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View Full Version : My DVL ABA Tournament Story..



Pete Marino
04-11-2012, 08:21 PM
Okay, well The bite has been epic to say the least over the last 2 weeks at DVL... Spring is in FULL AFFECT and there are bass in Prespawn, Spawn, and Post Spawn..
Leading up to last Saturdays tournament I had been on the lake ALOT to say the least. Ive dialed in my bite all the way to the line size, hook size, depth, time of day, bait...and presentation.. This time of year is a fun time at DVL because you can target fish in all facets of the spawn...
Over the last week before my tournament I was out on Monday..and had about 24 lbs for my best 5 bass and caught around 40 bass... Then I was there on Thursday and my plan for the day was to stay off my best stuff and run my patterns on water I havent visited lately... So I stayed with my plan and at the end of the day on thursday I had about 27 lbs for my best 5 bass and we caught about 35 bass...and that was just running a couple of my patterns on new water!!! :Shocked:
Then Friday I was back out there and ran the same few patterns and had a whopping 29 lbs for my best 5 bass which included a big 8 lb DVL post spawn largemouth that I caught AND I left a 7 lb bedfish so I could try for it in the tournament..If I would have caught that bass it would have put me over 32 lbs for the day for my best 5 bass... AND THAT 7 lber and the 4 lb male that was with her both bite my baits with cut hooks several times each so I knew they were catchable...
My 8 lber was actually 7lbs 14 oz but close enough to 8 lbs to call it that..and it had the head of a 10 lber... that bass was 9-10 lbs about a week or two ago prior to dropping her eggs.
I ended friday with about 36 bass total...AGAIN that was running new water, I was staying off my "go to" spots!!!
So when Friday night rolled around I was anxious with anticipation....I was like a kid on Christmas eve...Lets just say, It was hard to sleep...hahhaha
So on Friday night I called my partner Kevin Gross and told him what I had found....so needless to say we were both fired up for the next day..and I told him the game plan for the day.. Our game plan was this.. throw deep swimbaits on our starting spot to bass I had located stacked up in 30-40 ft of water then bust out the spinning rods with 6lb flouro and finesse baits for the rest of the day and run and gun on spots I had found fish stacked up on in 2-10 ft of water and 30-40 ft of water...
Tournament day.... I woke up before the alarm of coarse hahaha and I hooked up the SKEETER and headed to DVL..
I drew boat number 8 and wasnt sure if Id get my starting spot.... then we blast off and Im the only boat heading towards my starting spot... Now Im really getting anxious..
I shut the big motor down and cruise about 50 yards into the area....NO BOATS ARE THERE...JUST US... my hands were slightly shaking from the anticipation...as I cruise up with the troller I get out the swimbait rod....and Kevin, for some reason got out his finesse rod... I tell him to go ahead and throw that and If I start getting bit Id tell him to switch to the swimbait.
I put the boat in position and BOMB a cast to 55 ft of water...my plan is to bring the swimbait through the trees in this certain area because I located deep trees in 35-45 ft with my HDS 7 w/structure scan that were loaded with bass.
I let the bait fall to bottom and slowly begin the retrieve.... as my bait gets to the trees in about 45 ft I feel it coming through the tree branches at the tops of the trees....as my bait gets to about the 35ft zone..SMACK!!! I GET BIT...but it doesnt hook up :mad: I tell Kevin I just got smacked.. So I fire out another cast...I begin the retrieve...after about 10 reels...WHACK!!! But it doesnt hook up as I continue the retreive....Then Smack again!!! STILL DOESNT HOOK UP....2 casts 3 bites 0 bass WTF Why arent they taking the whole bait I ask myself... Then i fire out another cast and get bit AGAIN...AND AGAIN it doesnt hook up....after a couple expletives..hahha I tell Kevin to fire out his swimbait... So we both fire out LONG casts to the deep water...About 1/2 way in Kevin says IM ON... as a good bass surfaces about 50 yards from the boat with Kevins swimbait deep in its mouth! I say, "Ski him in" as Kevin is feverishly reeling his big bass on the surface all the way to the net... NICE 5 lber!!!!! We do a quick high five and I pick up my rod to continue my retrieve...after about 10 yards smack..Another bass hits my swimbait but doesnt hook up.... UNREAL!!! hahahaha Ive had 5 bites and none of them hooked up but Im glad Kevins did!! Then about 2 casts later I get thumped again and again NO HOOKUP...."Its got to be smaller bass or stripers", I say.. After that last bite I didnt get bite anymore on the swimbait..:Confused::Confused: But I continued to throw it for the 1st hour.
When that 1st hour was up I tell Kevin...Its time to have some fun so I motor over to our next spot... the plan for this spot is to fish finesse baits on light line in 25-35 ft of water for bass I found early that week on an off shore structure spot... So we motor over there and I bomb out a cast to 40 ft of water and Kevin opts for the shallower side in 30ft....with in seconds its a double hook up and we put two 3 1/2 lbers in the boat....this spot was ON FIRE as we boated 18 keepers off that deep water spot...ALL FAT PRESPAWNERS But nothing over 3 3/4 lbs...
After putting a SEVERE HURT on them in a very short time they stopped biting....
Time for a move...Now its time for my to go catch my bedfish if they were there.. So We headed over there and I cruise in slowly hugging the bank with the boat looking out deep to 12 ft of water where the bed was.. As I creep up I have my bed bait in hand strapped with 65 lb braid... As I cruise up I see the male LOCKED up in the middle of the bed but the 7 lb female isnt there...So I wait and sit away from the bed for a few mintues to see if the female is around... After 10 mintues of waiting, The female never came around so I said "Oh well, shes gone" and I pulled up and made one pitch to the bed..my bait sank pefectly on the top middle of the bed and the male swam up and smoked my jig!!! I set the hook and swing a 4 lb Male bedfish into the boat...I dont need a stinking net with 65lb braid!!! hahahaha
Then I tell Kevin that were gonna make another move...so we hit an area that I found shallow bass stacked up...so we get to the area and we catch another 16 bass off that spot... In the process I caught 2 bass over 4 lbs... Now the 5 fish in our well were all over 4 lbs except for one that was 3 lbs 13 oz. Then we hit a couple more spots and catch another 10-12 bass none of which helped our weight...So I tell Kevin its time to hit our last spot and stay there the rest of the day for the last 2 hours.. I tell Kevin, "Im gonna catch a giant and YOURE gonna net it"... as he laughed and said..."I dont care who catches it...we just need a big one!!" As we pull up to our last spot Kevin gets bit instantly and swings a 3 1/2 lber in the boat...then he catches 7 more in a row YES SEVEN... on his 1st ten casts...BUT NONE OF THEM break the 4 lb mark...."We have to get rid of this 3 lb 13oz fish" I say.. Then I get bit and I set the hook..."GIANT", I say!!!! As a giant bass surges to deep water....I watch this bass on the graph go all the way down to almost 50ft of water as I sat over top of it...Then it starts heading straight to the surface..."Its gonna jump" I say... Right then a NICE FAT Prespawn female DVL bass comes leaping out of the water only to dive back down to 22ft under the boat....THESE PRESPAWNERS ARE FUN!!! BUT NOT IN A TOURANMENT, Id rather they just give up like the postspawners do...hahhaha Finally after about a 4 mintue fight on 6lb flouro I get her turned and heading to the boat where Kevin nets her....6 1/2 lber!!!!! BOOOOMMM BABBBBY!!!!! :Envious::Envious::Wink: Thats the one we needed I say!!!
Into the well goes the 6 1/2 lber and out goes the 3 lb 13oz bass.. SWEET!!!

