from a single location, bringing back a style of event that created nonstop energy from start to finish. From takeoff to check-in, Berryessa was alive with competition and camaraderie.
Steele Canyon Resort became the hub of it all, hosting the largest group campout of the season so far. Campsites were packed with anglers dialing in rigs, sharing knowledge, swapping baits, and helping each other prepare. It didn’t matter if you were new or a seasoned competitor—everyone was part of it. This is the culture that makes Yak-A-Bass what it is.
Saturday night raised the bar even higher with a massive potluck hosted by the Headwaters Kayak Fishing Team. Able and the crew delivered in a big way, bringing everyone together off the water for great food, great conversations, and an even stronger sense of community. If you missed it, you missed one of the best parts of the weekend.
Berryessa also made history as anglers got the first on-the-water demo of the new FluxJet kayaks. This wasn’t just a preview—this was real-world testing, and the response was immediate. Anglers came off the water knowing they had just experienced the future of kayak fishing. Huge thank you to FluxJet for giving Yak-A-Bass that opportunity.
Windtoys stepped up in a major way as well, setting up a mobile kayak shop right at camp. From last-minute gear to on-the-spot fixes, they made sure anglers stayed on the water and ready to compete. That kind of support matters, and we appreciate everything they did for the event.
When it came down to it, Berryessa produced.
Yak-A-Bass Solos Results
1st – Daniel Balaba $1218
2nd – Keith Gouveia $778
Pre-fish caught lots of fish but nothing of any size. So, game day decided to call an audible and make a long run to areas I hadn’t fished in quite some time. 1.25 hours later finally cast a line with a shakey head on an island point and landed a 16.75 spotted bass that would be part of the bag. Ran points and inside corners looking for bluff walls and rock early. Found a couple more fish in the 14–15” range that eventually were culled up. They were caught on a Megabass 110+1 and the shakey head. 45 minutes later, in a cove buried in the trees found another 16.75 smallie on a shakey head. My next keeper was the biggest of the day, about 9:00 am off a steep bluff wall in about 20 ft of water. This was a 21.75” largie spawned out caught on the shakey head. After this fish, decided to change strategy and start searching coves looking for bait trapped by bass. Made another 1/2 hour run to a Y cove. The left arm held no bait but a 14” largie that was briefly part of the bag. Went to the right arm and it was packed full of shad pushed up to the shore by a wolf pack. Caught a 15” smallie casting from deep to shallow and then turned it around and sat in 1 ft of water and casted deep to shallow with a 6” swimbait. Got bit twice and the second time produced a 15.5 spot that was penalized 1” for open mouth. Left that cove and ran back towards the launch. Found a cove with a shallow ledge on entry that dropped to 15 ft. Area was packed with bait and spent 45 minutes casting and catching a few. Best one came on the big swimbait and was 20.5”. Cut across the lake and headed back towards the ramp area and began fishing the first point around 1:30 pm where caught the final cull of 17.5”. Fun day of fishing and I really didn’t see any kayakers until I crossed back later in the day. Did not catch nearly as many fish as in pre-fish, but caught more of the right ones. Would like to thank the folks at Yak-A-Bass, my wife for allowing me to pursue this addiction, and all the competitors for making this a great event.
3rd – Joey Silva $440
I started the morning by making a long run to the Pleasure Cove arm, which took about an hour. I found a pocket that had an offshore grass flat and submerged bushes. I noticed that bass were holding to cover and some were guarding fry in 5–15 feet of water. I used an urchin-style bait (Coike 17mm) rigged neko style with a 3/0 hook and a 1/32 ounce nail weight. I would throw over pieces of structure and rip the Coike like a jerkbait to get fish to show themselves. I caught all my fish on this rig, with my biggest fish coming out of deeper water than the others (about 25 feet). The day was a grind with the bite shutting off in the second half of the day.
I’d like to thank North Bay Fishing Tackle, my local tackle shop and partner in Rohnert Park, CA, for stocking these baits which are hard to get at the moment.
