Fishing Report: Lintner says Clear Lake continues to baffle him despite his experience

When does 9 plus 4 equal 5?

Well, it’s not new math.

It’s an ol’ hack (this columnist) coming up with a lead for another yarn about the Central Coast’s best and most compensated bass fisherman, Jared Lintner.

Back to the opening equation.

Lintner and partner Nick Salvucci had the ninth-heaviest bag on day one Friday at Clear Lake in the 2009 American Bass North Team Classic. On Saturday, the pair had the event’s fourth-heaviest total.

Those performances resulted in a fifth-place finish. So 9 plus 4 equals 5. Go figure.

There were 198 teams in the field when the tournament began but only 180 at the finish. Obviously, 18 of them must have been discouraged by their opening-day efforts and dropped out.

Arroyo Grande’s Lintner and partner Salvucci from San Miguel had a two-day weight of 41.74 pounds for 10 fish. Their winnings were $2,450.

“These tournaments are not all about me,” Lintner said. “Nick is a really good fisherman. He’s motivated and interested in learning new things and he’s eager to adopt them into his fishing repertoire. He has a passion for the sport and he’s taught me some things, too. We’re friends and we have a great, fun time fishing together.

“By no means did I catch all the fish. We fished the same areas that I did in October in the FLW tournament. (He finished third in the National Guard event.) We fished big main lake flats that still had grass on them. The key was locating them.

“In team tournaments you can cover two spectrums of catching fish at the same time. One of us would be using lipless crankbaits or topwater lures while the other was casting swimbaits.”

Although he has fished Clear Lake lots of times, Lintner said he’s baffled as to why he’s been unable to catch some big fish.

“The lake is full of 6- to 10-pound fish but our biggest one weighed 4.59. It’s strange and puzzling me,” he said.

Tournament champions Kyle Rasmussen of Angels Camp and Keith Rakoncza of La Grange won $3,690, plus a Ranger/Mercury boat package for their 10-fish, two-day weight of 43.61 pounds.

Other Central Coast team placings, Number of fish, weight, winnings: 25. Clay & Paul Gates, Paso Robles, 10, 34.25 pounds, $710; 34.Tom Guidry, Vandenberg Village, Stan Skou, Los Alamos, 10, 32.55 pounds; 44. John White, San Luis Obispo, Steve Bereda, Santa Margarita, 10, 31.67 pounds, $200; 52. Darrin Bishop, Paso Robles, Dean Miller, Tulare, 10, 30.63 pounds, $1,240; 67. Felix Camacho, Nipomo, Jeff Smith, Santa Maria, 8, 28.29 pounds, $210; 85. Jeff Rose, Oceano, Jeff Hodges, Arroyo Grande, 9, 24.52 pounds; 120. Doug Chessmore, Santa Barbara, Spike Pollorena, Buellton, 6, 17.42 pounds, $775; 162. Dana Chatterly, Ron Morrison, Lompoc, 4, 8.97 pounds; 163. Bob Tull, Jason Wilson, Santa Maria, 3, 8.47 pounds; 167. Erik Zillig, Cambria, Tim Vaughan, Santa Maria, 3, 7.65 pounds; 178. Darin Ferguson, Dustin Mojonnier, Vandenberg Village, 2, 5.13 pounds.

Winnings include regional Angler’s of the year awards.

Paso Robles' Sauret competes in Alabama

Ken Sauret of Paso Robles qualified and competed last week in the FLW Stren Series Championship tournament at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala. He finished 102nd in a field of 188 pros. Sauret caught nine fish in two days for a weight of 15 pounds, 10 ounces.

Competing in the Co-Angler (amateur) division, Dean Krambeck, Vandenberg Village, placed 144th . His three fish weighed 4 pounds.

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Port San Luis Boatyard

Boats were launched only Thursday and Friday last week because of ocean conditions. Anglers aboard the 22 boats launched caught 19 lingcod and three halibut. Jim Banakus of Santa Maria earned Whopper of the Week honors with a 16-pound, 1-ounce halibut caught Nov. 6.

Patriot Sportfishing

Ocean conditions limited last week’s trips to seven passengers. San Luis Obispo’s Sean Grauel supplied the highlight of the week with a Tuesday catch of a 16-12 lingcod to move into second place in Patriot’s fifth-annual lingcod contest.

The battle for $6,000 in prize money concludes Sunday, the same day rockcod fishing ends for the year.

Bakersfield’s Dennis Hyde is the leader with a 17-10 ling caught Oct. 9. He’s on course to win the $3,000 top prize.

Last week, 166 anglers caught 67 lingcod, 256 red rockcod, 426 assorted rockfish, 856 bolina, 10 cabezon, 3 bocaccio and 1 halibut. Other jackpot winners were: Anthony Vosgerichian, Buellton, 14-10 ling, Al Leach, Lompoc, 12-2 ling, Mark Brooks, Santa Maria, 8-8 ling, Jim Claborn, Orcutt, 8-0 ling, Dick Evans, Turlock, 6-0-pound bocaccio, and Marty Redman, San Jose, 4-0-pound red rockcod.

Virg’s Landing

The last two-day trip of the year departs at 3 p.m. Saturday and will return between 4 and 6 p.m. Sunday. The fare is $205. Call 772-1222 for reservations and more information.

Jackpot winners were: Mike Blackstone, Atascadero, 10-pound lingcod, Kayla Board, Atascadero, 9-pound lingcod, Terry Stone, Los Osos, 7-pound red rockcod and Ralph Boone, Paso Robles, 6-pound red rockcod. Ninety-one passengers caught 16 lingcod, 212 red rockcod, 623 assorted rockfish, 44 coppers and 31 bocaccio.

Central Coast Sportfishing

Sebastian Orlando of Paso Robles grabbed jackpot honors aboard the Rita G on Monday with the catch of an 8-pound lingcod. The 18 anglers caught 2 lingcod, 96 red rockcod and 84 assorted rockfish.

Santa Margarita Lake

Keith Tarwater of Paso Robles caught a 17.2-pound catfish on Nov. 4 at Mackey Point using mackerel for bait.

Lopez Lake

“Crappie, bluegill and redear all are active, fishermen tell me,” marina manager Jerry Weatherly said. A 21⁄2-pound redear was brought in for a photo and dash over the weekend.

Whale Rock

Two of the four trout caught last week were landed by Gary Collier. He bagged a pair of 14-inch rainbows Saturday using PowerBait and lures.

Joe Cooper caught 11- and 13-inch trout Friday also using PowerBait and lures.

The season ends Sunday.