LAKEPORT — The Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Clear Lake is well on its way to setting a national Bassmaster record as fishermen brought heavy sacks of fish to the scales on Thursday, the opening day of the four-day tournament.
Leading the pack after the first day of the tournament is Red Bluff bass pro Greg Gutierrez with 32 pounds, 13 ounces. Gutierrez, who has a full-ime job as a fire captain, said he is confident he can repeat his catch or even better it during today”s second round.
“I”m on fire,” shouted a happy Gutierrez.
Close behind in second place is Ish Monroe of Hughson with 32 pounds, 9 ounces. Monroe said he saved fish for today”s second round and expects to stay near the top of the leaderboard.
Third place is held by Florida fisherman Peter Thliveros of Jacksonville with 28 pounds, 11 ounces.
Most of the leaders said they saw dozens of bass cruising that would have weighed from 8-10 pounds. Even tournament officials admitted that a new record could be established by Sunday. The current record for a four-day tournament (five fish per day, 20 for the tournament) is 115 pounds, 15 ounces, and was set last year by Preston Clark of Florida at Santee Cooper Reservoir in South Carolina.
All the 108 pros in the tournament brought in five-fish limits and most said they caught from 20 to 40 fish during the first day of competition. In fact, several said they were culling fish within 30 minutes of blast-off.
It took 20 pounds just to get into the top 50 places and 27 pounds to make it into the top 100.
Leading the co-anglers (or amateur) division is Georgia fisherman Ron Tyson of Marrietta with 24 pounds, 1 ounce. Bob Myskey of Nice is in fourth place with 24 pounds, 1 ounce.
The weigh-in for today”s second round starts at 3 p.m. at Library Park in Lakeport. The field also will be cut to 50 after today”s weigh-in and to 12 after Saturday”s third round is complete.
The warm weather plus clearer-than-normal water has the larger bass moving onto the spawning beds, which means the final three days of the tournament could be nothing short of awesome. Many of the pros said they expect at least six fishermen to bring in more than 30 pounds during today”s round.
As expected, the top lure so far has been the swimbait. Other fishermen found success casting jerkbaits or flipping jigs back into the tules.
Other lakes
You don”t have to be worried about the bass pros at Lake Pillsbury, which is scheduled to be stocked with trout next week, and the fishing should be good. The lake is normally stocked several times during the spring months. This lake also provides excellent bass fishing.
Fishermen who want to get away from the heavy boat traffic on Clear Lake because of the Bassmasters tournament should consider Indian Valley Reservoir. The lake is kicking out limits of trout and the kokanee fishing is improving daily. Bass, both largemouth and smallmouth are being caught in the coves in the north end.
Turkey season
Turkey hunters open the spring hunting season Saturday and from all indications it will be one of the best seasons in years. In fact, many of the rural residents in the county are saying that turkeys are becoming a pest (eating their flowers and leaving their droppings on decks and driveways).
The season runs through May 6 (there is an extended archery-only season from May 6-20). The shooting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to 4 p.m. The limit is one bearded turkey per day and a total of three for the season. In addition to holding a current hunting license, all hunters are required to possess an Upland Game Stamp.
Hunters are advised that only hunters with a valid permit will be allowed on opening weekend at the Cache Creek Wildlife Area. The area will be open for all hunters and no permit is required after Monday.
