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Sponsor trolls for big bass with an offer of big bonus
By Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 24, 2003
CLEAR LAKE – Dean Rojas needed an emotional boost, and BASS gave it to him this week by hooking up with one of its main sponsors for a giant promotion.
BASS announced that Busch Beer is sponsoring a $1 million bonus to any angler who beats Rojas's one-day stringer record of 45 pounds, 2 ounces, set at Lake Toho in 2001. It's all part of a year-long promotion for big-bass stringers in which anglers from the BASS Tour will fish for spots in an end-of-season, one-day championship worth $160,000 in prize money.
Rojas, who grew up fishing Lake Murray and other San Diego bass lakes, lives in Grand Saline, Texas. He heard the news Wednesday, and one of the first things he said was, "What if I break my own record?"
"Then you get $1 million," said Jamie Wilkinson, communications manager for BASS and ESPN Outdoors.
Rojas is part of the 248-angler contingent (124 pros, 124 amateurs) that blasted off yesterday morning at Clear Lake in the Bassmaster California Western Open. The anglers are fishing for more than $300,000 in cash and merchandise. The field will be cut to the top 50 for tomorrow's final round of the three-day tournament.
Bill Siemantel, 34, a full-time firefighter from Castaic, took the first-round lead with a five-bass stringer totaling 25 pounds. He was penalized 4 ounces for a dead bass, but his final weight of 24-12 led second-place Scott Nielsen of Salt Lake City by 4 pounds, 3 ounces.
Rojas had five bass totaling 11 pounds, 1 ounce, putting him in 38th place. He's coming off what he termed a "terrible" year, so just having people talk about his best year, 2001, made him feel good.
"It was such a great year that it's good for me to hear something positive again," Rojas said. "It's like when guys win the Bassmaster Classic, they say that about them as part of their history. I'd like to add the Classic Championship to my name, too, but for right now, the record is still a big part of what I've done out here on the Tour."
Rojas said fishing in the CITGO Bassmaster California Western Open is a way for him to get back to his roots as a fisherman. The next Bassmaster Open is at Lake Havasu, a lake Rojas knows well from his days living there after leaving San Diego. He said he's had some great days on the water in November there, and the Open is set for Nov. 20-22.
"I love Lake Havasu," Rojas said. "It's my home. Our Texas place is nice, but the West is my home and always will be my home. It feels good to be back home and rebuilding."
Rojas said he can count on one hand how many lakes on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour have bass big enough for an angler to break his record. Lake Toho in Florida and Clear Lake are two of them.
No one challenged that big-stringer mark yesterday as conditions here changed drastically from when the anglers were prefishing the tournament.
Ramona's Gabe Bolivar was the top finisher from the San Diego area, grabbing 31st place with a five-bass stringer totaling 12 pounds.
Former San Diegan Dennis Kolender, battling the flu and sinusitis, finished far back and will have to work to make the cut to 50 anglers after today's second round.
Rojas and Kolender have formed a partnership on the BASS Tour. Rojas said he's working with Kolender on sponsorships and the two plan on teaming up during the upcoming Citgo Bassmaster Tour.
They both missed the cut at the first CITGO Bassmaster Western Open Trail event on the Columbia River in Washington state in September. They'll fish here and at Havasu before moving out for the first stop on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour and Elite Series, which opens Jan. 26 at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Fla.
By Ed Zieralski, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 24, 2003
CLEAR LAKE – Dean Rojas needed an emotional boost, and BASS gave it to him this week by hooking up with one of its main sponsors for a giant promotion.
BASS announced that Busch Beer is sponsoring a $1 million bonus to any angler who beats Rojas's one-day stringer record of 45 pounds, 2 ounces, set at Lake Toho in 2001. It's all part of a year-long promotion for big-bass stringers in which anglers from the BASS Tour will fish for spots in an end-of-season, one-day championship worth $160,000 in prize money.
Rojas, who grew up fishing Lake Murray and other San Diego bass lakes, lives in Grand Saline, Texas. He heard the news Wednesday, and one of the first things he said was, "What if I break my own record?"
"Then you get $1 million," said Jamie Wilkinson, communications manager for BASS and ESPN Outdoors.
Rojas is part of the 248-angler contingent (124 pros, 124 amateurs) that blasted off yesterday morning at Clear Lake in the Bassmaster California Western Open. The anglers are fishing for more than $300,000 in cash and merchandise. The field will be cut to the top 50 for tomorrow's final round of the three-day tournament.
Bill Siemantel, 34, a full-time firefighter from Castaic, took the first-round lead with a five-bass stringer totaling 25 pounds. He was penalized 4 ounces for a dead bass, but his final weight of 24-12 led second-place Scott Nielsen of Salt Lake City by 4 pounds, 3 ounces.
Rojas had five bass totaling 11 pounds, 1 ounce, putting him in 38th place. He's coming off what he termed a "terrible" year, so just having people talk about his best year, 2001, made him feel good.
"It was such a great year that it's good for me to hear something positive again," Rojas said. "It's like when guys win the Bassmaster Classic, they say that about them as part of their history. I'd like to add the Classic Championship to my name, too, but for right now, the record is still a big part of what I've done out here on the Tour."
Rojas said fishing in the CITGO Bassmaster California Western Open is a way for him to get back to his roots as a fisherman. The next Bassmaster Open is at Lake Havasu, a lake Rojas knows well from his days living there after leaving San Diego. He said he's had some great days on the water in November there, and the Open is set for Nov. 20-22.
"I love Lake Havasu," Rojas said. "It's my home. Our Texas place is nice, but the West is my home and always will be my home. It feels good to be back home and rebuilding."
Rojas said he can count on one hand how many lakes on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour have bass big enough for an angler to break his record. Lake Toho in Florida and Clear Lake are two of them.
No one challenged that big-stringer mark yesterday as conditions here changed drastically from when the anglers were prefishing the tournament.
Ramona's Gabe Bolivar was the top finisher from the San Diego area, grabbing 31st place with a five-bass stringer totaling 12 pounds.
Former San Diegan Dennis Kolender, battling the flu and sinusitis, finished far back and will have to work to make the cut to 50 anglers after today's second round.
Rojas and Kolender have formed a partnership on the BASS Tour. Rojas said he's working with Kolender on sponsorships and the two plan on teaming up during the upcoming Citgo Bassmaster Tour.
They both missed the cut at the first CITGO Bassmaster Western Open Trail event on the Columbia River in Washington state in September. They'll fish here and at Havasu before moving out for the first stop on the CITGO Bassmaster Tour and Elite Series, which opens Jan. 26 at the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Fla.
