March 19, 2010 – bassmaster.com
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Just as Clear Lake is starting to warm up, so is Byron Velvick. Velvick, a West Coast transplant who now resides in Del Rio, Texas, wasn’t able to land a monster bass, like Thursday, but the two-time BASS winner managed 22 pounds Friday, building his two-day total to 51 pounds.
Golden State Shootout: Day Two Behind The Scenes
Randy Howell of Springville, Ala., upgraded his total to 46-10, enough to keep Velvick honest heading into the weekend.
Velvick has considerable big-fish chops — he established the BASS three-day tournament record here with 83 pounds, 5 ounces, — and is tapping into his extensive knowledge of Clear Lake. Still, Elite events are all about learning and adapting and Velvick says he has been able to accrue new knowledge of the fishery each day. And things are setting up to be a slugfest.
“It’s going to be like an Easter egg hunt on Sunday,” said Velvick of the fish being susceptible to sight fishing. “It is just going to be sick.”
Velvick has been mining areas that have produced for him in the past. In fact, one — his primary — was the area that yielded the three-day record. This week, he hasn’t pigeonholed himself into one technique. Instead, he is changing up his lure presentation between three choices.
Some of his strategy has involved protecting his areas from other anglers — both locals and pros. And with the lake turning on and pleasant conditions in store, the lake could be a madhouse over the weekend.
But Velvick has a sound contingency plan. He has formulated something that he can go to and feel confident in scrounging a solid limit if necessary.
“I’ve learned a lot over the past two days,” said Velvick, 45. “I have a little something figured out where I know what I can do no matter what happens.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=5011577March 18, 2010 – bassmaster.com
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Feeling right at home, Byron Velvick toted 29 pounds of Clear Lake bass to the scales Thursday and took the opening-round lead at the Golden State Shootout, the second event of the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series season.
Nearing the 10-year anniversary of when Velvick established the three-day BASS’ record for tournament weight here, Velvick, once a West Coast resident, raided Clear Lake in a similar manner, boating the first double-digit bass of the Elite season, a 10-11 beauty.
Now settled in Del Rio, Texas — on the periphery of another bass-factory Lake Amistad — Velvick is in a different place now.
“Ten years ago, I actually missed some of my bigger bites,” said Velvick, 45. “But not today. I have more knowledge now and the equipment is miles ahead of where it was. I absolutely love this fishery. Maybe I should move to Clear Lake.”
Although prevailing Clear Lake wisdom would assume that Velvick tied on a big swimbait and fired it around the whole day, the two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier said not so. Instead, he is mixing up his lure choice — a swimbait is still a big part of it — and is mining shallow water spots that have consistently produced over the years.
“You have to mix it up,” Velvick said. “It’s just not a good idea to stick with one lure. Variety is the name of the game this week. And I think that was a key to my success today (Thursday). I’m doing something a little bit different, but it’s smart.”
With Clear Lake in a funky way — cold nights and mornings give way to bluebird, warm conditions later in the day — a deep bite has been productive for a bevy of anglers. But Velvick says it is “disintegrating” and will stick with his milk run throughout the rest of the week.
The record, 83 pounds, 5 ounces, would certainly be in jeopardy if the Elites were three-day affairs. But Velvick will have to sustain his performance for four days this week and for that to happen, the two-time BASS winner said he needed boat traffic, from locals and competitors, to be limited.
More than 5 pounds behind Velvick was Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif. Although he faces a sizable deficit, Lintner, who landed 23-4, has a sparkling resume here — he won a 2005 Bassmaster Open on the fishery — and could make up ground quickly with the right bite.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=5007856March 17, 2010 – bassfan.com
The Clear Lake Bassmaster Elite Series could be either a slugfest or a grind – it all depends on what the bass in California’s largest natural lake decide to do over the next few days.
One of two scenarios is almost certain to play out. Either a bunch of fish will migrate to the shallows and the Elite anglers will clobber them with swimbaits like they did 3 years ago, or they’ll continue to cruise around at depths of 6 feet or more and play hard to catch. Opinion on whether the former will happen is split – some say the fish are right on the verge of moving up for the spawn, while others think the still-cold nights will keep them out until sometime next week.
One thing is certain – they weren’t easy to entice during the 3-day practice session that concluded this afternoon. Tales of woe, of course, must be taken with a grain of salt because nobody wants to divulge anything that’s proven effective under the current conditions, but even some anglers who reported getting a fair of amount of bites lamented that they were scattered and unpredictable.
Even if it stays relatively tough, the Top 2 or 3 finishers will likely weigh bags that average somewhere around 20 pounds – there are just too many big fish here to prevent that from happening. But at the same time, much of the field will struggle, as it did last week at the California Delta.
Before delving further into the bite, here’s the low-down on the lake itself.
