BY MIKE STEVENS
LAKEPORT— After sitting well within striking distance in second place for the first two days of the WON BASS Winter Open at Clear Lake, Garrett Ellenson of Nine Mile Falls, Washington made his move on Day 3 and emerged as the champion. For his efforts, he grabbed a new Ranger Z518 powered by a 150-horsepower Mercury ProXS outboard. Taking the $55,000 value of the Ranger/Mercury prize rig, $3,000 for the win and another $500 for the Big Bass on the pro side on Day 3.
Ellenson grabbed the 2-spot on Day 1 after weighing in five Clear Lake bass for 32.08 pounds – just over 2 pounds behind Day 1 leader, Mark Cobey – and he remained locked in to second place with 33.76 pounds after the second day of competition. Going into the final day of fishing, Ellenson trailed new leader Vance Hayes by less than 2 pounds, but by the time he made his way to the weigh-in stage, it was Phillip Makin who had just leapfrogged Joe Uribe Jr. and in the first-place hot seat. Ellenson needed 26.55 pounds to bump off Makin and claim the championship trophy, and he did so with room to spare with a 32.53-pound bag bringing his 3-day total to 98.37 pounds.
While the day-to-day weigh-in totals for Ellenson scream consistency, he indicated to Western Outdoor News that each day was different from the last. One thing that did remain consistent throughout the event was his go-to bait.
“I found a couple areas I thought were pretty good, and I was trying to get on them at a certain time, but (on Day 1) I just found a nice, sunny, calm bay and ended up getting 5 out of there. I think I had 27 pounds with those 5,” said Ellenson.
He said he had nine bites each on Day 1 and 2, and he likened his approach on those two days as “prefishing for Day 3” which he said turned out to be the toughest day of the tournament.
“On the first two days, I was just checking different areas at different times, and on the last day, things kind of changed at those spots so I went to different areas again,” said Ellenson. “I just kept changing to keep the consistency going. I knew to win the event, I was going to need something over 8 (on the last day), and my first fish was that 8.98, so I knew I had a chance.”
This was only the second time Ellenson fished competitively at Clear Lake, the first time being last year’s WON BASS Clear Lake Open in spring, and it was his first time ever fishing it in winter. As for the bait arsenal he deployed, that was one thing that stayed the same from wire-to-wire. Ellenson said he used 6-inch Z-Man JerkShadz on a 3/16-ounce ballhead the entire time.
There was a good amount of movement on the hot seat as the final flight of anglers weighed in, and the lead swapped several times. Mason McAbee was on top after weighing in the biggest bag of the tournament (37.73 pounds), but he fell victim to Joe Uribe Jr. borderline heroic comeback attempt. Uribe needed 27.76 to take the lead, and he did so with authority with a 37.08-pound limit.
“I dug myself in a hole on Day 1, and I feel truly blessed to have had back-to-back phenomenal days,” said Uribe Jr. on stage.
Uribe Jr. finished Day 1 in 26th place after only weighing in 14.63 pounds, but he bounced back on Day 2 and shot up to 7th with a monster 36.79-pound bag only to do even better in the final day. He said it he got an 8 pounder on his first cast, but it was a grind after that, highlighted by a 9.71-pound kicker.
Uribe’s 88.5-pound total held the lead until Phillip Makin exceeded the 27.05 pounds he needed to move into first. After that, Ellenson was the final pro to weigh in and he needed 26.55 pounds to win it all. An 8.98 pounder helped push that limit to 32.53 pounds, and the rest is WON BASS Clear Lake history.
For complete standings, visit – https://wonbassevents.com/pages/lake-mead-open-pairings-and-results
The 2026 WON BASS Winter Open at Clear Lake is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Stealth Lithium Batteries, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick Rods, Anderson Toyota, Okuma, A&M Graphics, Reese Fishing, Anglers Marine, Signature Gate Systems, DD26 Fishing, Loco’s Cantina, Gone Fishing Marine and G-Ratt.
DAY 2: Hayes improves on solid first-day to take over the lead
LAKEPORT— A 36.24-pound bag propelled Chico pro Vance Hayes to the top of the leaderboard on Day 2 of the WON BASS Winter Open at Clear Lake. He improved on a solid Day 1 which put him in fourth, while Day 1 leader Mark Cobey fell to third after bringing 28.3 pounds of Clear Lake bass to the weigh-in stage on the second of three days of fishing.
“It was better today than yesterday, but every time I hooked up it surprised me,” Hayes told Western Outdoor News. “Yesterday I didn’t catch a fish until 12:30, but today I had 30 pounds by 9:30. A lot less nerves today, and I actually got to cull a few times. Yesterday I did not catch more than a limit.”
Today’s haul was highlighted by a 9.83 pounder, which stood as the second-largest Clear Lake bass landed on Day 2.
“I’ve caught a lot of 9 pounders out of Clear Lake, and I thought it was my first 10 out of this lake, but I was just as happy,” said Hayes. “It was a long fight.”
While he didn’t have many bites and was slow out of the gates on Day 1, Hayes still brought a 30.97-pound bag to scale. Still, piling up a nice limit early and spending the rest of the day improving on it had to be a good feeling.
As for his approach, he told WON “it’s about finding the right amount of bait, the right type of bait and finding it at the right depth. It all depends on where the bait is: up on the bank, out in the middle or right in the sweet spot.”
