Pro Am event victories, AOY northern titles and Western Classic qualifications were all claimed at Clear Lake this last weekend.
Another fishing season has come to an end for the WON BASS Pro/AM Northern Division. As the scales were closed on Day Two of the last event at Clear Lake, the weights revealed that the top two pro anglers fighting for the North's AOY points had tied. Clear Lake local Wayne Breazeale and Greg Gutierrez a Red Bluff resident both stood atop the leaderboard with 335 points. With a close third was Rodney Reed two points behind the leaders after a great showing this weekend that earned him a top-10 finish in the final event.
Although the wind challenged the anglers less today than yesterday, overall the weights dropped from Day One. As the event concluded Gilroy pro Chad Hulbert added another 24.73 to his 26-plus from Saturday and took home the championship with 51.14. He and his Day Two AAA Chris Mason ran south and fished shallow in less than 10-feet to get at least 20 fish. They junk fished through the day. Hulbert stated, "Crankbaits, frog, chatterbaits - we fished everything." The myriad of baits helped Hulbert rack up just under $9,000 for his triumph.
John Pearl from Upper Lake also repeated his big bag success of Saturday by adding 26.72 to his first day's catch and earning him a 2nd place finish and the only other two-day total that broke 50-bs at 50.86. Pearl and his Day Two co Adam Wolesz stayed north and shallow. "We got bit all day," shared Pearl. "We were just flippin' and pitchin' and throwin frogs and got bit all day long." They too reportedd that the fish came in less than 10-feet. Pearl pocketed $5,200 for his achievement.
John Pearl and Adam Wolesz with a big day 2 limit
Phil Garcia rounded out the Top-3 adding nearly 23-lbs to his 26.45 from Day One. Garcia just missed the 50 pound mark with a tournament total of 49.42. Garcia was one of only three anglers that brought in an eight pounder during the event. His tipped the scale at 8.39. The second biggest of the tournament. Garcia gained over $3,400 for his finish.
Phils Garcia shows off the second biggest bass of the tournament at 8.39-lbs.
The Big Fish trophy went to day 1 leader Clark Small of Solvang. His 8.65 came amidst two dozen fish on Day One; but the bait that got the big one to bite was kept secret as Small wasn't ready to divulge any details.
The AAA Clear Lake champion Cody Hughes of Salinas fished with Chad Hulbert on Day One and bass angling veteran Howard Hughes (no relation) on Day Two. He added 20-plus pounds to his Saturday's lead of 28.41 to run away with the co angler trophy by nearly two pounds. "It is my first win and my first year fishing," exclaimed Hughes. "What could be better than that! Now I'm going to go fish the Delta next weekend."
AAA Ryan Lauwers a Clear Lake local held on to the lead he came into the event with for Northern AAA AOY. He beat out his nearest competitor by 16-points.
The season-ender at Clear Lake not only decided the pro and co 2012 Anglers of the Year, it was also the final remaining factor in the qualification to the 2012 Western Classic. The Top-20 Northern Division anglers that will invites to the Classic are:
Pro
1. Wayne Breazeale
2. Greg Gutierrez
3. Rodney Reed
4. Jason Borofka
5. Kevin Stewart
6. Mike Tuck
7. Kevin Moore
8. Howard Hughes
9. Mike Saso
10. Ken Mah
11. Randy Doyle
12. Shawn Lee
13. Phil Garcia
14. Phil Burgess
15. Mark Crutcher
16. Mike Stiles
17. Jason Austin
18. Chad Hulbert
19. Mike Frederick
20. Ken Phillips
AAA
1. Ryan Lauwers
2. Nick Barse
3. Paul Smith
4. Ray Stevens
5. Cody Hughes
6. Ryan Brewer
7. Jerry Estep
8. Tony "Lou" Botelho
9. John Bitting
10. Gasper Busalacchi
11. Chad Dibble
12. Matthew Rivera
13. Lou Ferrante
14. Matthew Diaz
15. Chuck Schroder
16. Lee Poel
17. Scott Dipman
18. Craig Norman
19. Andy Sanchez
20. Chris Vieira
The last competition for the WON BASS Southern Division will take place at Lake Mead on Sept. 10-12. That will be final destination to earn points for the South's WON BASSers as well as the Daiwa Cup champion and Overall AAA AOY. The pros and co anglers in the Top-20 in the Southern Division and the Top-5 overall will also join the North's qualifiers with a coveted spot into the 2012 WON BASS Western Classic to be held on Clear Lake on Oct. 27-28.
