Klinger wins second Lake Mead title

LAS VEGAS, NV. --- Tim Klinger of Boulder City, NV, captured his second Lake Mead title on the WON BASS Miller High Life Tour with a booming 7.32-pound victory over the field of 248 anglers on Saturday and Sunday.

The 28-year-old Klinger led the first round with 14.56 pounds and boosted that to 15.48 pounds on Sunday. "I caught fish early both days, having limit by 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and 8:30 on Sunday. I caught my biggest bass on the fourth flip on Sunday, fishing in the Virgin River area with a 3/8-ounce brown jig with a brownish orange pork trailer," said Klinger. He caught another 4-pound-plus about 15 minutes later and coasted to the victory.

His total winnings for the weekend amounted to $42,450 including a $36,000 Ranger 518VX boat and trailer, Mercury Optimax 175 outboard, MotorGuide trolling motor and Lowrance electronics. His option cash winnings also included a $1,000 bonus for winning the event as the top Ranger boat owner in the standings, $1,500 on Sunday for the largest bass, 5.49 pounds, in the Miller High Life Daily Double, and $500 for the second largest bass, 4.53 pounds on Saturday.

Second place went to Roy Hawk of Salt Lake City, UT, with 22.72 pounds and a total of $8,990 in cash. Hawk caught his fish with Lucky Craft crank plugs and Big Boy jigs. He also picked up $1,500 for Saturday's big bass, 4.72 pounds. The second largest bass of Sunday was bagged by Bill Ponting of Murrieta, 4.79 pounds, to win $500.

Third and $4,800 in cash went to John Rose of Henderson, NV, with 21.31 pounds. Ron Williams of San Diego totaled 21.13 pounds to go home with $3,000.

In a tie for fifth place were two of the West's top name Pros, Mike Folkestad of Yorba Linda and Mike O'Shea of Thousand Oaks. Both had 19.99 pounds and pocketed $2,230. Another top Pro, John Murray of Phoenix, AZ, had 19.94 pounds to win $1,300 for 7th place, Jack Gadlage of Logandale, NV had 19.89 pounds for 8th and $1,200 and Dwayne Watson of Las Vegas scored 19.89 pounds for ninth and $1,100. Jim Gomez of Lemon Grove, CA had 19.68 pounds to round out the top ten and went home with $1,000.

The AAA division was won by Michael Hall of Las Vegas, receiving $1,500 for 23.19 pounds, while second place and $1,000 went to Ken Cates of LaQuinta. Ralph Wells of Castaic was the big winner, however, in third place with 22.07 pounds, but sweeping the options and totaling $3,300 in winnings, a WON BASS record for a non-tournament winning AAA angler.

Overall fishing at Lake Mead was tremendous as every angler caught fish both days. On Saturday there were 114 limits weighed in for the 124 boats. Lake Mead is not known for big fish, but there were 1,173 bass weighed with 98 per cent released. The fish averaged 1.69 pounds.