September signals the start of the bass tournament season on Clear Lake. Typically most of the tournament organizations run their seasons from September until June as they want to avoid the hot summer months because the high temperature places too much stress on the fish.
For the 2006-07 season there will be approximately 35 major tournaments scheduled on the lake. Currently there are five organizations holding tournaments on Clear Lake Angler”s Choice, American Bass, WON BASS, 100 Percent Bass and Future Pro. With the exception of WON BASS, which holds both pro/ams and team tournaments, the rest hold only team events.
There are also a number of tournaments that are considered specialty events. The largest will be the Citgo Bassmasters Elite Series and two FLW tournaments. These are national pro/am tournaments. The Citgo Bassmasters Elite Series will visit Clear Lake on March 29 and is a four-day event. It will feature some of the top professional bass fishermen in the world and will also be televised on ESPN.
The Elite Series consists of 11 tournaments scattered throughout the United States. There only will be two events on the West Coast one at Clear Lake and the other at the Delta. The entry fee per tournament is $5,000 and the pros are required to pay for all 11 tournaments up front before they can fish even one tournament. That means each pro must come up with $55,000 before they wet a line.
The winning pro takes home $100,000. The tournament on Clear Lake will operate out of Lakeport.
There are two other megabuck tournaments scheduled for next year. The Stren Series is in April and the FLW Series takes place in October. Both events are expected to draw 200 boats. Those tournaments operate out of Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa.
There also will be a change in some of the traditional team tournaments. This year Angler”s Choice and American Bass will host a Clear Lake circuit during which all the tournaments are held right here at Clear Lake.
Each organization will hold six tournaments at Clear Lake. American Bass will operate out of Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa and Angler”s Choice will operate out of Lakeport.
There also are several other single tournament events such as the Northlake Ford team Tournament, the Clear Lake Bassmasters annual Bass Derby and Bob”s Marine Stratos Team Tournament. These tournaments will operate out of Lakeport.
Most of the team events will field approximately 50-60 boats and will be one-day tournaments, normally on Saturday. The entry fee, which includes option money, is approximately $200 per team per tournament. Option money is a separate pool where fishermen have the choice of winning extra money. Options can consist of big fish, heaviest weight for one day and several other options.
In team events, the winners typically take home about $1,500.
Clear Lake and the Delta are the two most popular tournament locations in the West, the reason being that both are large bodies of water and hold monster-sized bass.
The good news is that bass fishermen spend a lot of money on the local economy. Fishermen stay in the motels, eat in the local restaurants and buy their gas here. Typically a fishermen will use about 30-40 gallons of gas during a day”s fishing.
And as an added bonus to the local economy, most of the fishermen prefish for two or three days before the actual tournament. It”s not unusual for a fisherman to spend $700-$1,000 during a tournament, not including his entry fees. Add in boat payments, which can run around $500 a month, and truck payments, and it makes tournament fishing a very expensive sport.
Many of the fishermen also compete in two or more tournament circuits and most won”t win back their entry fees, much less their expenses. Why do they do it? It”s because of the competitiveness that”s part of the sport. The fishermen want to win regardless of how much it costs them.
