Jimmy Reese of Witter Springs has the early lead in the pro division of the FLW Outdoors Clear Lake Pro/Am bass tournament following round one on Thursday. Reese brought 26 pounds, 11 ounces to the scales. He said he battled the wind and high waves to catch his fish. Prefishing paid off for Reese as he located several locations that held spawning bass earlier in the week. He said he caught his fish on jigs, swimbaits and by drop-shotting a plastic worm.
Second place on the leaderboard belongs to Greg Gutierrez of Red Bluff with 26 pounds, 7 ounces, and Troy Lindner of Los Angeles is third at 26-6.
Other local fishermen in the top 10 are Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, fifth place at 23-10; Paul Bailey of Kelseyville, seventh place at 23-7; and Tommy Cardoza of Lakeport, ninth place at 23-3.
The leader in the co-angler division is Oregon fisherman Kevin Gray of Hermiston with 24 pounds, 4 ounces. He also caught the big fish on day one, an 8-pound, 15-ounce largemouth bass.
The first day of the tournament produced 730 bass for an overall average weight of 3.62 pounds.
A full field will fish today during round two. Following today”s action, the field will be cut to the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers for the final day of competition on Saturday. The tournament started on Thursday with 97 pros and 97 co-anglers. The weigh-ins continue at 3 p.m. today and Saturday at Konocti Vista Casino in Lakeport. The winner in the pro division could win as much as $70,000 in cash and prizes. The co-angler could take home as much as $30,000 in cash and prizes. The pros paid an entry fee of $1,000 and the co-anglers $400.
Trout fishing
Trout grab the fishing spotlight this weekend as the annual Upper Blue Lakes Trout Derby gets under way Saturday morning and the general trout season opens at the East Branch of the Russian River. Both events are expected to draw hundreds of fishermen.
Upper Blue Lake is scheduled to be stocked with trout this week and that means there should be plenty of fish for the contestants. The derby is sponsored by the Blue Lakes Association, local merchants and businesses, all of which donate prizes. The fishing contest has been around for 22 years and the proceeds from the event support volunteer firefighters, emergency medical personnel and other Blue Lakes community projects. The hours of the derby are from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday with weigh-ins each day at the Narrows Resort. Entry fees are $8 per person and $4 for those younger than 16. The top prize is $150, second place is $75 and third place is $50. Every child wins a prize. The derby is open to the public and hosted by the Narrows Lodge Resort, located on 5690 Blue Lakes Road. Fishermen can enter the derby at the resort as late as 9 p.m. tonight. For more information call 275-2718.
For those trout fishermen who aren”t fishing in the derby, the East Branch of the Russian River opens for trout action Saturday morning. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is scheduled to stock the stream this week. The stream is extremely popular among fishermen and there is expected to be a large crowd on hand for the opener.
The good news is that the DFG stocks the stream several times a month throughout the summer. To reach the fishing area take the Lake Pillsbury Road off Highway 20. There are a number of places you can park and walk down to the stream. Most of the trout fishermen will be using either salmon eggs or nightcrawlers and working the deeper pools. Mepps spinners are also very effective.
Lake Mendocino will also draw large number of trout fishermen. The lake was stocked last week and will be stocked again next week.
Turkey season
The spring wild turkey season goes into its final week (it closes on May 6) and the hunting has definitely improved. Many of the hens are now sitting on their eggs and the toms are on the prowl looking for new hens. To date, the success rate among hunters has been better than average. I hunted the Mendocino National Forest on Monday and heard at least eight different gobblers. I also called in and bagged a nice tom.
