Scoring a win in the ultra-competitive Wild West Bass Trail team events is always a significant accomplishment. Winning twice in the same year on the same body of water is even more impressive and that is what Jeff Michels and Tony Zanotelli did this year.
Both wins were polar opposites in both the time of year and how they did it, but they walked away with two Wild West Bass Trail California Teams wins on Clear Lake in 2020.
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February California Team Event
In early February, Zanotelli and Michels won their first event on Clear Lake and did so with Alabama-Rig.
“We were using relatively small baits for Clear Lake and added 3.3 and 3.8 Keitechs to the rig,” Michels said. “We weren’t fishing really deep, around 12- to 18-feet of water, but the areas were super rocky. The jighead weight also weren’t very heavy and the key was to get the rig to just glide over the rocks making slight contact with the bottom and just barely ticking it.”
They opted for a ¼-ounce jighead in the middle, two 1/16-ounce jigheads, and the two dummy baits to complete their rig.
According to the team, one key was having the right line for the job that would aid with casting while increasing sensitivity. They chose a 40-pound P-Line TCB 8 Teflon Coated Braided Line with a leader of 17-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon.
“That braid ties knots really well and also doesn’t get tons of wind knots like some braids out there,” Michels said. “With an FG Knot, you can use that heavier braid and fluorocarbon combination and not have any issues casting a long distance.”
Michels said the braided line greatly aided their ability to detect bites in the cold-water temperatures.
“That was the only thing we used all day and the bites were not really that aggressive,” he says. “They would just load up on it and you needed to be able to tell the difference between when the bait was ticking the bottom and when a fish was on it.”
For the win, they took home $6,500 after weighing a seven-fish limit of 33.35-pounds. They had a big bass of 6.40-pounds and filled out their limit with quality bass.
“They were all good ones between five pounds and our biggest one,” he recalled. “The A-Rig is hard to beat that time of year, but the key was to be ticking the bottom during your cast. That’s the key between getting bit and not catching anything.”
2020 CA Team Championship on Clear Lake
In October, the team scored their second win of the season and did it with a completely different method. Instead of using braided lines and A-Rigs, they did it with finesse.
“It was mirrors different and we caught them all shallow with light line in less than six-feet of water,” Michels said. “We caught some as shallow as one-foot of water and were using 15-pound P-Line TCB 8 Teflon Coated 8-Carrier Braided with a leader of six or eight-pound P-Line Tactical Fluorocarbon.”
They mixed in a host of baits that Michels describes as being ‘small and finessy’ and targeted shallow rock, grass, and dock pilings.
“The light braid does a great job at slicing through the grass and that was key to keep your bait and line as free and clear as possible from grass,” he says. “We still had to deal with grass on our bait, but not like the guys fishing 15- and 20-pound fluorocarbon around us.”
Downsizing their line was what Michels sees as the key to this win and he never doubted that their line would hold up.
“The fish were getting line shy from everyone fishing around us,” he said. “We would fish behind right guys using heavier line and get bites. We were confident that the P-Line would hold up.”
The team reported catching 60 to 80 keepers when most of the field were catching a fraction of that and Michels believes it was because they downsized their line.
“Even on big bass factories like Clear Lake, you shouldn’t be afraid to go to the lighter line,” he adds. “You will definitely get more bites with lighter lines than you do with bigger diameter lines.”
The team weighed consistent bags of 26.17 and 29.68-pounds to win by nearly three pounds. They walked away with cash prizes and a brand new Bass Cat Margay with a 150-horsepower Mercury ProXS.
After two wins in 2020 on Clear Lake, the team of Jeff Michels and Tony Zanotelli have proven they have what it takes to beat the best in the west. Their two victories were complete opposites and showcased their versatility and willingness to do what it takes to win.
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