LAKEPORT, Calif. – All signs pointed to a slugfest at Clear Lake this week for the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse season opener. While Day 1 didn’t produce the numbers many expected, Clear Lake showed out for local full-time guide John Pearl as he boated 29 pounds, 1 ounce for a 3-pound, 1-ounce lead over JD Blackamore heading into moving day.
As Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats tournaments go, this one was among the most anticipated in recent memory. Pearl, though, has spent enough time on Clear Lake to have tempered expectations, especially after recent snowfall and a marked decline in big bites in recent weeks. Still, for an 80-boat field, 14 bags over 20 pounds (plus one from Strike King co-angler leader Kirk Marshall) isn’t unimpressive.
Pearl attributes the modest (for the California powerhouse fishery) weights to post-frontal conditions that should stabilize with a steady warming trend over the next couple days. And he’s excited about what the rest of the tournament could bring.
“Tomorrow it might be a little weird because it’s going to be post-frontal and supposed to be nice,” he said. “Friday it should be really good – should. It’ll be the second day after the front and it’s a warming trend, so a lot of those big females are going to be moving up.”
“Moving up” in the sense that the hitch – Clear’s primary forage fish – should be moving up, too. According to Pearl, the hitch are sitting outside spawning areas waiting for water temps to come up so they can run the creeks in earnest – thereby pulling the bass in, too.
To that end, Pearl spent his day on several areas outside those creeks where the baitfish are plentiful, though only one produced the bites he needed to wrangle up his near-30-pound limit.
“I was second-to-the-last flight, so I was really worried I wasn’t going to get my spot,” he said. “This time of year, if you’re not at a creek mouth or the entrance to a marina or something like that, … that’s where the fish are moving to. I didn’t think I was going to get a spot this morning, and lucky enough I pulled up to my spot and there was nobody around. I bounced around a bunch, but I left my first spot with 21 or 22 pounds.”
A bag in the 22-pound range would have had Pearl comfortably in the Top 10, but it was his one big catch outside of his primary starting spot that made the difference in claiming the Day 1 lead – an 8-pounder he caught on a spinning rod and a worm.
Otherwise, though, Pearl did all his damage on a G-Ratt Baits Executioner 6-inch swimbait, which Pearl helped design alongside Gary Collins. Big swimbaits are a Clear Lake staple, and Pearl acknowledged it’s likely the whole field was throwing an Executioner or Little Creeper All American Trash Fish for many of its Day 1 bites.
For his Executioner setup, Pearl tied his swimbait on 20-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu spooled on a Shimano Tranx 201 paired with an 805D Douglas XMatrix rod.
While Pearl found success with the swimbait on Day 1, it was also the architect of quite a lot of heartbreak.
“My second cast I caught a 5-8, and then I missed like six more, and then caught a 4, and then missed three or four more, and then caught another 4,” he said. “I think I missed probably 15 fish today on the swimbait. Live by the sword, die by the sword.”
As for his primary spot, Pearl is probing willow trees in 10 to 12 feet of water – a tactic not uncommon for the rest of the 80-boat field this week.
“I’m fishing willows that are underwater,” he explained. “When we had the drought a few years ago, the lake grew willows out that are in 8 or 9 feet of water that we never had (before). A lot of these fish are sitting on the edge of the willows out in front of these creek mouths. The boat doesn’t go in more than 12 feet and I’m casting to the bank.”
Being a full-time guide on Clear Lake, he’s confident he can catch enough on Day 2 to contend for a win on Friday, but he’ll be more confident if he can get back to his starting spot from Day 1. That area, he said, just has the right mixture of ingredients and plenty of fish to keep cooking.
Top 10 Pros
- John Pearl – 29 – 1 (5)
- JD Blackamore – 26 – 0 (5)
- Daniel Shelton – 25 – 8 (5)
- Jon Strelic – 24 – 0 (5)
- Hayden Lee – 23 – 1 (5)
- Jared Lintner – 22 – 10 (5)
- Kyle Grover – 22 – 9 (5)
- David Valdivia – 22 – 6 (5)
- Cristian Melton – 22 – 5 (5)
- Joe Mariani – 22 – 1 (5)
Fishing Clash AOY
Toyota Series Western Division pros are competing for the Fishing Clash Angler of the Year award and a $5,000 payday. Fishing Clash – an interactive 3D fishing simulation game that’s been downloaded by more than 80 million people worldwide – will reward the pro AOYs in all divisions of the Toyota Series, and is the official AOY sponsor of the Bass Pro Tour, Tackle Warehouse Invitationals, Toyota Series and Phoenix Bass Fishing League.
Download Fishing Clash for free in the App Store and on Google Play or log on to www.fishingclash.game for more information.