Texas bass pro Byron Velvick”s experience on Clear Lake paid off on the first day of the Bassmaster Elite series being held on Clear Lake. Velvick, the Bassmaster tournament winner on Clear Lake in 2004, weighed in a five-fish limit of 29 pounds to take the lead in the four-day competition. He anchored his catch with a 10-pound, 11-ounce big fish.
Velvick, an accomplished bass fishing pro, gained an extra measure of fame in the TV reality show “The Bachelor.” He said Clear Lake is his favorite lake in the United States and his favorite lure on Clear Lake is a swimbait. That”s what he used to catch his 10-pound-plus bass on Thursday.
California angler Jared Lintner is second with 23 pounds, 4 ounces (the complete first day”s standings are on Page A13). Lintner almost didn”t get to fish on Clear Lake. Earlier this week while traveling from the Delta to Clear Lake, his truck and boat were totaled in a wreck on I-5. He and his son escaped injury and he had to borrow a boat to use in the tournament.
Overall the Bassmaster pros found the fishing a little tough on the first day of the tournament. Of the 93 fishermen entered, 74 weighed in five-fish limits. Most of the fishermen were happy with between 15 and 18 pounds of bass. The good news is that the warming water is causing the bass to move into the shallows. In fact, many of the fishermen reported seeing a lot of bass staging.
The field will be to cut to the top 47 fishermen after today”s round and to the top 12 after Saturday”s round. The winning pro receives $100,000 and second place gets $25,000. The tournament pays down to 50th place, which is worth $10,000.
The pros paid an entry fee of $5,000 to enter the event. The weigh-ins for the tournament take place at Library Park in Lakeport beginning at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday afternoon, Bassmaster Elite Series sponsor ESPN will host “Ask the Experts,” a roundtable discussion among a handful of tournament fishermen who didn”t make the cut for the final two days. It will take place at the ESPN outdoor stage at the weigh-in site. This is a chance for the public to learn a few tricks on the art of competitive bass fishing.
Whereas the Bassmaster pros have been grabbing most of the spotlight this week on Clear Lake, there are still a lot of fishing opportunities for the recreational angler. The warming water should have the bass moving into the shallow water in preparation for spawning. At Clear Lake, the spawning cycle normally starts near the end of March and peaks by the middle of April. However, bass will spawn until well into May and even June.
As the results of the tournament show, the overall population of the bass in the lake is down. As an example, the Holder Ford/Konocti Vista tournament held last weekend saw only 44 teams weigh in limits both days of the tournament, and that”s only five fish per team. Nearly a quarter of the field failed to weigh in a single fish.
Most of the successful fishermen are using the drop-shot technique to catch their fish and are working the edges of the tules. For those who want to gamble on catching a big fish, then casting a swimbait is the way to go. That”s how the Holder Ford/Konocti Vista winning team of Russ Meyer and Jim Yokum caught their fish. Actually, swim baits are not all that popular with the recreational fisherman because it takes dozens of casts to catch a single fish. The pros like the swimbaits because they are only looking for a few bites and a big fish.
For those who don”t plan on competing with the bass pros at Clear Lake, the trout action has been very good at Upper Blue Lake. The lake was stocked with trout last week and the fishing pressure has been very low. At Indian Valley Reservoir, the lake is starting to clear and the bass fishing has been good. The best action has been good near the dam. As a bonus, a few holdover trout are being caught.
Junior hunters get a chance to open the spring turkey season on Saturday. The Department of Fish and Game has authorized a youth hunt only for Saturday and Sunday. Any holder of a junior hunting license can hunt but adults who accompany them can”t. The general spring turkey season opens March 27.
