ESPN Sports Network Ranks Clear Lake, California Number 2 of Top 10 Best Bass Fishing Destinations in Western Hemisphere
The lure of Clear Lake is that it is a place where anglers come in pursuit of their dream. "The Holy Grail for the typical bass fisherman is the double-digit bass. That's what everybody wants to catch," said Ross England, the proprietor of the Tackle It fishing store in Lakeport pictured here.
"Probably the biggest achievement for most bass fishermen is 5 pounds," England adds, "but once they've done that, it's the 10-pounder, which is a lifetime achievement."
England is arguably the consummate expert on what it means to catch a bass weighing in at the double-digit level. His five-fish competitive limit catch of 41.78 pounds, caught in the Stratosboat Western Regional held at Clear Lake is the existing tournament record. "People who fish Lake Shasta will catch a lot of fish," said England, "but the average weight is going to be a pound. When they see in the tournament results that two guys came in with 40 pounds of fish, they say, Holy cow! I got a shot at catching the biggest fish of my life.”
Clear Lake was identified by ESPN Sports network’s weekly series “Bass Center” as the destination where the biggest fish can be caught. Only Lake Amistad in Texas received a higher rating in the program's selection of the Top 10 Bass-Fishing Destinations in the Western Hemisphere. Over 3,000 competitive anglers participate in the numerous bass-fishing tournaments at Clear Lake and countless others attracted to the lake attest to its popularity.
The largest contingent of bass fishermen in history converges on Lake County in March for the FLW STREN Pro/Am tournament which takes its place alongside the B.A.S.S. event later in the year as one of the two annual "majors" held on Clear Lake. The four-day STREN (one of the biggest and richest professional bass tournaments in the West) establishes a new high for competitive fishing with a capacity entry of 200 boats and 400 fishermen (200 pros and 200 co-anglers or amateurs) from throughout the Western United States. California fishermen are joined by anglers from Alaska, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Oregon.
Defending champion Sieg Taylor of Kelseyville (middle photo) has been competing in bass tournaments for nine years and set an FLW national record in 2005 by weighing in 94 pounds (for 16 bass) during the tournament.
Lake County's Jimmy Reese (bottom photo), a Witter Springs resident won the final round of the 2006 FLW-STREN Western Series pro-am bass tournament on Clear Lake with a catch total of 40 pounds, 8 ounces pocketing nearly $62,000 in cash and prizes. Reese has been fishing professional for nine years and has won more than $400,000. Clear Lake is his favorite lake and he is probably the most recognized fisherman from Lake County. Bass tournaments on Clear Lake have multiplied over recent years to over 35 held annually and sponsored by resorts such as Konocti Vista Casino, Resort & Marina and Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa.
Lakeport’s Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melissa Fulton says “Bass fishing provides a major amount of tourism dollars for Lake County.” She adds, "The Chamber has done surveys as have tournament organizers, and we know that every dollar spent by bass fishermen here goes through our economy five to seven times.” The FLW STREN tournament alone brings in about $300,000 to local business.
As bass fishing in Lake County gets bigger, corporations are buying into the major exposure they can get from investing in the sport. Clear Lake and vicinity continues to grow as people come to Clear Lake to fish, recreate and vacation and become enamored with the area. Some of them buy second homes and many more have relocated from other areas and moved here permanently.
Our thanks to Lake County Record-Bee Newspaper and staff writers John Lindblom and Terry Knight for excerpts used in this story.
