The longest-running bass tournament held on Clear Lake, the 32nd annual Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament, kicks off Saturday and runs through Sunday with tournament headquarters at Konocti Vista Casino and Resort in Lakeport.
Dating back to 1987, the Clear Lake Team Tournament is not only the oldest tournament on the lake but also one of the most popular. In fact, a handful of teams have competed in every single one. To them it’s a tradition and not just an event.
Each team is allowed to weigh in a maximum of five fish per day and most of the experts predict it will take at least 50 pounds to walk off with the first-place money. Last year’s winning team had 53.51 pounds. The winning team is guaranteed at least $5,000 if the tournament draws 100 or more boats. As of Monday, there were 55 teams entered. The team catching the big fish of the tournament receives about $1,000, and the team with the heaviest bag during the tournament receives an additional $1,000 courtesy of Country Air Property.
The two-day tournament is co-sponsored by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Konocti Vista Casino. Other sponsors are Country Air Properties, Valley Oaks and The Get-Away.
The tournament is expected to draw approximately 100 boats. The weigh-ins are scheduled to take place both days beginning at 3 p.m. at the Konocti Vista Casino marina.
At one time the Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament was one of the largest bass tournaments in the nation, drawing 225 boats during its heyday in the early 1990s when the payback was $25,000 to the winning team. Teams came from as far away as Chicago, Denver and Salt Lake City. The tournament has always paid back 100 percent of the entry fees because local businesses pay the fees to run the tournament.
Originally sponsored by the Lake County Record-Bee and Bruno’s Foods, the tournament was always held on the first weekend in February, the goal being to attract fishermen to Clear Lake and beef up the tourist industry during the winter months. I was the first tournament director and held that position for six years. The tournament originally allowed just about any type of boat and only required that the boat have a functioning livewell, which could actually be nothing more than an ice chest with an aerator.
Some of the early tournaments had some strange boats. One year a pair of fishermen fished in a canoe with fly rods and this was when the temperatures dipped down to freezing. At blast-off they paddled away. They 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 they cooked eggs and bacon and served it to the 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, most of the time from an icy dock before the blast-off. One fisherman slipped off the dock near what was then 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. The team used its trolling motor for both days and fished from the Skylark Motel to Willow Point and ended up finishing third and winning nearly $5,000.
The deadline to sign up for this year’s 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, which includes the daily big-fish option. Based on a 100-team field the approximate payouts are $5,000 for first place, $2,200 for second and $1,500 for third. The payout will be adjusted depending on the number of teams entered. Payouts will be to one in five teams. In other words, a 100-team field will pay down to 20th place.
