JEFF HOWELL AND MATT MARTIN HIT A HOME RUN AT OROVILLE

We began our early “convenient” check in at 4 PM on Friday night at Oroville’s Best Value Inn & Suites in our BBT trailer for the anglers who were up at the lake and wanted to get their paperwork completed to receive their boat number for the following morning. We had a good turnout from 4 to 6 PM. Anglers talked amongst themselves to learn what was catching bass on the lake from the guys who had pre-fished during the week. As anglers began to show up to sign in at the Spillway at 4:30 AM, the temperature was in the 40’s then dropped into the 30’s right at “safe light”. Anglers were layering their clothing, putting on hoodies, gloves and some even face masks in the parking lot before launching their boat. As the morning progressed, the temperatures rose, making the weather conditions nice for the anglers. These extreme temperatures did not affect the team of Jeff Howell and his partner Matt Martin of Oroville. They caught fish all day and landed the big fish of the tournament, which barely fit in the net! They fished deep to shallow fishing worms, jerk bait and the “A-rig” in the south fork for their limit. They had the winning weight of 17.39 pounds for First Place. Matt landed a toad that weighed 8.51 pounds which was a beauty! They took home $2230 in cash, trophies and Matt took home the beautiful First Place Big Fish trophy to place on his wall. Congratulations guys! Second Place went to the team of David Anderson from Oroville and his partner Raymond Garnett of Yuba City who had a nice limit of two large mouth, two small mouth and one spotted bass. They weighed in 14.20 pounds and had a 4.94 pound kicker which was the Second Place Big Fish of the event. They told everyone they fished the A-rig for their limit. They took home $1250 in winnings in addition to their two trophies. Nice work guys! The team of Branden Tames from El Dorado Hills and his partner Bill Curtsinger from Elk Grove used red colored spinner baits and crank baits to land their limit. They said they fished the dam area in addition to the north and middle fork for their bass. They not only took Third Place in the tournament but also Third Place Big Fish, which was caught by Branden which weighed 4.88 pounds to anchor their limit weighing 13.71 pounds. Their winnings totaled $780. Sweet! Needless to say, the Fourth Place winners also took Fourth Place in Big Fish as well – just like the trend set above with the previous teams! Kevin Cornwell of Sacramento and his partner Aaron Britt came to the scales with one large mouth and four spotted bass weighing 13.41 pounds and their kicker, caught by Kevin weighed in at 4.60 pounds. They took home $575 in winnings. Great team work guys! Fifth Place went to the team of Konrad Rupp and James Totten both from Hidden Valley Lake. They came to the scales with three large mouth and two spotted bass weighing in at 12.59 pounds. They took home $295 in cash. Not too bad for a day on the lake. The Fifth Place Big Fish weighed 4.11 pounds which was landed by the team of Richard Warren of Gridley and his partner John Warren of Fairfield. This team also came in Sixth Place for having a limit of bass weighing 12.44 pounds and took home “A-rigs” from Fish Frog Tackle Company and winning of $255 for their time fishing Lake Oroville. Nice job guys!

