County anglers win New Jen tourney

Amodeo, Crutcher average better than 6 pounds per fish

KONOCTI HARBOR >> Lake County fishermen Brad Amodeo and Mark Crutcher topped a 78-team field Saturday to win the New Jen team bass tournament based out of the Konocti Harbor Resort.

Amodeo and Crutcher brought a five-fish limit of 32.86 pounds to the weigh scale, an incredible average of more than 6.5 pounds per fish, to take home the top prize of $5,410. Two of their fish weighed in excess of 8 pounds, the heaviest tipping the scales at 8.47 pounds.

While the winter bass bite has tightened up for many fishermen on Clear Lake, the results of the New Jen tourney show plenty of fish are out there if you know where to look. In fact, the tournament’s average fish weight was an incredible 3.99 pounds, while the average team weight was 15.66 pounds.

J.P. Gano and Jody Jordan were a little more than 3 pounds behind the winning Amodeo-Crutcher team at 29.15, including the tournament’s big fish of 11.03 pounds. They won $4,390.

Third place with 27.19 pounds went to Paul Bailey and John Zeolla for a $1,490 payday.

Rounding out the top five teams were Joe Mariani and Luke Lipanovich in fourth place with 27.03 pounds ($625), and Dan Shelton and Cris Freeman in fifth place with 25.63 pounds ($795).

Other top teams were Charlie Fales Jr. and Don Johnson, sixth place with 25.00 pounds ($400); Doug Bender and Tony Mello, seventh place with 24.49 pounds ($325); Tom Shimabukuro and Don Sweat, eighth place with 24.44 pounds ($300); Jared Stone and Marc Brown, ninth place with 23.50 pounds ($275); and Brendon Sapp and Franklin Velardi, 10th place with 23.21 pounds ($250).

Also finishing in the money were Larry Vignolo and Mike Saso, 11th place with 23.08 pounds ($240); Andrew Loberg and Carson Leber, 12th place with 22.69 pounds ($230); Carl Keller and Jeff Billings, 13th place with 21.85 pounds ($220); Clara Ricabal and Alex Niapas, 14th place with 21.54 pounds ($210); and Austin Barker and Albana Tolaj, 15th place with 21.44 pounds ($200).

Participating teams also receive New Jen points for the Northern Region. Gano and Jordan are the

Northern Region leaders through one event this year with 203 points. They

are followed by CrutcherAmodeo with 200 and Bailey-Zeolla with 196.

Complete tournament results and Northern Region point standings are available on New Jen’s Facebook page.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW JEN Lake County fishermen Brad Amodeo (left) and Mark Crutcher won the New Jen team bass tournament held Saturday on Clear Lake.

COURTESY PHOTO Lake County fishermen Brad Amodeo (left) and Mark Crutcher hold up four of the five fish they caught Saturday to win the New Jen team bass tournament on Clear Lake. Their biggest fish was 8.47 pounds.