Bass tournaments are popular on Clear Lake but none rank up there in popularity for local fishermen as does the upcoming Holder Ford-Mercury Team Tournament, which blasts off Saturday morning.
With its colorful 22-year history, the two-day event is one of the oldest bass tournaments on the lake. The first tournament was held in 1987 and was called the Record-Bee/Bruno”s Team Bass Tournament. The purpose of the tournament was to lure fishermen to Lake County during a slow time of year for the local economy.
In those days, just about all the bass tournaments were held during the spring and summer and few were held during the winter. In fact, few fishermen even visited Clear Lake during the winter months. After the Department of Fish and Game placed restrictions on tournaments during the summer months to protect the fish, most organizations switched to winter tournaments.
During its heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the tournament was the largest professional team bass tournament in the nation, drawing 225 teams from all throughout the country. I was the director of the tournament for the first six years.
The tournament has changed considerably since those days. Originally just about all the bass boats in the tournament were only 17 or 18 feet long and powered by 150hp outboards. Today, most of the boats are 21 feet long and are powered by 225 or even 250hp outboards.
The first tournaments were always held on the first weekend in February. Usually the temperature was below freezing and the weather was miserable. More than one fisherman fell off the ice-coated docks while attempting to board a boat prior to the blast-off.
Originally there were very few rules. With the exception that all boats had to be equipped with livewells or an aerated ice chest, just about any type of boat was allowed. In fact, in one tournament two guys fished in a canoe.
In another tournament, two fishermen used a pontoon boat. They had a barbecue and cooked bacon and eggs just prior to blast-off and the aroma of the frying bacon drove the other fishermen crazy.
There were even two fishermen from Wyoming who used only fly rods and streamers. Believe it or not, they even weighed in a few bass.
This year Congressman Mike Thompson will return to fish the tournament. He will be teamed with longtime fishing partner Manny Mendoza of Kelseyville. Thompson and Mendoza have completed in the tournament at least 10 times and they even won it once. Both are excellent fishermen and are expected to finish high up on the leaderboard.
This year”s weighmasters and blast-off officials are June and Ed Clarke, owners of the Tackle It tackle shop in Lakeport. The blast-off is at first safe life Saturday and Sunday mornings at Library Park in Lakeport. The weigh-in both days is at Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina starting at 3 p.m.
In addition to Holder Ford-Mercury, the sponsors for the tournament are the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce, Lake County Record-Bee, North Lake Pharmacy, Piedmont Lumber, Lakeport Camper and Truck, Western Bass.Com, Totorica Plumbing, Carlton Tire, Tackle It Sport Shop, Hillside Honda, Bi-Coastal Media, UCC Rentals, The Ice Water Company, Dr. Sandy McGeoch DDS, Dunken Pumps, AAA Insurance and Skylark Shores Resort.
While participation in bass tournaments is down recently because of the bad economy, this year”s Holder tournament is expected to draw approximately 100 boats, which is down from 162 a year ago. To win this tournament it will take a two-day weight of approximately 50 pounds.
Fishermen can sign up as late as 5 p.m. on Friday at the Holder Ford-Mercury dealership at 2575 S. Main St. in Lakeport. Only cash will be accepted. The entry fee is $100 per team with two $50 options.
The payback is 100 percent of the entry and option fees. Cash prizes go to 20 percent of the field and include three daily big-fish awards plus three daily big bag awards. If there are 100 teams in the tournament, the winning team will receive at least $3,000 and that doesn”t include option prizes.
