Staff Report
Santa Ynez Valley anglers and tourists from as far as Los Angeles County came to hook fish of all kinds the weekend of April 21-22 as more than 600 people participated in the 23nd annual Neal Taylor Nature Center Fish Derby at Lake Cachuma.
Young anglers spent weekend fishing at the annual Neal Taylor Nature Center Fish Derby at Lake Cachuma.
“The weather was perfect and lots of big fish were caught, making for many happy anglers of all ages,” said Julie McDonald of the Cachuma Lake Nature Center.
The lake was stocked with thousands of bass, carp, crappie and catfish. People fished from the shore and boats in hopes of winning a trophy — and $599 for Barry Subia of Redondo Beach, who won the derby.
The heaviest bass was caught by Kris Kleinsmith, 23, of Arroyo Grande at 6.14 pounds, with Aiden Flores, 9, of Santa Barbara in second place.
Michael Stephenson, 22, of Lompoc won the prize for heaviest bass at 3.88 pounds; Wayne West of Lompoc won for second heaviest bass at 3.64 pounds; Mark Silva of Santa Maria won heaviest catfish at 5.14 pounds; Stan Giovanacci of Lompoc won heaviest crappie at 2.18 pounds, and the Young Angler Award went to Christian Andrade, 10, of Lompoc and Brody Gheno, 10, of Santa Maria.
For the full list of winners and other information about the Nature Center, log onto www.clnaturecenter.org or www.troutderby.org.
