Steve Klein wins third WON BASS title at Clear Lake

KELSEYVILLE, CA; Steve Klein of Oroville, CA, captured his third WON BASS Miller High Life championship on Sunday at one of the nation's best big bass waters, Clear Lake in Northern California.

During the two-day tournament, the anglers weighed in 1,000 fish (989 released alive) for a whopping weight of 3,687.63 pounds, an incredible 3.69-pound average.

Klein led the field after the first round with a whopping 30.80 pounds for 5 bass on Saturday, then backed it up with 24.67 pounds on Sunday to win the event in a field of 258 anglers. His 55.47 pounds gave him a 2.77-pound victory over Byron Velvick of Boulder City, NV, who finished with 52.70 pounds.

Klein took home the top prize of a $36,000 package of a Ranger 518VX boat and trailer, Mercury OptiMax outboard, Lowrance X-51 and X-71 fish finders and MotorGuide 767 trolling motor. Including cash option winnings, Klein totaled $38,200 in winnings.

Velvick not only finished second in the tournament had the largest bass each of the contest, getting $1,500 each in the Miller High Life Daily Double. He also won more option pool money and totaled $11,750 in cash winnings. He had a 9.53-pound on Saturday and a 9.49 pounder on Sunday.

Young Casey Iwai of Laveen, AZ, claimed his highest finish with third place, winning $5,000 cash for 51.84 pounds. Ira Eads of Copperopolis, CA, place fourth to win $3,200 cash with 47.61 pounds. Dave Nollar of Redlands placed fifth with 46.35 pounds. With options and being the highest Ranger boat driver in the contest he received a $500 bonus in the Ranger Cup race. His winnings totaled $3,690 in cash.

In the AAA Divison, Bill Leitelt of San Jose went home with $3,900 cash winnings including options. He compiled a shared-weight total of 51.64 pounds in the amateur division, while getting 23.40 pounds with Mike Tuck of Santa Rosa on Saturday and 28.24 pounds with Casey Iwai on Sunday.

The next tournament for the WON BASS Miller High Life Tour will be at Lake Mead on May 18-19. This will be third tournament in the South Region. The fourth and final tournament in the North will be at Lake Don Pedro on June 8-9, while the fourth South event will be Oct. 5-6 at Lake Havasu.