LAKEPORT — Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) is set to visit Clear Lake next week for three bass fishing tournaments that will award anglers of all ages and skill levels thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.
The Costa FLW Series Western division kicks things off on Thursday and the tournament runs through May 18. The three-day competition will feature up to 200 of the West Coast’s best bass pros and co-anglers. Pros will be competing for a top prize of $85,000, including a new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard in the pro division.
On May 18, college anglers kick off competition at the YETI FLW College Fishing event. The one-day tournament showcases college bass fishing clubs from the Western Conference. Fishermen will be competing for cash and prizes as well as a chance to advance to the FLW College Fishing National Championship.
The third and final tournament, on May 19, is the Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open. The one-day tournament is a free, two-person team event for students in grades 7-12. It’s open to any FLW and Student Angler Federation-affiliated high school club in the country. The top 10 percent of finishers advance to the 2019 High School Fishing National Championship in June on Pickwick Lake in Alabama.
All three tournaments take place at the Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina near Lakeport.
According to FLW Tour pro Billy Hines of Vacaville, fans can expect to see plenty of monster bass as the tournaments, which are lining up directly with the spawn at Clear Lake.
“I think it’s mainly going to be a weekend of bed-fishing tournaments with a lot of big fish being caught,” said Hines, who has one career top-10 finish on Clear Lake in FLW competition. “I absolutely think we’ll see some big limits brought to the scales — in the 26- to 30-pound range. I think the majority of the field will be flipping, punching and throwing frogs.
“The lake really fishes like almost two different lakes,” Hines added. “Guys are going to be able to find some postspawn fish on the north side, and the bigger spawning fish will be found mid-lake to down south. The lake is fishing really good right now — I think the three-day Costa winner will need 70-75 pounds, but it has the potential to be a 80- to 90-pound tournament.”
Anglers blast off from Konocti Vista Casino Resort and Marina each day at 6:30 a.m. Weigh-ins take place at 2:30 p.m. on May 16-17, and 2 p.m. on May 18-19. Fans can attend the weigh-ins free of charge. Weigh-ins will be live-streamed online at FLWFishing.com.
