Brians on

Nixon tops pros; Mlekush leads co-anglers again at Clear Lake

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – It was a tale of two Brians in the semifinal round of EverStart Series Western Division competition at Clear Lake Friday. One of them, Brian Nixon of Grand Junction, Colo., grabbed the Pro Division lead with a hefty five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 14 ounces. The other, Brian Mlekush of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., regained the Co-angler Division lead with a 21-11 limit. It was no mere coincidence, either, that both leaders fished in the same location.

It was another vintage tournament-fishing day on Clear Lake Friday. While air temperatures were down somewhat from the previous two days, the sun shone mercifully for most of the day. When the forecasted rain did arrive in the form of a squall at weigh-in, it didn’t matter. Every single angler except one managed to catch a five-bass limit. The 40 pros and co-anglers weighed in a combined 199 bass in the semifinal round.

And, of course, there were some big ones. Four anglers – two pros and two co-anglers – brought in sacks weighing more than 20 pounds. A handful of 7-, 8-, and even a 9 1/2-pound bass anchored some of the heavier sacks.

Nixon’s limit was the most impressive. He had three nice, kicker largemouths in his stringer, including two estimated at 7 or 8 pounds apiece. When he came in off the lake, the young EverStart rookie knew that he’d had a career day, and he was about as excited as an angler could be after a day of tournament fishing.

“It was just awesome,” said Nixon, who is competing in only his third EverStart event. “I had a tough pre-fish, and … I can’t even talk.”

Eventually, Nixon was able to describe his day on the water. As usual at Clear Lake, the key was one very productive fishing spot. Fishing at “midlake,” Nixon found a tiny hole about 30 yards across filled with shad and the subsequent school of bass. Complete with a nice rock, a big dock and an “awesome deep area” filled with some grass that acted as “big slide,” Nixon found the hole to be perfectly suited to his needs. Using a rip bait and a Pepper jig, he was able to fill his livewell with some of the spot’s bigger inhabitants.

“It’s just an unbelievable area,” he said. “The fish are moving up and down with the shad, and we were just running with them.”

According to Nixon, the biggest key to his sack today was fellow pro Sean Minderman of Post Falls, Idaho, who shared the fruitful fishing location with him throughout the day.

“I’ve got to thank Sean Minderman. He could have cut me off, but he didn’t. Thank you for letting me fish today,” Nixon said. “We were within 3 feet of each other all day, and I just happened to get those three big bites. This is just an awesome fishery.”

Lintner nabs second

Jared Lintner of Oceano, Calif., secured the second-place position with the other pro sack over 20 pounds. His limit weighed 22-14, and it included a 6-10 kicker bass.

“I caught five or six limits today,” he said. “The first fish I had on was a 9- or 10-pounder, and it broke right off. I thought it was over right then.”

Gliebe third

Western bass legend David Gliebe of Stockton, Calif., worked his way further up the pro leaderboard Friday, placing third with a limit weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces. He, too, caught a number of Clear Lake limits.

“The bite was just fabulous today,” he said.

Ehrler fourth, Berry fifth

Also staying relatively close in contention were the Nos. 1 and 2 pros from the opening round. Art Berry of Hemet, Calif., placed fourth with a limit weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces, and Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., took fifth with a 17-6 limit.

“I just love the sport of fishing, especially at a place like Clear Lake,” said Berry, still buzzing from the experience of catching his 12-pound largemouth the day before. “When you go out there and, on any cast, have the chance to catch a double-digit bass, there’s nothing like it.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros to qualify for Saturday’s finals are defending EverStart Clear Lake champion Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash., with 15 pounds, 3 ounces (6th place); Russ Barger of Boise, Idaho, also with 15-3 (7th, by virtue of the tiebreaker); Rob Wenning of Sparks, Nev., with 14-11 (8th); Minderman with 12-11 (9th); and Shaun Bailey of Agoura, Calif., with 12-8 (10th).

All of the top 10 pros caught five-bass limits.

Mlekush regains top co-angler spot

As mentioned, Mlekush, who also led the co-anglers on day one, was the beneficiary of the same productive fishing spot that gave Nixon the pro lead. He wasn’t fishing with Nixon, however; his partner was Minderman.

“We were right there with them,” Mlekush said. “Sean – that guy took care of me today.”

Mlekush caught his limit – which included the day’s biggest bass, a 9-pound, 8-ounce pig – using a drop-shot with 4- and 6-inch worms.

Since he is paired up with Nixon tomorrow, rest assured they will return to their little honey hole.

“Even when we left there today, there were still fish moving on up and rolling on the shad,” Mlekush said. “It’s just a highway for them, I guess.”

The other 20-pound-plus sack on the co-angler side belonged to Dan Powers of Weaverville, Calif., who weighed in a limit worth 20 pounds, 3 ounces and placed second. He had two kicker bass in his stringer, one that weighed 7-13 and the other 5-4.

“This has been great,” he said. “This lake is one in a million. There’s no place like this in the whole country.”

Placing third on the co-angler side was Gayle Janes of Palm Desert, Calif., with a limit weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces.

John Morla of Ione, Calif., Nixon’s co-angler partner Friday, earned fourth place with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces.

Opening-round co-angler leader Pat Wilson of Petaluma, Calif., placed fifth with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers to qualify for Saturday’s finals are Steve Schultz of Hooper, Utah, with 13 pounds, 5 ounces (6th place); John Alimpic of Angwin, Calif., with 13-2 (7th); James Rios of Brentwood, Calif., with 12-7 (8th); Dallas Merrick of Oroville, Calif., with 11-14 (9th); and Kirk Beardsley of Huntington Beach, Calif., with 11-8 (10th).

All of the top 10 co-anglers also caught five-bass limits.

Final round Saturday

Day four of Western Division competition at Clear Lake begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from Redbud Park at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and each division’s winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.

The winning pro is guaranteed $8,500 cash plus an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519 VS equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart Batteries, based on a 150-boat field. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive a $10,000 bonus from Ranger for a top pro award worth $60,400. If he is a qualifying participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, Ranger will award another $3,000 cash (or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner), and Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings if the angler’s boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if he uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit.

The winning co-angler is guaranteed $4,500 cash based on a 150-boat field, and if he is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award him a new Ranger 519 VS for a total prize package worth $34,500. Co-anglers who make the final round of each regular-season EverStart Series event and wear an EverStart/Evinrude shirt and cap on stage are awarded points toward the EverStart Batteries and Evinrude Outboard Engines Co-angler Award. The co-angler receiving the most points by the end of the season receives a 2004 Evinrude 225HO Direct Injection outboard engine rigged on a Ranger boat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries.