Central Valley High School's Bass Fishing Club claimed every major award while participating in the Student Angler Federation Central California Open on Feb. 6 at Lake McClure.

"The kids are super excited," said Mike Reynolds, club advisor. "It was a pretty good trip for us. This is by far the best finish we've ever had. It wasn't the easiest conditions but we found fish."

Central Valley won the overall team competition, ending Roosevelt's four-year run of dominance at the event.
"It's cool to be the team to dethrone them," Reynolds said.

Central Valley had a pair of two-person teams compete at the tournament.

Alfredo Jimenez and Eugene Kondratyuk finished first in a field of 27 as they combined to catch five bass weighing 15.78 pounds.

"It's pretty surprising," Jimenez said. "Me and Eugene don't have a lot of experience. We beat some pretty good kids. It was a hard lake to fish. Visibility was off. You couldn't see anything. The water was full of mud. That's where we caught our fish."

Juan Rios and Hector Romo placed fifth.

Jimenez also garnered recognition for reeling in the biggest fish at the tournament for student anglers as it tipped the scales at 7.04 pounds.

Reynolds won the Big Fish Award for a boat captain.
Central Valley experienced a major breakthrough at Lake McClure last month by claiming its first-ever overall team title in the sport.

"The kids are doing extremely well," Reynolds said.

"It's a pretty big deal," Jimenez said. "We're opening a lot of eyes. It's big motivation for us to keep on going. We have confidence in each other. If we work together, we can accomplish a lot."