The 26th annual Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament kicks off Saturday. If the past four tournaments held on the lake are an indicator of what to expect, the tournament should produce some huge weights.
It has taken at least a 7-pound average weight per fish to win a tournament on Clear Lake the last month and with excellent weather forecast for the weekend the results should be nothing short of fantastic. The two-day tournament is co-sponsored by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Konocti Vista Casino. Other sponsors include the Lake County Record-Bee, Airport Auto Brokers, North Lake Medical Pharmacy, Lakeport Camper and Truck, Allen and Donna Thomas, Bicoastal Media, and G and G Printing Service. The tournament would not be possible without the sponsors.
Without question this is one of the more popular bass tournaments held on Clear Lake. At one time it was also one of the largest bass tournaments in the nation. The tournament drew 225 boats back in the early 1990s and the payback was $25,000 to the winning team. Teams came from as far away as Chicago, Denver and from other Midwestern cities. The tournament has always paid back 100 percent of the entry fees and local businesses pay the fees to run the tournament.
The tournament started back in 1987 and was sponsored by the Record-Bee and Bruno”s Foods. It originally was held on the first weekend in February for the purpose to attract fishermen to Clear Lake during the winter months. I was the first tournament director and held that position for six years. Originally the tournament allowed just about any type of boat, the only requirement being that it had to have a functioning livewell, which could actually be nothing more than an ice chest with an aerator.
In fact, some of the early tournaments had some strange boats. One year a pair of fishermen participated in a canoe and they used fly rods, and this was when the temperatures dipped down to freezing. At blast-off they paddled away and actually weighed in a couple of bass. Another team showed up in a patio boat, which was equipped with a gas stove and barbecue. As the 225 boats were assembling for the blast-off, those on the boat cooked eggs and bacon and served it to nearby boaters.
In the early days of the tournament the weather was normally terrible. One year the fog was so thick dozens of fishermen got lost and ended up scattered around the lake. Just about every tournament had a fisherman or two fall into the frigid lake, although most of the time it was off a dock. Dan Stahlman of Lakeport slipped off the icy dock at the Skylark Motel just prior to the blast-off and despite the cold weather he jumped back into his boat and fished the entire day in sopping-wet clothes. Another year a team from Modesto blew their engine at blast-off on the first day of the tournament. They used just their trolling motor for both days and fished from the Skylark Motel to Willow Point and ended up in third place, winning nearly $5,000.
Originally members of the top three teams were required to take and pass a polygraph (lie-detector) test. The polygraph examiner would ask a series of test questions along with real questions about whether they cheated during the tournament. The test questions were used for the examiner to set up a profile on the individual. One of the test questions was if you had ever cheated on your income tax or your wife. The examiner told me that in every tournament at least a dozen fishermen would refuse to answer that test question.
The final day fishermen can sign up for the tournament is Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Lake County Chamber of Commerce office located at 875 Lakeport Blvd. in Lakeport (the office is located on Vista Point). The entry fee is $200 per team and includes daily big-fish option. Based on a 100-team field the winning team will receive $5,000. Second place will be worth $2,200 and third place will receive $1,500. The payout will be adjusted depending on the number of teams entered. Payouts will be one in five places. In other words, a 100-team field will pay down to 20th place.
