Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, Calif. won the Clear Lake Western FLW Series on Saturday after bringing a 14-06 stringer to the scale. Breazeale’s three-day total of 60-07 gave him the win by a 2-15 margin and earned him the top prize of $82,338, including a boat and motor package.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Breazeale said. “I live on the lake and have been fishing it for 40 years. I had to pull a few tricks out of my hat this week, but I had a phenomenal tournament and I really needed this win.”
Breazeale estimated that he caught around 100 keepers throughout the week, with the majority coming on Thursday and Friday and around 20 keepers on Saturday. He targeted docks and the thick tule shorelines on the south end of the lake with a margarita mutilator-colored Roboworm on a dropshot rig, a wacky-rigged watermelon and purple flake-colored Yamamoto Senko and a white Yamamoto Grub on a dart-head jig.
“About half of my fish came from the tules, half from the docks,” Breazeale said. “I was catching a couple of sight-fish as well – I caught two on each of the first two days and one on Saturday on the Senko.
“I really think that there were two keys to my win this week,” Breazeale went on to say. “First was my experience on the lake. I had to try some tricks – real light line. The 6-pound (Seaguar InvizX) fluorocarbon was key. Also, I was fishing the new Powell Endurance rods along with the Max 3D series and they were crucial to feeling those light bites and keeping them buttoned up.”
Here are the final totals for the top 10:
1. Wayne Brezeale: 60-07
2. Nick Nourot: 57-08
3. Joe Uribe Jr.: 56-08
4. Richard Dobyns: 51-14
5. Benjamin Byrd: 51-14
6. Scott MacKenzie: 51-00
7. Vince Hurtado: 49-03
8. Matt Dal Porto: 45-12
9. Paul Bailey: 45-02
10. Stephen Tosh Jr.: 43-02
