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Hanan with the 11.76 and Thornsbury with the 10.39 lunkers
Hanan wins WON BASS New Melones tournament
By BILL RICE, WON BASS Editor
ANGELS CAMP, CA, March 26 The second North Region event of
the WON BASS Miller High Life Pro Tour was staged Saturday
and Sunday at New Melones Lake in the Mother Lode region of
the west Sierra foothills and produced surprisingly good results
for the Pro and AAA anglers ready to test the waters.
The weather dawned bright and clear for the opening day, but
overcast skies prevailed on Sunday. That didn't slow the anglers
any, however, as most of them boated limits each of the two
days and the season¹s biggest bass were caught.
In most tournaments the first days top two anglers don't hold
onto their lead, but it was different at Lake New Melones,
as Bill Hanan of Burney and James Thornsbury of Hanford opened
a big lead over the field with 20.40 and 18.71 pounds, respectively,
and added to their totals to remain at the top.
Hanan finished with a two-day total of 10 bass for 29.09 pounds
to claim the $35,000 top prize of a Ranger 518VX boat, Mercury
150 outboard, Lowrance Electronics and MotorGuide trolling
motor. He also took home another $2,250 in cash option money.
Thornsbury went home with a total of $5,000 cash for his catch,
while Stephen Lee of Battleground, WA made the long trip to
central California very worthwhile, winning $3,000 cash for
third place with 28.65 pounds. With a second day catch of
17.73 pounds after 10.88 pounds on Saturday he almost caught
the leaders.
Dave Rush of Palermo placed fourth and also had a great second
round catch with 16.85 pounds he jumped to 28.25 pounds and
won $4,000. Fifth place went to Kyle Rasmussen of Arnold with
27.73 pounds and winnings of $3,650.
Rounding out the top ten Pros in the final standings were:
Sixth, Robert Lee of Angels Camp, 25.38 pounds for $2,040;
7th, Chris Lienau of Clovis, 24.66 pounds for $1,250; 8th,
Ron Cervenka of Saugus, 24.01 for $1,500; 9th, Dennis Lee
of Angels Camp, 22.83 pounds for $900; and 10th, Ron Moore
of Fairfield, 22.41 for $800.
FIRST DAY RESULTS
On the opening round of the tournament, Bill Hanan set a high
mark for everyone to shoot at when he and AAA partner Jonathan
Zulik of Visalia checked in with a great total of 20.40 pounds,
including Hanan¹s largest bass ever, an 11.76 pounder
that hit a 4-inch plastic worm. Another double-digit bass
was weighed by Jim Thornsbury, who with AAA Mike McIntosh
of Coarsegold had five bass totaling 18.71 pounds for second
place. Those two teams led over their respective divisions
by a great margin as third
place was held down at 13.88 pounds by Pro Chris Lienau and
AAA Terry Stark, both of Clovis.
In fourth place were local favorite Robert Lee (last year's
North Angler of the Year) and Randy Trampush of Simi Valley
at 13.45 pounds. In fifth spot was Larry Brower of Cottonwood
at 12.21 pounds, along with AAA Lynn Williams of Rancho Cordova.
In the Miller High Life Daily Double Big Bass, Hanan won $1,500
cash for his lunker while Thornsbury collected $500 cash.
On the first day, two father/son combos were high in the Pro
standings, with Chris' father, Keith Lienau was in 12th place
and Robert Lee's father, Dennis, held down the 16th spot.
By the end of the tournament these pairs still fared well,
with Robert in sixth place and Dennis in ninth. Chris placed
seventh overall, while Keith ended up in 12th place.
For Saturday, 74 of the top 76 pairs had limits weighed in
as New Melones produced good fishing. The anglers weighed
in 402 bass for a 790.52-pound total with a 1.97-pounds per
fish average. Carter Fickes, running the BBAC release boat,
reported that 401 of the fish were released alive after the
weigh-in.
On the second round, Stephen Lee posted the day¹s best
catch with his 17.73 pounds, helped out by AAA Kyle Clement
of Anderson. Dave Rush had the second heaviest weight of the
day with 16.85 pounds, with AAA Ken Phillips of Antioch. Rush
also had the day¹s top fish, 8.12 pounds, to win the
Miller High Life Daily Double Big Bass $1,500 prize, while
Ron Cervenka of Saugus won $500 for his second place 7.15
pounder. Once again the overall catch was good on Sunday with
389 bass caught and released.
McINTOSH
TOP AAA
Mike McIntosh of Coarsegold won the AAA division with a total
of 28.88 pounds, as he was paired with Thornsbury on the first
round and picked up another 10.17 pounds with Dan Perkins
of Arnold on the second day.
The second place AAA was Jonathon Zulik with 27.87 pounds
and $700 in winnings. Third spot and $600 went to John Inwood
of Reno, NV, with 26.05 pounds. Fourth went to Rick Bruton
of Rocklin with a total of $950 including options for 24.91
pounds. In fifth place was Randy Trampush of Simi Valley with
$400 for 24.17 pounds.
Rounding out the top ten in the AAA standings were: Sixth,
Ben Willis of Lodi, $300 for 24.06 pounds; 7th, Ken Phillips
of Antioch, $300 for 23.16 pounds; 8th, Robert Shaw Jr. of
Oakley, $250 for 22.82 pounds; 9th, Tom Cilluffo of Napa,
$250 for 21.85 pounds; and 10th, Byron Sundberg of Susanville,
$250 for 21.80 pounds.
BONUS AWARDS
Stephen Lee was the highest finishing Ranger Boat owner and
thus earned the Ranger Cup Award for this event, a $500 cash
bonus.
In the special Lowrance awards program, which puts the top
five Lowrance users in a points system earning a trip for
two to Lake El Salto in Mexico, the top five in this tournament
included Bill Hanan, James Thornsbury, Stephen Lee, Chris
Lienau and Ron Cervenka.
The next tournament in the North will be at Clear Lake on
May 5-6, where fishing again is expected to be spectacular.
Last year's event about the same dates produced a WON BASS
winning record as Jim Reese of Ukiah weighed in 59.93 pounds
for 10 bass in the two days. Numerous 7 to 10 pound fish were
caught, plus the biggest fish of the year, 14.85 pounds, was
caught by Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande.
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