Photos by Mark Jeffreys & Matt Pangrac

The anglers The BASS ZONE spoke to at the conclusion of Tuesday’s practice conceded as much…the bite was tough, but getting better everyday. While tougher than hoped for, most in the field weren’t ready to do too much mean mouthing on weights for the week given Clear Lake’s record-setting potential. 

California native Byron Velvick posted a super-solid start to the week by weighing 29 pounds even, which included a 10-11 mule that claimed first-day big bass honors, and the top spot. Second place at the conclusion to the first day of fishing belonged to California pro Jared Linter, who posted a five-bass limit weighing 23-4.

Alabama pro Randy Howell ended the day in third place with 23-3, and Ohio pro Bill Lowen brought 22-14 to the scales, good enough for fourth place at the conclusion of the afternoon’s weigh-in.

Veteran pro, Guy Eaker, sits in fifth place with 21-14, and Matt Herren rounds out the Super Six with 21-13.

2007 Shootout winner Steve Kennedy, who ended the day tied for 71st place, summed up Friday’s potential best by saying that at a lake where things can turn around in the span of one bite, a second chance could prove to be monumental.

Velvick Goes Big 
Byron Velvick and Clear Like are, as Forrest Gump would say, “Like peas and carrots.” There are few other places in the world where bass are more susceptible to a big tennis shoe-sized swimbait than here...and it just so happens that Velvick happens to be a swimbait master.

Oddly enough, while he caught several on the swimbait, Velvick explained that he caught his bag “throwing multiple baits” throughout the day. “I caught them all day,” he said. “The big one came this afternoon, but they really bit consistently for me all day.”

The reason for alternating baits is simple: “You’ll die out here throwing nothing but a swimbait,” Velvick expressed. “I don’t know, maybe you won’t, but with the weather as cool as it is you really have to have something else working that you can fall back on.”

Culling as much of a limit during the day, Velvick said he’s not getting that many bites – though the ones he’s getting are quality. “I love this place, you just have to go out and run the route,” he said.

“I burned some gas today, but I’m doing something smart. I’m fishing around boats, but you can do that here and still catch fish.”

Lintner Bounces Back
After a harrowing ride north to Clear Lake from last week’s stop on the Delta, in which Jared Lintner and his son were involved in a traffic accident which totaled his boat and tow vehicle, to be in second place at the conclusion of the tournament’s first day is a testament to “The Milkman’s” determination.

With a history on Clear Lake, Lintner started his day on one of the lake’s many community holes, along with a dozen other competitors. “There were a lot of other boats in there, but no one was on the meat,” he said, pointing out that he was quick to pull onto the sweet spot.

“Unfortunately, tomorrow I might not even get to see that spot because everyone else that was in there saw the angles I was throwing. The thing is there are plenty of other places on this lake where you can get real healthy. It’s just a matter of getting the right bites.”

Getting 14 to 15 bites on the day, Lintner said that his primary bait was a big swimbait. “I don’t want to fish chicken, but I know how difficult it can be to put (a limit) in the boat (throwing the swimbait),” he said. 

“The thing is, if you can get bit (throwing the swimbait), chances are they’re going to be good ones. But it’s a real waiting game to get five of them right now.”

On tomorrow’s conditions, Lintner said that he would prefer to see absolute slick conditions as opposed to the light breeze the field encountered Thursday. “When you have some wind, it makes it easy for everyone to catch a limit on a swimbait,” he said.

“I went into a couple little areas today thinking that they should be there, and I finally cruised up shallow and it looked like Sea World. They’re very hard to catch though. By Sunday it should be crazy out here, but the air temperature at night is knocking them back down.”

Howell Found ‘Em Deep
Randy Howell had, in his words, a “miserable” practice. In fact, Thursday marked only the second day where he’d caught a bas, so he’s ever thankful to be standing at the top of the leader board given the lack of confidence he had coming in. 

“It was a good morning, where I had about two hours where it was really good, but then the afternoon got slow,” he said. “I tried to stay out all day, but I finally moved up shallow and threw the swimbait some and finished out my limit.”

Howell found his money hole Wednesday morning. “I hadn’t caught a bass in 12 hours of practice, but had this area that just seemed right so I just kept backing out, and backing out and finally found them on the graph,” he said. 

Fortunately for Randy, the competitors he has in the area spent most of the day up shallow. “I pretty much had the deep water to myself this morning, but then I saw someone out there dragging around this afternoon,” he said. 

“Being in the third flight tomorrow, I might not be able to get onto (the deep water spot), but I think they’ve moved down a little bit so I might be able to get on them. We’ll see how it goes in the morning.”

Lowen was done by Lunch
Hailing from the Ohio River valley, Bill Lowen would be in the category of “least likely” to be atop the leader board at a tournament in California; however, the Ohio pro has chops and he’s proven it time and again all over the country. 

Lowen is hopeful that the nighttime temperatures push many of the bigger fish that have already moved into the bushes out to his transitional spot. “I hope that it puts them right where I need them to be,” he said.

“There are a few other guys in there with me, but they’re being real cool and giving me my water.”

Eaker Fished with Company
For the second week in a row, 70-year old Guy Eaker, fishing his final Elite Series season, is out to prove that the old guard is just fine. “You’ve got to think that this is sort of my style of fishing,” he said.

“I broke one off today on 40-pound braid, so I’m around some really good fish. I’ll string up with 50-pound line tonight.”

Eaker culled several times during the day, ultimately pulling off his prime water to let them rest. “I could’ve kept catching them when I left, but I wanted to save them,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll still be up in there tomorrow ready to eat.”

Bill Lowen is in the same area as Guy, along with Cliff Pace, but they’re each fishing a different program and being respectful of one another’s water. “I’m not coming out on his stuff and he’s not coming in on me, that’s the way that it should be,” he said. 

“We’ve got enough room in there where we can all do our own thing.”

As the only one doing what he’s doing, Guy explained that there were enough competitors who saw him catching them that he might not be as fortunate tomorrow. “There were several other anglers, who didn’t catch them as well, that saw us in there,” he said. 

“I should be in the second flight tomorrow, but I bet it’ll be more crowed. I feel confident that there’ll be more fish that move in there.”

Kriet Running Multiple Patterns
The BASS ZONE spent some time with Jeff Kriet Wednesday night, and during the time we spent with him he was cutting baits off and retying new ones in anticipation of Thursday’s start. “I just knew that it was going to fish a lot different today,” he said.

“I feel good about it because I’ve got a couple of different ways to catch them.”

DAY ONE STANDINGS