Gross finishes on top of AAA leaderboard
BY DAN O’SULLIVAN
LAKEPORT— Records have fallen at Clear Lake.
John Pearl from Upper Lake, Calif., one of the most well-known guides on Clear Lake and one of the most dangerous competitive anglers in the region has claimed victory in the 2025 WON Bass Clear Lake Open presented by Ranger Boats and Mercury, with a WON BASS record 102.81 pounds for a 3-day weight. Pearl took over the lead on Day 2 of the event with a total weight of 67.31 pounds and added 35.50 pounds on the final day.
In winning, Pearl claims the champion’s prize that includes $17,000 cash, and the keys to the 2025 Ranger Boats Z518 with Mercury 150 ProXS outboard prize boat presented by Bass Pro Shops with Power-Pole Charge and Volta Power Lithium Power Batteries, a package valued at $55,000 – a total purse of more than $72,000.
testament to how hot the fishing was on Clear Lake during the Clear Lake Open
Micah Jones piles up 38.34 pounds to lead Day 1
As the 2025 WON Bass California Open presented by Ranger and Mercury approached, conditions appeared favorable for the fishing to be decent. Water temperatures were in the mid 50’s, and despite some rains, the water clarity was largely good, and the fish seemed to be moving nicely into their prespawn phase. Little did we know that historic weights were on the horizon.
By the end of the first day of competition, the field of 176 pros and their AAA partners would produce limits pushing 40 pounds, and not only that, 66 weights above 20 pounds would come to the scales. Pro angler Micah Jones, from Kingman, Ariz. and his AAA partner Greg Salle from Discovery Bay, Calif. would grab the day one lead with 38.34 pounds. Their limit would include a 12.93-pound Clear Lake behemoth that would claim the big fish of the day prize.
Jones said he had the kind of day he couldn’t have even dreamt of having. “I had a good practice period and thought I might be able to catch around 30 pounds, but I never expected this kind of weight,” he said. “I got started off quickly when about 30 minutes into the day I caught the big fish. I thought it was a catfish at first until I started fighting it, and then I saw it; it was amazing.”
Jones said he spent most of his day fishing one area, but he didn’t fish the whole day, he fished not quite half of the day and spent the rest of the day scouting nearby. “I had found that school of fish and wanted to make sure I didn’t pressure it too much, so I laid off it a bit. I caught 10 fish out of it, but it seemed like more fish were coming in as the day went on, so I feel pretty good about what could happen the next two days.”
Following them in second place was pro, Alex Niapas from Altaville, Calif. and his AAA partner Cheng Xiong of Oroville, Calif. claimed second place for the day with 36.42 pounds.
While the leader focused on one general area, Niapas said he ran around the north end of the lake and caught fish on three different lures. “My strategy has been to move around and find fish that are feeding,” said Niapas. “I caught around 30 keepers today and culled for the last time with about five minutes until I had to check in. I really feel like I have a solid pattern and could really make a run at the win; I just have to execute.”
Upper Lake, Calif pro John Pearl and AAA Zac Ortiz of Kaysville, Utah placed third with 35.44 pounds. They were followed in fourth place by pro Nathan Phillips of Cobb, Calif. and his AAA partner Tim Skellett of Apache Junction, Ariz. with 35.37 pounds, and Bakersfield, Calif. pro Mason McAbee and Kingman, Ariz. AAA John Bitting rounded out the top five with 33.04 pounds.
These anglers and the rest of the 176-man pro field were battling for the champion’s prize that includes cash, and the keys to the 2025 Ranger Boats Z518 with Mercury 150 ProXS outboard prize boat presented by Bass Pro Shops with Power-Pole Charge and Volta Power Lithium Power Batteries, a package valued at $55,000
Anthony Hunt with four good ones.
Pearl Takes over Day 2 lead, Day 1 leader slips to third
John Pearl is known as one of the top anglers on Clear Lake. After nearly a dozen years guiding and competing on the famed Northern California bass factory and too many tournament victories to count, Pearl knows how to adjust and put himself in position.
Pearl started the event in the northern end of the lake and when he only had one small fish in the first hour, made a run to the south end and had 30 pounds in his livewell within 30 minutes under bluebird conditions. When those conditions turned to cloudy and breezy on day two, Pearl made adjustments once again.
The result was his second consecutive “Dirty 30” limit of 31.87 pounds to go with his 35.44 from day one to bring his two-day total to 67.31 pounds, leading second place pro Nathan Phillips by just over two pounds.
Phillips followed his 35.37-pound day one with 29.75 pounds to bring his total to 65.12 pounds heading into the final round. In third place was day one leader Micah Jones, who managed to bring 23.75 pounds on day two, when added to his 38.34-pound limit of day one, totaling 62.12 pounds.
Mason McAbee placed fourth after the second day of competition, after his 33.06-pound performance on the first day, added 28.85 pounds to bring his total to 61.91 pounds, and pro Joe Price posted 31.84 pounds today to go with his 27.79 pounds from day one to round out the top five with 59.63 pounds.
Pearl reported having to make adjustments both days but being able to stay within his basic approach. “I am fishing for deeper, early prespawn fish but they are chasing the bait pretty heavily, so I’m having to move,” he said. “Once I am able to reconnect with the schools I’ve found, I am able to get them to eat fairly quickly – in fact I’ve had a 30-pound limit within 30 minutes of finding them both days.”