DAY 1 Final Results
With Day One behind them, the 2012 WON BASS Clear Lake Pro/Am anglers show off their best to the gathering crowd at the scales. Of the 59 boats there were 23 that reeled in 20-plus pounds. The biggest bass were a trio of 8-lb'rs brought in by pros Clark Small, Phil Garcia and Randy McAbee Sr. Mark Gomez brought in the only 7-lbr on the AAA side.
2012 WON BASS Clear Lake Day 1 The big fish and the big bag belonged to
Clark Small. He can be seen holding up his 8.65 kicker that anchored
his limit of 28.41. He and his AAA Cody Hughes reeled in about four
limits for the day.
The big fish and the big bag belonged to Clark Small. He can be seen holding up his 8.65 kicker that anchored his limit of 28.41. He and his AAA Cody Hughes reeled in about four limits for the day and are sitting in the top-spot.
Phil Garcia also found an 8-lb'r. His 8.39 was caught early in the day and bolstered his bag to 26.45. Earning second place.
The team of Chad Hulbert and AAA Nick Barse each put a big fish on the scale. Chad's went 7.17 and Nick's 5.59. They reported getting bites all day long and brought in third biggest bag of the day with 26.41.
John Pearl and Corey Vasquez put 24.14-lbs of 5-lb'ers in the boat on day one.
John Pearl and co Corey Vasquez held up most of their 24.14. They put this 4th biggest bag together with five solid fish that all came in at about 5-lbs. Their biggest 5.30.
Tony Franceschi rounds out the top-5 with 22.88. He got his biggest, a 6.10 early. He reported he and his co Dink Mendez caught about a dozen fish in 1- to 10-feet today.
Clear Lake local Mark Crutcher teamed up with AAA Chris Mason to bring in 22.69 and end the day in 6th place. Chris weighed in a 5.56 co big fish he got on a frog and reported that the pair boated at least 20 fish, shallow.
Randy McAbee, Sr. brought in one of the three 8-lb'rs. He stated his 8.11 came shallow around 1 p.m. He and his AAA Patrick Mateo weighed in 22.37.
Neil Campbell and Paul Smith put 21.71 on the scales. Paul weighed in a 5-lb'r that he got on a Custom Bass Jig late in the afternoon. He reported they were getting worried with nothing in the boat by 10:30 a.m.
Double G always has a smile despite losing his big one at the boat. He said he got 10 or 12 fish today up shallow. He was trying some new
stuff and even brought in a couple of squeakers on the umbrella rig. He
weighed 19.63.
With another day of fishing ahead of the anglers, not many details were reported. They will launch again tomorrow for their final day of fishing under similar conditions with a sunny sky, highs in the mid 80's and winds from the northwest at approx. at 10- to 15-mph.
Sunday's Schedule
5:00 a.m. All boats in the water
5:15 a.m. National Colors
5:30 a.m. Single file launch at end of marina channel
3:00 p.m. Weigh-in begins
5:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony and Raffles
There are four flights which will begin returning to the Konocti Vista Casino Marina at 3 p.m. for their official Day Two weigh-in and the Awards Ceremony.
