Baker rises to co-angler win
19-year-old strings together three good days to unseat Goldston
CLEARKLAKE, Calif. – Patience isn’t typically an attribute associated with teens, but 19-year-old Kyle Baker fished calmly and steadily through two days of Stren Series Western competition, trailing accomplished co-angler Tommie Goldston, waiting for his moment. He got it Saturday, chipping in a 14-pound, 1-ounce limit for a three-day total of 50-11 and his first win.
The young co-angler from Lancaster, Calif., won a Ranger boat and trailer – but also the respect of his fellow tournament fishermen.
“It feels good,” he said after breathing a sigh of relief when he was officially named the winner. “Hopefully I can just finish out the year consistently and make the championship.”
Baker shouldn’t be underestimated because of his youth: He fished the Stren Series last year, picked up two top-10 finishes (Clear Lake and California Delta), finished ranked as the No. 9 co-angler in the Western Division, and qualified for the 2008 championship. Clearly he’s a rising star in FLW Outdoors competition.
Baker fished with pros Wayne Breazeale, Noble Moore and Randy McAbee Jr., respectively, over three days of fishing.
“I got drawn with some good pros,” he said. “On day two, Noble put me before himself, making sure I 
got my five fish.”
Baker fished a ¼-ounce Zoom finesse worm, watermelon-candy color, to land his fish.
“When it’s colder out, I’d throw it deeper,” he said. “When the water warms up, I tend to throw a little shallower.”
White runner-up
Mark White of Tucson, Ariz., finished the Stren Western opener on Clear Lake as the runner-up, earning $3,391. He caught a 16 1/2-pound limit Saturday for a three-day total weight of 50-2.
White’s go-to technique was “dragging a creature bait by Yamamoto behind the boat.” Over three days, he fished with pros Garrett Charter, Dave Russell and Roy Hawk, his friend and travel partner and also 
the pro winner.
“I fished behind three very awesome anglers,” he said.
Wang winds up third
Third-place Thomas Wang of Saratoga, Calif., sacked a 16-2 limit today for a three-day total of 49-3 worth $2,543. Today he fished with pro Michael Tuck.
“We got seven bites today and fished for seven hours – it was slow at first,” he said. “But then – man, it turned on. Tuck is the man!”
Over three days, Wang said he fished water muddy to clear, shallow to deep. But his main baits were a Zoom Trick Worm, fished with a finesse technique, and spinnerbaits.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the 10 co-anglers to finish the Stren Series Western Division season opener on Clear Lake:
4th: Jeff Garmeson of Rancho Cordova, Calif., three-day total of 49-2, $2,120
5th: Christopher Ricci of Bend, Ore., 49-0, $1,908
6th: J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif., 46-5, $1,696
7th: David Keithahn of Patterson, Calif., 45-12, $1,484
8th: Craig Smith of Truckee, Calif., 45-9, $1,272
9th: Tommie Goldston of Gardnerville, Nev., 43-6, $1,060
10th: David Bush of Sonoma, Calif., 42-4, $848
The next event in the Stren Western Division will be held April 16-18 on Lake Roosevelt in Payson, Ariz.