You ain’t seen nothing yet
Stren Western slugfest begins on Clear Lake
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Two years ago, local pro Sieg Taylor went wire to wire to win the Stren Series Western Division tournament at Clear Lake with a then-record four-day weight of 94 pounds, 11 ounces. More amazingly, that tournament had a rare four-bass-limit rule, to boot. This week at Clear Lake, the governor’s off and the limit is five. It will be a shock if the records don’t fall once again.
“Get ready. This one’s going to be fun,” Taylor said at Wednesday morning’s takeoff at Konocti Harbor Marina.
Simply put: Look out, Lake Amistad, here comes Clear Lake. The Western guys have been drooling over this tournament since the schedule was announced last year. It’s late April, and the bass – monstrous Clear Lake largemouth bass, mind you, which pretty much represent the apex of the species – are in the height of the spawn. A cool front passed through northern California over the weekend, but it’s sunny and warm now at the lake. That had the pleasantly surprising effect of holding some spawners back a little bit until, basically, right now. The water temperature is hovering between 58 and 62 degrees, and rising. As this tournament started Wednesday morning, some anglers said the fish were making their mad rush to the bank – right into easy striking distance.
“It’s not so much that they’re on the beds,” Taylor said. “It’s more like they’re just sitting there, looking up at you with those big brown eyes, saying, `You ain’t seen nothing yet.'”
Perhaps the best indication of what we’re about to see this week from Clear Lake was conveyed by teenage pro John Billheimer Jr., who last year became the youngest to win a pro-level event at age 16 (Lake Havasu). Normally boisterous and gung-ho before a day of fishing, Billheimer seemed sort of bummed out as the warm orange sun rose over the eastern hills of Clear Lake.
“I’m catching a ton of fish, but they’re all just 3- and 4-pounders,” he said. “I need to find some big ones.”
If anyone would have said that at the previous Western Division event, just last month at Lake Mead, they would have been committed to an asylum.
Tournament logistics
Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a $40,000 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,500 to the highest-finishing participant in the contingency program. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines are met.
Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $5,000 plus a $30,000 Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.
Anglers take off from Konocti Harbor Resort, located at 8727 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville, at 6:30 Pacific time each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 15960 Dam Road in Clearlake, Calif., beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
On the Web
For those who can’t catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.