We continued to fish hard to the very end catching more bass that didnt quite help....We caught a few more 4 lbers but nothing over 4 lbs 4 oz like we needed..
Thats it...time to go in..... We did all we could do!!! When all was said and done we caught about 65 bass between us and we weighed 23 1/2 lbs which was good enough for 4th place... Not exactly where I want to finish but a solid finish none the less My big bass was 6.29 lbs and was 3rd big bass of the tournament..

Guys... the bite is awesome to say the least at DVL right now...You just need to know where to find them and how to catch them.....All of our fish were caught in 3-45 ft of water....Swimbait fish were all 30-45 ft all on 1 oz swimbaits.
All the finesse bass were caught in 3-40 ft of water on plastics, 6lb line and SLOW presentation...

If youre struggling to get bit out there give me a call and book a trip and Ill get you out there and show you the ropes....PRESPAWN, SPAWN AND POST SPAWN BASS are there to be caught right now....AND ILL SHOW YOU HOW TO CATCH THEM!!!! April is a great month to go...This year the spawn will last until late May.....I just was out there again Monday and we had about 23 lbs for our best 5 .......with a couple 5 lbers in the mix...and we caught 45 bass total for the two of us...

PM me or call me...whichever, just get ahold of me and book your trip soon...Dont miss out on this EPIC bite...DVL During the Spring is flat out AWESOME!!!!

Pete :Cool:

PeteMarinoGuideService.com
(909) 510-5679

fishboy12
04-11-2012, 08:37 PM
Great thread Pete. Nice Big Bag. Talk to ya soon.

October
04-11-2012, 09:17 PM
my heart was racing reading this thing.

hey any suggestions on what type of big swimmies to use? I am fresh to DVL

tagg27
04-11-2012, 09:37 PM
WTG Pete!...nice bag and a great report as usual...wish my boat had a four stroke as DVL sounds like a blast.

Geraldlim
04-11-2012, 09:42 PM
Nice to see you out there the Friday before the meet. Glad you did well Pete!
Congratulations!

Rod Wynn
04-12-2012, 03:56 PM
Nice read..

hookup
04-12-2012, 07:20 PM
sounds like some dam good fishin

TroutOnly
04-12-2012, 08:26 PM
way to go pete ,i loved reading the report ,it was like i was in the boat,,,,,,,,,,,T/O,,,,,

adiablo420
04-12-2012, 10:36 PM
Every time I read your reports, IRS like listening to a radio show before tv was out.. Not that I'm that old.. Lol.. Great report and thanks for the info. I'll be out there this Saturday.. Let you guys know how I do...

BassinChef
04-13-2012, 02:08 AM
Awesome report Pete, Im going to try and get a buddy out there soon to catch his first bass, as soon as i can get some time away from work. 65 fish day thats just INSANE!!! great job out there on the Tourney and congrats on the 4th place finish even 1st would be so much better

Goger
04-14-2012, 08:15 AM
This is the first time I have ever replied/posted anything on this website and I do so with reluctance. Pete guided me and a buddy about a year ago and taught us techniques that proved invaluable. Pete does not hold back on his spots or techniques as I suspected might be the case of a successful tournament angler. My reluctance came from the fact that some of you might actually take my advice and have Pete guide you and become part of the competition. After thinking it over, I realized that the Jewel has plenty of fish for all and competition is good.

The proof is in the pudding:


My brother and I entered our first bass tournament (yes that is my boat) and we were fortunate enough to win.

Thanks Pete!

HawgZWylde
04-14-2012, 08:46 AM
This is the first time I have ever replied/posted anything on this website and I do so with reluctance. Pete guided me and a buddy about a year ago and taught us techniques that proved invaluable. Pete does not hold back on his spots or techniques as I suspected might be the case of a successful tournament angler. My reluctance came from the fact that some of you might actually take my advice and have Pete guide you and become part of the competition. After thinking it over, I realized that the Jewel has plenty of fish for all and competition is good.

The proof is in the pudding:


My brother and I entered our first bass tournament (yes that is my boat) and we were fortunate enough to win.

Thanks Pete!

First tourney and you won? Awesome job guys, those are some fat toads! Congrats to you! Haha, put the shame on your instructor, ouch! I've haven't used Pete's services, but I've heard about, and seen the results of his tutorials. When I do hire a guide, he will be the one. Nice job Pete, your "students" learned well, didn't they!