The veteran pro said he feels optimistic about his chances but knows the lake is changing. “It’s really a day-to-day thing right now, and it all depends on baitfish movement for me,” he said. “The overnight temperatures cause the bait to move, and it may take me a while to reconnect with the schools, but I feel confident that I will be able to do that tomorrow and have a shot at this thing.”
Phillips is fishing in the deeper sections of the lake but is fishing mid depth ranges looking for fish that have committed to the move to spawn. “I’m finesse fishing because these fish have seen some pressure, and it’s getting tougher,” he said. “I was able to get 8 to 10 quality bites yesterday and only five today, so I’m definitely having to grind for them.”
Jones said he fell to fishing pressure himself on day two. “I had my area all to myself on Day 1, but had quite a bit of company today,” he said. “There was a lot of interference on my screes from competing boats today, and I know it had an impact on the fish; I just hope I can make it all work tomorrow.”
Pearl Claims 2025 WON Bass Clear Lake Open with 3-day record 102.81 pounds. Phillips grabs second with 101.33
From the stage in the moments after his victory, Pearl explained that he was full of emotion at having won the biggest event he could imagine on the lake. “I’m absolutely excited about this,” he said. “Today was a long, stressful day. I had 34 pounds in the livewell at about 3:00 and I told my AAA (Sherwin Williams) that we needed one more 7 pounder; I caught a 6.85 moments later and culled up to this final weight – then I just took a slow ride to Library Park to protect my fish.”
Pearl reported catching his fish in the 25- to 30-foot depth range in the mid-lake area around Konocti using his Forward Facing Sonar to locate the bait balls that the late winter / early prespawn fish were foraging on. He caught them using a Bass Union Jighead with two different Sakamata Shads, Golden Shiner and Reservoir Shad.
Most of his fish came deep, except for his two biggest on the final two days. “I caught my biggest one today blind casting the Sakamata Shad under a dock, and my biggest yesterday came on a GCJ Customs 13-inch glide bait” he said. “Those fish were crucial to my finish obviously, but I caught most of them on my deep stuff. I am thrilled to be standing here in front of my wife, family and friends with this trophy.”
Pearl’s main gear was a 6’10” Douglas Outdoors X Matrix 6103XF spinning rod matched with a 2500 size Shimano Sustain spinning reel filled with white 10-pound-test Power Pro Super Slick 8 braid and matching 8-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon as the leader.
No stranger to the podium, Cobb, Calif. pro Nathan Phillips – who won the 2023 WON Bass Clear Lake Open, finished the event in second place with 101.33 pounds. Phillips started the day in second place with 65.12 pounds, then added a 36.21-pound limit to close out his Century Club finish. He earned $13,400 for his efforts.
Phillips attacked long stretches of docks in the Rattlesnake arm casting to fish that were sunning in preparation for the spawn on day one. However, on the final two days, when the cloud cover and wind made that difficult, he used a similar approach to Pearl, targeting deeper fish on bait balls. “I was fishing the Highway 20 side around Kona Tayee for suspended fish in 8 to 15 feet of water,” he said. “I threw a variety of jigheads in different sizes with a 5-inch Z-Man Jerk Shad in the Electric Shad color.”
He tossed his offerings on Dobyns Champion XB 703 and 732 spinning rods matched with Shimano Stradic 2500 XH reels spooled with 10-pound-test Flash Green Seaguar Smackdown braid bonded to 8-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu as the leader material.
Mason McAbee from Bakersfield, Calif. finished third for the event with a three-day total of 93.57 pounds, claiming $11,400. He was followed in fourth place by Micah Jones of Kingman, Ariz. – the day-one leader with a total weight of 93.08 pounds, taking home $10,000 and Luke Lipanovich of Napa, Calif. rounded out the top five with a final weight of 83.73 pounds worth a $9,000 payday.
Kevin Gross claimed victory in the AAA Division, the Redding, Calif. angler weighed 86.56 pounds for the event and took home the AAA Champion’s prize of $6,800. Second place AAA went to Zac Ortiz from Kaysville, Utah with 82.07 pounds, claiming $5,500. Tim Skellett of Apache Junction, Ariz. finished the event in third place in the AAA Division with 79.92 pounds, earning $4,500. Todd Tobiasson of Las Vegas, Nev. finished fourth in the AAA field with 79.06 pounds collecting $3,800 and Dennis Saiki from Torrance, Calif. rounded out the top five finishers with 78.75 pounds, worth $2,000.
For complete standings go to: https://wonbassevents.com/pages/clear-lake-2024-pairings-results.
The 2025 WON Bass California Open at Clear Lake is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Volta Power Lithium, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick Rods, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine, Signature Gates, DD26 Fishing, Bad Ass Bearings, Cipher Fishing, Megaware Keelguard and G-Ratt.
Local presenting sponsors are the City of Lakeport and Clearlake Outdoors.
The 2025 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events Consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada, will culminate with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October. The five event dates are as follows:
Feb. 5 to 7, 2025 – Lake Shasta – Champion Joe Uribe
April 9 to 11, 2025 – Clear Lake
May 7 to 9, 2025 – Lake Havasu
Sept. 10 to 12, 2025 – Lake Mead
Oct. 6 to 8, 2025 – U.S. Open at Lake Mohave
