One of the richest bass tournaments on Clear Lake gets underway Thursday morning with the FLW-Outdoors Costa Series. The tournament is expected to draw 100-plus boats (100 pros and 100 amateurs or co-anglers). The winning pro could take home as much as $35,000 in cash as well as a new bass boat for a total package worth more than $75,000.
The winning amateur wins about $4,000 in cash plus a new bass boat. The pros paid an entry fee of $1,600 and the amateurs $400. The three-day event concludes on Saturday. The tournament operates out of Konocti Vista Casino and Marina in Lakeport.
The full field will be on the water Thursday and Friday. Only the top 10 pros and top 10 amateurs advance to the final round on Saturday based on their two-day accumulated weight. The winners in both the pro and amateur divisions are determined by the most accumulated weight for all three days. The weigh-ins start at 2:30 p.m. on all three days at Konocti Vista Casino and Marina.
The tournament is a true pro/am format whereby both pros and amateurs fish separately. Each fisherman is allowed to weigh in five fish per day.
The pros supply the boats, fish from the front of the boat and compete against other pros. The amateurs fish from the back of the boat and compete against other amateurs. The amateurs aren’t allowed past the boat console and must cast their lures to either side of the boat or behind it. The pros decide what area of the lake to fish. Professional fishermen from throughout the West are competing in the event. A list of Lake County fishermen entered in the tournament wasn’t available from FLW-Outdoors, but local bass pros Jimmy Reese of Witter Springs, Mark Crutcher of Lakeport and Paul Bailey of Nice are among those entered. One of the favorites has to be Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville. He won the two-day CTT pro/am last weekend and also won the WONBASS three-day pro/am three weeks ago.
The pros are looking for nothing but quality bass and they should have no trouble finding them. The warm weather has the bass moving onto the spawning beds and some huge bass should be caught. A quality bass at Clear Lake is considered any fish weighing more than 5 pounds. The winner is also likely to have a kicker fish, which means a bass between 8-10 pounds.
Most of the experts expect the winning pro to be around 80 pounds for the three days. Last year’s FLW Clear Lake tournament drew 95 boats and the winning pro weight was 63 pounds while the winning amateur had 62 pounds. Weather is a key factor in the tournament. If it’s warm with light winds, the weights could be huge. Clear Lake has long been a favorite of FLW fishermen because of the huge bass that swim in the lake. Last weekend’s CTT tournament produced a 9-pound bass and it took nearly 57 pounds to win the two-day event. The FLW tournament fishermen should fare better because many are full-time professional tournament fishermen.
The good news is that the approximately 200 fishermen expected to participate in the tournament could spend more than $200,000 at local motels, gas stations, tackle shops and restaurants. The Costa Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Southwestern and Western. Clear Lake is in the Western Division. Each division holds four tournaments and competitors are vying for valuable points that could earn them big payouts in the future.
FLW is one of the largest professional bass tournament organizations in the nation. It also sponsors walleye tournaments in the Midwest as well as ocean fishing tournaments. FLW is based out of Brenton, Kentucky.
