92 anglers, 1,362 fish submitted

The assertion of the urchins…

August 21-22, 2026 — Clear Lake didn’t disappoint in 2026 with 1,362 fish submitted in the sixth annual West Coast Championship. 83 anglers submitted a five-fish bag on Day 1 with no skunks, and 75 five-fish bags on Day 2. Fish in the 14-16 inch range were plentiful but as always, those 20+ inch fish were tougher to find and they made the difference for the money-makers.

Matthew Brannon (Santa Rosa, CA) took an early lead on Day 1, and stayed in that top spot most of Day 1, and much of Day 2. Simon Her (Oroville, CA) did his best to overcome Brannon, overtaking him on Day 2 by an inch, but Brannon’s Day 1 performance held. Her got his retribution by winning overall Big Fish with a 23.75 inch Clear Lake Giant. When it was over, Brannon took the title with 209.25 inches (that’s a 20.93 inch average per fish if you weren’t doing the math), and Her followed close behind with 208.5 inches. Isiah West (Fairfield, CA) nabbed third with 201.5 inches.

The Money Makers

1. Matthew Brannon (Santa Rosa, CA) – 209.25″
   $6,311 plus $1,776 in side pots for $8,087 total
2. Simon Her (Oroville, CA) – 208.5″
   $4,369 plus $3,430 in side pots, plus $591 for Big Fish on Day 2, and $1,774 for Big Fish overall, plus a $475 gift card from Discount Tackle for $10,639 total in cash and prizes
3. Isiah West (Fairfield, CA) – 201.5″
   $2,266 plus $591 in side pots, plus $591 for Big Fish on Day 1 for $3,448 total
4. Daniel Balaba (Richmond, CA) – 195.5″
   $890 plus $710 in side pots for $1,600 total
5. Joey Silva (Windsor, CA) – 195″ – $728
6. Shaun Leytem (Valley Springs, CA) – 195″ – $647
7. Reed Frazier (Napa, CA) – 189.75″ – $485
8. Aaron Hart (Antioch, CA) – 187.5″ – $324
9. Anthony Garcia (Los Angeles, CA) – 186.5″ – $162

Discount Tackle First Angler Out of the Money

• Michael Najera (Rancho Cordova, CA) was the first angler out of the money, so he wins a $250 gift card courtesy of our sponsor, Discount Tackle.

View Standings on TourneyX

https://tourneyx.com/leaderboard/standings/west-coast-championship-2026

A California Shutout

For the first time in all six WCCs, California anglers cashed every check. The first non-CA angler on the leaderboard was Scott Bradley (Florence, AZ) in 14th, followed by TJ Osojnicki (Boise, ID) in 16th, and Michael Mumford (Nampa, ID) in 24th.

Captains Meeting Board Check

We held a captains meeting and board check on Thursday evening before the event and 8 lucky anglers won prizes for showing up at the meeting thanks in part to our friends at Clearlake Outdoors. You had to attend the meeting and get your board sticker to win. It pays to show up!

• Andrew Martin won an iRod Casting Rod – $179 value
• Obedie Williams, Robert Yamamoto, Jason McClure, Patrick Wright, Brad Blokzyl, David Roqueni, and Michael Mitchell all won a grab bag of hand-selected tackle valued at $50.

Our Sponsors Rock

Huge thanks to Discount Tackle and Clearlake Outdoors for their support this year.