Prefish: I left work around 3pm on Tuesday and drove straight to the Delta. I brought my float tube with me and put it in at Rock Slough. I fished for about a hour and caught one fish pitching a Robo worm and I had one frog bump. I then went and checked in at the registration at Big Break. Everstart provided a great free BBQ for the anglers while we waited. I drew boat number 100 (4th flight) and was paired with Rick Winger. We fished together at Folsom during a BFL a couple years back.

Wednesday Day One: We started out in Frank's with at least 30 other boats. I threw topwater for a while for the big zero. I picked up the Robo worm and started pitching it on 15lb P-Line fluorocarbon. I caught several small keepers and some shorts. I think I even got a small limit for about 8lbs. Rick also caught several fish pitching. We ran south a ways and found several bed fish we could not get to go. I caught one 2lb fish on a weightless worm. We went back to Frank's to finish out the day. I ended up sticking a 5lber with about an hour left. Rick also got his limit there and culled twice. Rick weighed 12-10 and I had 14-03. This put me in 5th.

I heard there was a protest and found out someone went into Three Mile slough past the "No Vessel" buoy. The protest held up and they DQ'ed the boater and non-boater. This bumped me up to 4th. I heard they both were not from Northern California and did not know the area was off limits.

Thursday Day Two: I was boat number 49 (2nd flight) and paired with Bobby Lanham. He was sick from food poisoning the night before and had still not recovered. I figured that 8-10lbs would get me into the top 20 cut. We ran to the middle Delta. He was throwing a Senko and I pitched the Robo worm. He also threw a small crankbait and some topwater. He lost three big fish. Two on a Senko and one on the crankbait. I caught over 20 shorts before getting my first 12 incher at around 10am. I then got four more 12 inch clones and had about 4.5lbs for five fish. I could not buy a better bite. At around 1pm we got some cloud cover and I picked up a popper. I got bit immediately by a 13 incher. I finally get to cull. I got bit again by a short fish. Then caught another 13 incher. Both Bobby and I had not been bit in a while with plastics. With the two bites I got on topwater Bobby starts throwing a spook. He then catches several good fish including a 5lber. I lose one fish on a frog that only weighed about 1 3/4lbs. It only would have given me about 1/2 a pound more. We weigh in and Bobby has 10-02 for five and I have five for 5-14. I was so bummed. I called my wife and told her I didn't make the cut and would be home in a couple hours. When the weigh-in was over I found out I squeaked into the top twenty and I was in 19th place. This paired me up with my friend Jimmy Reese. Everstart zeros out the weights after day two so the top twenty start from scratch.

Friday Day Three: Jimmy and I start out in Frank's. He catches one about 3lbs on a rattle trap and I get a 2lb Senko fish. He then gets two more keepers. One about 2lbs the other just 12 inches. This was for 3+hrs of fishing We ran to the middle Delta. He is throwing a Senko and gets a limit of 2lbers. I still only have one fish. It is around 11am. Jimmy then spots a 3.5lb female bed fish. He makes a couple casts at her and then sees the small keeper male. Jimmy says I can catch the male. I throw in the area of the bed. From the back of the boat I couldn't see the bed or the fish. I feel a tick and set the hook. I then see the 3.5lb female shaking her head. I get her in the boat and boy do I feel bad. All I wanted was the keeper male. Jimmy says, "just win the boat and it will be worth you sticking my fish". He then finds another bed fish about 5lbs. He works her about 45 minutes but between the wind and the dirty water he can't see her let alone get her to go. I start throwing topwater again and get a 2lber. I then lose two more about the same size. Jimmy gets about ten more keepers on a Senko but none of them help him. He finally misses one and tells me to throw in where he just got bit. I pitch a dropshot where he told me and catch my fourth keeper. It goes about 13 inches. We then run back to Frank's and I get my 5th fish pitching. It is about 2lbs. We then go to an area Jimmy had some bed fish but the water is dirty. Jimmy starts blind casting. I don't want to stick any more of his bed fish so I put my rod down. We only have about 30 minutes left. Jimmy misses one bite. With about 5 minutes left I pick my rod up and make a pitch. I get bit and catch a 2lber. This lets me cull out the 13 incher I have. We weigh in and Jimmy has 11-12 and I have 12-09. We both make the cut.

Saturday Day Four: I end up in second place and paired with Gary Howell. The co-angler leader, Reese Randall, had 17lbs on day three so I was behind by 5lbs. Gary and I start out in the middle Delta both throwing rattle traps. I lose a short and he catches two keepers. I end up getting a 13 incher on a Senko. We fish hard for a couple hours in the same area. Gary then starts flipping. Gary goes to pick up his bait and gets bit and tries to set the hook with half his line in his hand. A 4+lber then jumps out of the water and spits his bait. Gary is not happy. We then pick up and move to his big fish area. Gary says he is not getting a lot of bites here but the ones he does get are big fish. We get there and start flipping. We both get shorts right away. Gary then gets bit but the fish bites the back of his plastic bait off. He makes a couple casts back into the spot but doesn't get bit. He then moves the boat forward and starts to fish on ahead. I throw into where he got bit. I see my line take off toward me and almost under the boat. I reel up the slack and set the hook. I see the flash and yell, "big fish!". Gary nets the big female and she goes 9-8. Now I'm pumped. Since I was 5lbs behind the leader this now gives me a four pound lead. I know I have a chance if Randall stumbles. I then catch 9 more keeper fish in the next hour. They all are two pound clones. I then catch a little keeper and see it has a F&G tag. It turns out to be worth 100 dollars. I tell Gary that the way things are going for me I better win this thing. Gary gets a limit and culls a couple times. We then head to weigh in.

We drove to Wal-Mart where they have the weigh in. They have you weigh in starting from 10th-1st. Since I ended up in second after the third day I weigh in just before Randall. They make you put you fish in black bags so only you and your fishing partner know what you caught. I couldn't believe how nervous I was. I had serious butterflies in my stomach. I weighed in and had just over 18lbs. One of my fish didn't make it so I was given an 8 ounce penalty. This made my day 4 weight 17-09. Randall weighed in another solid 16lb bag and beat me by about 3lbs.

I think Gary Klein said it best how second feels. The other bummer thing is that Randall is not a Ranger boat owner and I am. That means he did not win the Ranger contingency prize boat (certificate for a Ranger 519 & trailer no motor). The difference between 1st and 2nd to him is only 1,400 dollars. Since I own a Ranger boat and would have won the contingency prize the difference is about 12,000-15,000 dollars for me. Between the big fish and the F&G tag I think I used up all the luck I might have had. In my opinion it takes skill to be consistently in the top but you have to get lucky to win on the co-angler side.

Good luck to everyone fishing the Open at Clear lake. I hope to see some of you at the BASS Open at the Delta. Tight lines, Pat Wilson.