Finwall wins at Lake Oroville; record field turns out
By BILL RICE
WON Bass Editor
OROVILLE; Don Finwall, who started bass tournament fishing when they were first inaugurated in the early 1970s got his first major tournament victory last Sunday at Lake Oroville, topping a record Northern California field of 304 anglers in 152 boats.

The tournament was hosted by the Oroville Chamber of Commerce, Gold Country Casino and the Best Value Inn, with anglers from California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon and Washington competing for the prizes.

Finwall, a 67-year-old retired electrician who moved to Redding from Southern California in 1991, made a statement for the "veteran" of tournament fishing with the win at the first WON Bass Miller High Life tournament of 2002. Fishing was good for most of the contestants although the fish were mostly small had the largest bass of the tournament, 4.57 pounds, giving him a 0.04-pound
victory over Mike Hanson of Oroville, one of the slimmest wins in WON Bass history.

Finwall had 20.07 pounds and Hanson had 20.03 pounds. Finwall went home with the top prize of a Ranger 518VX, Mercury 175 Optimax, Lowrance electronics, MotorGuide trolling motor and Exide Stowaway batteries. He also won cash so totaled $37,500 in winnings.

"I caught my fish on Gitzits and 4-inch plastic worms fished in both the North and Middle forks of the lake," said Finwall. "The bigger fish came in the cuts back in the coves, where there was a trickle of water running in."

Hansen collected a total of $10,125 cash, saying, "We caught our fish in 25-35 feet of water in the North and Middle forks, tossing a brown on brown jig and trailer. Saturday I had a limit by 9:30 a.m. but on Sunday I didn't have a fish until 10:30 a.m."

Third place and $6,520 went to perennial Oroville winner Gary Dobyns of Yuba City, who had 19.58 pounds. "I fished the South Fork and caught fish on a variety of lures, including ripping a Lucky Craft Staycee Minnow and fishing deeper with jigs or Magic Worms. We caught fish from 5 to 60 feet deep."

Fourth place went to Spokane, Washington angler Luke Clausen, who weighed in 18.62 pounds and made the long trip home with $5,605 in his pocket.

In the AAA division, the champion was Frank Prevost of Antioch with 19.47 pounds and $1,500 in cash. Second and $2,725 richer was Roger Diaz of Salinas with 19.09 pounds. Third place and $900 was pocketed by Mark Schroeder of Red Bluff.

The anglers weighed in 1,397 bass during the two-day tournament and it was a 100 percent live release. The fish averaged 1.51 pounds.

The next tournament in the North Region will be held at the California Delta on April 13-14, but the next WON Bass tournament will kick off the South Region at Lake Pleasant at Peoria, Arizona, north of Phoenix, on Feb. 23-24.