By BILL RICE
WON BASS Editor

KELSEYVILLE, CA Greg Gutierrez of Red Bluff topped the field at Clear Lake over the weekend (May 5-6) as the WON BASS Miller High Life Tour was staged out of Konocti Harbor Resort.

The fishing was spectacular for the 224 anglers with 5 to 8 pound fish common and a pair of 11 pounders were featured. Gutierrez had one of those, at 11.05 pounds, as he led the first round and ended up the two-day tournament with an astounding total of 51.95 pounds for 10 bass to take the $35,000 top prize.

"I had two great partners in Owen Nolan and Charles Huffman and they let me do sight fishing both days. It's really tough on the partner in this kind of fishing as you often have to sneak up on the bass and the back seater doesn't really get a shot at the fish," said Gutierrez, a captain with the California Dept. of Forestry.

Second place went to local pro Mark Crutcher of Upper Lake, who had 50.93 pounds to win $5,750. Another local pro, Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville also finished over the 50-pound mark with 50.37 pounds. He won $4,500. Breazeale also was the highest finishing Ranger Boat owner and received a $500 bonus in the Ranger Cup program.

The second day's biggest stringer was a whopping 30.01 posted by Dave Rush of Palmermo and Roger Diaz of Salinas. The largest bass of the day, at 9.11 pounds, earned $1,500 in the Miller High Life Daily Double for Kelly Puppo of Garden Grove. Dusty Kahler of Atascadero earned $500 for an 8.75 pounder.

In the AAA division, Owen Nolan, a pro hockey star with the San Jose Sharks, placed first with 53.96 pounds, with two great draws. He got the first day weight of 28.95 pounds with Gutierrez and his second day partner, Tim Turner of Kerman, gave him another 25.01 pounds. The tournament anglers accounted for 970 bass in the two days, totaling 3,423 pounds for an incredible average of 3.53 pounds.

FIRST DAY
Clear Lake demonstrated its capabilities on the first round as the anglers weighed 477 bass averaging 3.53 pounds per bass with two in the 11-pound range. Greg Gutierrez led the first round with 28.95 pounds, including the day's second largest bass at 11.05 pounds. Owen Nolan was his AAA partner.

In second place was Wayne Breazeale with AAA Mrs. Shelly Gentry of Oakdale. They had 28.93 pounds and Shelly did her part with a pair of 5 1/2 pounders. Amazingly, two other 28-pound weights were posted. Jay Tidmore and AAA Rick Bruton had 28.56 pounds, including Tidmore's big fish of the day at 11.48 pounds. Michael Augusto of Granite Bay and AAA Byron Sundberg of Susanville
had 28.48 pounds. Two other pairings had 27-pound stringers. Mark Crutcher of Upper Lake and AAA Nick Welton of Galt scored with 27.42 pounds while Jeff Huth of Madera and AAA Matt Hiser of Citrus Heights had 27.17 pounds.

In all, it was one of the best rounds ever posted in a WON BASS tournament as there were 23 pairings with limits weighing over 20 pounds! Tidmore took home $1,500 for his big fish catch in the Miller High Life Daily Double, while Gutierrez got $500 for his lunker. Huth was tops in the option pool and won $700 for his total weight. The AAA's top stringer in the option was taken by Bruton, earning him $750.