ROGER LOCKHART/ JOHN SCOTT TAKE FIRST AT BEST BASS TOURNAMENTS SEASON OPENER
Best Bass Tournaments Central Valley Region made a splash at the season opener on Saturday, January 14th at Lake Millerton. The early morning started out brisk, in the low 30’s with no wind as the teams started signing up under the awning. Some anglers enjoyed coffee and homemade breads or brownies, compliments of Ancilla Cheek while they huddled close to the propane heater, talking about what the lake had to offer. Anticipation was high and laughter was heard in the parking lot as anglers met up with other teams while waiting for their boat check so they could launch and get settled in for their day of fishing.
As the 36 teams were blasting off, one by one at safe light, the wind decided to make an appearance, not gusty but enough to make ripples in the water at the launch site. This could prove to be an added bonus for the anglers when catching bass.
The first flight came to the scales at 3 PM. As bass were weighed in, some teams had limits while others struggled to put bass in their livewells. The winning team, Roger Lockhart and his partner John Scott, both from Fresno were happy to weigh in five bass anchored by the Third Big Fish of the tournament which added 3.28 pounds to their total weight of 10.59 pounds. They told the spectators they caught their bass drop shotting and throwing brown and purple jigs. For their efforts they took home $1630 in winnings and nice First Place trophies to show their friends and family. Congratulations to our First Place winners!
Coming in Second Place was the team of Nick Beck and Joe Guzman, both from Madera who brought to the scales the Big Fish of the tournament, a 3.80 pounder and the crowd went wild! When Nick caught this bass, he thought it was a small fish, about one and a half pounds so once he laid eyes on it, he could hardly breathe. Joe was there to net this beauty as this was a team effort! Their limit was caught using hand poured worms with dart heads for Nick and the drop shotting technique for Joe. The scale read 9.17 pounds and the smiles appeared! For their day on the water, they took home $1195 for their efforts and Nick took home the First Place Big Fish pewter trophy to hang on his wall of fame and both team members took home their Second Place trophies.
Jim Henry of Sonora and his partner Rich Hale of Hughson came to the scales with a nice limit anchored by a 2.76 large bass, giving them the Fourth Place Big Fish in this event. The total weight was 8.91 pounds, taking home Third Place overall. Rich was happy to tell the crowd they caught their limit using dart heads with Berkley’s new Havoc Bottom Hoppers. They took home $630 for the first tournament of the year!
Fourth Place went to the team of Greg Paminto from Fresno and his team partner Rudy Aceves from Kerman who had a limit weighing 7.58 pounds. This team also received Fifth Big Fish money for weighing in a 2.58 pound largemouth. They received $455 in winnings for their day on the water.
Rounding out the top five positions in the Big Boat Division was the team of Dennis Bingham of Madera and his partner Jason Higginbotham of Fresno who weighed in 7.47 pounds for their limit. This team took home $210 for their day of fun on the lake.
JEFF AND DAVID GRAHAM TAKE FIRST PLACE IN THE SMALL BOAT DIVISION
Having a smaller boat motor, a 90 HP on a Bass Tracker topped with blasting off in the first flight can make it tough on some days for anglers to get to their first location as they are passed by other teams with larger motors however this did not prove to be the case for the team of Jeff and David Graham both from Clovis. They caught a limit weighing 5.22 pounds giving them top points in the Small Boat Division in the Central Region.
The father and son team of Tom and Mark Fishburn of Fresno launched their boat and could not get the motor started. As the boats blasted off, they continued to try to get their motor started but without success, they put their boat onto the trailer and let us know they had motor issues so they would see us at the next tournament and they drove off in disappointment. BUT, before we knew it, they returned with a new starting battery and were all smiles, geared up to go out and fish the tournament. They received another boat check then launched and were on their way to their first fishing spot. Having the delay in starting off their day of fishing did make it tough for them however they did manage to land a keeper. Their one bass weighed 3.57 pounds so the day was not a complete loss. This bass turned out to be the Second Big Fish of the tournament and they took home $175 to offset the cost of the purchase of their new boat battery! Nice comeback guys!
For the Twentieth Place – the Twenty- Twenty Eye Surrender Sunglasses Award was to be rewarded to the team that placed in that position however this team left prior to the Awards Ceremony so these two pair of sunglasses will be awarded at the TOC in October.
Thirtieth Place winners for the Sponsor Tackle Bag also had left before the Awards Ceremony so that bag will also be stored until the TOC where it will be handed out at that time.
You must be PRESENT to win any prizes during the Awards Ceremony at every BBT event you fish or your prizes will be forfeited and given out at the TOC. If you happen to win cash and are not present to receive it, you must meet up with your tournament director as money is not send in 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 also located on the Sponsors page of the Best Bass Tournaments website.
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.
I would like to thank my staff for a job well done at this tournament, directing this event Kevin Cheek and his staff Ancilla, Chelby, Dave Orange, Brian Orange, Mario Ramirez, Shawn Hilbert, Mike Martinez and Duane Goudy.
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, Eye Surrender Sunglasses, Out of Bounds, Gowans Printing, AGS Apparel, Sinister Wacky Worms, M & B Wacky Tool, 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 Central Region is at Lake Mc Clure on February 11th. We look forward to seeing you there.
Thank you,
Randy and Sheri Pringle