By Jody Only

After three days of fishing, boater Phil Tilbury of Oakdale, Calif., finished out the 3rd stop of the BAMTournament Trail Pro/Ams on the California Delta adding 16.88 to his three-day total for 61.41 and taking home the first-place pro payout for the 41-boat field at $7,709.54.

The tidal water fishery gave up fish in all stages of the spawn and was as stingy to some as it was as generous to others. Tilbury was one of only three anglers to weigh a 20-pound sack on Day One, securing a 2nd place position for his 21.67 and trailing by more than six-pounds. Increasing his weight to 22.86 on Day Two, he not only made up his six-pound deficit, he also put nearly a six-pound gap of his own, between him and his nearest competitor.

It turned out to be a lead large enough to negate the decline he had in his five-fish sack on Championship Sunday. A hard-fought fishing fight to the finish Tilbury feels incredibly rewarded to become the first Delta BAM Pro/Am champion.

“Anybody that fishes competitively, knows there’s a whole lot more down days than good,” he said. “To finally win one and beat some of these guys that are here this weekend is pretty amazing. And I say this weekend because you can’t catch ‘em tomorrow like you did today.”

Tilbury’s pattern included slow rolling a ChatterBait in sparse grass in lower tide. “A little bit of my problem today was too much water,” he shared. “I needed a lower tide to squeeze those fish into the grass line I was fishing. I knew I was losing it (the low tide) more and more every day as the tide (change) got later and later.”

Targeting post-spawners was his focus. “It’s been an eye-opener really finding out where these bigger fish go after post-spawn, because while you’re on top of the bank, your boats on top of the fish, he shared.”

Tilbury credited the majority of his weigh fish to a Z-Man JackHammer with a Yamamoto Zako trailer in an undisclosed size and color. His ChatterBait rig was tied to 20-pound Gamma Fluoro Edge spooled on a Shimano Chronarch paired to a 7’4”, medium-heavy St. Croix rod.

He also threw a BassPatrol Jig with a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver as the trailer and mentioned both Green Pumpkin and Black and Blue for preferred color options.

Top-10 2024 BAM Delta Pro/Am Boaters
PLACE PRO     TOTAL WEIGHT TOTAL PAYOUT

1          Phil Tilbury    61.41  $7,709.54

2          Ish Monroe     57.16  $2,673.00

3          Ryan Hall        54.19  $2,202.73

4          Clint Groenewold      48.93  $2,392.45

5          Chris Parks     48.19  $2,172.18

6          Mark Mello     47.45  $1,541.91

7          Ken Mah         45.89  $1,321.64

8          Beau Joudrey 44.34  $1,401.36

9          JasonBradshaw   42.28  $1,101.36

10        Jason Austin   41.92  $881.09

Rodney Brown Bests Co-Angler Field

With a wire-to-wire win Rodney Brown of Sacramento, Calif., was crowned the co-angler champion in the draw-partner event for a tournament total of 49.70, earning $3,774.71for his effort.

Brown rode a rocket to the co-angler top spot, weighing 17.51 on Day One for a lead of more than four pounds. He added 15.27 to Day Two and widened his cushion to roughly seven-pounds, although he didn’t need it. By event’s end, Brown sat nearly14-pounds over the co-angler runner-up.

“It feels awesome; I can’t believe it,” said Brown of his victory. “I’ve been fishing many, many, many years, and these wins don’t come often. These fishermen are so good and I’m so excited to have won the BAM tournament.”

For the first two days on the water Brown fished Yamamoto Senkos and Kut Tail Worms in Green Pumpkin Blake Flake. “I was fishing those very slowly,” Brown added.

For the final day, Brown had his limit by 7:30 a.m. and then his bite died. He threw a Chatter Bait in Black and Blue and Blade Runner Spinnerbaits. “I fished them with Abu Garcia rods and reels,” he said. “My line was from my sponsors Berkley and P-Line / 1st Gen Fishing and thanks to Gone Fishin’ Marine.”

Top-10 2024 BAM Delta Pro/Am Non-Boaters

PLACE CO       TOTAL            TOTAL PAYOUT

1          Rodney Brown         49.7    $3,774.71

2          Chris Trumbull        35.85  $1,125.05

3          Scott Wightman       31.93  $1,217.78

4          Sean Omalley           31.13  $920.50

5          Anthony Stanko       30.81  $818.22

6          Dante Ray     29.83  $715.94

7          Michael Rincon Jr    29.42  $613.67

8          Joe Cote         28.51  $511.39

9          Brad Mccarthy     23.14  $511.39

10       Jason Bubier    20.86  $409.11

Full pro and co-angler results can be seen here.

The next BAM Tournament Trail Pro/Am will blast off Friday, June 28 at the Columbia River. Registration is underway.

BAM Trail Full Event Schedule