Local angler Mike Nichelini, along with partner Larry Grimm, won the Angler’s Choice team bass tournament at Clear Lake on Aug. 1.

They weighed in the largest five-fish limit of the tournament at a total of 28.82 pounds.

Grimm also won the prize for the largest overall bass of the day with his 8.5-pound beauty.

This U.S. Angler’s Choice team circuit is open to any anglers who want to give it a try. There are seven tournaments in this circuit throughout the year.

The Clear Lake event drew 18 teams.

The entry fees vary between approximately $150 and $300, depending on how many special contests the team signs up for.

There are separate prizes available for the largest overall fish weight, the largest five-fish total weight in your flight, and a number of other categories.

Sponsored by Sweeney’s Sports, Dobyns Rods and Pepper Jigs, the Nichelini boat took home a total of $1,670 in prize money this time.

Team Nichelini-Grimm is currently ranked fourth in Region 1 of the 2009 U.S. Angler’s Choice circuit, and is in line to qualify for the annual Tournament of Champions this fall.

The two anglers have been fishing tournaments together for more than eight years.

Nichelini began fishing tournaments in 1992, and joined the pro circuit in 1997. In 2007, he finished the FLW Stren tournament series with a rank of 11th overall, going up against the best 200 bass fishermen in the country.

His ranking qualified him for the national championship tournament in Alabama that year.

“It was a fantastic experience competing against the top bass fishermen in the nation,” says Nichelini about his 2007 success.

“The top guys can earn over a million dollars a year fishing the big tournaments. I still have a long ways to go to be at their level.”

Nichelini fishes bass tournaments throughout the summer and fall, mostly on the West Coast. His personal best bass caught in a tournament was right at 10 pounds, and has landed a total of 11 bass over the years between 10 and 13.5 pounds.

Junior Deer Hunt Opportunity

For the sixth straight year, the California Deer Association (CDA) is sponsoring its Sharing the Tradition Junior Deer Hunt.

Twenty-five junior deer hunters will have a chance to go on a free, fully-guided antlerless deer hunt on the famous Tejon Ranch.

CDA is sponsoring these hunts in cooperation with Tejon Ranch, which at 270,000 acres is the largest privately-owned ranch in California. Juniors and their accompanying adult will stay in one of Tejon Ranch’s lodges.

Junior hunters will be selected in a free, random drawing open to any junior hunter with a 2009 California junior hunting license and an unfilled deer tag.

In addition, the 25 lucky juniors will be supplied with ammunition from Federal Premium Ammunition and Barnes Bullets, binoculars from Alpen Optics, and hunting gear from Hunter’s Specialties and Birchwood Casey.

A total of 90 juniors have participated in these hunts over the years.

More than 90 percent of them had never taken a deer before.

Their success rate for these hunts has been an unbelievable 98.8 percent.

Entry applications must be received by Oct. 14, and hunts will take place in the second half of December.

The 2009 Sharing the Tradition hunt applications and rules can be found at the following Web sites:

California Deer Association: www.caldeer.com/

tejon-hunts.htm

California Fish & Game: www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/docs/

SharingtheTradition.pdf

The California Deer Association was founded in 1996, with its principal goal to improve California deer herds and other wildlife through direct financial support for habitat improvement and research projects.

Since its inception, CDA has raised more than $3,000,000 to fund over 300 projects in California.

CDA currently has 23 chapters with over 6,000 members.

For more information on the California Deer Association, call (888) 499-DEER or visit the Web site at www.CalDeer.org.

Guy Carl is a CPA and partner with BDCo Accountants and Advisors in St. Helena (www.bdcocpa.com). Contact Guy at GC.

outdoors@sbcglobal.net.