LAKEPORT, Calif. (Oct. 12, 2013) – Jody Jordan of Vacaville, Calif., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 28 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Western Division tournament on Clear Lake with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 81 pounds, 1 ounce. For his victory, Jordan earned $28,958 and a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
Jordan used a pet swimbait and an intimate knowledge of Clear Lake to sack 28 pounds on back-to-back days and win by a mere 2 ounces.
“The first day I started deep cranking, and my first couple of spots didn’t pan out,” said Jordan. “Maybe four or five hours into the tournament I only had two fish. My plan was to run deep shade, but I was getting a little spun out.
“I was catching 24 pounds per day in practice before the event, so I moved to a big-fish spot I’ve known for years and caught a 5 (pounder). Then, I went around the corner on the same spot and caught a 6. Everything went from really bad to really good in a couple of minutes.
“I was looking for steep walls that kept the shade on them the longest,” explained Jordan. “As the afternoon wore on the big fish started to bite as the shade started to take over.
“About halfway through day two I picked up a swimbait and I caught a 7-pounder on it,” continued Jordan. “On day three I started with a swimbait. I had a limit by noon, and around 12:30 I stuck a 7 and then a 5 to get rid of my last small fish.”
Jordan said that he was fishing about 15 to 20 feet deep on the south end of the lake. “I was was fishing an area that was maybe 150 yards long and rotating between two key spots on that bank.
“My swimbait was a 7-year-old Huddleston,” said Jordan. “I only throw it in tournaments. I named it “Berry” because I caught my personal best, a 14-pounder, in a tournament on Lake Berryessa with it. It’s destroyed. I use permanent marker to cover up the white spots. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get that bait framed.
“I fished an EverStart here last year and didn’t do very well, so I wanted some revenge on the lake,” finished Jordan. “It’s incredible to win. I’m numb.”
Jordan said he caught his fish on a Lucky Craft LV 500, a custom-colored Strike King 10XD and an 8-inch Huddleston swimbait. The top 10 pros on Clear Lake were:
1st: Jody Jordan, Vacaville, Calif., 15 bass, 81-1, $28,958 + a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor
2nd: Jason Borofka, Salinas, Calif., 15 bass, 80-15, $10,859
3rd: Bryant Smith, Castro Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 77-8, $7,240
4th: Joe Uribe Jr., Lake Forrest, Calif., 15 bass, 76-5, $6,516
5th: Mike Krnaich, Petaluma, Calif., 15 bass, 76-0, $5,792
6th: Paul Bailey, Kelseyville, Calif., 15 bass, 74-14, $5,068
7th: Jason Newby, Bakersfield, Calif., 15 bass, 73-14, $4,344
8th: Michael Tuck, Granite Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 72-3, $3,620
9th: Jeff Michels, Lakehead, Calif., 15 bass, 67-4, $2,896
10th: Billy Hines, Vacaville, Calif., 14 bass, 64-8, $2,172
Borofka caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday – a 10-pound, 9-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $196.
Dante Ray of Sparks, Nev., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds, 8 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers on Clear Lake were:
1st: Dante Ray, Sparks, Nev., 15 bass, 62-8, Ranger Z117 with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor
2nd: John Stewart Jr., Glendale, Ariz., 12 bass, 50-3, $3,892
3rd: Gayle Janes, Bermuda Dunes, Calif., 13 bass, 42-12, $3,113
4th: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 10 bass, 40-0, $2,724
5th: Jordan Kunde, Palo Cedro, Calif., 10 bass, 35-13, $2,335
6th: Christopher Dixon, Granada Hills, Calif., 10 bass, 34-13, $1,946
7th: Richard Crine, Anaheim, Calif., nine bass, 31-11, $1,557
8th: O’Neal Martin, Roseville, Calif., 13 bass, 30-2, $1,168
9th: Kevin Marcheschi, Santa Rosa, Calif., six bass, 29-7, $778
10th: Spencer Moran, Carmel, Calif., eight bass, 27-2, $623
James Tate caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – an 8-pound, 15-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $130.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Angler of the Year title, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
This was the final EverStart Series event of the 2013 season. The next EverStart Series Western Division tournament will be Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2014 at Lake Havasu in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and is hosted by the Lake Havasu City Convention and Visitors Bureau.