Saturday January 26th marked the season opener for the best bass tournaments circuit mother lode region. 75 teams showed up on an unusually warm morning. This became the mother lode regions largest field ever. The teams blasted off at 7:08 am and heading to locations all over the lake. The fish were biting anywhere from 1 ft to 70 ft deep and many limits were had. You could catch fish on many different baits ranging from drop shot, tubes, dart heads on up to jigs and swim baits. Bragging rights went to the first place team of Robert Mansor and Mike Gonzalves with 11.73 lbs. They won $3400 for first place and got first place in the big fish option with a nice 5.21 lb spotted bass. Robert said he caught the big fish in the last 20 minutes of the tournament throwing a pencil popper type bait similar to the Ima Big Stick across a main lake point. It took 9.13 lbs to get in the money. Congratulations to Robert and his teammate for the win. Kevin cheek and all his staff did a great job at the weigh in and get the field moving. If you are heading to McClure to fish now is a good time to try new types of baits. With this warming weather the fish should start moving shallow and start feeding up for the spawn. And remember as always.....Set The Hook!