CLEARLAKE, Calif. – What more can be said about Clear Lake. A fishery that puts angler skills sets to the test, and consistently rewards those that have the patience to unlock it’s mysteries, absolutely “mind-boggling” weights for their efforts.
And last Saturday, the 2013 Future Pro Tour’s opening season event “the Big Bass Brawl”, blasted off on Clear Lake this past weekend, producing yet another plus 100 boat plus field – for the 11th consecutive year, for the Future Pro Tour organization.
A total field of 135 boats joined some beautiful spring conditions and bright blue skies which warmed the waters of this big bass fishery, leaving the anglers to find the fish that were hungry and ready to feed. Future Pro Teams couldn’t break into the top trio without a 34-lb sack and 25 or better was needed for the top-10.
“A-rigs all day,” exclaimed Vince Herring and Kenneth Durling as they weighed in the winning weight of 34.81, bolstered by an 8.95 kicker. “We did a lot of scramblin’. We pretty much ran the whole entire lake, caught our fish and made our bites count. We didn’t catch a lot of fish like everyone else. We just had to grind for those good ones.” Their grind was worth $3,400 for the win.
There was close competition for Herring and Durling as runners-up Brian Bailey and Cody Bashore came to the scales with 34.56 and their own 8.52 anchor. “It’s actually been slower today than it has all week,” reported Bashore a lake local. “We had a lot of good bites this week with a Trash Fish – a 6-inch Fatty. It helped us dial them in. We already had the locations; but today they were goin’ for the bigger baits.” Concentrating on the north side of the lake, they reported reeling in 25 fish. Bailey and Bashore banked $2,200 for their best.
BMX Mike Kranich and Alex Christianson rounded out the top-3 with 34.08. “We caught ’em all day; it was ridiculous,” commented Kranich. These guys reported they got theirs burnin’ crankbaits and swimbaits from Monster Tackle and were fishing within sight of the second place team. They netted $1,300 for their 3rd place finish.
The biggest of The Brawl went to the team of Jim Markham and Mark Harmon. “We pulled up to that jetty just north of Konocti, I threw a jig in five-feet of water and she ate it,” said Harmon. Their big one hit about noon and earned them $350. Payouts and/or prizes were pocketed by the top-21.
A medal and a prize package with product from Lucky Craft, River2Sea and Yamamoto Baits went to the Future, Future Pro champion of the youth division Jarret Preston. Fishing with his father, the Preston team brought in 21.32. Second place was credited to Colt Boykin. Also fishing with dad, the Boykins’ five went 16.65.
We would like to thank all that participated in this season opening event, for your patience, and especially for your attention to fish care/handling at this event. The Clearlake Bass Masters live release boat reported that the fish they received at the boat were in excellent condition, and that there were no mortalities.
Good job by everybody!
For more full results from this event please visit the FPT website at www.futureprotour.net.
Next up….Folsom Lake and the Capitol City Showdown!
Call the FPT offices today to ensure that you get a good blast number as this will surely be another big field of anglers.
See you there!
FPT
916.768.0938 – www.futureprotour.net
The Future Pro Tour is presented in part by:
Coors Light
Thunder Valley Casino Resort
Ranger Boats
Evinrude Outboards
NAVIONICS
Johnson Outdoors – featuring Humminbird /Minn Kota
Cocoons Eyewear
River2Sea USA
Gamakatsu USA
The Fish Sniffer
Yamamoto Custom Baits/Kinami Baits
Lucky Craft
Snag Proof
MAACO Auto Painting
Billy Chapman Jr’s Anglers Inn Resort on El Salto
C&C Marine – Citrus Heights/Modesto
Anglers Marine – Anaheim/San Diego
Marine Unlimited – Petaluma
Fisherman’s Warehouse – Sac, Manteca/Fresno/San Jose and now online!
Hook, Line & Sinker – Oakley/Bethel and now online!
Walton’s Pond – San Leandro/and now online!
Outdoor Pro Shops – Rohnert Park and now online!
Comfort Suites of Oakley
Go Pro Cameras
Destiny Wine Tours