The 25th annual Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament kicks off Saturday. Without a doubt it remains one of the more popular and oldest bass fishing tournaments to be held on the lake.
The first tournament took place in 1987 and in those days there were no bass tournaments held during the winter months. In fact, just about all the tournaments held back then were during the spring and summer, with the Tournaments of Champions taking place in the fall.
The goal of the original tournament was to lure fishermen to Clear Lake and Lake County during a time of year when tourism was at a low point. I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Lakeport Rotary Club and my topic was how beneficial bass tournaments are to the local economy. I suggested that Lake County host its own tournament and that it take place during the winter. John Lowman, then the publisher of the Lake County Record-Bee, and Bill Burnetti, former owner of Bruno”s Food Store, agreed to sponsor the tournament if I served as director.
The first tournament was a one-day affair and started out with what was supposed to be a 75-team limit, but that was quickly increased to 122 teams. The entry fee was only $60 and the first-place money was $1,100. It took 19.62 pounds to win the event.
The field was increased to 200 teams and two days the following year with an entry fee of $100. The total purse was $20,000 and the winning team caught 28.32 pounds to take home the tidy sum of $5,000.
The tournament record for total weight by a winning team was set in 2007 when Russell Stansbury and Andrew Parson of Santa Rosa weighed in 70.7 pounds. They also caught the big fish of the tournament, which weighed 14.58 pounds. The tournament annually drew fishermen from throughout the Western United States. In its heyday of the late 1980s and early 1990s, teams traveled here from as far away as Chicago, Spokane, Seattle and Salt Lake City. The tournament also received national media coverage.
As the tournament became more popular, the entry fees and the prize money increased. The tournament reached its peak in 1991 when 225 teams competed for a purse of $51,875 and first-place money of $17,500.
In 1992, for the first time in the tournament”s history, it failed to reach the quota of 225 teams although the tournament did draw 185 teams and had a purse of $50,875.
The Greater Lakeport Chamber of Commerce took over sponsorship of the tournament in 1994. Northlake Ford ran the tournament from 2003 to 2007 when Holder Ford-Mercury took over the management of the tournament and ran it from 2008 through 2011.
This year the primary sponsors of the tournament are the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Konocti Vista Casino. Other sponsors include the Record-Bee, North Lake Medical Pharmacy, Lakeport Ford, Lakeport Camper and Truck, Bi-Coastal Media, Linnell Printing, the Clearlake Bassmasters and the Clear Lake Outdoors tackle shop. Without these sponsors the tournament wouldn”t exist.
Because the tournament has been held during the winter and spring months weather has always played a major factor. One of the most anxious moments came in 1989 when thick fog settled on the lake at daylight. I delayed the blast-off until the fog cleared. Finally, after hearing the fishermen complain, I reluctantly agreed to let the boats go, despite visibility being less than 30 yards. The boats roared off in the fog. An hour later I received a call from a resident in Nice who had found floating debris near his dock, including life vests and a fishing license. A check of the name on the license revealed it wasn”t one of our fishermen. My blood pressure dropped by at least 20 points. It was later discovered the debris had blown out of a boat three days prior to the tournament.
The worst moment came in 1992 when gale force winds forced me to cancel the second day of the tournament. I declared the first-day leaders the winners and gave them a check for $17,500. Not many fishermen appreciated me stopping the tournament and a number of angry fishermen almost ran me out of town.
While it”s doubtful the tournament will ever be as big as it was in 1991, it still remains one of the more popular bass tournaments held on the lake. You don”t need to be a top pro to take home the money and the tournament offers more enjoyment than cash. This year the tournament is expected to draw approximately 100 boats and the winning team will take home about $4,000.
Fishermen can sign up for the tournament all week at the Clear Lake Outdoors tackle shop located on 96 Soda Bay Road in Lakeport. The deadline to enter is 3:30 p.m. Friday.
