Fishing Report: Atascadero angler picks up solo win

Atascadero’s Burt Lund experienced something Saturday that he hasn’t done in a while — he won a bass tournament solo.

It was an evening well-spent at Nacimiento Lake in the seventh SLO County Bass Ambushers’ Club competition.

“I left the lake after the 1 a.m. weigh-in knowing I’d won,” Lund, 60, said. “How much didn’t matter. I was very happy about winning.”

Lund earned $387 in the club event that attracted 30 anglers.

Lund, a school construction inspector, is being phased into retirement because of the economy. He has scaled back his tourney fishing to just Ambusher events.

It’s common knowledge that spotted bass have taken over at Nacimiento.

“I entered the event certain that I’d need largemouths in my bag to do well,” Lund said. “Bringing all spots to the scales wouldn’t cut it. I was sure about that.”

He was wrong.

“All 20 fish I caught were spots,” Lund said. “They were picked up in a stretch of water less than 100 yards long. When fishing at night I feel you need to commit to one area.”

One of his fish came on a drop shot. The rest were taken on jigs. Lund’s five live fish each qualified for a 0.20 bonus, giving him an adjusted weight of 9.73 pounds. Runner-up Paul Gates’ 9.65-pound limit wasn’t enough.

Ambushers Top 10 (all 5 fish), Weight, Winnings

1. Burt Lund, Atascadero, 9.73 pounds, $387; 2. Paul Gates, Paso Robles, 9.65 pounds, $232; 3. Joey Davis, Atascadero, 9.20 pounds, $71; 4.Andy Levy, Arroyo Grande, 9.17 pounds, $84; 5. Jim Keeney, Paso Robles, 8.66 pounds; 6. Damon Meeks, Atascadero, 8.48 pounds; 7. Erik Zillig, Cambria, 8.39 pounds; 8. Rick Long, Taft, 8.35 pounds; 9. Stan Beebe, Arroyo Grande, 8.17 pounds; 10.Bryan Vogt, Paso Robles, 8.04 pounds.

1st Big Fish---Joey Davis, Atascadero, 3.34 pounds, $150, total winnings $221).

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Albacore update

Skipper John Rowley took the Admiral out Tuesday evening on an exploratory albacore run. He was headed for the Davidson Seamount and beyond with 17 passengers on board.

“The Admiral is out of radio range. We have not had any contact with the skipper,” Greg Smith, the marina manager at Virg’s Landing, said in a Wednesday afternoon phone interview. When the Admiral would return to port had not been determined.

“There is a color break as close as 10 to 15 miles off of Lopez Point,” Harrell Kimball said. “The blue water doesn’t mean that tuna are there, however. As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the temperature at the Cape San Martin buoy was 62.8 degrees.”

Kimball has been helping put anglers on fish for better than 15 years using his VHF radio and various services he monitors from his base on the Nipomo Mesa. Boats out of Monterey are catching albacore closer to shore, he added.  

Ball qualifies

Dale Ball of Creston earned a berth in the first California Bass Championship tournament to be contested at Clear Lake on Aug. 12-13. Earlier this year, Ball placed ninth in the local tournament at Clear Lake, advancing to the Region 4 finals by just five-hundredths of a pound. Only the top 10 moved on to the regional test.

On the Sacramento River on Friday, Ball placed sixth. The Region 4 event was the last of four regionals. His 6.24-pound bag weight was 1.15 pounds better than the 10th place-qualifier.

Three San Luis Obispo County residents punched their tickets to the title round by finishing in the top 10 on July 9 at Lopez Lake. They are: Darrin Bishop, Paso Robles, first; James Keeney, Paso Robles, second; and Casey Langley, Arroyo Grande, 10th.

 Friday night bassing

Limits were caught by all 17 teams entered in the third Friday Night bass tournament at Nacimiento Lake.

Al Rush of Paso Robles, and his partner, Jeremy Gearhart of Atascadero nipped Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande and Nick Salvucci of San Miguel by 47-hundredths of a pound — 10.14 to 9.67.

