Ty Manterola Leads Day One of WON Bass Clear Lake Open with 36.78 pounds Gary Collins in Second Place with 34.77 pounds – Top Five Eclipse 30 pounds

LAKEPORT, Calif. – April 16, 2026 –– Leading up to the 2026 2026 WON Bass Clear Lake Open presented by Ranger Boats and Mercury, the field was treated to warm temperatures in the mid 80’s and All-American Chamber of Commerce weather.  As practice commenced, temperatures dropped as much as 20 degrees and the 136 Pro and AAA partners will now be forced to bundle up in their full AFTCO cold weather gear.

However the temperatures and conditions change, the reality is that this is Clear Lake, one of the top bass fisheries in the world and there are going to be heavy bags and big fish presented at the scales.  Bill Egan, WON Bass Tournament Director reported that fishing was not great, but was hearing that some of the field was feeling confident.  “I talked to guys who said that they were expecting to have limits that weighed in the 30’s,” said Egan.  “It is Clear Lake and that is possible, but we’ll have to see once weigh-in begins.”

The chatter proved to be accurate as Ty Manterola of Pasco, Wash. and his AAA partner Tom Warren of Maricopa, Ariz. smashed 36.78 pounds to take the day-one lead of the event.  Gary Collins of Upperlake, Calif. and his AAA partner Sea Impeartrice of Los Banos, Calif. posted 34.77 pounds on the day to stand in the runner-up position after the opening round. 

Garrett Ellenson of Nine Mile Falls, Wash. and his day one AAA Charles Butcher of Cloverdale, Calif. weighed 32.59 pounds to finish the day in third place.  Fourth place for the day went to Durham, Calif. pro Daniel Andrusaitis and his AAA partner Larry M. Marquez of Lake Havasu, Ariz. with 31.56 pounds, and Pro Chris Perez of Rocklin, Calif. and AAA Jeffrey Stone of Phoenix, Ariz. bagged 31.23 pounds to round out the top five.

No stranger to big weights, Manterola reported having to run all new water today to avoid crowds.  “I really needed to find fresh fish, so I got away from the crowds today and went to the midlake area and stayed in that area all day,” he said.  I used my Forward Facing Sonar setup by BassBoatWired to locate my fish, but the bite wasn’t easy; I only caught eight or ten fish today – they were just the right ones.”

Using his electronics, Manterola targeted them with a 4-inch Smokey Shad Strike King Z-Too and Green Pumpkin Tumbleweed.  “I ran around in the area and gave them a chance to rest in between visits,” he reported.  “I had a 30-pound limit early in the day and then cycled through again later and culled up by about five pounds with two key bites this afternoon.  It’s not easy out here, and I could fall on my face tomorrow, but I’m going to give it a shot.”

Collins has been a part of a lot of big finishes on Clear Lake with his friend John Pearl over the years, so it is no surprise to see him in the upper reaches of the leaderboard.  He reported using a dice style bait and a minnow, with his day one partner using a Ned Rig – finessing fish into biting.  “I’ve got a couple of areas that I’m cycling through that are prespawn areas that have some good fresh fish,” he said.  “I’m fishing them in 8 to 10 feet of water using Finesse tactics – some on Forward Facing Sonar and some just casting.  I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing and feel pretty good about how things can go tomorrow.”

Each of the top five weights eclipsed the 30-pound barrier and everyone in the top 10 weighed more than 28 pounds for their limit.  There were also a pair of 10-pound fish weighed in the opening round. Jason Marquez of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. brought the big bass of the first day to the scales with an 11.49 pound largemouth and AAA Stone caught the largest bass of the AAA division with a 10.36-pound largemouth.

The winner of the 2026 WON Bass Clear Lake Open presented by Ranger Boats and Mercury will receive the 2026 Ranger Boats Z518 powered by a Mercury ProXS 150 prize boat provided by Bass Pro Shops.

The daily livestream of the weigh-ins airs at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments. Daily weigh-ins from Library Park in Lakeport, Calif. begin after the first flight checks in at 3:00 PM Pacific Time.

The Top 10 in each division are below, for complete standings go to: https://wonbassevents.com/pages/clear-lake-2024-pairings-results.

2026 WON Bass Clear Lake Open Day One Pro Standings

2026 WON Bass Clear Lake Open Day One AAA Standings

The 2026 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events Consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada, will culminate with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October.  The five event dates are as follows:

Jan. 8 to 10, 2026 – Clear Lake – Champion Garrett Ellenson – 98.37 pounds
Feb. 19 to 21, 2026 – Lake Shasta – Champion Brennan Osborn – 62.28 pounds

April 16 to 18, 2026 – Clear Lake

May 7 to 9, 2026 – Lake Havasu

Oct. 5 to 7, 2026 – U.S. Open at Lake Mohave

For complete details or to register, look to wonbassevents.com and WONews.com to hear the latest news about the 2026 season and beyond and follow along at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments.

The 2026 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Bridgford Foods, AFTCO, Power Pole, Costa, Berkley, Gamakatsu, Okuma, Lowrance, Stealth Lithium Batteries, Daiwa, G-Ratt Baits, Reese Fishing, Signature Gates, Abu Garcia, DD26 and Fenwick

Local presenting sponsors are Clearlake Outdoors and the City of Lakeport