To the victors belong the spoils and in today’s column there are winners aplenty whether it’s bass fishing or rounding up albacore.
San Luis Obispo’s John White and longtime partner Tony Klein from Fresno were far from optimistic approaching the Sept. 11-12 tournament for owners of Champion and Stratos boats. The fact they’d won the 2004 event sponsored by Bob’s Marine of Modesto and the venue was Clear Lake, White’s all-time favorite lake, didn’t matter. Their practice for the seventh-annual event had been terrible.
“In practice, some days we caught only one or two fish. And we kept losing those we hooked in the weeds,” White said.
On day one of the competition, it took the duo better than 21⁄2 hours before they landed their first two fish. At noon, they put three fish in the live well in rapid order. Just prior to their 2:15 weigh-in, they caught a bass that enabled them to cull one.
The 18.36-pound limit White, 69, and Klein, 68, brought to the scales put them in fourth place, 3.28 pounds off the lead in a field of 68 boat owners.
On day two, they lost the best fish they’d hooked into in nine days they figured it would be costly.
“It was more than a 5-pounder that was hung up in the weeds. Tony reached for it but it was gone,” White said.
Day two was more productive, however. They continued to flip plastic frogs into random patches of weeds at the north end of the lake.
“We hooked 11 fish and lost two more in the weeds,” White noted.
Their 20.90-pound limit catapulted them to the top of the leaderboard with a two-day weight of 39.26 pounds. Their reward for winning the championship: $3,175.
Creston’s Dale Ball, the reigning California state bass champion after his triumph in an individual tournament last month at Clear Lake, was in second place both days. He and partner Sal Re had a 19.08 limit Saturday and 19.10 Sunday. Their 38.18 total meant a $2,213 check.
They trailed White and Klein by a mere 1.08 pounds.
Bob’s Marine Owners Tourney
Number of Fish, Weight, Winnings
1. John White, San Luis Obispo, Tony Klein, Fresno, 10, 39.26 pounds, $3,125; 2. Dale Ball, Creston, Sal Re, 10, 38.18 pounds, $2,213.
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Camachos score victory
The Camachos, Felix, the CDF captain from Nipomo and his cousin, Ken from Santa Maria, won the Tri Valley Club fis-off for the second year in a row and the third time overall. The Sept. 11 title was won at Cachuma Lake, where they fished in the Santa Ynez River for all but 20 minutes of the tourney.
“We culled four or five times with all but one of our catches coming by flippin’ Sweet Beavers and Chigger Craws,” Felix Camacho said. “Ken had our biggest fish, just under 41⁄2 pounds. My best was a 31⁄2-pounder on a swimbait.”
Their 6-fish team limit of 15.48 pounds was worth $1,300.
Mark Scribner of Pismo Beach and Graham Grove of Atascadero finished second with a team limit of 13.24 pounds for $800. They also had the big fish, 4.85 pounds, worth $380.
Tri Valley Club Fish-off Top 10
Number of Fish, Weight, Winnings — 1.Felix Camacho, Nipomo, Ken Camacho, Santa Maria, 6, 15.48 pounds, $1,300; 2. Mark Scribner, Pismo Beach, Graham Grove, Atascadero, 6, 14.24 pounds, $800; 3. Dana & Clayton Chatterly, Lompoc, 6, 11.84 pounds, $600; 4. Ron & Derek Morrison, Lompoc, 6. 11.27 pounds, $500; 5. John Phillips, Santa Margarita, Brad Austin, San Miguel, 6, 10.92 pounds, $400; 6. Jeff Rose, Oceano, 5, 10.49 pounds, $300; 7. Ted & Dustin McAllister, San Luis Obispo, 5., 9.82 pounds, $200; 8. Damon & Ken Meeks, Atascadero, 6, 9.22 pounds; 9, Mike Truhitte, Bill Lukeman, Santa Maria, 4., 8.95 pounds; 10. Frank Fernandes, Robert Saito, Santa Maria, 5, 8.87 pounds.
Big Fish, 4.85 pounds, Scribner & Grove. $380.
Big Fish of the Year---11.96 pounds, Camacho & Camacho, $820, Lopez Lake, April, 2010.
Huge albacore harvest
Anglers embarking out of the Port San Luis Sports Launch on Sept. 19 brought back 296 tuna on 12 boats. A number of boats launched at the public ramp at Morro Bay participated in the bountiful catch.
