RB Bass Outdoors angler John Hampel and his wife Monica Hampel fished the 2024 Lake County Chamber Of Commerce Tournament on Clear Lake this past weekend March 16th and 17th out of Lakeport California. They did and absolute great job and manage to sack up 55.73 and take home the Win. Here is what they had to say about how their 2 day tournament went.
“The 2024 Lake County Chamber of Commerce derby on Clearlake is a wrap! My wife Monica and I were
able to fish our plan and make great things happen.
Day one was a quick trip on the north end of the lake and luckily, we were able to get the spot I wanted.
I’ve got good history here and know what happens when the weather warms up. It was dead calm and
chilly so Monica got started with a weightless 5” Yamamoto Senko, wacky. Within a couple minutes,
she’s calling “Fish!” and we put the first one in the boat and another within a few minutes after that. I
started to head down a tule bank and she called “Fish!” again. This time instead of another nice keeper,
it’s a 7.44. Her new PB! For now…….
In short order, we were able to complete our limit and the upgrading began. I was able to flip out an
8.13, big fish for the day, and some others in the 5 pound range. Each trip down the bank, I changed
colors and baits; never using the same thing twice. The 8 fell for a Riot Baits Fuzzy Beaver in a color
called Riot. By the end of the day, we had an 8, 7, 2-5s and a 4. Ended with 29.73, just shy of the 30
mark.
Day 2 was a race to the spot for us. Glad that Phoenix 721 with the Mercury 4 Stroke 250 is fast. Again,
luckily, we made it there first. Right away, we went right back to the same plan as yesterday. Monica
and I put a limit in the boat doing the exact same thing as the day before. This time, she was able to
drop shot an 8.03. Yep, she cracked another PB! So excited for her! She was using a 5.5 Keitech Easy
Shaker in Electric Bluegill color. Again, I flipped up some key fish to follow her 8 and we headed to the
scales. 26.00 for the day and her 8.03 was big fish.
When it all shook out, we had enough to hold off a few strong charges from some real hammers to get
the win with big fish both days!
Our number 1 key to success: Teamwork. When I fished the tule bank, she fished the outside. We
stayed in the same area all day, both days, as I knew fish would keep moving up with the warmer
weather.
There were a lot of people that knew where we were and what we were doing after day 1. We had so
many people assure us they would not move in on that spot so we could get back in there and try to
make it happen. That’s sportsmanship! Thank you to everyone that gave us the space we needed.
Makes a guy feel all warm and fuzzy inside!” John and Monica Hampel