BARRY JOHNSON AND RIED BRIDGES TAKE TOP POSITION IN THE SMALL BOAT DIVISION AT LAKE OROVILLE

Driving all the way from Carson City, Nevada was the team of Barry Johnson and his partner Ried Bridges who came to the scales with 9.82 pounds with a limit of spotted bass. Their largest bass weighed 2.15 pounds which gave them First Place in the Small Boat Division. They told the crowd they caught a total of eight fish all day while drop shotting vertical walls 18 to 24 inches deep using green pumpkin worms. For their efforts they received a Sponsored Gift Bag from our Sponsor Tackle Stores for their win. Congratulations guys! Honorable mentions: The youngest member of the BBT, Conner Urling who is eight years old and fishes with his Grandpa helped catch their limit of bass weighing 9.42 pounds and he caught their largest bass that weighed 2.70 pounds in the Big Boat Division. My hat is off to both of you! Thank you Tom for sharing the sport of bass fishing with your grandson while supporting the BBT. We appreciate you both coming out and fishing with us! During the Awards Ceremony, Randy handed several 51-Fifty Drinks and tossed bags of Emerald Nuts to the anglers to enjoy while they watched the teams come up to receive their trophies and winnings and prizes at this event. Dustin Tacker and David Pearl took home two nice pair of Eye Surrender Sunglasses for the Twenty-Twenty Award for coming in Twentieth Place in this event. They weighed in five spotted bass of 10.57 pounds. Nice! Boat number 9 was not present to take home the Irwin- Lenox Tools Award as a weight of 7.31 pounds was drawn for this prize and their weight was the closest to that weight without going over. This prize will be donated to the TOC in October as they were not present to win. Rich Hunter was present when his boat number 8 was drawn for the “Wear It Campaign” and he received a life vest, valued at $130. A receipt was drawn for the Wacky Award and Kevin Ryan was present to win this sponsor gift bag containing Sinister Wacky Worms, M & B Tool and Who-Be-Do Jigs. Boat number 44 was drawn for the Cull Often Award, which was an Optimum Baits Swim Bait Package that included Top Of The Line, Baby Line Through, Double Diamonds, Diamond Heads and AA Swim Tails. This team was not present to receive this nice sponsor bag so it will be donated to the TOC. Sponsor Tackle Store Receipts Program – If you purchase tackle valued at $20 or more from our Sponsor Tackle Stores or go online to make purchases through the Bait Barn website, Optimum Baits and ima websites, you will receive a discount for being a member of the BBT. Keep your receipt and write your name and phone number on the back of it then place it in the bucket, which is at every tournament check-in. You will have opportunities to win prizes during the Awards Ceremony after each weigh-in. You MUST be present to win. At the close of the Awards Ceremony, all receipts drawn are placed back into the bucket for more chances to have them drawn at future events in addition at the TOC. If you are not present and your name is called, you forfeit your prize and it is donated to the TOC. If you happen to win money during a tournament and you leave before receiving it, you will have to meet up with your tournament director as winnings are not sent through the mail. Remember to support the sponsors who are supporting you in bass fishing whenever you can. A list of our sponsors is below and is also located on the Sponsors page of the Best Bass Tournaments website www.bestbasstournaments.com   Thank you for coming out and supporting the Best Bass Tournaments. We appreciate each one of you and look forward to seeing you again at our next tournament. If every angler would ask one friend to join and fish the BBT, you will have additional anglers to compete against and have more opportunities to win larger paybacks. Let your friends know that they will also be eligible to win prizes in addition to saving money on fishing tackle when making purchases through our Sponsor Tackle Stores. We would like to thank Applebee’s for giving the anglers of the BBT discounts on food from their Oroville location. In addition to a discount for all our anglers, you can call ahead and have “curb side” delivery of your order to take along for your drive home. I would like to thank my staff for a job well done at this tournament JD Mc Millian, Patrick Mateo, Zane Wiley, Kevin Ryan and Rich Reeser. Best Bass Tournaments would like to personally thank the sponsors who are supporting us and the anglers alike: Emerald Premium Snacks, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Lowrance, Bait Barn, The Fishing Instructor, Yakima Baits, Technology Integrators, Hildebrandt, Poe’s Plugs, Timber Tiger, Ima, Optimum Baits, Hooked on Adventures, General Tires, Irwin – Lenox and Helly Hansen, Eye Surrender Sunglasses, Out of Bounds, Gowans Printing, AGS Apparel, Sinister Wacky Worms, M & B Wacky Tool, Who-Be-Do Jigs, Port of Subs, Fish Hound,  Adelaide Inn, Oroville’s  Best Value Inn & Suites, Central Valley Sportsmen’s Boat & RV Show. Best Bass Tournaments sponsor tackle stores: Bait Barn/ Waterford, Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods/ San Jose, Walton Pond/ San Leandro, Escalon Bait & Tackle/ Escalon, Guns, Fishing & Other Stuff/ Dixon, Coyote Bait & Tackle/ Coyote, CA, Clear Lake Bait & Tackle/ Lakeport, C & C Marine/ Modesto and Sacramento, Jim’s Pro Tackle/ Paso Robles.   If your company would like to be a sponsor of the Best Bass Tournaments, please contact Randy Pringle at www.bestbasstournaments.com or call 209-543-6260.   Our next tournament in the Northern Region is at Clearlake – launching out of Red Bud on May 5th. We look forward to seeing you there.  

Thank you,
Randy and Sheri Pringle