4th – Andrew Serar $252
I knew a lot of people were probably going to make some far runs in the morning, and my goal was to stay away from the crowds and maximize the morning bite window. So, I decided to stay in the Steele Canyon area. I immediately found some small groups of bait fish and a few fish roaming around. I decided to start off with the 5" Hinge Minnow on a 3/16 oz Gamakatsu Horizon Head, targeting fish in the 10–15 ft range. Within the first hour, I was able to trick 4 fish on the minnow utilizing my Humminbird Xplore and MegaLive 2, including my big fish of the day at 21.50". Once the sun came up, the minnow bite really tapered off. So I made a mid-morning change to an urchin-style bait (Skinny Bear Shake Em Up) with a nail weight. I found a few fish out on a grass flat in about 10–15 ft of water and made a couple key culls throwing the urchin on the LiveScope. The key for me was staying near my starting area, as I knew the fish weren’t as prevalent, but they were the right size to put me near the top. Be sure to check out Fisherman’s Warehouse to find these baits and any other products you need for your next trip.
5th – Mark Steiner $221
Tournament morning I saw the majority heading out to the main lake and decided to check some coves I saw on maps that were closer. Started near a bluff wall where I saw fish jumping minutes before lines in. As soon as 6:30 hit I had the popper in my hand. Second cast I get an 18.25 largemouth to hit it, followed shortly by a smaller smallmouth. After the action died down around me I started throwing a minnow around and quickly caught a small limit. I had worked my way around the bluff wall but knew the cove was what I wanted to check out, so I doubled back and that’s when I found them corralling bait in literally 3 feet of water. Got two others on a minnow but quickly started giving them different looks and caught another on a spinnerbait. Once they were done they staged at the opening of the cove where I decided to stay the rest of the tournament picking them up mostly on a shakey head and a crankbait. Probably caught about 20 more fish slowly culling here and there. Leaving fish to find fish is a hard decision, just didn’t get that bigger kicker I needed to really jump up there, but couldn’t be happier with the day I had. I want to thank my wife and kids who follow on TourneyX and support me, also my buddy Josh Harguth for always being my camp buddy.
6th – John Ellis $189
7th – Reed Frazier $157
I chose to sit on a community hole for most of the day that typically holds bigger fish. Since the spot is highly pressured, the bites are few and far between, which requires letting the fish reset for periods of time. The morning bite was definitely better for me. While waiting for lines in, I saw a bunch of shad and fish working the area. Unfortunately, they all moved off by the time 6:30 came around, but I still caught my first fish a few minutes in at 18.5". I caught my biggest fish 45 minutes later. I briefly left the area to go work a spot that was holding more bait to let my primary area reset. Luckily, I was able to get a 19.75” fish before returning to my primary spot. It took me several more hours before I finally hooked into a big one, which unfortunately jumped and threw the hook despite me keeping my whole rod tip down in the water. I never got another worthwhile bite after that. It was ultimately a grinder of a day. All of my fish came on a minnow or urchin-style bait. Looking forward to Clear Lake.
8th – Alden Walden $126
Found a cove during normal YAB that had millions of shad in the shallows. Only squawfish were feeding on them that morning, but I didn’t see any other bait the rest of the day, so for the team tournament I knew I had to check just in case—and it paid off. I stayed within 100 yards the entire day, mostly with my motor stuck in the mud casting a weightless fluke on 65 lb braid at busting fish in less than 2 ft of water and occasionally moving into 10 ft of water to cast at busting fish when they would push smaller bunches of bait into open water. Absolutely epic day on the water for the team event, 60–70 fish boated. Not sure I went 10 minutes without catching a fish during the day, mostly 14”–16” cookie cutters, but there were some good ones in the mix as well. Shoutout to my guy O for bringing the kicker to the table.
