WON BASS will be kicking off its 2006 season starting this January 28th-29th at Lake Shasta. Known for its strong winter time bite on spotted bass, Shasta has traditionally been one of the biggest draws of any WON BASS venue. Look for what is expected to be a full field to be competing for the $20,000 cash top prize.
The Northern Circuit season will consist of three tournaments. Anglers will earn points in the first two events and double points in the third and final event of the season. At the close of the third tournament, the Pro angler with the highest point total will walk away with a new Ranger 185VS boat and trailer equipped with a Mercury 175hp OptiMax motor, Lowrance electronics, MotorGuide trolling motor, & more! All told, the Northern Angler of the Year will win a package worth $30,000.
A recent interview with Ryan Pearson of Phil’s Propellers in Redding revealed that anglers should expect cold weather but limits of spotted bass should be the norm. “If there are sunny conditions, look for fish in 5-15 feet with most coming from 25-40 feet on _ to _ ounce darter heads. A _ ounce brown jig is another solid choice,” Pearson noted.
Kent Brown, well-known Pro angler and radio talk show host also anticipated a cold weather event. “Shasta in January? It will be in full-on winter mode. Cold weather and cold water,” he says. “If conditions are calm and clear under post front conditions, I would go to drop shotting fast! However, if there is any type of stormfront, look for the bigger fish to move up shallow where you can get them on a spinnerbait or jerkbait.”
What both anglers agree on is that Shasta is a tremendous fishery this time of year and the weighmaster should be busy as limits will be coming to the scales.
WON BASS has gone to an all cash payback for the 2006 season with a first place Pro prize of $20,000 in cash. In addition to the regular tournament payouts, the WON BASS series have numerous contingency awards available to the angler. Probably the most prominent of these is the Ranger Cup, which pays out $3,000 in cash to qualified Ranger Cup participants who win a WON BASS event. Should no Ranger Cup participant finish in first place, the next highest finishing Ranger Cup angler will win $1,500. Ranger Cup participants collect points from each event which are put towards the year end Ranger Cup award of a Ranger 185VS boat & trailer.
Other contingency awards include the MotorGuide award that pays $500 to any pro angler who wins a WON BASS event using a boat equipped with a MotorGuide trolling motor. The Mercury Cup award is a season long points race based award that gives a Mercury 150hp OptiMax motor to the highest points finisher in the AAA division while anglers on the Pro side will be vying for $10,000 in Daiwa Cup money.
Pro entry fee for WON BASS Open events is $500 while the AAA angler fee is $225. $2,300 in daily Big Bass awards are included in the entry fee. An entry form is printed on this page and anglers who wish to participate can find full details of this year’s WON BASS events and contingency awards at the official website, www.wonbass.com.
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