Britt Wins Rayovac FLW Series Western Division Event On Clear Lake
Kline wins co-angler title
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Aaron Britt of Yuba City, California, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division event presented by Evinrude on Clear Lake with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 70 pounds even. For his victory, Britt earned $32,448.
“I fished a crankbait all week,” said Britt, who earned his first FLW win. “I practiced for four days prior to the tournament and found some fish shallow on a squarebill crankbait, but on the last day of practice I found some cranking fish deep.
“The first day of the tournament I went with my gut and cranked deep,” Britt continued. “I caught a big bag on day one and that made me stick with that pattern for the duration of the tournament. On day two I had some really big fish on that came off, but that just told me I needed to keep doing what I was doing.
“I had three spots that I just rotated through all day,” said Britt. “One of the spots was a rock ledge that runs along Highway 20, and the other two were very popular spots on the lake.”
Britt said that he threw Spro Little John DD, Bill Norman DD 22 and Damiki DC-400 crankbaits in 9 to 15 feet of water all week, starting the day with crawfish colors and changing to shad patterns as the sun rose higher.
“Generally the water temperature this time of year in Clear Lake is about 4 degrees lower than it is now,” Britt explained. “A lot of the fish are suspending and still out deep in their summer haunts and they haven’t moved shallow. That’s why stuck to my spots so much, because I knew the fish would move up and I wanted to be there when they did.
“This win is very emotional for me,” said Britt. “To be able to come out and compete with guys I grew up watching like Brett Hite, Ish Monroe and Jared Lintner is a great feeling. I put so much hard work and effort into this, and I’m very, very happy.”
The top 10 pros on Clear Lake were:
1st: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 15 bass, 70-0, $32,448
2nd: Patrick Spencer, Penn Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 67-3, $12,574
3rd: Justin Kerr, Simi Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 66-3, $9,734
4th: Kyle Grover, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., 15 bass, 65-3, $8,112
5th: Mark Crutcher, Lakeport, Calif., 15 bass, 65-3, $7,301
6th: Dan Sweat, Pleasant Hill, Calif., 15 bass, 62-10, $6,490
7th: Jerred Jennings, Stockton, Calif., 13 bass, 56-0, $5,678
8th: Clayton Meyer, Henderson, Nev., 14 bass, 54-11, $4,867
9th: Paul Bailey, Kelseyville, Calif., 11 bass, 45-7, $4,056
10th: Toshitada Suzuki, Tokyo, Japan, 12 bass, 43-7, $3,245
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Jennings caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday – a 9-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $212.
Todd Kline of San Clemente, California, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117C with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 56 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Clear Lake were:
1st: Todd Kline, San Clemente, Calif., 15 bass, 56-10, Ranger Z117C with a 90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Dante Ray, Sparks, Nev., 13 bass, 50-7, $4,098
3rd: Gary Haraguchi, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 42-1, $3,278
4th: Andrew Schadegg, Reno, Nev., 10 bass, 37-3, $2,869
5th: Scott Bern, San Rafael, Calif., 13 bass, 35-9, $2,459
6th: Doug Hutchison, Santa Rosa, Calif., 10 bass, 32-9, $2,049
7th: Parker Wright, Laguna Niguel, Calif., 12 bass, 31-14, $1,639
8th: Sunny Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, 12 bass, 31-10, $1,434
9th: Blake Dyer, Tempe, Ariz., 12 bass, 31-4, $1,229
10th: Tony Zanotelli, Redding, Calif., 10 bass, 30-12, $ $1,024
Ray caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – an 8-pound, 10-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $141.
The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the no-entry-fee Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2014 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 30-Nov.1 on Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Alabama.
The Rayovac FLW Series tournament on Clear Lake was hosted by Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina and was the third and final regular-season Western Division event in 2014. For a complete schedule, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.