LAKEPORT, Calif. — Afternoon highs in the 70s finally have Clear Lake bass moving toward the bank and the Golden State Shootout might be approaching a head-on collision between man and bass.
"I think the guy who wins it will break 100 pounds," said Jared Lintner. "Someone will have the right area where the fish are staged to spawn and will crack them. Late yesterday I found the fish loaded on a stretch of bank. They move up when it's nice and warm."
Lintner was in an accident Sunday driving from the Delta and that shook him up for a few days.
"The first day of practice I was pretty much done — I shouldn't even have been here," Lintner said. "I spent countless hours dealing with insurance people. Then my first cast, I bombed a swimbait out there and whoosh, my rod broke in half. The last few days I've been able to get back into the right mindset. I'm just really thankful, it could have turned out a lot worse."
Former record-holder and 2007 Clear Lake champion Steve Kennedy has seen a lot of fish, but only been able to get a few bites.
"It looks like the fish are moving up, we just need some weather to get them to bite," Kennedy said. "This crystal clear water, slick calm conditions and big fish makes for tough fishing."
Will Kennedy go swimbait crazy like he did last time?
"I probably spent 600 dollars since I got here," Kennedy said. "That's nothing. I spent 3,000 dollars in 2007 before I even made my first cast. I guess I still have a good stock of them."
Skeet Reese grew up fishing Clear Lake and has a BassCast camera in the boat with him on Day One.
Not long after takeoff, Bassmaster.com photographer James Overstreet was on the water and reported that the fish were most definitely biting.
"This is going to be an awesome gallery," Overstreet said. "I haven't seen any giants yet, but every fish is a 3- to 4-pounder."
Skeet Reese and Gary Klein sat down with Bassmaster.com during the morning launch to share their views of the event. Click here to watch BassCam updates for the Golden State Shootout.