The recent unseasonable rain and wind didn’t deter 17-year-old Deer Valley High senior Andrew Kobayashi and his dad from competing in the Yamamoto Big Bass Challenge against more than 200 fishermen angling for the tournament’s $7,000 grand prize.

On the first day of the challenge, Kobayashi captured the fifth-place spot at 10 a.m., good for a $100 cash prize.

The next day, his good fortune was put to the test. On his second cast of the morning, he hooked a bass he estimated at four or five pounds, giving him a good chance to win some more cash prizes. But the big one jumped and the hook came out.

Andrew weighed a fish in at noon, but it wasn’t big enough to qualify for the top five for that hour.

With less than 45 minutes remaining in the tournament, Andrew and his dad made a final attempt to catch a winning fish. When they arrived at the spot, Andrew found he was out of senko rubber worm lures in the right color. He found a used and mangled senko lure on the deck of the boat and put it on his hook.

“The spot we started fishing looked good and we immediately started catching small bass,” Andrew said. “After about five minutes, I hooked the big bass. When I saw it jump, it freaked me out because I saw it was a nice fish. Fortunately I was able to land that fish.”

They headed back to the weigh-in location with seven minutes to spare before the final 1 p.m. close of the tournament. When the weigh master held up Andrew’s fish before the weigh-in, the crowd broke out in loud applause.

With two minutes to go and eight more anglers waiting to weigh in, Andrew’s 5.71-pound bass was the big fish of the moment. When all was said and done, Andrew was one of the 12 finalists to draw for the $7,000 grand prize. Andrew won $500 for his efforts.