You can join the WON BASSers at
Konocti Vista Casino
2755 Mission Rancheria Road
Lakeport, CA 95433
FINAL REGISTRATION, PARTNER PAIRING and PLANNING -
more WON BASS Clear Lake coverage, the WON BASS Facebook and results can be found at www.wonbass.com
The partners have been paired, the rules have been read and the 59 Pro/Am Teams are making final preparations for tomorrow's blast off in the season-ender event for the 2012 WON BASS Northern Division.
Pro Ken Phillis and AAA AOY leader Ryan Lauwers are paiered up on day 1.
It is the eve of the Clear Lake blast off and for many there is a lot riding on this bass battle. It is each angler's last chance to earn points for a coveted qualifying spot in the Western Classic and some are in contention for a possible AOY title. Three pros talk about it in their Registration videos. For Air Force angler Dave Erwin - an invite to the Western Classic awaits, if he can find the fish to make the cut. Kevin Stewart and "Double G" Greg Gutierrez are both looking for the top-spot as the Northern AOY. Stewart sits eight points behind Wayne Breazeale and Gutierrez has two points to make up.
With pairings completed Day One teams gathered to make plans. Some looked like they were exchanging fun fishing tales, while others looked ultra-focused and top-secret.
The anglers will take to the water tomorrow with a mostly sunny sky, winds from the northwest at 10- to 20-mph and a high of 88-degrees. This is a drop from the high of 96-degrees today. The official sunrise time is 5:46 a.m.
Saturday's Schedule
5:00 a.m. All boats in the water
5:15 a.m. National Colors
5:30 a.m. Single file launch at end of marina channel
3:oo p.m. Weigh-in begins
There are four flights which will begin returning to the Konocti Vista Casino Marina at 3 p.m. for their official Day One weigh-in.
more WON BASS Clear Lake coverage, the WON BASS Facebook and results can be found at www.wonbass.com
WON BASS Clear Lake Early Bird Registration
Early Bird Registration kicked off the final event of the
2012 WON BASS Northern Division tonight with a welcome BBQ at Clear Lake
Outdoors. Many anglers found it
hard to tear themselves away from the fishing and could still be found on the
lake into the late afternoon and early evening. Others found the sudden spike in temperature to 98 degrees a
reason to call it a day and come to the Thursday registration.
The fishermen can anticipate a 10-degree drop in the daily
high by the start of the tournament.
The bite on the lake was reported as good; but not wide
open. WON BASS tournament director
Billy Egan filled us in with a video fishing report of his last few days on the
water as did last week's WON BASS Clear Lake Teams champion Ron Bruggeman. Both talked topwater and Senkos.
Tournament veteran Howard Hughes also checked in with a tale
or two about his pre fish.
This tournament will be the deciding factor in the North's
qualification for the 2012 Western Classic as well as the Northern Division
Angler of the Year. Thirty-two
points separate the top-10 pros in the points race for Northern Angler of the
Year. Forty-four points is the gap
on the Triple AAA side. The top-10
of each from the North follows:
Pros
1. 241 Wayne Breazeale
2. 239 Greg Gutierrez
3. 233 Kevin Stewart
4. 224 Sean Stafford
5. 218 Phil Burgess
6. 216 Mike Saso
7. 214 Rodney Reed
8. 212 Ken Mah
9. 209 Jason Borofka
10. 209 Mike Tuck
Cos
1. 242
Ryan Lauwers
2. 223
John Bitting
3. 222
Nick Barse
4. 220
Matthew Rivera
5. 219
Chad Dibble
6. 215 Ryan Brewer
7. 206 Joey Letsinger
8. 206 Paul Smith
9. 200 Craig Norman
10. 198 Ray Stevens
The bulk of the pros and co anglers in the expected 61 boats
competing in the season ender of the Northern Division will complete the
registration process tomorrow at Konocti Vista Casino.
Friday's Schedule
2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Check In & Registration at Konocti Vista
Casino
6 p.m.
Mandatory Meet & Partner Pairings at Konocti Vista Casino
more WON BASS Clear Lake coverage, the WON BASS Facebook and results can be found at www.wonbass.com
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