Ish Monroe Holds Top Spot at BAM Pro Tour Thermalito Afterbay | Bass Angler Magazine
OROVILLE, Calif. – On Day Two of the BAM Pro Tour at Thermalito Afterbay, the competition intensified under sunny skies and temperatures reaching the high 80s. The final weigh-ins determined the top-10 anglers advancing to Championship Sunday.
Bass Boat Technologies Oroville Thermalito Afterbay pro tour event presented by Tackle Warehouse and hosted by the Oroville Chamber of Commerce and Gold Country Casino
Cloutier Climbs to 2nd by Keepers, Mah Holds 3rd By Weight
Oakdale, Calif. pro Ish Monroe maintained his lead with an impressive 18.98-pound catch, bringing his two-day total to 41 pounds and a keeper count of 18. Monroe further extended his lead by over five pounds, also landing the most scorable bass.
“I caught a limit pretty early and shook off quite a few fish,” Monroe shared. “Hopefully, some of the bigger ones will bite tomorrow, and I’ll break 20 pounds.”
Monroe used a Missile Baits D-Bomb in Candy Grass with a 1-ounce weight and a River2Sea Phat Mat Daddy frog to tempt the Thermalito bass. He plans to stick with this successful approach on the final day.
“I’m fishing the way I love to fish,” said Monroe. “I’ve got three Daiwa rods on deck – one for my frog and two for flippin’.”
Cloutier Climbs the Leaderboard, Qualifying by Keepers
Fellow NorCal pro Nick Cloutier of Oakley climbed from 6th place to 2nd place, bolstering his first day’s weight of 14.56 with another 20.70. He was also double-qualified. Securing second place by both methods, a total of 35.26 by weight and 17 scorable bass to his credit.
“I had eight (keepers) yesterday, so I figured I need to have at least four today and I would be okay; but I went a little over that, Cloutier said. “I wasn’t necessarily trying to go over. I ended up catching four extra fish.”
Those four bonus bass ate at the end of the day and clued Cloutier into a backup reaction presentation.
“I feel confident with what I am doing,” he continued. “I did find something different and so if my program for the first two days isn’t working, I have this to fall back on. But I may start doing it first thing in the morning; because of the quality of fish that I caught. I use both techniques back home on the California Delta and this is basically a mini Delta, so it lines up good.”
Cloutier estimates it will take somewhere between 17- and 20-pounds to get the W at the Afterbay and he is focused on water temperature and clarity to achieve that.
“If it was super clear, I wasn’t getting bit and I had to find something dingier,” he revealed. “And at this place, the fluctuation of water temperature is crazy. One side of the lake can be 67 or 68 degrees, and the other side in the 50’s.”
Cloutier noted his key bass catching areas are on the warmer side; but remained tight-lipped about his specific lures.
“I feel like these guys in the top-3 are doing the same thing,” he shared. “We’re all Delta guys in the top-3. They know what they’re doing. I know what I am doing, so we will see how it shakes out.”
Mah Makes It by Weight on The Hunt for a Repeat
Previously victorious at a major on the Thermalito Afterbay, Ken Mah of Elk Grove is looking to repeat, and has set himself up to be a contender at this event. He ended both days in 3rd place and although the leaderboard may suggest he struggled today with only 11.73 to increase his total thus far to 32.69 and a cumulative Keeper Count to 12, a struggle is not the case.
“My whole goal, after seeing Day One results, was to catch three scorables or nine pounds,” he explained. “That’s what I felt would get me in (to Championship Sunday) and my math was almost exactly right. I needed 7 ½ pounds and I ended up weighing almost 12; so, things went pretty good.”
Like Monroe and Cloutier, Mah had fish management on his mind, due to the Pro Tour format that levels the playing field as all angler’s rankings are zero-ed for the last day on the water.
“I don’t feel like I hurt any of my fish today, and I went pre-fishing around 10:30 or 11:00 o’clock,” Mah stated. “Maybe I stumbled on to some things that I can add on to what I am doing.”
The competitive field carved to only the top-10 will put less pressure on the lake. With a blank slate, the Thermalito trophy is anyone’s to win, and the consensus is that it will take at least 17-pounds to do it.
“It could be tough after days of fishing; but with this talented field, someone will definitely catch ‘em,” concluded Mah.
Note: BAM Pro Tour anglers are ranked in Pro Tour events by both the heaviest five fish limit (Weight) and numbers of scorable bass caught (Keepers).
First place is held by the angler with the five heaviest bass and second place is the highest keeper count. The standings then continue to alternate by weight/keepers.
Anglers ranked by weight on the leaderboard are denoted with an asterisk.
Anglers add to both of their Day One rankings on Day Two as an accumulated two-day total. Once both days are tallied, the field is cut to the top-10, all results are zero-ed out and the final 10 anglers fish for the five heaviest bass on Day Three to determine the champion.
By Jody Only
Place/Angler/Big Fish/Day 1 Weight/Day 2 Weight/Total Weight/Total Keepers
Ish Monroe 22.02 18.98 *41.00 18
Nicholas Cloutier 14.56 20.7 35.26 *17
Ken Mah 20.96 11.73 *32.69 12
Luke Johns 16.65 14.08 30.73 *12
Jason Bradshaw 7.19 19.67 11.79 *31.46 8
Greg Gutierrez 09.72 15.16 24.88 *12
Hayden Lee 16.59 11.84 *28.43 11
Bill O’Shinn 12.58 7.98 20.56 *12
Jake Boomer 06.58 17.6 *24.18 6
Colby Pearson 13.29 9.93 23.22 *9
Full Results 2024 BAM Pro Tour Thermalito Afterbay Day One
Full Results 2024 BAM Pro Tour Thermalito Afterbay Day Two
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The Bass Boat Technologies televised BAM Pro Tour at the Oroville Afterbay is presented by Tackle Warehouse, Gold Country Casino and the Oroville Chamber of Commerce
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