The winner? He did okay. He already owned a boat dealership and could probably sleep in his own bed en route to a nice win. But many did not–or could not.

Everybody sort of knew that when FLW dropped the entry fee down to $1000, the payout would shrivel. But when I look at the points standings (and prize winnings for the year’s three events) it’s pretty sobering. Can you imagine, the pro who stands in 13th spot overall after three events has logged winnings of only $248? Living upstate where most of the Everstarts are this year, his expenses are lower, and top 13 is still very good. But $248 is not.

Chatting with Joe Uribe, Jr. from Anglers Marine and running 5th place in the points, I learned it costs him $2000 for each tournament he fishes on this tour–$1000 entry and $1000 for assorted expenses. Yet, after three events, Uribe has $3,798 in the win column.

By contrast, the points leader, Jeff Michels of Lakehead, has earned $23,790. First or second place keeps you ahead, but after that, the margin over the assumed $6000 expense threshold for three contests is tight. I counted only 13 of 225 anglers who fished the pro division who exceeded that threshold–recognizing those closer to the NorCal venues probably don’t have the full $1000 in expenses beyond entry fee.

On the other hand, how many of those upstate fishermen would participate if the circuit was clustered mostly around the Colorado River and Central Arizona? (I think we know the answer).

Yet that’s where we are today in the West. And even I did not think it would get this bad.

Or will it? Do I have time to list every professional angler who has violated a tournament rule and had all or at least part of his catch disqualified?

Let’s see: Dean Rojas, casting into land that was flooded, but posted for no trespassing. He was leading the tournament–boom, DQed. Mike Iconelli, casting in off-limits water, DQed. Kevin Van Dam, with batteries dead, letting his partner run the big motor so he could fish. DQed. Scott Nielson, a former U.S. Open winner, casting in an obscure off-limits area. Day’s catch DQed. Gary Klein, six fish in his bag. Boom, DQed.

There are plenty more. Plenty.

So here’s what your proper response to this should be and it comes from a line in the movie, Good Morning, Viet Nam. While one officer wanted to categorically censure Adrian Cronaur (Robin Williams) for his improper military behavior, General Taylor said: “No, no, no, no. The man made a mistake.”

Like Stewart this week, and so many others before him, there were rules violations, but no cheating. As Gary Klein told me last night, “I’ve seen many anglers make bonehead mistakes. I’ve done it. If you fish enough, under the various stipulations on so many different waters, it’s going to happen. It’s part of the game.”

As Stewart wrote on Facebook, “I unintentionally fished inside the off limits area. I thought I was outside but did not check for the sign. I feel sick to my stomach for ruining my co angler’s day and for FLW to have to deal with an unfortunate situation.”

So here’s the next step. You put the boat on the trailer and you drive to your next venue.

And try not to make the same mistake twice.

SPRING is where you find it…

You look at the calendar and sure enough, May still falls in “the springtime” everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. But relative to annual behavior of black bass, there are specific things going on in a given environment, and using 30/31-day increments is not the best way to gauge a plan of attack.

Locally in the bottom half of the state, the bulk of the spawning activity is over. Yet that’s not universally true as you move farther north. It takes longer for those waters to warm–based upon the amount of sunlight available. I think we understand this, but it’s possible to get ahead of ourselves.

The spring season is not a static thing. To the point, Rusty Brown, an Orange County guide has been fishing Lake Isabella on the Kern River this past week. Because of snow melt (as little as there is this year) that lake is running from 63 to 66 degrees as the lake slowly rises. By contrast, our lakes have already cracked 70 degrees.

For that reason, with what Brown calls “2-3 feet visibility” he’s finding fish in small groups on small rock and stick-up areas in five to as deep as 12 feet. The book on such a depth range–and the condition of the fish–suggests some are on beds, but some of the larger ones are holding just off. Of course, the rising water obscures the exact positioning and the water clarity, I imagine, makes it hard to pinpoint some beds.

But the fact is, at that latitude (and elevation) the fish are “up”–one of those sirloins of opportunity. According to Brown, several baits have been getting results, as you might expect. However,  it turns out, the nice pair pictured came on the 3/8-ounce Pro-Line football head, known as Rusty’s Big Fish Jig.

Significantly, it’s important to remember as you climb the latitude ladder it’s possible to find fish on the front side of their spawning cycle, all the way up to Clear Lake and on to Shasta and beyond.

Yet, the lesson is probably a 12-month axiom. Don’t predetermine what the fish are doing until you’ve seen the conditions in front of you.

FREE SOFTWARE updates add new capabilities to your HDS Gen 2.

One of the great fears of shelling out cash for new electronic gear is that the equipment is barely bolted on before the manufacturer is touting an even newer version. When I got my HDS Gen 2 a year ago in April, that certainly crossed my mind.

But today (May 13), I can say that I won’t be putting the same money into my U.S. Open prep for 2013, because Lowrance is offering free software updates to the HDS Gen2 as well as the newer Touch [screen] version.

