Will TubeN2 or Bendopolo be the one?

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[font "Pristina"][green][size 4]DVL has become a premier bass fishery[/size][/green][/font] [font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet has become a favorite among bass anglers in Southern California.[/size][/green][/font] [font "Pristina"][green][size 4] [/size][/green][/font] [font "Pristina"][green][size 4]DAVE STREGE[/size][/green][/font] [font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Register columnist
[/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]OUTDOORS
[/size][/green][/font][url "mailto:dstrege@ocregister.com"][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]dstrege@ocregister.com [/size][/green][/font][/url] [url "http://www.ocregister.com/sports/dvl-has-become-1643822-a-premier-bass-fishery#slComments"][font "Pristina"][size 4][green][/green][/size][/font][/url]
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[font "Pristina"][size 4][green]HEMETJustin Bell usually fishes in the ocean. The only thing he knew about Diamond Valley Lake was what he read in fishing publications. [/green][/size][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"I knew nothing about the lake, how to fish it or anything," the Riverside angler said. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Tuesday, he brought his wife and fished the lake for the first time on what a lake employee called a slow day for bass fishing because of the full moon. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][size 4][green]Bell, after getting advice from a nearby angler on how to fish a Carolina rig, caught largemouth bass weighing 7, 4 and 2 ½ pounds. He came into the tackle shop at lunchtime beaming about his day. Slow? Imagine the lake on a good day. [/green][/size][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]And just how good can Diamond Valley Lake get?[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Pristina"][size 4][green]Well, put it this way, Rick Grover of Anglers Marine in Anaheim fished a tournament with his son a few weeks ago and turned in a five-fish limit totaling 27 ½ pounds and finished second. Another team had 28 pounds. [/green][/size][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Without question, Diamond Valley Lake has arrived as a premier largemouth bass fishery and doing so in less than four years after opening. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]It is fast becoming the most preferred lake in Southern California among bass anglers. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"The lake is definitely getting more popular," DVL marina general manager Jeff Leatherman said.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Department of Fish and Game biologist Mike Giusti created the fishery from scratch. He started with a 95 percent strain of Florida bass from Lake Hodges, 217 of them. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]They were planted in an 80-acre pond at the lake bottom in 1999. As the lake filled and overtook the pond, the bass spread out and continued growing and reproducing before the lake's opening in September 2003. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"Those fish have grown, plus whatever spawned," Giusti said. "We went from an average size of 2, 3 pounds in the first year and now we're seeing an average of 4 and 5 pounds, at least on tournament weights. Twenty-five pounds for five fish is very common." [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Richard Atanay of Rowland Heights remembers a recent tournament in which 15 limits weighed more than 20 pounds.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"I was the weighmaster and I've never held so many big bass in all my life," Atanay said. "This lake is incredible." [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Tuesday, Atanay and a friend caught and released at least eight bass 3 to 4 pounds, typical sizes for most anglers. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"Those are DVDs," Giusti said. "Diamond Valley Dinks." [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Not bad for dinks. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"What amazes me is, it's been going like this for six months now," Giusti added, talking about the tournament anglers. "It started in October-November. I think the lowest weight we had was 20, 22 pounds to win a tournament. From now until next November I expect 25 (pounds) at the top of the leaderboard every time." [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]The unofficial tournament record for five bass at DVL is an impressive 29.73 pounds. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"The bass fishing is by far the best we have in Southern California," Grover said. "It's like a mini Clear Lake."[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Pristina"][green][size 4]Giusti hesitated to say DVL is on its way to becoming Clear Lake, where on Sunday Steve Kennedy of Auburn set a BASS record for the heaviest tournament weight, a four-day total of 122 pounds, 14 ounces (a 6-pound-plus average). [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"I think because of the size (DVL is smaller than Clear Lake) and the pressure we get on our lake, I don't think we'll be able to have a bass tournament where anglers can weigh in 25, 30 pounds a day for four days in a row," Giusti said. "That'll be tough to do." [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]What about a world record? When Mike Long of Poway weighed in a lake-record 16.43-pound bass recently, anglers raised that topic. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"What I said was `Let's wait to see if we can get a fish in the top 25 before we worry about the world record,'" said Giusti, adding Long's fish could be 20 pounds in two or three years. [/size][/green][/font][font "Pristina"][green][size 4]The world record is 22 pounds, 4 ounces. Could DVL have a shot at it?[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Pristina"][green][size 4]"It's possible, but I don't want to count on it," Giusti said.[/size][/green][/font]
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