A mist rose from the dark water before dawn as the National anthem blared over a megaphone. The silhouettes of 27 bass boats began to appear all around us as the darkness gave way. All full of anglers with nothing but fly rods and hopes of trophy bass on board. Everyone held their hats in respect as the voice of a teenager echoed with pride. A scene that could be considered uniquely American. Then the voice of Ryan Williams, the event’s organizer, “3..2…1….Blast Off!”
DELTA BASS-N-FLY
In the past couple of decades, fly fishers have begun to delve more and more into the world of professional bass fishing, an industry created and dominated by conventional gear anglers. The first fly-only bass fishing tournament I heard of was the now-famous Delta Bass-N-Fly held out of Stockton on the California Delta. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first fly-fishing gear-only bass fishing tournament that had a decent cash purse and other noncash prizes. The tournament drew a large number of anglers and generated a good buzz among the fly industry. My partner Ryan Johnson and I had some strong finishes in the early years of the contest, including third place in 2007.
CAST HOPE FLOAT-AND-FLY
Another tournament that was created three years ago is Cast Hope’s float-and-fly tournament on Lake Oroville. The event is a fundraiser supporting the organization’s mission to supply underprivileged kids with fly-fishing gear and opportunities to get out on the water. This has been a fun event as well. Last year, I had the opportunity to team up with Captain Chuck Regan and Garrett Ray. We managed to take home second place. First place went to lake local, guide Ryan Williams. Chuck and Garret managed to hold down that second-place spot again this year. Ryan defended the title once again.
Ryan Williams is an accomplished angler and guide and has been a solid presence in the bass fishing scene for many years. He’s also a founding member of the Cal Bass Union, a group of fly anglers dedicated to helping raise awareness around bass as a target species on the fly. Ryan brands himself as North Valley Fly Fishing, based in Oroville, and fishes and guides waters from Lake Oroville to the Feather River, Thermalito, the Sacramento River, and Clear Lake. Ryan is also an accomplished fly tyer and designer and sells his custom patterns.
BERRYESSA BUG TOSS
This year, Ryan stepped up and took the lead in organizing the latest in fly-only bass tournaments, the Berryessa Bug Toss. Along with good friend Jonny Feaster and others, they put on a great event. Everything went incredibly smoothly for the first-time event.
The blast off was early. Check-in started at 4:40 a.m. Boats were all lined up and rolling out at 6 a.m. This year, I fished with good friend Perry Sims on his JetCraft jet boat. As you can imagine, half the fun of any good bass tournament is ripping across the lake on a plane with the wind in your face. They call your number, and you hit the hammer! We had pre-fished the evening before and had a couple of spots in mind to try and get to first.









Two weeks prior, Perry and I had been fishing in Berryessa with another friend and aspiring guide, Mike Pease. Mike took us out on his boat and showed us around to a few spots he liked. It was both my and Perry’s first time out on Berryessa. The fishing was really fun, and we saw and caught some great bass. Berryessa has spotted, smallmouth, and largemouth bass. The highlight of the day for me was a 5-pound spotted bass off a rocky point on a fly I’d tied the night before.
So, of course, Perry and I ripped over to that spot first. We fished primarily with the float and fly setup. For those who have not used it, it’s like bobber fishing for bass. We used the Jadicator, special bass indicators made by friend Jason Cockrum. Below that, you can attach anywhere from six to 12 feet of line and a heavy fly. The fly drops until it’s suspended, and you hope the fish doesn’t eat on the drop. More often than not a bass will eat within a few seconds of it stopping. Usually, we let it sit, then slowly pop it along a few times before casting again.

We also fished some sinking lines and stripped flies but not as much this time around. We mostly focused on the suspended fly off of steep banks. It worked the last time we were there, so we rolled with it. There are a lot of techniques I like more for bass, but the float can be highly effective on these mid-elevation reservoirs. We got some decent fish but nothing over 2.3 pounds which is very average. These days, you really need to be getting up into that 4-pound range to be a podium contender.
As 1:45 p.m. rolled around, we started heading back for the 2 p.m. check-in. It was exciting to see all the nice fish teams caught. Perry and I could tell right away that we were not in the running for podium. There were some huge bags coming in. For reference, someone told us there had hardly been any bags over 14 pounds coming in from the conventional guys at recent tournaments on Berryessa. But by the time we arrived, there were already three bags at 14 pounds or more. The largest bag of the day went to Roger Bloom and Jon Nelson with 17.07 pounds! Roger also took home the big fish award with a 4.16 pound largemouth.
After the weigh-in, there was an awards ceremony and a big BBQ for all the contestants. Ryan gave out over $13k in prizes and cash. A huge shout-out to all the sponsors. It was a great first event, and we strongly hope there are more to come. Personally, I would love to see more events like this!
“The fly fishing community has needed a tournament like this for a long while. A bass tournament that’s relatively easy to get a lot of solid fish. The bass fly community in particular is such a cool, easy going group of people, it really made for a fun time. It was a great entry into the world of tournament fishing for many of the participants. The turnout far exceeded expectations, and so did the sponsor donations. It was a lot of work, but I am 100% going to keep a fly tournament going. The feedback was just too good not to keep it running. Stay tuned for 2025!”
Berryessa Bug Toss founder, Ryan Williams