Fishing in the Central Valley: Fresno native is now international bass kayak angler

Fresno native, Damian Thao has risen from fashioning a fishing rod out of a stick with pen caps for eyelets and a hand line to one of the best freshwater kayak anglers in the world.

“I started fishing as a very young boy with my family, mostly for pan fish, and we didn’t have enough rods, so I had to make my own,” Thao said. “I’ve always had an interest in bass fishing so I would ride my bike to Walmart to read all the fishing magazines since we couldn’t buy them.”

Now instead of just reading fishing magazines, Thao is featured in them.

Thao has represented Team USA at international kayak competitions in Tennessee and Italy within the past two years, winning silver in the 2023 FIP-SED, International Federation of Sport Freshwater Fishing, Kayak Fishing World Championship and gold at the 2024 Pan American Kayak Championship at Lake Murray in Tennessee in addition to a team gold. During the 2023 World Championships in Italy, he was a member of Team USA which placed fourth. He recently placed first, second, or third at major California kayak tournaments over a weekend: first at the Ryon Mora Memorial at Don Pedro, second at the Central Valley Kayak Fishing event at McClure, and third at the Yak A’ Bass at McClure.

Thao first participated as a non-boater with the Sierra Bass Club for a full season before participating in his first Yak A’ Bass tournament, placing fourth.

“I originally started fishing small turkey shoots or other events, and I wanted to participate in tournaments, but I had to find something affordable,” he said. “Kayaks are easy to access, and I started to enter more events.”

Thao recently qualified by placing third in the California B.A.S.S. Nation’s Western Wild Card event in the California Delta. Like the tournaments at McClure and Don Pedro, Thao entered the event without pre-fishing, and the California Delta is a particularly challenging body of water on boat, and even more so on a kayak.

“The Delta is discouraging for many kayak fishermen since you could launch out of any landing, and the local anglers have a huge advantage over those who rarely fish these waters,” he said.

Thao’s third-place finish qualifies him to participate in the National B.A.S.S. tournament in Tennessee in March 2026. He will also represent Team USA in Mexico in November during the 2025 FIPSED 4th Kayak Fishing World Championships.

Eastman is Thao’s home lake, and he has been on roll for the past several months, landing largemouth bass at 10.01 and 9.30 pounds as part of a 37-pound five-fish limit recently.

“An average limit over the past months on a poor day has been around 25 pounds, and I have been consistently averaging between 30 and 35 pounds with a variety of presentations,” Thao said. “The bass are still chasing trout so an 8-inch Lunker Punker can be effective, but right now, the best bite has been on the bottom by dragging large 7- to 8-inch worms or 1 to 1½-ounce jigs”.

Thao is currently sponsored by Kayak City, IstGen Fishing, 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle, P-Line, and Dranckrazy. Despite his success, Thao remains as humble as the young boy fashioning a fishing rod out of a stick. He is thankful for every part of his journey, and in fact, his journey is just getting started.

Dave Hurley is a longtime educator, fishing writer and member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.

This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Fishing in the Central Valley: Fresno native is now international bass kayak angler."