Lake Mead press release

HENDERSON, NV. (April 9, 2001) It was wintertime again at Lake Mead last Saturday as the temperature dropped into the 40s and winds to over 50 mph forced WON BASS to cancel the first round of the Miller High Life Lake Mead Invitational.

When the field of 310 anglers got on the water Sunday, the weather was magnificent, with light winds early and almost no wind after noon. Some impressive fishing resulted with one of the tournament veterans walking away with his first major tournament win.

Dave Nollar of Redlands, who has been tournament fishing since the early days of Western Bass in the early 1970's, topped the field with a weight of 16.72 pounds for 5 bass, thanks in part to AAA John Virant of Camarillo, who boated the tournament'¹s largest bass at 6.15 pounds.

"Dave took me to the spot and I just got a couple of casts into the right spot,"said Virant. That was all right with Nollar, as Pro and AAA anglers share whatever weight they catch, so both won their respective divisions.

"It's best a long time coming, I hope you guys don't have to wait this long to win one," said Nollar at the awards ceremonies. The retired high school vice principal also had retired from tournament fishing during the 1990s but came back with a vengeance last year and finished among the top six in the WON BASS Daiwa Cup finals.

They reported catching many fish Sunday in the Overton area of the Virgin Basin on Lake Mead, with the larger fish coming on spinnerbaits. The slow sinking Senko worm also accounted for many fish, said Nollar.

First place at all WON BASS Miller High Life Tour Invitationals is a $35,000 package of a Ranger 518VX boat and trailer, Mercury outboard, Lowrance X-65 and X-49 fish finders, MotorGuide 767 trolling motor and Exide Stowaway batteries, so Nollar took home that prize while AAA Virant pocketed $1,500 for AAA first place plus $1,500 in the Miller High Life Daily Double Big Bass Award. The second largest bass, 5.69 pounds, earned $500 for Pro Tom
Phillips of Corona.

Nollar also became the first WON BASS angler to win a tournament as a Ranger Cup angler, which became effective in March. Ranger boat anglers are eligible to register for the Ranger Cup and if they win a sanctioned tournament they get a $1,000 bonus, or a bonus of $500 if they are the highest non-winner in a Ranger during the tournament.

Gregg Warne of Mesa, AZ, bidding for his second Lake Mead victory (he won in 1990), settled for second spot with 16.49 pounds and winnings of $7,500, while his AAA partner Jason Marquez of Lake Havasu City, AZ, won $1,000. They used ProLine double willow leaf spinnerbaits and fished close to Callville Bay for their fish. Coupled with $5,000 in blackjack winnings on Saturday when the tournament was delayed, Warne had quite a big weekend.

In third place were Charlie Davidson of Temecula and Pat Donoho Jr. of Las Vegas with 14.66 pounds. Charlie won $5,250 while Pat went home with $900. They caught 8 fish and culled down to their 5-bass weight.

Byron Velvick of Boulder City, NV, and AAA James Hundley of Temecula had 14.37 pounds for fourth place. Hundley won $800, but Velvick, a two-time U.S. OPEN winner, was a huge winner in the option pools and his winnings totaled a whopping $7,950. He also is the current leader in the South Region's Daiwa Cup race after two events.