LAKEPORT — Acclaimed by the media as the “Bass Capitol of the West” and by ESPN as the No. 2 bass fishing destination in the world, Clear Lake will host one of the 11 bass tournaments in the nationwide ESPN Bassmasters Elite Series this year. It will be the first time Lake County will host a tournament of its caliber.
The tournament is scheduled for March 29 through April 1, with the weigh-in, ceremonies and spectatorship area at Lakeport”s Library Park.
Lake County has been host to ESPN Bassmasters tournaments before, but none in the top series. Professional bass fishermen from around the world will compete, each paired with an amateur fisherman. The professional with the highest weight in bass at the end of the tourney walks away with $100,000.
Clear Lake is one of three West Coast sites for the elite tournament. The tournament left Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas on Thursday. It is Clear Lake”s only rival for the No. 1 spot on ESPN”s list of top bass fishing destinations in the world.
The tournament is headed for Stockton March 22 though 25, then on to Clear Lake.
“It”ll take at least 100 pounds to win and maybe quite a bit more. Clear Lake is a big bass factory that just seems to turn out giant bass after giant bass. I wouldn”t be surprised to see the four-day record broken,” said professional bass fishermen and competitor Byron Velvick, who set the three-day record in a 2000 tournament on Clear Lake.
But the tournament doesn”t come without its price. Specifically, tournament coordinators asked for a $55,000 fee for hosting the event and a contract holding the county and city liable for more than is usual.
Typically, anyone who puts on an event holds the city or county harmless for any negligence that may occur during the event, explained Lakeport City Attorney Steve Brooks. This contract was asking the city and county to hold the tournament harmless in some cases, which Brooks said was unusual.
“I was not going to recommend, as a risk manager, that we sign that contract,” said Brooks. Similar concerns were raised in a county discussion.
ESPN media spokesperson Doug Grassian said the contract the two entities were asked to sign was not unusual to ask of a host.
In their respective Tuesday meetings, the county Board of Supervisors and Lakeport City Council both rejected the contract. Each entity also approved a $3,000 donation to the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce to help cover the reduced asking price to host the event.
After negotiating the original $55,000 asking price for hosting the ESPN tournament down to $15,000, the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce says that price may not be low enough.
With the county marketing department and the City of Lakeport each contributing $3,000 to the price, the remaining $9,000 would ideally be covered through local business sponsorship.
“They gave us a list of requirements in reference to how not to compete with large sponsorship dollars and that pretty much blew us out of the water,” said Chamber Director Melissa Fulton.
She said she doesn”t anticipate being able to raise enough sponsorship dollars locally to cover the cost.
“What are they going to say, sorry, we”re not going to not fish in your lake where the fishing is the best”?” opined Dist. 5 Supervisor Rob Brown in the Tuesday BOS meeting.
So is the unsigned contract a deal breaker?
“It”s still on our schedule,” said Grassian late Thursday. As to whether or not ESPN might pull out at a later time, he said he did not yet know.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com