BassFan Lake Profile
> Name: Clear Lake
> Type of Water: Natural lake
> Surface Acres: 43,000
> Primary structure/cover: Docks, rocks and tules
> Primary forage: Shad, Clear Lake hitch, crawdads
> Average depth: 30 feet
> Species: Largemouths
> Length limit: 12 inches
> Reputation: A big-fish factory that suffered a decline in the early 1990s, but has made a strong recovery. Huge population of 4- to 6-pound fish
> Weather: A mix of clouds and sun with daytime highs in the 70s, but cool nights in the high 30s to low 40s. A tad cooler for the weekend.
> Water temperature: Low to mid 50s
> Water color/visibility: Very clear in most places
> Water level: About a foot below full pool
> Fish in: 6 to 20 feet
> Fish phase: Pre-spawn
> Primary patterns: Swimbaits, dropshots, jigs, Senkos, maybe some sight-fishing
> Winning weight: 85 pounds (4 days)
> Cut weight (Top 12, 3 days): 48 pounds
> Check weight (Top 47, 2 days): 28 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 2 for Clear Lake, but that could change
> Biggest factor: Water temperature
> Biggest decisions: Which end of the lake to fish
> Wildcard: A big movement of fish toward the banks
March 17, 2010 – bassmaster.com
LAKEPORT, Ca. — The Elite Series is tickling the nose of a sleeping giant.
After two practice sessions Monday and Tuesday that Bassmaster Classic champion Kevin VanDam described as “so brutal I can’t believe it,” most of the 93 anglers leaving the Willow Point Park launch on Clear Lake, Ca., Wednesday for the final day of practice for the 2010 Golden State Shootout sound like they’ve been snake-bitten. It’s been that tough.
“I think most of us would rather be back on the Delta,” Denny Brauer joked Tuesday after practice. “I’ve thrown that swimbait 1,000 miles and don’t have a thing to show for it.”
Or, as VanDam put it: “It can’t get any tougher than this.”
Oh, but how quickly that could change.
This 43,000-acre lake located 160 miles northwest of Sacramento has been locked down in a late-winter funk, thanks to an early-March temperature dip that brought nighttime lows into the high 20s last week. Water temperatures consequently took a plunge, dropping into the high 40s and putting the emergency brake on the pre-spawn schedule of the largemouth population in northern California’s most revered big-bass lake.
Golden State Shootout: Anglers meeting
It’s almost a mirror image of what happened last week on the California Delta, when a series of high-pressure systems and unsettled, cold weather produced a tough, unpredictable bite. And it’s also the polar opposite of 2007, the last time VanDam, Brauer and the Elite pros tangled with Clear Lake’s 5- to 10-pound class of Florida-strain largemouth.
Back then, Steve Kennedy obliterated BASS’ all-time four-day total weight with 122 pounds, 14 ounces of largemouth, a performance that included one day where his fish averaged 8 pounds. Seven anglers broke the 100-pound mark at that event, and 11 caught 90 pounds or more in one of the biggest slugfests in Elite Series history.
Kennedy’s record was subsequently reset at Falcon Lake, but the 2007 Shootout established Clear Lake in most Elite pros’ minds as one of the best largemouth fisheries in the world.
And that’s exactly why frustration has crept in during practice.
“You know they live here,” VanDam said. “The big thing is, when we were here a couple of years ago, it was unreal, and that’s what your expectations are. You know it’s a good lake and that there are some big fish here. It’s just one of those deals: It’s not fishing well, but you know better. You know what it can produce.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=5004556March 14, 2010 – bassmaster.com
STOCKTON, Calif. — For an professional angler, the equivalent to Lebron James pulling up and swishing a last-second three-pointer is to land a 5-pounder on the last cast.
John Crews of Salem, Va., executed that feat on the California Delta in the grandest of fashions Sunday to score the $100,000 victory at the Duel in the Delta, the Bassmaster Elite Series season-opener.
That fish added just enough weight to Crews’ four-day total of 72 pounds, 6 ounces, to best Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., by the slimmest of margins. Reese (72-5) was visibly shaken. Crews wasn’t.
“This is just unbelievable,” said Crews, 31. “When it’s your time, it’s just your time. I knew I was on the fish to win and I never have had that feeling before. I’m almost speechless.”
TroKar Duel in the Delta: Day Four Weigh-in
Crews certainly seemed to have a horseshoe in his back pocket this weekend. But ultimately, Crews identified an area that many of his Elite brethren overlooked. His success can be directly tied to his spot that was immune to the changing conditions that plagued many on the Delta this week.
Case in point: Crews weighed his heaviest limits on Friday and Sunday. The conditions on those days were on total opposite ends of the spectrum with Sunday producing blue-bird skies while Friday rain, wind and frigid conditions prevailed.
