What an awesome day on Lake Nacimiento. Plenty of Sunshine, gentle breezes, and cordial stall made for very pleasant inaugural opening for Best Bass Tournaments' (BBT), new coastal division. 28 total teams participated in the derby, with 24 teams catching 5 bass limits and culling out a lot of spotted bass in the 1.5 pound range.

Mark Selbach & Ron Nagel of Bakersfield took top honors with a 13.19 pound sack. Mark secured their limit with a gorgeous 5.15 spot shown in the photo above with Ron Nagel, which he took in the Snake Arm of Nacimiento. Mark said they spent most of the day in Snake, and then finished out the day throwing jigs and plastics in several other creek arms. Mark and Ron were rewarded with a $1,455.00 payday for their hard work. But, judging by Mark's smile at the weigh in I think he was rewarded with a pretty healthy dose of adrenaline as well.

11.83 pounds is a great bag for Nacimiento, and with a 3.47 kicker spot, Jason Mcley & Ty McCutcheon, shown in photo 1 of Bakersfield flipped and fished deep with stick baits and jigs to secure the second place spot. Jason & Ty said the River was what worked for them. I caught up with these two at a Paso Robles local burger joint. They really only had one regret for the day, which was not getting into all the options.

Robert Duncan & Clark Poulsen, shown in photo 2 drove up from San Juan Bautista & San Martin to catch a limit of spots weighing in at 9.91 pounds. That was enough weight to receive the third place win and a little envelope stuffed with $225.00; however, their confidence is a little higher and "all in" might be in their future. They stayed on the main lake tossing wacky rigged stickbait type baits to secure their cash. Matthew Clark & Johnny Beasley had a 9.85 pound bag which netted them 4th place & $615.00. Lee Johnson fished without his partner Jarrad Johnson and hooked the 5th spot with 9.54, since Lee was in all the options he took home $460.00.

Local Paso Robles Residence Rudy Rowlett & Paul Gates didn't let all the prize money leave town. They secured the 6th spot with a 9.37 pound sack and took home $185.00 dollars for their effort. Ryan Spillers fished solo and got the 4th big fish spot which gave him $55.00 for his 2.85 pound fish. Ryan said he caught at least 30 fish and was culling before 10a.m.

The Big Boats may have more horsepower; but, there was plenty of enthusiasm with team members Jaimie Rawson & Jaime Gutierez. They caught their limit of fish throwing spider grubs and crank baits. They fished along chunk rock and docks in the south end of the lake.

We blasted of under clear skies at safe light and the last boat was well on their way to their "go to" spot at 0658 hours. The drive by weigh went smooth with all fish being released alive. The Monterey Parks staff were extremely friendly and welcomed us with hospitable service. Jim's pro Bass Shop in Paso Robles was designated the trophy sponsor due to their award donation of a "Comfort Troll." Which was actually won by a team member who needed it.

Our next event will be on March 3, 2012 at the South Shore of Lake San Antonio. The bite should be phenomenal. You might want to think about spooling a little bigger line. Don't forget to call ahead and get reservations at the lake and let them know you're with BBT. Remember you can always save yourself some time by registering for events on the BBT website. See you all in March.

For more information on the complete results of this tournament go to Best Bass Tournament Nacimiento Results