Michael Tuck of Granite Bay, Calif., weighed a five-bass limit totaling
27 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Western
Division event on Clear Lake with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing
76 pounds, 9 ounces. For his victory, Tuck earned $29,919.
“This turned out to be a pretty good week!,” exclaimed Tuck. “I
started the week with engine trouble and I really have to give a shout
out to the Mercury Motor dealership in Sacramento. They got me up and
running so that I could get here just in time to do a little
pre-practice that enabled me to locate my fish.
“I pretty much fished the same area all week long,” Tuck
continued. “I was fishing shallow grass near Rodman Slough with Little
Creeper All American Trash Fish. This bait was designed to match the
forage here and I really think it was key to my victory.
“Everything came together for me this week. My engine getting
fixed, the water dropping which helped position the fish, my choice of
baits…it was just incredible.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2: Joe Uribe Jr., Lake Forest, Calif., 15 bass, 71-10, $10,258
3: Steve Adams, Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 66-2, $8,548
4: Ken Mah, Elk Grove, Calif., 15 bass, 65-2, $7,693
5: Mark Daniels Jr., Fairfield, Calif., 15 bass, 65-1, $6,839
6: Chris Franks, Petaluma, Calif., 15 bass, 63-9, $5,984
7: Howard Hughes, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 62-10, $5,129
8: Jesse Forthun, La Mesa, Calif., 15 bass, 62-0, $4,274
9: Charley Almassey, Oakley, Calif., 15 bass, 61-14, $3,419
10: Richard Dobyns, Yuba City, Calif., 15 bass, 59-11, $2,564
Chad Leblanc of Sutter, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and a
Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day
total of 15 bass weighing 58-pounds, 14 ounces.
“This was just an awesome tournament,” said Leblanc. “My pros
couldn’t have been better. They all gave me plenty of water to fish and
let me do my thing.
‘The first two days we were fishing shallow grass, which is
pretty much what I practiced for,” went on Leblanc. “Today I had to make
some adjustments because my pro was fishing deep. I struggled all day,
but my pro really helped me out. Told me what to do and it worked.
“Today we were fishing the main body of the lake in about 15
feet of water. I threw just about everything including Berkley Chigger
Craws, Jackall Flick Shake Worms and purple RoboWorms. The first two
days I was throwing mostly topwater frogs in less than a foot of water.”
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2: Travis, Bounds, Roseville, Calif. 15 bass, 54-9, $3,985
3: Carl Limbrick Jr., San Diego, Calif., 15 bass, 53-14, $3,542
4: Bruce McCune, Anderson, Calif., 15 bass, 53-8, $3,099
5: Blaine Christiansen, San Jose, Calif., 15 bass, 52-11, $2,656
6: Lester Albury, Temecula, Calif., 15 bass, 49-5, $2,214
7: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 15 bass, 49-4, $1,771
8: Kyle Gelles, Pingree, Idaho, 13 bass, 48-4, $1,328
9: Jason Chang, Riverside, Calif., 10 bass, 37-10, $885
10: Scott Hamman, Sacramento, Calif., nine bass, 33-10, $708
