UKIAH – Five members of the 2007 Bay Valley Conference championship football team have earned scholarships and transferred to four-year colleges.
Another member has given a verbal commitment for future attendance in the fall.
Sophomores Steven Joachim (Miami, Fla.), Drew Blundell (Potter Valley), Nick Fross (Ukiah), Gary Miller (Ukiah) and Greg Tompkins (Arcadia, Fla.) are enrolled for the spring semester at their respective schools.
Joachim is attending the University of Memphis (NCAA DI-FBS). He was a two-year all-conference selection at receiver and finished this season with 50 receptions for 627 yards and nine touchdowns. The University of Memphis competes in Conference USA and played in the New Orleans Bowl in December.
Blundell, a 12-game starter on the offensive line, is attending Quincy University (NAIA) located in Quincy, Ill. Quincy University competes in the Mid-States Football Conference and finished this past season at 6-5.
Fross is attending Minot State University (NAIA) in Minot, North Dakota and was a 21-game starter at center for the Eagles. Minot State competes in the Dakota Athletic Conference and finished this past season at 6-4.
Tompkins is attending Charleston Southern University (NCAA DI-FCS), in Charleston, South Carolina. Tompkins had 54 tackles and three interceptions while playing safety for the Eagles. Charleston Southern finished 5-6 while competing in the Big South Conference.
Miller is attending Bemidji State University (NCAA D-II) in Bemidji, Minn. Miller, who was all-conference, had 58.5 total tackles and four sacks this past season while playing linebacker. Bemidji State University finished the season at 7-4 and competes the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
Sophomore Jermaine Jacobs (Sacramento) has given Portland State University (NCAA DI-FCS) a verbal commitment and will begin school there next fall. Jacobs had 34.5 total tackles and seven sacks and was selected as the conference defensive player of the year this past season. Portland State, which competes in the Big Sky Conference, finished the year at 3-8.
“Since my tenure began here at Mendocino College, we have made it a priority to prepare all student/athletes for the opportunity to earn an athletic scholarship to a four year university,” said Mendocino College Head Coach Tom Gang. “These young men have done a great job and the entire college community should be proud of this accomplishment.”
The Rider Report: Minnow bite may be up, crappie bite scarce
Written by Bob Rider
Friday, 18 January 2008
Tough fishing has challenged bass and crappie anglers this past week. The water temperature is running around the 41-degree mark. The weather has been cool, but pleasant this week. It should remain clear to partly cloudy through the weekend and right on into next week. Here are the details of the report …
The bass folks are striking out soundly on artificials. This is the “throw the tackle box at ‘em” type of fishing that we struggle with each year when the water temp drops to the low 40s.
Minnow anglers reporting in late Thursday indicate that the minnow bite may be on a definite upswing. Several sets of anglers reported catching fish from 10 to 20 feet deep, in rocky areas, on just about every minnow they put in the water. That’s a GIANT improvement over just two or three days ago. The next few days should get pretty interesting …
Crappie anglers are searching for a bite with little or no luck. None of the key spots that normally hold crappie are producing – right now. We expect this condition to change dramatically – hopefully we’ll see the bite turn back on soon. This may be an all of the sudden kind of thing … Stay tuned – if we get good word of a crappie bite we’ll kick out a special report to let you know. Shoot us an e-mail (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
) or call (707-994-FISH) for the latest, up to the minute reports.
Catfish anglers are quietly enjoying a decent bite. Cut bait and nightcrawlers are the top baits. Shore anglers have been having the best success – which tells us that the bite is in close to the shoreline. Look for stained water where a fresh food supply has washed into the lake.
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
Howdy Folks. We’re fresh back from our annual trade show in Las Vegas. We found some great deals, some great gear, and had a great time.
While we were gone, the storms came in here at Clear Lake. High winds and copious amounts or rain made for a pretty miserable week here – or so I’m told.
This week, the winds have subsided, but the rain continues … And for that we’re actually quite grateful. Our marvelous lake has risen over a foot in the last 10 days with water continuing to stream in from the watershed. We’ve had only a few reports so the actual fishing report pretty thin.
Look for a decent bite to kick in as the weather improves into this coming weekend and beyond. (At least, that’s what the weather guessers are saying it’s going to do.) Minnows and nightcrawlers should get hammered as well as drop shot rigs and slow moving plastics. The lake will be muddied up a bit so you may have to adjust colors to suite the current conditions.
