The 31st annual Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament held last weekend was once again a success. Fishermen from throughout the West competed in the tournament and a member of the winning team traveled all the way from Texas. The tournament drew an impressive field of 116 boats, matching last year’s number.
The tournament started back in 1987 and was originally called the Record-Bee/Bruno’s Team Bass Tournament. The tournament was held on the first weekend in February and just about every year the fishermen faced horrible weather conditions. Rain, fog and high winds were a normal part of the tournament for many years. When the Lake County Chamber of Commerce took over the tournament the dates were switched to the middle of March and the fishermen have usually enjoyed spring-like weather, just not this year.
Saturday, the first day of the tournament, began with near freezing temperatures although it warmed up later in the day. Many fish were brought to the scales. The fog moved in Sunday and the blast-off was delayed until 9 a.m.
The hot spot on the lake was near Clear Lake State Park. This is where the winning team of Jeff and Brian Noga fished. They caught the big fish of the tournament, a 10.23-pounder, plus an assortment of other bass for a total two-day weight of 53.31 pounds. They said they used jigs, plastic worms and spinnerbaits.
The results of the tournament show that trophy bass are still rare on Clear Lake right now. Whereas many bass were caught the overall average size was only 2.6 pounds. In past tournaments, the average size just about always topped 3 pounds. Only two bass that topped 8 pounds were weighed in.
Just about all the bass caught during the tournament were taken in the north end of the lake where the hot spot was the State Park. On Sunday, I counted 14 boats on the flats just outside the park.
Many of the fishermen said they would be back next year. The Chamber staff deserves a lot of credit and they are already planning for next year’s tournament.
I got a taste of what it takes to be a tournament fisherman. I’m far from a professional fisherman and only compete in a couple of local bass tournaments per year and I’m long past the age of where I want to mortgage the house to buy a new bass boat and go out on tour.
I was teamed with longtime friend Chris Hurt of Novato. He is near my age, probably making us the oldest fishermen in the tournament. Like all modern bass boats, Hurt’s boat is equipped with just about everything to make fishing easier.
At the blast-off on Saturday morning the air temperature was a chilly 40 degrees. Moments after the tournament director called our number we were roaring across the lake at more than 50 mph. That made for a wind chill factor of 25 degrees. It was a good thing that at the last moment I decided to wear my long johns or I would have literally frozen to death. In fact, my exposed ears were like ice. Our first stop was the shoreline at Nice. A few casts and we had a couple of bass swimming in the livewell. Our next stop was the State Park where we managed to put a small limit into the boat.
Competing in a bass tournament is completely different from recreational fishing. For example, tournament fishermen fish nonstop from the blast-off until the weigh-in at the end of the day. They rarely eat lunch and just snack while the boat is underway. They have four to five rods rigged with different lures at their fingertips. One moment they will be working a plastic worm along the bottom and the next they will be casting a heavy swimbait or ripping a jerkbait.
At the end of the day they eat a quick dinner and begin going over their equipment for the next day. Then it’s off the bed for a few hours sleep before the alarm wakes them up at 4 a.m. Some of the tournaments are four days long, which takes a tremendous toll on the body. Why do they do it for so little money? It’s mostly the competitive nature of fishermen and one trip to the winner’s circle is worth all the disappointments of coming in last.
Bass tournaments are definitely a young man’s game.