These updates are available as an online download, and they include “GoFree™ Wireless compatibility, Chart Sharing, Depth Contour Shading, StructureMap™ HD, extensive mapping options and a host of performance improvements. In addition, the Gen2 Version 2.0 update brings existing advanced features of the newer Touch series to HDS Gen2 users.”

For example GoFree Wireless integration enables “wireless connectivity between the displays and supported tablets, mobile phones and computers.”  For the guys with the HDS Gen2 Touch, “Version 2.0 software and compatible tablet can wirelessly view and control their displays and fully interface with engine data, fuel information sensors and transducers, to name a few.”

I’m not sure how much I might use those kinds of features, but no matter, all I need is a 2 GB memory card. The enhanced screen images on my HDS, though, looks very cool. According to Lowrance: “The new Version 2.0 software also features StructureMap HD capability allowing users to convert recorded StructureScan® HD sonar logs into stunning high-definition underwater maps of lakes (or) rivers….” (Note photo depiction).

Depending on your tech aptitude, of course, (mine is sill mired in the 1960′s) you’ll probably see way more advantages with the full complement of Lowrance updates than me. And you’ve got to like the price–free, starting today. Just go to www.lowrance.com/en-US/Software-Updates.

And now watch. We’ll get to deal with it.

As you know, in many parts of the country (California one of them, for sure) black bass are not a native species. I don’t know the whole story about those red-eyed spots from Lake Oroville years back, but largemouths and Alabama (who knew?) spotted bass have been imported. Stripers are also immigrants.

So as soon as someone wants to reconfigure the environment as they perceive it must have looked 200 years ago, anglers always face the threat of someone plucking these established populations from what has been the reality for the last century or longer.

It’s a bit different issue with these newly dubbed Choctaw bass as it appears they are native to the localized areas. But on one map I encountered, Florida wildlife officials have dubbed an adjacent zone as holding “invasive” spotted bass–whatever the generic spot found in that part of the country.

So you can see the problem. We’re told there in an invasive species present. Yet, we’re also told, identifying the Choctaw by sight is virtually impossible without a DNA test meaning everywhere this thing swims–or anywhere it might be projected to swim, there are surely going to be some regulatory, protective “walls” built up–and soon.

Now I think this isolated discovery, just like the rare Guadalupe bass of Texas, are pretty cool–and frankly, being so far away, they don’t affect my fishing. That is, until some species preservationist takes a governmental position that can put the squeeze on local bass fishing.

This makes me nervous. I think I would recognize Bigfoot (Photoshopped or not), but if we can’t ID this “new” bass, imagine what regulations it might inspire?

NOT THAT green of water to me, but they’re going to kill algae, May 9.

Since an ounce of prevention is probably worth several of gallons of gasoline, I thought I’d pass along what I learned today (Tuesday) about the water treatment schedule at Lake Skinner.

As is customary at the Riverside County reservoir, blue-stoning (treating with copper sulphate to kill algae) takes place several times a year in the warmer months.

It’s kind of a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is, when they stone the lake–they shut the reservoir down to boating. The good news is, they shut down the reservoir to boating.

As most bass anglers have experienced, the initial presence of these chemicals is no boon to fishing and many guys I’ve talked to over the years say the bass bite can go south for as much as two weeks. Of course, that can also be a built-in excuse for not catching much–or not searching for fish in adjacent (or deeper) areas that don’t appear to be affected. A week is probably plenty of time to let it rest.

Still, there is nothing worse than driving to the lake and getting turned away, especially when it has nothing to do with “clean and dry.” So heads up. I just got word from Mr. Bob Muir of MWD. They are treating the lake this Thursday, May 9, so the reservoir will be closed to boating.

But as long as we’re on the topic of temporary or partial closures, May 17-19 Skinner will host the MWD’s annual Solar Cup so “half the lake” will be closed during that period. Launching will be out of ramp #2 as the competing solar-powered craft will be operating in North Bay (main ramp side).

Also the lake (not the park) will be closed May 31-June 2 for the annual Temecula Valley Wine & Balloon Festival, always a big event in this part of the world.

Adjust your schedules accordingly.

But so you know, BassRankings.com is a site devoted to keeping statistics and ranking tournament bass anglers. It currently ranks more than 40,000 anglers across five levels of competition. The PAA is the latest incarnation of a professional (but not all) bass fisherman advocacy group.

What we have learned from the latest news release is: “For some time, the PAA and Bass Rankings have been working together to track the PAA’s Angler of the Year standings and rank its anglers. That cooperation finally came together recently when the PAA launched the Rankings section on its website, FishPAA.com.

“Using an API plug-in provided by Bass Rankings, PAA competitors can click on the “Rankings” tab at the top of FishPAA.com to find instantaneous standings results from the most recent events.”

