Dobyns makes it a double, maintains pro lead
Co-angler leader Randall lands another sack over 20 pounds
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Gary Dobyns lost a 9-pound largemouth today and he couldn’t be happier about it. The pro from Yuba City, Calif., led all EverStart Series anglers with a weight of 24 pounds, 14 ounces in Western Division competition Wednesday. On Thursday at Clear Lake, he held onto that lead by adding another 19-13 to his two-day total, pushing it to a hefty 44-11.
He could have posted more than 50 pounds in the opening round, he said, but he just didn’t want to put that pesky 9-pound bass in the boat. In fact, he knocked it off his hook with his net. On purpose. Twice.
“I had that 9-pounder to the boat twice,” he said. “This is the first time in my life that I’ve been happy when she came off and swam right back to the nest.”
And that about sums up what’s going on at amazing Clear Lake this week. This tournament is a veritable chess match. This lake has been so productive – particularly for the leaders – that it has anglers throwing back 9-pound bass in an effort to save them for later.
Folks, despite locals’ contentions that this is a down year for Clear Lake, the abundance of this fishery cannot be overstated.
To hear the pro leader tell it, this place is too productive. While he’s well-known on West Coast fishing circuits, Dobyns is fishing his first cut tournament where weights are reset to zero. And he doesn’t like it, he said, mainly because he’s catching too many fish – if that makes any sense.
“I’ve really got too many things going,” he said, adding that he “practice-fished” his way to 19 pounds Thursday, meaning he completely avoided his prime fishing locations, with a variety of baits ranging from Robo worms to Senkos and the occasional Snag-Proof Frog Fish. “This zeroing out (weights after each round) and shaking fish off is really strange to me. … I just had a phenomenal day. I can’t do anything wrong, but to be honest, that worries me. I’m catching fish where I’m not expecting to catch fish. That’s got me stressed out because I’ve got so much good water available that tomorrow, if I start struggling, I’m afraid I’m going to start rushing around to the next spot. And that’s not good.”
Dobyns knows that if he’s throwing back 9-pound lunkers to save for later, everyone else atop the leaderboard could be doing the same thing. And they probably are, especially since everybody starts again from scratch in Friday’s semifinal round.
“I’m totally amazed that I’m leading right now,” he said. “There are so many big fish up right now that it’s amazing that somebody hasn’t busted a big 28- to 30-pound bag of fish.”
His suspicions are justified. Pro Dave Nollar of Redlands, Calif., who tied for third Wednesday, moved up into second place Thursday by posting a limit worth 18 pounds, 12 ounces, pushing his opening-round total to 42-8. Nollar’s made his move by practice-fishing, as well, and tinkering with his deeper-water drop-shot.
“I was just trying to catch enough to qualify,” he said.
Those are ominous words for his competitors, considering his 18-pound “practice” effort. Nollar is a 35-year fishing veteran at Clear Lake, leaving no doubt that he knows its enormous secrets.
“This is quite a lake,” he said. “So I feel good about fishing here.”
The biggest stringer Thursday was caught by another local pro. Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, Calif., a resort community on the lake, caught a limit weighing 24 pounds, 13 ounces, pushing his two-day total to 40-13 and earning him third place.
“I should have been up there (in weight) yesterday, too, but I lost four fish over 6 pounds,” Breazeale said. “Today, I had a limit by 8 o’clock, and basically had 20 pounds by 10. If I would have known that I had (over 24 pounds), I wouldn’t have used up so many fish today.”
Landing in fourth place for the pros was Dennis Kolender of San Diego, who notched a 10-bass effort weighing 40 pounds, 5 ounces in the opening round.
Fifth place went to Jim Lyon of Reno, Nev., who also had 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 5 ounces, but placed fifth by virtue of a tiebreaker. Lyon also landed the $500 Big Bass award Thursday with a 9-7 whale.
If the top three pros all admitted to backing off their fish and still caught over 40 pounds, it’s anybody’s guess how many more anglers are laying in the weeds for the final two rounds. It’s highly conceivable that more than one stringer approaching 30 pounds will cross the scale as the competition heats up the next two days, especially since a couple of notable big-stick pros like Veradale, Washington’s Luke Clausen and Phoenix’s Brett Hite also snuck into the semifinals. Hite won the first Western Division tournament, at Arizona’s Lake Pleasant, and Clausen is fresh off a third-place BASS finish here at Clear Lake just two weeks ago.
And that cold, nasty weather that folks have been grumbling about the last two days? As far as the fishing goes, forget about it. These big California bass are just too anxious to stay shallow and spawn. The pro cut weight after two days was a formidable 29 pounds, 13 ounces.
“It really doesn’t matter,” Dobyns said. “The weather’s not going to cost me the tournament. The fish are scattered all over the place.”
Randall `struggles’ into co-angler lead
Reese Randall of Payson, Ariz., was one of only two co-anglers two catch more than 20 pounds the first day of competition Wednesday. On Thursday, he repeated the feat – the only angler in either division to clear the 20-pound mark on both days – and took over the Co-angler Division lead with an impressive two-day weight of 42 pounds, 7 ounces.
Randall caught a limit weighing 21 pounds Thursday using soft plastic baits, but, by his account, it was a battle.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said, “I struggled today. My third fish was less than a pound, it was barely 12 inches. Then I caught a 3-pounder, and my boater (partner) knocks it off with the net. I thought, `No big deal,’ right? But I was like, `Man, I needed that fish so bad.’ Then I catch a 5 (-pound bass), and I start thinking, `I have 12 or 13 pounds,’ and I was wondering if I should quit. Then I caught a 3 1/2- or 4 (-pounder). Then I’m thinking I better get one more. Then I caught a 7- or 8 (-pounder). I quit by 1 o’clock.”
If Randall had been fishing as a pro, his weight would have earned him third place in the opening round.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are day-one leader Bernie Gaunt of West Sacramento, Calif., (second place) with 10 bass weighing 39 pounds; Mark Meddock of Woodland, Calif., (third) with 10 bass weighing 32-10; Jim Wickham of Morristown, Ariz., (fourth) with 10 bass weighing 29-7; and John Alimpic of Angwin, Calif., (fifth) with nine bass weighing 26-11.
Meddock also earned co-angler big-bass honors and $200 thanks to an 8-pound, 5-ounce bucketmouth.
The co-angler cut weight settled on 18 pounds, 14 ounces.
The semifinal round commences at 6:30 a.m. Friday as competitors take off from Redbud Park in Clearlake. All anglers’ weights will be reset to zero. The top 10 anglers in both divisions following tomorrow’s fishing will advance to Saturday’s final round.
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