Hayes said he has one of the oldest boats in the tournament, a 19 footer that “doesn’t handle the waves that well” so he was not able to fish his spots until later in the day on Day 1, but on the second day of the event, he was able to hit those zones all day. He’s in a great spot going into the final day, but he’s well aware of how quickly things can change on Clear Lake.
“I’m just looking for five bites,” said Hayes. “I know how this lake can be, and everything can switch in 24 hours, so I’ll go for give bites and see where I can go from there.”
Hayes has less than a 2-pound lead on Garrett Ellenson, less than 5 pounds ahead of Cobey who’s sitting in third followed by Nathan Phillps and Kyle Grover locking down the top 5. Hayes was fishing with Tom White Sr. on Day 2, and the duo’s big second-day push put White in first place on the AAA side with 54.76 pounds over the first two days.
Former Clear Lake champion, Joe Uribe Jr. made a big move after a sluggish Day 1 in which he only put up 14.63 pounds and was sitting in 26th. Uribe Jr. responded by weighing in the heaviest limit of the day (36.79 pounds) which shot him up to 7th going into Day 3. An 8.22-pound Clear Lake bucketmouth certainly didn’t hurt Uribe’s comeback bid.
The daily livestream of the weigh-ins aired on the WON Bass Facebook page, located at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments
Day 1: Cobey cracks the Clear Lake code
LAKEPORT – Mother Nature provided the chill for the inaugural WON BASS Winter Open at Clear Lake but despite daytime temps that maybe peaked at around 50 degrees, skies were clear, the breeze was manageable after early-morning winds tapered off, and the field enjoyed very fishable conditions.
The Day 1 weigh-in was highlighted by four 30-plus pound bags (and a couple that just missed at 29.65 and 29.39) and a total of 15 over 20 pounds, and when the book was closed on the first weigh-in Woodland, Calif. pro Mark Cobey stood atop the leaderboard with two days of fishing to go.
Cobey teamed up with AAA Jake Etcheverry of Hughson, Calif. on Day 1, and the duo combined for 34.40 pounds. That Day 1 limit was anchored by a 7.97-pound largemouth boated by Cobey which, as a testament to the Clear Lake quality hitting the WON BASS scale, ranked 8th among big bass logged on the Pro side.
“I wanted cold more than rain so the fish would bunch up, and it just happened to work out and I hit the right ones that were ready to bite,” Cobey told Western Outdoor News. “I kind of pieced it together throughout the day and had that bag by around 2 after catching a 6 pounder.”
Cobey indicated that he started to put his Day 1 pattern together toward the end of his practice period.
“All I can really say is that it’s been deeper and I’m fishing current,” he said. “I know a lot of guys at Clear Lake don’t fish current, but because it has so much water, it pulls a lot of water to the south and there are current breaks all over the lake. They’re really subtle, and the fish seem to really grab on to those breaks. That’s where most of the schools were.”
Naturally, his co-angler, Etcheverry, also sits atop the AAA leaderboard after Day 1.
“The vibes were electric,” Cobey said of his Day 1 draw. “He was on top of it. Quick net, super fast, seriously awesome and a lot of fun to fish with. He caught a couple fish that weren’t keepers, but he grinded with me all day. That’s all I can ask for. He was just as into it as I was, and that was awesome.”
Day 2 is forecasted to be a little warmer and less breezy after overnight lows flirt with freezing, and Cobey told WON he’s not locked into any particular area on Clear Lake as the fish he’s targeting are on the move.
“I think I’m just going to fish,” he said. “I don’t think it’s one area, and that’s the crazy part, it’s not one spot. These fish are just moving around a lot. I kind of have a couple schools to work and I’m hoping I can get the same fish to do it again. It really does feel like it’s luck that those fish are willing to engage.”
Cobey passed Garrett Ellenson on the pro side who finished second with 32.08 pounds. Third went to Phillip Makin (31.67) followed by Vance Hayes (30.97) and Nathan Phillips (29.65) to round out the top five. Sixth went to local favorite John Pearl who weighed in five bass for 29.39 pounds, thanks in part to a 9.63-pound kicker that stood as the overall Big Bass for Day 1. Reigning Angler-of-the-Year Kyle Grover finished right behind Pearl in seventh place with a 26.06-pound bag.
The Big Bass list featured three bass over 9 pounds, including Fisher Perkins’ 9.35, Nick Supalo’s 9.24 pounder along with Pearl’s fish. Next on the list were four over 8 pounds and five over 7.
The 2026 WON BASS Winter Open at Clear Lake is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Stealth Lithium Batteries, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick Rods, Anderson Toyota, Okuma, A&M Graphics, Reese Fishing, Anglers Marine, Signature Gate Systems, DD26 Fishing, Loco’s Cantina, Gone Fishing Marine and G-Ratt.
The daily livestream of the weigh-ins aired on the WON Bass Facebook page, located at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments
The top 10 in each division are posted below: for complete standings, click HERE
The 2026 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada will culminate with the WON BASS U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October.
Each of the pros and AAA anglers who finish in the top five in these events earn a Golden Ticket berth into the 2027 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Championship and a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.
The five event dates are as follows:
Jan. 8-10 – Winter Open at Clear Lake
Feb. 19-21– Lake Shasta Open
April 16-18 –Clear Lake Open
May 7-9 – Lake Havasu Open
Oct. 5-7 – U.S. Open at Lake Mohave
For more information, visit WONBASSEvents.com