 Patriot Sportfishing

Nine of the 12 jackpot fish last week were lingcod. Joe Torres of Arroyo Grande topped the list with a 13-pound, 8-ounce fish.

Other winners included: Sean McCombs, Bakersfield, 13-2 ling, Richard Worne, Simi Valley, 13-0 ling, Rudy Yracheta, Nipomo, and Ray Graham, Clovis, both 12-0 lings, Bryan Meadow, Bakersfield, 10-13 ling, Eddie Gomez, Visalia, Denny Murray, Fellows, and Herman Sandbothe, Riverdale, all 9-0 lings, Andy O’Brien, Santa Maria, 9-0 cabezon, Mike Farley, Bakersfield, and Myra Gomez, Visalia, both 3-pound vermillion.

Thus far, 19 anglers have been awarded a free trip pass by catching and then releasing alive a lingcod weighing 10 or more pounds.

Call 595-7200 for trip schedules and reservations.

Caught last week by 420 passengers were: 61 lingcod, 465 red rockcod, 1,246 assorted rockfish, 1,750 bolina, and 42 cabezon.

 Virg’s Landing

Ten-hour long-range trips are scheduled for Fridays. Cost is $89.

The most recent long-range trip included 27 passengers fishing north of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. They caught, six lingcod, 10 bocaccio, 140 red rockcod, 20 coppers and 100 assorted rockfish.

For schedules and reservations call 772-1222.

Jackpot winners included: Mark Ayers, Los Osos, 16-0 halibut, Gordon Hilchey, Atascadero, 10-0 ling, Kenny Diaz, Morro Bay, 9-0 ling, Joe Garza, Hanford, 7-0 ling, Jake Stewart, Paso Robles, 7-0 red rockcod, Joe Snyder, Kingsburg, 5-0 ling, Trenton Taylor, Taft, 5-0 red rockcod, Frank Bruce, Exeter, and Richard Jollifee, Santa Ynez, both 4-0 red rockcod.

The catch by 478 anglers included 29 lingcod, 726 red rockcod, 2,443 assorted rockfish, 226 coppers, 145 bolina, 48 bocaccio, 5 rock sole and one halibut. Central Coast Sportfishing

Last week’s best catch was an 8.5-pound lingcod by Sam Glaser from Wisconsin. Enrique Torres of Paso Robles was a jackpot winner with a 7.5-pound lingcod while Jeff Jones of Morro Bay ,won with a 6-pound copper.

For reservations and trip schedules, call 772-3474 or 704-2084.

The catch by 63 anglers included 5 lingcod, 85 coppers, 165 red rockcod, 7 bocaccio, 18 Tree fish, 296 assorted rockfish and 33 bolina. Port San Luis Boatyard

On July 19, a 49-pound, 6-ounce white seabass caught by Arroyo Grande’s Todd Vido captured Whopper of the Week honors. It was 55 inches long.

Another Monday catch may win honors this week. Jason Munger of Santa Maria caught a 35-pound halibut July 26.

Anglers aboard 87 dispatched boats caught 35 lingcod, 13 halibut and 13 white seabass last week.

 Lopez Lake

A pair of 10-year-olds stole the show last week. On Sunday, Nipomo’s Brandon Chang used swimbaits to reel in largemouth bass weighing 4 pounds, 3.25, 2.75 and 2.5 pounds. Lompoc’s Darren Moten caught two trout while fishing from the F dock Saturday.

Marina manager Jerry Weatherly said bluegill and redear are being caught, as well as some bass.

Santa Margarita Lake

Marina manager Don Lopez says women “smoked the men” last weekend. Debbie Ferranti of Arroyo Grande landed a 15-pound, 14-ounce catfish in The Narrows. Her bait was a nightcrawler. Santa Margarita’s Jackie Greer brought in a 15-9 catfish Sunday.

She was fishing near the marina using mackerel for bait. Nice crappie are being caught plus a few bass. Bluegill and redear are most active, Lopez said.

Whale Rock

Trevinar Hanson’s catch Sunday of an 18-inch trout on a lure increased the total catch to 16 rainbows after 69 days of fishing by 186 anglers. Fishing is Wednesdays through Sundays.