Santa Clara Bass Busters held its TOC and 6th tournament of the year, a two-day draw-individual event of the 2005 season at “The Bass Capital of the West”.  (The TOC was a one-day event held on Saturday).  Tournament Director, Michael Clark, made arrangements with Lake Place Resort in Glenhaven to host the launch and weigh-in literally in our back yard! Owners, Peggy and Al, being gracious hosts, helped out tremendously during our stay and made for a spectacular event.  The Bass Busters had 10 boats for 20 anglers show for the tournament in anticipation of bigger bags to bring to the scales.  Our tournament was greeted by sunny skies with air temps ranging from the 60’s to mid 80’s, water temperatures ranging from high 60’s to low mid-70s in some areas, and lastly, some breezy 10-20 mph winds on Saturday making for some 3-5 foot chop which laid down some on Sunday.  With the main lake areas rough, many anglers sought shelter in some of the wind protected areas such as the Keys and tucked away bays.  Here’s how it went down. 

In first place with 29.00 lbs and limits both days was Ed Hawkins who also took the TOC on Day 1.  His fish came off deep water tules and docks. He ran his boat to an area between Jago and Konocti where he found the thick cover he targeted.  Dropshotting a green Robo was the key to bringing in the winning bag.

Jeff Hawkins weighed 24.46 lbs using the dropshot and wacky-rigged senkos to take second place after 2 days.  Among the fish he caught included a 4.48 lb Largie, good enough for 2nd Big Fish.  He attributes his success to finding the bigger fish in the weed pockets of Konocti Bay.

Joe Alvarez finished third place with 23.82 lbs.  He used the dropshot in the heavy weeds to find his sack of largemouth.  A bass going 4.70 lb won him the Big Fish honors and some spending money.

Ryan Caldwell used a combination of ripbaits, senkos, zipperworms, RI’s Dominators in the Keys to bring 22.48 lbs to the scale and take fourth place.

In fifth place was Dennis Pachucki who threw magic craw Dominators in weed pockets motoring around in the Keys.  He weighed in a 21.28 lbs bag.

John Fernandez finished in sixth place using the dropshot and senkos in the Keys.  Windy conditions didn’t stop John from bagging 18.98 lbs.

John Neibel finished seventh with 16.08 lbs by cruising the Keys amongst the crowd of other anglers who were there.  His fish came off senkos and the dropshot.

Rene Duzac brought in 15.02 lbs from the North end and the Keys at Clear Lake.  He attributes his fish to throwing senkos and sweet beavers to land him in eighth place.

In ninth place was our noble and courageous president Spiro Stamos who used senkos in the Keys to bring in 14.96 lbs. 

Rob Nelson took tenth place with 13.92 lbs.  He dropshotted the docks on day 1 around Lakeport and improving his weight on the 2nd day venturing accross the lake from Glenhaven targeting cement and wood walls in 1-4 feet of water throwing a Sweet Beaver.

In eleventh place was Tyler Linscott who weighed in 13.80 lbs.  He was dropshotting docks in the north end and tossing the senko in the Keys.

Landing in twelfth place Michael Chen finished with 10.66 lbs.  He and Calvin Walls (19th) had boat problems on day 1 which prevented the two from going out on Saturday.  Luckily, our members selflessly offered boats to fish from on day 2 allowing them to weigh in fish.  Thanks to Rob Nelson and Kyle Mulhair for offering a place on their boat.

Michael ‘Gator’ Benjamin finished thirteenth place in his ‘runaway’ boat.  His new Nitro saw some fish while running back for weigh-in.  But seriously, new Nitro and all were recovered before anything serious happened to the boat.  But I digress, ‘Gator Mike’ finished with 9.62 lbs dropshotting and tossing senkos.

Joe Haylen finished in fourteenth place with 7.86 lbs with senkos and dropshotting at, where else, the Keys. 

Viet Pham finished fifteenth place throwing senkos and brushogs.  Of note, on his second day, he caught carp, catfish, and bluegill.  Hmmm, wouldn’t have catching a crappie made it a homerun?  Can’t weigh those in apparently.  He brought 6.74 lbs to the scale.

Calvin Walls, new boat owner himself, found troubles with his vessel early on Satuday prior to blast-off.  This prevented him from fishing day 1.  Nonetheless, he weighed in 4.70 lbs on Sunday to take sixteenth place thanks to Rene D. and Tyler L. for offering Calvin a seat on their boat, again exemplifying what being in this club is all about.

In seventeenth place was Jack Swindlehurst with 3.12 lbs.  He attributes his fish to a technique he called, “LUCK”. 

Other notables included Kyle Mulhair.  As a member last season, Kyle qualified for the TOC and fished for the 1 day event for 12.54 lbs.  This landed him in 4th place in the club’s TOC.   Also joining us was Sal, who’s been a perspective member for some time now and finally saw water with the club and brought 20.70 lbs to the weigh-in.  He used senkos and dropshotted with a twist.  His boater Jeff Hawkins recalls that Sal caught one with two rods in the water, one fishing, and another… well lets just say after relieving one rod from duty, skillfully picked up the other and was relieved the fish was still on. Nice job, Sal. Lastly, guest, Don Hunt, hailing from Reno, NV joined the club at Clear Lake and found success with brown/orange and red senkos.  He ventured south of Konocti and into the Keys to bring in 16.34 lbs.

Thanks to all of the members for volunteering to bring supplies for the BBQ held on Saturday at Clear Lake.  For those who weren’t there, the club feasted on tasty Tri-tip steaks, chicken, corn, salad, potato salad, garlic bread, watermelon, desserts, and more while chatting about their day on the water.  Shortly following the BBQ we announced the TOC results and handed out the trophies and prizes for last season’s qualifiers.  In addition to first place for the TOC, Ed Hawkins took home a nice fishing outfit that is sure to see some action.  Shortly after, we held our raffle, which owes its thanks to the tremendous amount of fishing tackle donated by Mel Cotton’s, a key sponsor of the Bass Busters.  Also Rob Nelson got into the action and donated a Loomis rod prior to the drawing.  I’m going to make it a point to hang out with this guy more often.  Only joking again.  With the raffle festivities over, everyone (I think) took home something, at least a laugh and good times, to prepare for day 2 of the club tournament. 

Please remember, if you’re not going to be at the club meeting, let someone know your intentions on whether you plan to fish the Delta on July 9th to avoid any unnecessary confusion.  It will be our 7th tournament of the year and it is a Pick-Your-Partner Team format.  Hope to see you at the next meeting.


Big Fish
1st Joe A.4.70 lbs
2ndJeff H. 4.48 lbs

Overall Results
                     Day 1 and TOC       Day 2  Total
1. Ed Hawkins     16.86              12.14 29.00
2. Jeff Hawkins    14.28              10.18 24.46
3. Joe Alvuarez   1 2.14              11.68 23.82
4. Ryan Caldwell   9.90              12.58 22.48
5. Dennis Pachucki     14.72                6.5621.28
6. John Fernandez        7.94              11.0418.98
7. John Neibel      9.28                6.8016.08
8. Rene Duzac             4.64              10.3815.02
9. Spiro Stamos   9.58               5.3814.96
10. Rob Nelson     6.74               7.1813.92
11. Tyler Linscott          4.84                8.9613.80
12. Mike Chen             DNF              10.6610.66
13. Mike Benjamin       4.06                5.56  9.62
14. Joe Haylen    2.16                5.70  7.86
15. Viet Pham     4.52                2.22  6.74
16. Calvin Walls   DNF                4.70  4.70
17. Jack Swindlehurst   3.12                0.00 3.12
Clear Lake 2005