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TOUGH TO FIND THE BIG
ONE'S AT McCLURE
By: Ron Wilson
April 10, 2003.... Lake McClure is still
full of spotted bass, but a lot of them are skinny! Years ago there used
to be lots of nice fish in the 2 pound class, but for the last few years
it seems the majority of them are just plain underfed!
Nor-Cal Bass held there 4th Pro-Am
tournament of the season there last Sunday. The morning started out cold,
but according to guys who fished the 100% bass the day before, it was
much warmer than Saturday. While it may have been, I still had on my
duck hunting pants for a wind break along with a warm sweater and jacket to
keep the coolness away from my skin.
The show up time ended and it was
apparent that some guys forgot to turn the clocks ahead, as they were
not there, or showed up as the draw started.
Tenth boat out was Norval Pimentel and
myself. Norval and his son Anthony won the 100% Bass event there the day
before, I wasn't sure where we were going to start, but I knew where
Anthony was going, as he had put the kicker fish in the boat that had
put them into 1st place, a bucketmouth almost 11 pounds, that fell for a
white and chartreuse spinner bait.
Norval blasted off at safe life and
headed to the south ramp where he fished a rock pile. We put a couple
keeper fish in the boat, just skinny spots! Next stop was an area we
have fished for years, but the fish were not biting. I think Norval's
cousin Ernie Evans and his partner caught them all the day before!
We worked our way down toward the dam and
put our limit in the boat, the 5 of them might have weighed 5
or 6 pounds.
I told Norval that we needed that one
fish to separate us from the pack. One bucketmouth of 3 or 4 pounds
would do nicely. Norval ripped and spinner baited every cove and stickup
we came to with no luck. We managed to increase our limit to 7 plus
pounds but could not find that one fish that would help us get a
paycheck. Norval and I used 1001B Keeper Custom Worms and Predator
Purple Ghost 4 inch worms on color coordinated 1/16 ounce dart heads to
make our catch.
 Anthony picked up his second win of the
weekend, giving him back to back victories! He didn't catch any monsters
but had a solid limit of fish in the 2 pound range. It sure has been
nice to watch him grow up over the years. He has gone from an eat you
out of house and boat youth to a beginning fishing professional to a
mature bass tournament STICK!
For tournament results check out Nor-Cal's
website. Sorry about no pictures but I just didn't have time. It was
cast after cast, hoping for that one good bite. Norval was trying so
hard that we were in danger of overdoing it! In our younger days it
would have been just another day on the water, but with competition and
the wind blowing the boat every which way, the day was a rough one.
Today, we are both older and after a hard day of fishing our backs and
muscles hurt, and we are just plain tired.
Norval and I finished 8th. Not to bad but
we might have done better if I had taken Norval to my favorite
honey hole. Sorry Norval, but a guy has to have a secret fishing spot or
two, that he can call his own!
Next stop is the delta, hopefully a good
draw there, as I only have a 3 point lead in the amateur race for angler
of the year!
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