As Paul Leader prepared to hand over the top prize to the winners of his 10th annual El Cajon Ford San Diego Team Open, his emotions overcame him.
For the previous half hour or so, Leader had been handing over hefty checks to two teenagers for biggest bass and heaviest stringers. Now came the biggest check of all, $6,000, for winning the entire bass tournament and schooling some of the best fishermen in the county.
That's when Leader, owner of El Cajon Ford and grandfather to one of the two 17-year-old winners, turned red, teared up and passed the microphone to tournament director John Cassidy.
“Guys, your 2008 El Cajon Ford San Diego Team Open champions, Wade Strelic and Klayton Belden,” Cassidy said.
In addition to winning the $6,000 first-place money, Strelic and Belden, both of Alpine and both seniors at Granite Hills High, earned $4,600 in bonus money for big bass (a 5.90-pounder at San Vicente) and heaviest stringer (18.26 pounds at San Vicente). That's $10,600 in all, not a bad haul during their summer vacation.
Leader, a member of the San Diego Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, gained his composure and hugged his grandson, Klayton, son of his daughter, Kelly Leader, and then said: “Congratulations, guys. These guys deserve it. They really do. They've been on the lakes all summer, and when you're 17 years old, you can throw those Spooks (top-water lures) all day long. They are our future.”
On a historic day when tournament bass fishermen said farewell to San Vicente for six to nine years as that reservoir's dam is raised and lake enlarged, bass fishing welcomed two young stars with a boatload of potential.
Two days after former San Diegan Dean Rojas won a Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament in upstate New York to top $1 million in earnings on the BASS Tour, Strelic and Belden had their own coming-out party and showed why San Diego is still a cradle for bass fishing pros.
After tying veterans Ted Holverson and Alex Espinoza in points, the kid anglers won the tiebreaker with the most weight, 28.45 pounds, for two days of fishing at El Capitan and San Vicente. Holverson and Espinoza had a two-day total of 23.58 pounds.
“They're going to use this money to enter the U.S. Open,” Kelly Leader said. “They're going to put it to good use right away.”
The U.S. Open is at Lake Mead in September. These two know that lake well, too. They plan to fish it as AAA anglers, or back-seat fishermen in a pro angler's boat.
“I took Wade fishing with me for the first time when he was 5 years old,” said the boy's father, Jon Strelic, who finished fourth fishing with Rusty Salewske, his partner when they won the tournament in 2005.
“Wade was catching bass on his own by the time he was 5 years old. We just spent our vacation on Mead in a houseboat, and Rusty and I used his boat and fished against Wade and Klayton, who used my boat, every day in a little tournament. We had a 10 a.m. weigh-in every day and they did very well over there. I knew they could catch fish, but I was afraid the jitters might get to them today. It's so tough to keep it together sometimes out there.
“It's all about attitude, because if you miss a fish, you just have to keep going. This is a very difficult format, with the two lakes. It's a very tough tournament to win, but they did it. Rusty and I were watching them out there, and they were fishing like pros.”
Leader said his grandson, Klayton, has been fishing for bass since he was 5 years old, too, just like Wade Strelic. The two teamed up to help Granite Hills win the inaugural High School Invitational Team Trout Tournament at Lake Morena.
After the boys' win that day, Klayton's father, Ken Belden, stood on the bank of Lake Morena and said, “I'll guarantee you one day he'll be a pro fisherman.”
It's a huge jump from the El Cajon Ford San Diego Team Open to the pro ranks of the FLW Tour or Bassmaster Elite Series, but if these two ever fish on TV some day, they'll certainly look to this day as the springboard for their careers.
As they stood with their hardware and loot and smiles, they were congratulated by most of the older anglers in the field. One by one, the collection of the county's top bass fishermen shook hands with the new champs.
Cassidy, who has run all 10 of these tournaments, joined the others in having a hard time believing that two 17-year-olds could keep it together over two days, at two lakes and handle all that pressure.
“Not only that, but they did it on their first crack at it,” Cassidy said, still shaking his head in disbelief. “They put their time in on the water before the tournament, but it's something more. Like a lot of the younger fishermen today, they have an extra sense for where to fish, what to use. They react to conditions and maximize their catches. And they did it here, the most fair tournament of all. There's no favoritism. It's all numbers and it's all skill, with a little bit of luck.”
IN SEARCH OF BIG BASS
Final results and prizes from the El Cajon Ford San Diego Team Open, contested Monday and Tuesday at El Capitan and San Vicente reservoirs:
TOP 10
1. Wade Strelic and Klayton Belden, $6,000.
2. Ted Holverson and Alex Espinoza, $2,000.
3. Buck Buckhanan and Art Bailey, $1,000.
4. Jon Strelic and Rusty Salewske, $900.
5. Ryann Ranson and Scott Wingo, $750.
6. Rick Lindemann and Dave Voelker, $600.
7. Brian Johnson and Aaron Johnson, $550.
8. Scott McIntosh and Randy Lewis, $500.
9. Emil Orlando Jr. and Joe Crawford, $450.
10. Tucker Clarke and Matt Lowery, $400.
BIGGEST BASS
Strelic and Belden, 5.90 pounds, San Vicente, $1,300.
HEAVIEST STRINGER
Strelic and Belden, 18.26 pounds, San Vicente, $1,300.
BIG FISH EACH LAKE
San Vicente, Monday, Strelic and Belden, 5.90 pounds, $1,000.
El Capitan, Monday, Ryann Ranson and Scott Wingo, 4.57 pounds, $1,000.
San Vicente, Tuesday, Geoff Pierce and Mike Lerwill, 4.04 pounds, $1,000.
El Capitan, Tuesday, Brian Johnson and Aaron Johnson, 5.11 pounds, $1,000.
HEAVIEST STRINGER EACH LAKE
San Vicente, Monday, Strelic and Belden, 18.26 pounds, $1,000.
El Capitan, Monday, Al Tatum and Keith Gunsauls, 13.70 pounds, $1,000.
San Vicente, Tuesday, Rick Lindemann and Dave Voelker, 11.80 pounds, $1,000.
El Capitan, Tuesday, Jon Strelic and Rusty Salewske, 15.65 pounds, $1,000.