Just how many longfins these anglers brought on board is unknown. There is no way to monitor the take. The longfins had moved closer to shore for the weekend and were being taken only 30 to 35 miles off shore.
For the week, 488 albacore were counted at the Port San Luis Boatyard. The count was registered by anglers aboard 30 boats. Pabbolo Chagolla of San Luis Obispo won whopper of the week honors with a 27-pound, 3-ounce tuna caught Sunday.
“It was the best albacore fishing I’ve ever experienced,” according to a number of posts on the fishreports.net website.
Albacore trip schedules
The Pacific Queen was scheduled to depart at 10 p.m. Wednesday to fish Thursday.
Pacific Horizon is set to depart Patriot’s site at 10 p.m. today and fish Friday. The limit is 18 people and cost is $250. Call 595-7200 for reservations.
Nightly departures are scheduled for the Pacific Queen, while the Pacific Horizon is slated for trips leaving Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights next week.
The Princess is slated to depart Virg’s Landing at midnight tonight to fish Friday. The limit is 25 and cost is $235. Another trip is scheduled to leave at midnight Friday. For reservations, call 772-1222.
Additional trips will depart Friday and Saturday night. The number of reservations will determine which boat is dispatched.
Sport boat outlook
Harrell Kimball says: “Most of the weather forecast models show the wind coming down on Friday with Saturday looking good. It won’t be as good as last weekend but at 25 miles offshore it should be good enough.”
Virg’s Landing
Four albacore trips with 70 passengers aboard have brought back 177 tuna. Jackpot winters include: Calvin Walker, Bakersfield, 39 pounds; Rick Cooper, Atascadero, 31 pounds; and Joe Losieu, Morro Bay, 35 pounds.
An overnight rockcod trip is scheduled to depart at 3 p.m. Saturday. Two limits may be brought back. Cost is $205. Call 772-1222 for reservations.
Last week, 271 rockcod passengers caught 43 lingcod, 509 red rockcod, 1,523 assorted rockfish, 63 bocaccio, 47 coppers and 81 bolina. Jackpot winners were: Cheryl Jones, Fresno, 11-pound ling; Ralph Boon, Paso Robles, 9-pound ling; Matt Unrich, Bakersfield, 8-pound ling; Carey Gregg, Oklahoma, 7-pound bocaccio; Frank Heredio, Lancaster, and Kenneth Tower, Salton City, both 5-pound red rockcod.
Patriot Sportfishing
One hundred twenty-nine anglers caught 227 albacore on five trips aboard the Pacific Horizon and the Pacific Queen.
On Sunday, Jason Stubbs, 12, of Fresno, grabbed a share of the lead in the ongoing lingcod contest with the catch of an 18-pound, 6-ounce fish. He joins Bakersfield’s Fred Kenniston atop the leaderboard. Steve Robertson of Tulare is in third place with an 18-pound ling caught Sept. 2. The contest runs through Nov. 15. Call 595-7200 for reservations and schedules.
Other jackpot winners were: Kai Lu, Ventura, 14-pound ling; jack Lock, Madera, 12-5 ling; Abel Muniz, Arroyo Grande, 9-0 ling; Adrian Baker, Taft, and Matt Adona, Bakersfield, both 8-0 lings; Manny Lopez, Santa Maria, Mark Lewis, Shell Beach, and John Burns, Bakersfield, all 7-0 lings; Terry Martin, Nevada, 5-0 vermillion; and Matt Lemke, Bakersfield, 3-0 copper.
Last week, 183 rockcod anglers caught 76 lingcod, 703 red rockcod, 600 assorted rockfish, 798 bolina, 29 cabezon and one rock sole. Central Coast Sportfishing
Bobby Fleetwood of Taft and Carl Brickey of Lompoc caught jackpot winning lingcod weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces and 7 pounds, respectively.
Fifty-one anglers caught: 4 lingcods, 175 red rockcod, 167 assorted rockfish, 98 bolina, 8 sanddabs, 37 coppers, one soupfin shark, one rock sole and one wolf eel.
For reservations, schedules Call: 772-3474 or 704-2084.
Santa Margarita Lake
The best times to catch bass are early morning and evening. Catfish and crappie are active.
Lopez Lake
Arroyo Grande’s Lou Denny caught catfish ranging from 9 to 27 pounds over the past two weeks. Oren Weatherly, 8, of Atascadero, caught a 11⁄2-pound redear on red worms.
Whale Rock
No trout for the sixth straight open period. Only one angler tried.
