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Bassmaster has rated Clear Lake the top fishery the last two years. With 5 fish limits that reach over 30-pound and during this year a few 40-pound limits have been weighted in during professional tournaments. If you want to catch an average size fish that weights 4-pounds or bigger, Clear Lake needs to be on your list of lakes. The South end of the lake has deep rock piles with docks that cover the shoreline while the North end is much shallower with an abundance of fishable water. Most of the top ten anglers caught their fish punching baits in heavy cover while a few anglers caught their fish on docks.
After two days of competition Thomas Willingmyre wins the Chris Laird Memorial with a two-day total of 203.75”. He had on day-one 96.75” but on day-two, he and an impressive 107.00”.
“I used a jig under docks to catch my fish during the Chris Laird.” stated Willingmyre, “There was one dock that held most of the fish that I measured in on day one.” said Willingmyre, “I had worked my way down to this dock fishing several other docks on the way and only caught smaller fish.”
“On day one, I fished from 4 to 12-feet deep to catch my fish on day-one and day-two." exclaimed Willingmyre, “Compared to day-two, I fished deeper down to 14-feet deep to catch a most of my larger fish.”
“The last dock I fished on day-one, I caught a 20” fish that helped me cull up two inches.” remarked WIllingmyre. “I fished clean both days with only one fish that had popped off at the boat.”
“I used the same jig for the whole weekend with only losing one jig.” mentioned Willingmyre, “The wooded docks were the best to fish. The docks that held most of the fish would have a boat lift attached. I felt it gave more shade and held bigger fish.”
“The jig I was using was the Strike King tungsten ½ -ounce paired with 4.75” Flappin Hog in green pumpkin with black flake.” said WIllingmyre,
“I didn’t get any bites for about 15 minutes and went to my first dock that I had fished in the morning. There I caught a 22.00” fish.” artiulated Willingmyre, “Besides catching one fish on a chatter bait all my fish came on the jig.”
“I was using 20-pound Seagar InvizX on my jig rod to catch all my fish.” said Willingmyre.
Thomas Willingmyre thanked his wife for all her support.
Damian Thao came in second with a two-day total of 191.75"
“I practiced on Wednesday for the event and found some fish that where of the larger size. The North end was the area that had the larger fish. I had several fish blow up on the frog but never hooked up.” declared Thao, “Since we found a big population of larger fish willing to bite, we decided to take Thursday off to relax and get my rods ready for the event.”
“The mornings were cool, I started off with a frog but never hooked up on day-one, so I put the punching rod in my hand and kept it there all day long.” pronounced Thao, “There was one point that I worked back and forth for three days to catch my fish.”
“The point had some clean grass, some cheese, and some duck weed.” insisted Thao, “As the day became hotter the bite was better for size and numbers.”
“I caught all my fish on day one punching.” replied Thao, “One key was to rotate my baits, so the fish got something different to look at.”
“The point was about the size of two boats where I had caught all my fish.” voiced Thao, “I ended up in 1st place on day one. It was close for the top ten anglers, with only a few inches separating the anglers.”
“On day one, I noticed first thing in the morning that the weather was much warmer.” expressed Thao, “There was overcast and smoke in the sky making the weather much warmer in the morning.”
“I had a good feeling that the frog was going to be in play in the morning since it was so much warmer.” spoken Thao, “I caught 5 fish in 5 cast that included a 23.50” fish. The 23.50” fish went around 8-pounds and at that point, I knew I had a chance to win this event.”
“I did most of my damage in the morning on the frog.” explained Thao, “Once the sun came up, the frog bite stopped.”
“After the morning sun popped up higher, I punched the rest of the day.” spoken Thao, “I kept moving back and forth around that matt and changed up my baits to keep getting bites.”
“On day-two the bite was much slower compared to the days before.” proclaimed Thao, “Again, the bite was better in the afternoon compared to the morning time. Day-two the weather was much cooler compared to the day before.”
“I knew I had beat up the area the last two days and caught smaller size fish compared to the previous days.” reported Thao.
“The majority of my bigger fish came after 1PM.” discussed Thao, “Each day the bite was the best the hotter weather and later in the day.”
“I was using 65-pound Endurx Pline and 80-pound TPC braid line.” commented Thao, “I felt the TPC braid was quite going through the grass, and I got more bites because of this.”
“My baits of choice was a Yamamoto Flappin Hog, Missile Bait D Bomb and DrancKrazy deranged EX.” recalled Thao, “I rotated these baits which were the baits that I got all my bites from.”
Thao thanked his sponsors 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle, Pline, 1st Gen, DrancKrazy and Kayak City.
Isiah West finished in third with a two-day total of 191.75” He used the punching rig to catch all his fish during this event.
“On day one, I decided to run to the back of the area where no one else had went.” informed West, “I had one fish blow on my frog, but it didn’t get the bait. I flipped into the area, and the fish ate my bait. It went 22.25” fish.”
“Once I caught that fish, I put the flipping rod in my hand and never took it out.” talked West, “I was using a 1.25-ounce weight with a 3/0 hook paired with a Sweet Beaver in the Bloody Mary color.”
“I would work the matts towards the shallow water and had to hop the bait a few times before the fish would eat.” asserted West, “The fish closer to the edge would eat the bait once it hit the bottom.”
“There were windows that the fish would bite but the afternoon was the best.” said West.
“The fish were near the lay down wood with shade covering the fish.” said West.
“I would work the bait on the bottom and then lift it just so it was under the grass and then shake it. I would get a few bites doing this.” said West.
“Day two I worked the frog a few minutes and never got a bite.” noted West, “I culled most of my fish where other anglers were not fishing. There were several other anglers fishing the mouth of the creek.”
Isiah West thanked Yak a Bass for hosting these great events, my girlfriend for supporting me and my family for their support.
Top Ten:
1. Thomas Willinmyre 203.75”
2.Damian Thao 191.75”
3. Isiah West 191.75”
4. Obedie Williams 190.25”
5. Anthony Garcia 189.50”
6. Simon Her 186.75”
7. Joshua Bryant 185.25”
8. Alden Walden 185.00”
9. John Myers 184.75”
10.Shaun Leytem 181.25”
Big Fish:
Damian Thao 23.50”
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