Britt a Clear Winner
Kline wins co-angler title
Lakeport, Calif. — Pro Aaron Britt, of Yuba City, Calif., sacked a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces for a three-day total of 70 pounds to win top honors and $32,448 at the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division Clear Lake event presented by Evinrude.
“This is amazing,” he said after scoring a come-from-behind win in front of a cheering crowd gathered lakeside at Fifth Street Landing. “I don’t want to stop winning, it feels great.”
Britt blazed off the starting blocks with a five-bass, day one limit weighing an impressive 29 pounds to pace the 106 pros competing in the final Western Division event of the season.
“I only got seven bites, but they were giant bites,” he said.
He stumbled ever so slightly on day two, missing key fish and dipping to second place with five bass for 18-11.
But on day three he returned to form.
“It was all about sticking to my guns and not giving up,” he said.
Britt rode a killer crankbait pattern to victory, keying on hard-bottom points and ledges.
“Today I narrowed my areas down to three mid-lake ledges with deep water nearby,” he said. “A couple were major community holes, but other anglers would make a pass and give up on them. I knew the bass were moving up to feed on baitfish and crawdads, and if I was there when they came up, I’d catch them.”
Britt toggled between three baits of choice.
“I fished a Damiki DC-400, which has a very unique action, and also caught them on a Spro Little John DD and Bill Norman DD 22,” he said.
Keys to his presentation were making long casts with a 7-foot, 11-inch iRod cranking outfit spooled with 12-pound-test Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon line.
“I cast as far as I could, and then reeled as hard as I could until the bait hit bottom,” he explained. “Then I’d sweep the rod so I could feel bottom, reel in the slack and sweep again.”
Spencer Rises To Second
Patrick Spencer, of Penn Valley, Calif., rallied from ninth place on day two to finish second with 67-3, worth $12,574 in winnings. His rally was fueled by today’s 26-9 limit, anchored by a 9-pound, 7-ounce bruiser that was the biggest bass of the day.
“It was a special day today, but it was still a grind,” he said. “I didn’t get my fifth keeper until around 1:30 or 2 this afternoon.”
He explained that on day one, when the wind was blowing, he threw a square-bill crankbait on rocky banks.
“Once the wind died, I went punching,” he added, noting that his go-to rig was a 1-ounce tungsten weight anchoring a Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty.
Kerr’s Climb Continued
Justin Kerr, of Simi Valley, Calif., brought in 23-2 to finish third with 66-3, good for a $9,734 payday. The finish capped a relentless comeback bid, as Kerr had climbed from 21st on day one to sixth on day two.
“It was a fun tournament,” he said. “I caught most of my fish flipping a Yamamoto creature bait and Carolina rigging a Roboworm.”
Kerr said he primarily keyed shallow weeds on the north end of Clear Lake in 4 to 6 feet of water.
Grover Garners Fourth, Strike King AOY Crown
Day-two leader Kyle Grover, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., slipped to fourth with a 17-4 limit today for a 65-3 total and collected $8,112.
Grover was also crowned the Strike King Angler of the Year for the Western Division. The title earned him an additional $2,000 in winnings, including deposits for the 2015 season and a Strike King tackle package.
“I just never got the better bites today, he said. “It would have been great to win the event, but to me the Angler of the Year recognition is a lot better because people will remember that.”
Grover said he caught every bass he brought to the scale on a red Lucky Craft 2.0 square-bill crankbait and 15-pound Berkley Big Game line. He targeted thick shoreline weeds in 1 to 3 feet of water, primarily on the north end of the lake.
“I don’t think I made one cast all week that came back clean,” he laughed.
Crutcher Punches Sweet Spots For Fifth
Mark Crutcher, of Lakeport, Calif., dropped from fourth to fifth with a 19-3 day-three limit for 65-3 total, worth $7,301.
He continued his assault on shallow north-end grass, which had served him well throughout the event.
“Every day I got about five big bites,” he said. “When you’re throwing right in the middle of the thickest, nastiest stuff there is, it’s a tug-of-war and you have about a 50 percent success rate.”
Crutcher punched thick weeds throughout the day.
“I have blisters on my hands from all that punching, but I felt that was the way the tournament would be won,” he said.
His favorite weapon was a Reckless Baits punch skirt and beaver-style soft-plastic lure with a 1-ounce weight pegged to the bait.
“Most fish hit on the drop,” he said. “I think what separated me from the pack was a lot of people flip and pitch slowly and methodically; I had my trolling motor set on 50 to 70 pounds all day long and was just hitting sweet spots. So where the other guys might fish 200 pads in a day, I’d hit 400.”
Rest of the Best
Rounding out the top-10 pros from the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division event:
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
Co-Angler Kline Capitalizes
In the co-angler division, Todd Kline, of San Clemente, Calif., overtook day-two leader Dante Ray, of Sparks, Nev. Kline weighed in a 20-pound, 10-ounce limit that gave him 56-10 for the event. Kline collected a brand-new Ranger Z117 powered by a 90-hp Evinrude outboard for his efforts.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “My weights increased each day, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Kline concentrated on chunk rock with deeper water nearby, working an Ima Pin Shad midrange crankbait in depths of 4 to 13 feet.