Columnist Paula Del Giudice: Arizona man wins local BASSMASTER event

Thursday, March 21, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

Paula Del Giudice's outdoors column appears Thursday. She can be reached at desertdenizens@aol.com.

Rob Vander Kooi won the Nevada CITGO BASSMASTER Western Open on Lake Mead last Saturday on the strength of his 17-pound, 6-ounce limit. Vander Kooi, a Mesa, Ariz., pro, took his first career B.A.S.S. victory and earned the $35,000 top prize.

"It's been a lifelong dream to win one of these," said Vander Kooi, whose 29-14, three-day catch put him ahead of second-place finisher Brent Ehrler.

"I ran as far as I could up the Virgin River and caught everything in real shallow water. It was extremely exciting and a lot of fun. I got nervous and was worried about the wind, so I came back around 12:30 and spent the rest of the day fishing (near the weigh-in) in the Calville Bay area."

Vander Kooi told reporters that he had found the fishing spot last season when BASS was there on Lake Mead.

"With the exception of one that I caught on a spinnerbait, all of my fish came while flipping a Zipper Junior Worm rigged with a Tungsten weight. The wind gave me some problems today because it made me work faster than I wanted to."

Second-place finisher Ehrler relied primarily on a drop-shot rig using a 4-inch Bait Breath Prisoner worm and an oxblood-colored Roboworm.

Nevada anglers finished well during the Western Open. Jack Gadlage of Logandale placed sixth overall while Dennis Kolender of Henderson placed ninth. Byron Velvick of Boulder City placed 25th and Ron Berg of Henderson placed 29th after catching the largest bass of the tournament. His lunker weighed in at 5 pounds 1 ounce.

Vander Kooi's finish jumped him from 57th to fifth place in the point standings. Gadlage is in third place and Kolender in 10th.

Funds raised from the banquet, auction and raffle will be used on a variety of conservation projects. Some of these include stream habitat improvements, funding for Steptoe Valley Wildlife Management Area and the introduction of Bonneville cutthroat trout into Deep Creek in the Quinn Canyon Mountain Range.

Tickets are $75 for singles and $100 for couples and include a one-year membership in the organization. Tickets may be obtained by calling Scott Wonders at 429-0268.

"Baker Ranches desires to promote and support the Park's interpretation of ranching and agriculture," Baker said.

The agreement calls for a new ranching and agriculture exhibit to be located on the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive a few miles from the Visitor Center. The exhibit will explain how ranching in the Great Basin evolved around dependable water sources and grazing ranges.

"We are delighted to work with Baker Ranches on this important exhibit," Mills said.

In her new position, Clark oversees a variety of public information, education and volunteer programs for the state agency. The Conservation Education Bureau has 15 full-time employees who are stationed in locations throughout the state.

Clark said that her main objective in the coming months will be to expand the wildlife and habitat information base to the Nevada general public. Expansion of the agency's website, more information on the state's wildlife management areas and hatcheries and fishable waters maps are also priorities.

"Our primary focus this year is on supporting our sage grouse planning effort," she said. "We have a real opportunity to help sage grouse and other sagebrush-obligate species, and we're taking the planning effort seriously."

Clark is a graduate of the University of New Mexico. For the past four years, she has served as publications coordinator for NDOW, which included the development and overseeing of the agency's web page.