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Summer 2018 Summer 2018 Hi All, I would like to start off this issue by thanking all of our readers and our advertisers for making this magazine possible, your support for our site is greatly appreciated! If you haven’t seen the newly remodeled Fisherman’s Warehouse locations, Sacramento and Manteca, you must stop in and take a look. It is a whole new store! Looking at the tournament scene, there are many accomplishments to be congratulated, such as Bub Tosh with back-to-back wins in the last two WWBT Pro/Ams and Wayne Breazeale as his FLW win this past month made his 3rd major Clear Lake win in as many years. We are looking forward to this season’s topwater specialty events for the summer – BBT’s Snag Proof Open and FPT’s Ultimate Frog Challenge. They are always a blast. Thanks again to all of our readers. Good luck out there on the water. Wayne
Spring 2018
Spring 2018 Hi Anglers It’s early spring and one of my favorite times for fishing to see all of the big bass show up. Like many others, I am excited to see if the good rains that we received last year give us some bigger and better fishing to look forward to. With this spring issue of WesternBass.com Magazine, we have Roy Hawk on the cover. This was planned before his debut at the first Bassmaster Elite Series event and was quite fun following along with him as he secured a 2nd place finish while we were working on the cover. I would like to wish him continued success as our newest western pro out on the cross country road. For all of us fishing back home, we have much to look forward to in the upcoming season. It is already starting out well with the great draws of the Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) at nearly 200 boats for their Shasta Teams tournament and the 100-plus boat draw of the Best Bass Tournaments (BBT) semi pro event at Berryessa. We anticipate some good fish to be caught at this quarter’s specialty events like the WWBT Surprise Ford Team Open on Lake Pleasant on March 10 - 11, the Yamamoto Big Bass Challenge hosted by Angler’s Press on April 14 and 15 – an event which never disappoints, often resulting in a double-digit bass and also the Rat-L-Trap Open hosted by Best Bass Tournaments on April 22. To close, I would like to ask that the WesternBass readers support the companies that make the free magazine and website available to you. Wayne
Winter 2018
Winter 2018 Hi Anglers, Can you believe another fishing season is behind us? It goes so fast! As usual, the winter hiatus means the boat and sports shows are upon us. WesternBass will once again be at the International Sportsmens Expo (ISE) hosting the casting tank and all the bassin’ seminars. Be sure and stop by and say hi! During this off-season, we were able to create some enhancements to the WesternBass.com digital mag. We hope you enjoy the new look and feel. We would like to ask that when you are thinking of your tackle, gear and boat purchases that you remember our sponsors. They are the reason that the WesternBass site and magazine is available to all viewers for FREE and speaking of site sponsors, we want to welcome two new ones – Trapper Tackle and Boulder Boats. We also want to introduce a new feature by one of our long-term sponsors, Dr. Trolling Motor. They will now be helping to answer your trolling motor questions within the forums; so, if you have one, please feel free to post it. In closing, I want send my condolences to Cooch’s family. Since I’ve been a part of WesternBass, Cooch was right there to answer questions and offer advice. I was fortunate enough to spend time on the water with him and have been proud to utilize the site to host the C.O. Pro / Teen information as Cooch needed. I am sure he is stilling tossin’ a jig in the big pond in the sky. He will be greatly missed. I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year... Wayne

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58 Pound Striper Makes the News by ING Sun May 27, 2018 4:23 am

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98 Skeeter ZX 17 - 5,200 OBO by Jamie Sat Jul 21, 2018 6:16 pm
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Recent Forum

Powell max 3D 804 CB by chrisaldrete84 Sat Jul 21, 2018 11:36 pm
Shimano left hand reels by Gezus_5 Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:28 pm
Looking for new Spinning Rod by BAble Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:23 pm
98 Skeeter ZX 17 - 5,200 OBO by Jamie Sat Jul 21, 2018 6:16 pm

