Clement crowned co-angler champion on Clear Lake

California native powers way to EverStart Series first place, easily outfishing nearest rival

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Kyle Clement of Anderson, Calif., took the lead Friday and never looked back. Using a two-day catch of 36 pounds, 6 ounces, Clement steamrolled his way to a tournament title on Clear Lake – besting his nearest competitor by nearly 6 1/2 pounds in the finals.

“This is pretty sweet. I’m stoked,” said Clement, who landed a 20-pound, 5-ounce stringer in the finals to ensure victory. “I knew I had a good catch coming back in today. But you just never know on this lake. Nothing’s a sure thing on this Clear Lake. But yeah, I couldn’t be happier right now.”

Although Clement won the tournament fairly easily in the end, he said that the day didn’t start out so well.

“I really struggled out there to catch a fish early on. My screws were coming loose and I was completely turned around,” Clement said. “But then I calmed down, went back to my original technique and things started coming together.”

Clement said the key to victory was fishing a “special” type of jerkbait quickly – much faster than most of the field.

“Everybody else was fishing pretty slowly,” he said. “But I knew that it was important, at least for me, to fish it fast. The fish were chasing that bait all over the place.”

For his efforts, Clement walked away with a $4,925 payday.

Mace nets second place

After recording a two-day catch of 29 pounds, 11 ounces, Ron Mace of Kennewick, Wash., thought he had a chance at the tournament title. Unfortunately, that was before Clement came to the scales with his whopping four-fish sack.

“I really though I had this won,” said Mace, who took home $3,925 in winnings. “But I have to say that I had an incredible time this week. It was just awesome. This is a great lake and one of the best circuits I’ve ever fished.”

Mace, who used a combination of fluke baits, swim baits and small jerkbaits to land the majority of his catch, said the key to his success was using light tackle.

“I only had 8-pound-test line and a real light rod,” said Mace. “The guys gave me (grief) all week for using tackle that light. But I’ll tell you what, I didn’t lose a fish all week. And I had a lot of fun fishing as well.”

Key nets third place

Gary Key of Phoenix parlayed a 23-pound, 12-ounce stringer over the final two days of competition into a third-place finish today – a feat which partially erased the headache of his near top-10 miss in the previous Western Division event.

“I missed the cut at the EverStart Lake Havasu tournament by 6 ounces, so it was great to come back here and make the cut,” said Key, who won $3,380 for his efforts. “And that’s what it’s all about. I had to make a lot of adjustments today. And in the end, I had a lot of fun. This was just a great experience.”

Beardsley uses homemade bait to gain fourth place

Kirk Beardsley of Huntington Beach, Calif., used a two-day catch of 21 pounds, 8 ounces to finish the Clear Lake event in fourth place and walk away with $2,380 in winnings.

“I had an awesome day today,” said Beardsley. “I fished with (pro partner) Jimmy Reese and he was a fishing machine. I had to make some adjustments today to get some fish in the boat. But in the end, it kind of worked out.”

Perhaps the best lesson Beardsley learned was that necessity is the mother of invention – even in fishing.

“I went to Wal-Mart and bought this X-Rap Rappala lure, but they didn’t have any in the color I wanted,” said Beardsley. “So I bought some paint, took it back to my hotel room and painted it over the toilet. I made a little bit of a mess. But in the end, it worked out pretty good.”

Best of the rest

Greg Giacomazza of Spanish Fork, Utah, finished in fifth place with a total catch of 19 pounds, 7 ounces. However, Giacomazza argued that fishing was only half the fun this entire week.

“I’ll tell you what, there are no losers in this,” said Giacomazza. “I’ve had a fantastic time this week, and I’ve never been around a greater group of people. This is the way fishing is supposed to be.”

For his efforts, Giacomazza took home a $1,880 payday.

Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists at the EverStart Clear Lake event:

6th: Darrell Hagood of Wilton, Calif., 17-4

7th: Douglas Davis of New Castle, Colo., 16-5

8th: Mike Noga of Arcata, Calif., 16-3

9th: Gary Davison of Susanville, Calif., 8-1

10th: Leroy Bertolero of El Macero, Calif., 6-13

EverStart Western Division action resumes April 6-9 at Lake Mead, located in Henderson, Nev.