CLEARLAKE, Calif. (Sept. 24, 2011) – Michael Tuck of Granite Bay, Calif., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 27 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Western Division bass fishing tournament 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:
2nd: Joe Uribe Jr., Lake Forest, Calif., 15 bass, 71-10, $10,258
3rd: Steve Adams, Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 66-2, $8,548
4th: Ken Mah, Elk Grove, Calif., 15 bass, 65-2, $7,693
5th: Mark Daniels Jr., Fairfield, Calif., 15 bass, 65-1, $6,839
6th: Chris Franks, Petaluma, Calif., 15 bass, 63-9, $5,984
7th: Howard Hughes, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 62-10, $5,129
8th: Jesse Forthun, La Mesa, Calif., 15 bass, 62-0, $4,274
9th: Charley Almassey, Oakley, Calif., 15 bass, 61-14, $3,419
10th: 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:
2nd: Travis, Bounds, Roseville, Calif. 15 bass, 54-9, $3,985
3rd: Carl Limbrick Jr., San Diego, Calif., 15 bass, 53-14, $3,542
4th: Bruce McCune, Anderson, Calif., 15 bass, 53-8, $3,099
5th: Blaine Christiansen, San Jose, Calif., 15 bass, 52-11, $2,656
6th: Lester Albury, Temecula, Calif., 15 bass, 49-5, $2,214
7th: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 15 bass, 49-4, $1,771
8th: Kyle Gelles, Pingree, Idaho, 13 bass, 48-4, $1,328
9th: Jason Chang, Riverside, Calif., 10 bass, 37-10, $885
10th: Scott Hamman, Sacramento, Calif., nine bass, 33-10, $708
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 Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.