Industry Press Releases

Bigger Thrills from Larger Size 12 Rapala Ripstop
Bigger Thrills from Larger Size 12 Rapala Ripstop The only way Rapala® could deliver bigger thrills with their exhilarating RipStop® bait is to make it bigger. So, they did.
Reach a deeper strike zone and trigger more bites with the Storm® 360GT Searchbait Swimmer
Reach a deeper strike zone and trigger more bites with the Storm® 360GT Searchbait Swimmer When hungry bass are holding deeper than standard swimbaits dive, throw a Storm® 360GT Searchbait Swimmer to reach the strike zone and trigger more bites. A lip built into the lure’s jig head provides added depth control and crankbait-style action.
Underwater video footage of walleye, bass and trout/salmon crankbaits in action from Phantom Lures
Underwater video footage of walleye, bass and trout/salmon crankbaits in action from Phantom Lures Phantom Lures, widely known for its design and manufacture of high quality, proven baits is pleased to announce the completion of several new underwater videos that are available for viewing, which capture Phantom’s walleye, bass and trout/salmon crankbaits in action.
Mossy Oak teams up with Compass 360 on an outerwear line
Mossy Oak teams up with Compass 360 on an outerwear line Mossy Oak Elements Agua Available on Compass 360 Outerwear WEST POINT, MS - Mossy Oak teams up with Compass 360 on an outerwear line featuring Mossy Oak Elements Agua, the official pattern of B.A.S.S. and Major League Fishing. Compass 360 products in Elements Agua are immediately available.
Frogg Toggs will outfit14 of the Major League Fishing Select & Cup Pro-Anglers throughout 2019
Frogg Toggs will outfit14 of the Major League Fishing Select & Cup Pro-Anglers throughout 2019 frogg toggs® will be just about everywhere you look in 2019 including a new Outdoor Channel’s Major League Fishing partnership. frogg toggs® will be outfitting 14 of the Major League Fishing Select & Cup Pro-Anglers throughout the 2019 season scheduled to air in January 2019.

Lake Reports

California Delta
California Delta By by AKBASSFISHING » Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:50 pm California Delta 7/19/2018 Water Temp 74 - 76 Visibility 2 – 4 feet Wind 10 - 18 mph A quick report for you guys. Launched at 6 in the morning. A strong Western wind blew. My initial thoughts told me that this would help our bite. Made a short run to our first spot, a large flat with sparse weeds. Initially, I threw a plopper and got a single fish to go. Knowing the fish were in the area, I went back through it with a chatterbait. That was the ticket and the fish liked it. We boated a respectable number of fish, with the biggest pushing around three-pounds. We attempted to follow this pattern, but the wind was getting worse. That said, our Skeeter powered through the rough water like a champ haha. Two thumbs up from me. Seeing conditions deteriorating, I made a decision to hit my secondary areas. I think everyone had the same idea since we all were congregated in protected pockets. The fishing in these areas was far from optimal. The big incoming tide hid all fishable cover, which made finding sweet spots extremely tough. We fished this way until noon with OK results. Nothing over three-pounds and even those fish were hard to come by. Then the wind calmed down. Seeing my opportunity, I attempted to fish some off-shore weedlines. Sure enough, the fish were feeding. Fishing my crankbait over the weeds produced excellent results. Many fish were caught, with the biggest again going just over three pounds. Even had the opportunity to use net on some of the fish. Speaking of net, got the opportunity to prototype a net management system. Its called the NETMAN. Easy to add to your deck, securely holds your net while you run, and easy to remove for landing fish. It’s a nice piece of equipment to have. I'll post pictures of it in my next report. By late afternoon, I was still looking for a better fish. I took out my handy Senko paired with a Tsuyoi Weedless Wacky Hook and went to work. Good numbers, but nothing spectacular. Then I had my chance. I misjudged my cast and the wind took it directly into the tullies. So I ripped it out and told myself to re-tie. With my fast drift, I saw an ideal piece of cover. "One more pitch and then re-tie", I told myself. I made the pitch, and then saw my line steadily moving out of the cover. I reeled down to the fish and set hook. I saw the fish open her mouth and proceed to shake violently. About three seconds of her shaking, my line snapped. I’d say she was a good six or seven-pounder. Lesson learned… always re-tie. Defeated, hot, and tired I made my way back to the launch.
Kelsey Bass Ranch Lake
Kelsey Bass Ranch Lake By Kelsey Bass Ranch Fishing Report Headed out to KBR with some buddies today for some topwater action and some BBQ. Frogs and Toads worked slowly across the grass seemed to get the most bites. High of 96 today with a low of 71. The wind was out of the NW at 10mph. Water Clarity was 2 to 3 feet. Water temp ranged from 78 degrees in the morning to 84 degrees in the afternoon. Barometric pressure was holding at 29.90. The skies were mostly clear with some scattered clouds and light smoke from the wildfires in the mountains to the east. Overall the bite was tougher/slower than we expected but we found a few nice fish. Big Fish of the day went to Brigham Vang of CVKF measuring in at 22". He reports catching it shallow on a topwater road.

From the Blogs

Bass Nation – Delta July 14th & 15th, 2018
Bass Nation – Delta July 14th & 15th, 2018 By Here is my recap on how I stayed in the top of the field during the latest state team qualifier. During practice I knew if I was going to have an edge over the competition I needed to find areas that played into my strengths. The delta is a huge fishery and there are many […]