Big Fish – John Ellis $1536 (24.75 inches)
YakPot
1st – $1008
2nd – $504
3rd – $302
4th – $201
Yak-A-Bass Teams Results
Shaun – After taking a huge gamble on Saturday and doing an 8 mile run to Pleasure Cove, which only produced 14.5” fish, I knew that wasn’t going to get the job done on Sunday for the team tournament. Speaking with my team partner Isiah West, I decided it was a better idea to head to an area where he found some fish on bait around Big Island. Started throwing a Yamamoto Baits 5” Senko wacky rig and a Big Bite Baits Nekorama around some trees. Caught a few fish 14–15”. Then around 9 am I headed over to the east shoreline. I started to fish some old areas I have fished in the past. Ended up catching fish in w**d patches in 20 ft of water. I was throwing a 4” YUM Sonar Minnow on a 3/16 oz ball head, 10 lb Berkley Gin Clear fluorocarbon leader to 15 lb X9 braid, 6’9” Abu Garcia Vendetta rod with a 3000 series Pro Max reel. Didn’t see too many fish on top of the w**d beds. Just worked the minnow just above the w**ds, even touching the w**ds sometimes, and the w**d edge would get most of the bites. The big fish, the 23.5” one, was caught on a Yamamoto Baits 5” Senko wacky rigged. The big fish was sitting in a tree in 10 ft of water. I have to thank God for giving me the opportunity to be on the water with all these great anglers and friends. I also thank Him for keeping myself and fellow anglers safe on the water and giving me the ability to do what I love to do. I want to thank my partner Isiah West. We really balance and complement each other’s fishing ways and techniques. He always has good information and strategies for the tournament. Couldn’t have done it without him. My wife for all the support. Of course my sponsors: RBBass Outdoors, GSM Outdoors, Roboworm, Yamamoto Baits, Big Bite Baits, Dobyns Rods, Pure Fishing, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Pro Point Fishing Lures, Frenzy Baits. Give me a follow on YouTube: (Freestyle Fishing)
2nd – Alden Walden / O Williams $307 each
3rd – Reed Frazier / Nick Doring $184 each
4th – Joey Silva / Jesse Hoover $122 each
After struggling the day before to catch decent quality fish up shallow and only putting up 82", I decided to switch things up and start out deep on a main lake hump in 15–30 feet of water. I caught a limit early that was better than what I had the previous day, so I stuck with the offshore deal all day. I caught all of my fish on a 5" minnow and a Neko rig. The bite really slowed down for me after 11:00 am, and I never could cull after that. I’d like to thank my team partner Joey Silva and Yak-A-Bass for putting on an awesome event.
5th – Dana Remy / Casey Remy $60 each
Big Fish – Kevin Doughty $775 (22.25 inches)
Going into the teams tournament on Sunday after having a mediocre day for the solo tournament on Saturday, I decided to take a very long run to fish an entirely new area of the lake on Sunday. My plan was to go back into a couple creek arms I mapped out the day before. Luckily it was a good decision. As soon as I dropped my Sniper Pole I started marking shad balls everywhere. Rather than throwing a minnow, I decided to throw a Neko rig into the bait balls and into the submerged trees and started catching fish on almost every cast. About an hour into the back of the creek arm, I threw into a laydown off the bank in about 10 ft of water and I had the lightest of bites. Barely felt it, but once I set the hook, my rod bent down instantly. I knew it was big, but until I saw it coming up to jump, I didn’t really know how big. I knew I didn’t want to horse it in on 10 lb test, so I had to play it a bit. It kept taking line every time it was close to the net. My heart was pounding knowing it could be big fish of the day. Finally I got it into the net and it ended up being a 22.25" fish weighing in at 6.5 lbs. I ended the tournament with 88.75" and a big fish award. I want to thank Yak-A-Bass and the entire crew for putting on such an amazing weekend. It was a blast.
This event was everything Yak-A-Bass is about—competition at a high level, innovation on the water, and a community that continues to grow stronger every single event.
Thank you to every angler, sponsor, and supporter who made this weekend possible.
We’ll see you all May 9th at Clearlake for a combined Solo and Team event. Registration will be live on TourneyX very soon.
Yak-A-Bass