Pete Marino
04-14-2012, 10:19 AM
Your very welcome....HECK yeah... When he called me and told me he won the Lower Entry NBW event a few weeks ago I think I was just as happy as he was that he won!!! He gave me all the details on the win and the excitement in his voice was awesome!! What better way to have a day on the water then by fishing your first tournament ever with your brother and catching ALOT of big bass and WINNING the tournament!! GREAT JOB!!!
Ive got good news and bad news for you now bro... The good news is that your next tournament is a few weeks away on May 5th The National Bass Lower entry event...And you can try to go back to back.. The bad news is TEAM MARINO will be there fishing it as well....hhahaha Me and My Wife will be there gunning for the win!! hahaha Im already licking my chops for that tournament!! hahaha But as I told you..we'll share the water put our heads together and try to finish 1st and 2nd!!!!! Should be a fun time...Im thinking 24-25 lbs wins it!!!! And I hope its one of us!!!

HawgZWild......Hahaha No shame here... I didnt fish that tournament...even if I did Id be just as happy for them as I am now...Its all good and Im truely happy for them. Even if they win the next one when Im fishing it Ill still be happy for them. (But Im gonna win and their gonna get 2nd...I know this because I called Ms. Cleo and she told me!!) ; )

Thanks Fishboy...the time is now to get Joseph out there...

October..thanks, glad you like the story. I use 1 oz..rubber bodied swimbaits like the LA SLIDER.

Tagg.. thanks... you dont "Need" a 4 stroke... As long as you have a compliant 2 stroke youre good. I have a Yamaha HPDI (High presure direct inject)...most all motors from the last 8 years are good maybe even older I think...You might have a compliant motor and not even know it. If not then youll have to call me..hahaha Also Mercury Optimax is fine as well and they been making them since about 2001 I think.

Gerald..thank you...It was nice to meet you as well!!

Rod..Thanks Bro!

Hookup...Thank you!

T.O....thanks bud!!!

Adiablo...thank you..glad you liked the story!

Bassnchef....Thanks Gabino... Thanks bro.. call me in about a week.

To anybody else I forgot..Thank you. Im glad you liked the story.. Im not the best writer.. But what I do is always try to be candid and tell the story as If I was talking to you guys in person. Im glad Im able to in some way translate my day to you through the keyboard. : )

I was out at DVL 3 times this week and had BIG NMBERS and Big weight each time out!! The bite is only getting better!!!
If some of you have been on the fence about a trip OR even just getting oiut there on your own...get OFF the fence and make it happen..DVL IS GOING WFO!!!

Pete

Nitro
04-14-2012, 11:09 AM
I saw Pete out at DVL about two weeks ago and he had a couple of clients with him!! It was kind of funny we both launched at about the same time and we ended up back at the docks at the same time. Anyways, I talked to his clients before they left and as always they were very happy with the trip!! They caught a bunch of bass and learned some new techniques!! Way to go Pete, great job as always bro!!

bass413
04-14-2012, 08:43 PM
Reference Goger's reply about using what he's learned from Pete during tournaments....... X 2 !!!!!!

I have had the incredible luck to hire and fish with Pete Marino twice (once in the spring at DVL and once in the winter at Perris). During both trips, Pete held NOTHING back and answered EVERY question asked of him from colors of baits to reading of depth finders. I then entered a small tournament (held at DVL) and immediately deployed the techniques Pete showed me during the spring trip (the tournament was held in June). Finished the tournament with over 22 pounds and had a 1st place finish.

On a side note; I'm a firm believer in learning through WATCHING. During my first trip with Pete, I almost had to shove a rod into his hands. He was dead set on letting ME catch the fish while he acted as the "guide." He was VERY professional and repeatedly told me he wanted me to catch the majority of the fish. I also wanted to catch fish, but again I wanted to learn through watching him as well as getting detailed descriptions on how to "work" the baits we were using. I was finally able to get Pete to make a few casts and catch a few fish. I then could SEE what he was talking about as well as getting his verbal directions.

I have to re-iterate what Pete said, if your on the fence, JUMP!!! I have used what Pete has taught me on NUMEROUS other lakes with great success. I know you won't regret a day on the water with Pete Marino. The knowledge gained will serve you for many years and will bring alot of joy to your future fishing ventures.

Great job out there Pete.

Pete Marino
04-16-2012, 05:48 PM
thank you so much for the kind words guys!!! I appreciate it!!!!!!