LAKEPORT, Calif. (May 12, 2018) – Pro Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, California, won the Costa FLW Series tournament at Clear Lake Saturday after bringing a limit of bass weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale. Breazeale’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 60-7 gave him the win by a 2-pound, 15-ounce margin and earned him the top prize of $82,338, including a brand new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Breazeale said about his first career victory in FLW competition. “I live on the lake and have been fishing it for 40 years. I had to pull a few tricks out of my hat this week, but I had a phenomenal tournament and I really needed this win.”
Breazeale estimated that he caught around 100 keepers throughout the week, with the majority coming on Thursday and Friday and around 20 keepers on Saturday. He targeted docks and the thick tule shorelines on the south end of the lake with a Margarita Mutilator-colored Roboworm on a drop-shot rig, a wacky-rigged watermelon and purple flake-colored Yamamoto Senko and a white Yamamoto Grub on a dart head jig.
“About half of my fish came from the tules, half from the docks,” Breazeale said. “I was catching a couple of sight fish as well – I caught two on each of the first two days and one on Saturday on the Senko.
“I really think that there were two keys to my win this week,” Breazeale went on to say. “First was my experience on the lake. I had to try some tricks – real light line. The 6-pound (Seaguar InvisX) fluorocarbon was key. Also, I was fishing the new Powell Endurance rods along with the Max 3D series and they were crucial to feeling those light bites and keeping them buttoned up.”
The top 10 pros on Clear Lake finished:
1st: Wayne Breazeale, Kelseyville, Calif., 15 bass, 60-7, $82,338
2nd: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 15 bass, 57-8, $13,810
3rd: Joe Uribe Jr., Surprise, Ariz., 15 bass, 56-8, $10,792
4th: Richard Dobyns, Marysville, Calif., 15 bass, 51-14, $9,158
5th: Benjamin Byrd, Moab, Utah, 15 bass, 51-14, $8,019
6th: Scott MacKenzie, Hercules, Calif., 15 bass, 51-0, $7,128
7th: Vince Hurtado, Turlock, Calif., 15 bass, 49-3, $6,237
8th: Matt Dal Porto, Sutter, Calif., 15 bass, 45-12, $5,346
9th: Paul Bailey, Kelseyville, Calif., 15 bass, 45-2, $4,455
10th: Stephen Tosh Jr., Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 43-2, $3,564
Dobyns caught an 8-pound, 7-ounce bass Friday – the biggest of the tournament – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $248. Rick Grover of Trabuco Canyon, California, won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger Z175 with a 90-horsepower outboard motor and a $5,000 Ranger Cup bonus with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 42 pounds, 1 ounce. Geoff Peterson of Huntington Beach, California, finished runner-up with 15 bass weighing 41-6, good for $4,532.
The top 10 Co-anglers on Clear Lake finished:
1st: Rick Grover, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., 15 bass, 42-1, Ranger Z175 boat with 90-horsepower outboard + $5,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Geoff Peterson, Huntington Beach, Calif., 15 bass, 41-6, $4,532
3rd: Derek Gray, LaFayette, Calif., 15 bass, 40-8, $3,751
4th: Jose Juarez, Kelseyville, Calif., 14 bass, 38-7, $3,137
5th: Txawjtas Tas Moua, Fresno, Calif., 15 bass, 38-1, $2,689
6th: Aaron Echternkamp, Moses Lake, Wash., 14 bass, 37-6, $2,241
7th: Bruce Harris, Oakdale, Calif., 15 bass, 34-13, $1,793
8th: David Swendseid, Bend, Ore., 14 bass, 34-12, $1,569
9th: Matthew Diaz, Pomona, Calif., 14 bass, 30-15, $1,510
10th: Travis Williams, Stockton, Calif., 11 bass, 27-13, $1,120
Diaz caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a bass weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces that earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $165.