The fact is, when I started the California Top 40 List back in the mid 1990′s (in Fishing and Hunting News, actually) the effort was based much in part on a lot of ride-alongs, covering tournaments in person and combing newspapers for out-of-area results. More recently, if the truth be known, I’ve even peeked at BassRankings.com to support our (California) guys’ positioning.

So who knows? One day maybe the stat guys will figure out how to factor in guides, trophy hunters/swimbaiters and live bait guys who reside in the Golden State–and then I can retire.

I can dream, can’t I?

A PERFECT MORNING will stay perfect with a couple of quick tips…

If you’re like me, on every quiet, glassy morning you can hardly wait to make that first cast. Maybe you’re drawn to the perfect gaps between the stick-ups or that dimpling bait along a gravel bank.

You know these are primo spots that have produced on countless other mornings. If your bait can just hit the water, you know good things are about to happen.

So what can possibly go wrong?

I wish I wasn’t the foil here, but let me tell you about three things you definitely want to avoid.

First. The dry line catastrophe. You may have spooled on new line last night and have preset your casting dial. But here in the “desert” low humidity will offset your best plans. Do not make a cast without dripping a couple of handfuls of water on your spool–or at the least, spraying the line with Reel Magic or another line treatment.

There is only one chance for the perfect first cast–and if you blow it up with a dry line backlash–you’re toast!

Second. The no-look drag check. It’s not tight drags that spoil a shot at your first fish. It’s the drag you backed off at the end of the last trip that might let you work the bait and even set the hook. But when that first aerial head shake comes, it’s too late to reach over and tighten it up.

The third thing you want to avoid–the retied retie–might actually happen first. You’re a little anxious, but you know you’ve got to be smart–so you retie in the dim morning light. But your partner says something amusing and you briefly lose focus. In an instant, instead of clipping the tag end, you snip the main line, and now you’ve got to start over.

A simple annoyance? A dumb move, right? So you hurry to make up for the time you just wasted–and sure enough, you head down the road to ruin. The hasty knot is a bad knot. And that little break in your regular routine easily leads to forgetting the drag check or taking steps to avoid the dry line backlash.

Trust me on these. I’ve made every mistake in the book.

LARGEMOUTH like these taken by Mike Goodwin a few years back at Lake Havasu are now common in everyone’s bag.

Recognition that both Clear Lake and the Delta are among the 10 best tournament lakes in the U.S. should make Californians proud. (Of course, we don’t hold tournaments here between June 15 and Sept. 15–so I wonder, do the voters for the Bassmaster list know this?)

Yet, would anybody but an employee at Phil’s Propellers, even remotely believe that Lake Shasta (33rd) is one 12-inch spotted bass better than Lake Havasu–voted the 46th best and two notches behind Lake Powell?

Havasu is so productive for both smallmouth and largemouth that bass clubs regularly leave the comfort of their local home waters to make the 200 to 300-mile trek to “the River” because everyone catches nice bass! Havasu is the center for “personal best” smallmouth.

I know Bassmaster is looking at things from a big field, bass tournament perspective, but big water doesn’t equate with good fishing, or a good environment, for that matter. Lake Mohave made the list at 85–yet anyone who has battled donut-spinning Jetskis in an otherwise unoccupied cove, knows why tournament organizations (and most fishermen) avoid the place.

That NorCal’s Berryessa or Arizona’s Apache (that’s a small lake, folks) are ahead of Mead, the most perfectly neutral site in the country, really sounds like “homering” from those areas. I mean, c’mon, when was a tournament of consequence ever held at either of those ponds?

Nonetheless, there’s nothing like a good list to get the circulation going. (At least, that’s what they tell me every year).

THE DESERT is calling me back…

Weekends are quiet on the web–the fishermen are getting ready to go, are already on their way or are on the water. But I got a phone call from a “sponsor” a couple of nights back who made the comment: “Get some more practice time this year.”

Though I didn’t plan out my calendar this year like I did in 2012, that little nudge told me, if I’m going to get in another U.S. Open, I better not wait beyond this summer. We never know how many chances we’ll get.

But beyond the consequences of having had too many birthdays, I guess you could say I want in, just in case the long tradition of this wonderful event should come to a close. Although I still relish the challenges of Lake Mead and the desert conditions, the bass fishing world is a far different place than it was 20 years ago.

I JUST WANT another shot…

Remarkably, in recent months we have seen two organizations cancel their Pro-Ams, and clearly organizations and sponsors have scrambled for “acceptable” formats. Pro team events by Lucas Oil have found traction, but I truly doubt that putting the word “Open” next to a date is sufficient to create a buzz.

Heck, the laundromat is “Open.”

We live in a time when the bass fishing community has never been more selective–and I really don’t blame them. But what I am hoping as I map out my practice days, engine and equipment inspections and accumulate a bit more lake specific lures and tackle, is that a cadre of anglers here and around the country will also want to do the same thing.

After all, the venue, weather and the tradition are all part of the package. But it’s when you include the finest fishermen around–that’s when you’ll get a memorable U.S. Open. And that’s something I want to be part of.