The crappie fishermen are hoping for a big return as the lake fills and once popular fishing holes spring back to life. We’ll keep you posted as things develop …
Catfishermen know – they just know – that heavy rain means a big upswing in activity for hungry whiskerfish. We’re looking for this bite to swing into gear also. Now, all we need is a few nice days to get anglers back into the swing of things and start getting some solid reports.
For up to the minute reports, email
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call us at 707.994.FISH (3474).
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
The Rider Report: Bass action cools, crappie bite is strong
Written by Bob Rider
Friday, 28 December 2007
Welcome to our last report for 2007. Changing (constantly, it seems) weather and a bite that changes with it are the story lines for this week. It was 21 degrees at the shop Thursday morning when I arrived and that’s a far cry from the 43 degrees from just a couple of days before at the same hour.
We’ve had a dry week, but rain is in the forecast. Daytime highs have been in the 40s to low 50s. The water temps are still dropping, but ever so slightly. Look for low to mid 40s for surface temps around the lake.
What you really want to know is this …
Bass have cooled off a bit. The hot bite of just two or three weeks ago is now a more typical winter bite. So, from 15 to 20 fish per day you can expect half a dozen or so. Folks are still catching big fat fish, just fewer of them for their efforts.
Minnows, jigs and swim baits are the most talked about big fish baits this week. Lots of folks are switching over to a finesse presentation – drop shotting or shaky heading soft plastics. Deeper water and rocks still dominate the scene for locations.
Crappie anglers were enjoying a bite that has improved nicely at Konocti Harbor Resort this week. A single – but dreadfully honest – report from Thursday indicated that the sudden drop in temperature and looming rains have knocked the bite back off again. This pattern of on again/off again will likely continue until we get into a more consistently cold and drizzly weather pattern.
Kono Tayee is still getting a lot of attention and is reported to be packed with boaters/anglers most every day. There’s still no action being reported at the Four Poles. Minnows and mini-jigs are going about 50-50 here. The Nitro brand Crappie Gems are the hot ticket for most folks casting and catching.
There hasn’t been much movement on the catfish front … Guess most folks are taking advantage of the good crappie bite.
There will be no fishing report for the first week of January as I’ll be attending a trade show in Las Vegas. Our next regular report will appear on Jan. 10.
All of us here at Lakeshore Bait & Tackle would like to extend a humble thanks to so many of you that have made 2007 a fun and prosperous year for us. Our hope is that 2008 will bring you good health, happiness and many big fish.
Bob Rider owns Lakeshore Bait & Tackle in Clearlake. Visit his Web site at www.994fish.com or call him at 994-FISH (3474).
Mendocino National Forest receives off-highway vehicle program grants
Written by Editor
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST – Thanks to many partners and supporters of the Mendocino National Forest Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) program, the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation and the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission recently approved grants for over $1 million of funding to continue to provide the public with outstanding OHV recreation opportunities on the forest.
The OHV Commission met in early December in Sacramento to review and vote on more than 160 grant applications from Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, city police, county parks and county sheriff departments.
The Mendocino National Forest received approval for all 11 grant applications submitted to the State, including $283,000 for trail maintenance, $276,000 for operation and maintenance of OHV-related facilities, $291,000 for law enforcement and $494,000 for eight separate restoration projects.
"This grant funding from the state will assure that the Mendocino National Forest can continue to provide basic visitor services, trail maintenance, resource protection and law enforcement at the level the public has come to expect," said Forest OHV Manager Jeff Applegate.
Applegate added, "This marks the 26th year that the forest has successfully competed for California OHV Trust Fund Grants to assist us in managing OHV recreation."
The forest has become known throughout the state for providing top-notch, year-round OHV recreation opportunities on more than 252 miles of designated OHV trails, 10 acres of open riding areas and more than 1,100 miles of roughly graded roads open to off-highway vehicle use.
Along with providing a variety of outstanding riding opportunities and support facilities, the forest is known for its balanced approach to off highway motor vehicle recreation, which includes on-going resource conservation and restoration projects and enforcement of federal and state laws related to motor vehicle use and resource protection.
"Without State OHV funding assistance, sustaining the critical balance between OHV recreation opportunities and responsible management of our natural resources would be very difficult, especially in light of the phenomenal growth we are experiencing in OHV use on the forest," Applegate said.
For more information on OHV recreational opportunities, the Mendocino National Forest offers free OHV maps. These maps are available at the forest Headquarters in Willows and the Upper Lake Ranger District, Monday through Friday; and at the Stonyford Work Center, Monday through Saturday. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