The four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier concentrated on a dead-end slough that held deep, thick hydrilla in 4 to 8 feet of water. He worked the flipping stick slowly and methodically. As with most of the competitors this week, patience was a virtue for Crews as keeper bites were few and far between.
But when he got one, he made it count. He primarily used a sweet beaver through the first three rounds of competition but switched to a Gambler BB Cricket on the final day. The move paid off as Crews brought the only 20-plus pound limit — actually 20-8 — to the scales on Sunday.
“I found that area the first day of practice and actually only got one bite in there,” said Crews, who took his first BASS victory Sunday. “But there was something that looked right there. The water was deeper and the fish weren’t moving. And they were kept off the bank because of the boat traffic. The bite wasn’t tide-dependent and I knew it could be a winning area if I executed.”
The victory is sweet redemption after an “atrocious” beginning to the 2009 Elite season. Though he missed out on qualifying for the 2010 Classic, Crews finally felt he was starting to put something together late last year. Mentally, he said, he was in a good place and he was able to extend the good vibes into this week. Now, his confidence is soaring.
“Right now, I’m in such a good place with my fishing,” Crews said. “I don’t know how I will do at Clear Lake (the next Elite event) but I know I have a chance of winning. And that feels good.”
Reese is no stranger to just missing out on victory — he lost the 2007 Classic by mere ounces — but even with his unfavorable luck, the sting of losing by one ounce was evident. Like Crews, Reese was able to piece together solid days throughout the event while other anglers were all over the map.
Reese fished two areas Sunday and switched up his bait choice, a chigger craw, creature bait and chatterbait. He explored new water in the morning that led to little success. But then he moved to his primary area — a long run from the launch location — and was able to put together 18 pounds, 12 ounces, a weight he thought was good enough to claim his fourth BASS victory.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=4995679March 10, 2010 – bassmaster.com
As soon as Bassmaster Elite Series pros compete March 11-14 in the season opener on the California Delta, they’ll hit the road to travel about 175 miles north to Lakeport, Calif., to prep for another northern California tournament, but one of an entirely different nature.
The March 18-21 Golden State Shootout will be on Clear Lake, the largest natural lake to lie entirely within California’s borders. In sharp contrast to the sprawling, shallow system of canals and sloughs that comprise the Delta, Clear Lake is 19 miles long, measures 8 miles wide at its widest point, and has an average depth of 27 feet.
Elite pros will compete on Clear Lake for four days to claim the $100,000 first-place prize. They’ll also be striving to earn points that count toward qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series postseason in July, as well as for next year’s Bassmaster Classic and Elite season.
Bassmaster.com will cover the 2010 Golden State Shootout with daily analysis, photo galleries, standings and a real-time leaderboard. ESPN360.com will offer live, streaming video. ESPN2 will recap the competition on The Bassmasters at 9 a.m. ET, Sunday, April 4, and again at 11 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 17.
The 2010 Shootout will mark the eighth time a BASS tournament has been on Clear Lake. The most recent winners were Elite pros Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif., in a 2005 Bassmaster Open event; and Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., in 2007, when the Elite Series last stopped at Clear Lake.
Kennedy’s winning weight of 122 pounds, 14 ounces, stood as the BASS four-day catch record for more than a year. It slid to seventh place only when the Elite Series visited another lunker haven, Texas’ Falcon Lake, in 2008.
One reason Clear Lake harbors such a robust bass population is that the state Department of Fish and Game plants Florida-strain largemouth. The lake is healthy and has been for some time; the lake record largemouth of 17.5 pounds was set in 1990.
Elite pro Fred Roumbanis grew up fishing Clear Lake. He now lives in Bixby, Okla., but he will tap into his California roots for the Golden State Shootout — as he is dong this week on the California Delta.
“I believe Clear Lake is going to be a phenomenal tournament,” Roumbanis said. “What’s really nice about it right now is that California’s had a lot of rain, so the lake will fish a lot bigger, the fish will be spread out. Although a lot of the guys will go with a swimbait bite, there will be a lot of other ways to catch them.”
At the 2007 Shootout — when not only Kennedy bagged 122-14 over four days, but also when fellow pro Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., brought in 117-06 — the water was lower, so the fish were more concentrated, Roumbanis said.
“It’s going to be hard to match 2007,” he said. “There’s going to be some giant bags caught over the four days, but doing it four days in a row will be hard because the water’s up so high.”
Conditions are prespawn, he said.
“The fish want to come up,” he said. “We could hit it just right — or it could be a tough bite. It really will depend on the weather leading up to it. If the weather warms, then 20 pounds a day will be only a top 40. If it’s tough, 20 pounds a day will make the Top 12 on the final day.”
The full Elite field will compete Thursday and Friday, with the top 47 advancing to Saturday’s competition. Only the Top 12 will still be in the game the final day, Sunday, for the $100,000 top prize.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?page=b_ES_2010_Clear_Preview1