LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – The Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) wrapped up its Add-A-Wrap Industrial Decals “Hold Up on Havasu” Pro/Am this past weekend, paying out over $100,000 to the 200 anglers competing in the event.
A shallow, stained backwater area held the majority of winning fish for the Havasu champion Kevin Hugo of Chino, Calif. Hugo’s tournament total weighed in at 38.47.
“The number one key to catching fish was the warmer, colored water in my area; everything else was crystal clear on the main lake,” said Hugo. “The temperature where I was fishing was 60 degrees.”
Over the course of both game days, all but one of Hugo’s weigh fish came from 0- to 5-ft in the same area. He suspected most of his catches were pre spawn. The single fish that he found away from his backwater was a 4 ½-lb largie on a bed at Sandpoint Marina.
“I had my limit by 9 a.m. on day one and left to save some fish for the next day,” revealed Hugo. “That was when I got that largemouth and it culled out a 2 lb’r; so that was pretty crucial. The last day, I got a limit and stayed until about 1:30 p.m., then the water started dropping and I was afraid that I might not be able to get out.”
The majority of his bites came on a Texas-rigged, green pumpkin Yamamoto Senko and a green pumpkin Missile Baits D Bomb on a flippin’ hook with a 3/8-oz tungsten, pegged sinker.
“The wind blew for about 10 or 15 minutes and my intuition told me to pick up a spinnerbait,” he recalled. “I only threw it for those few minutes; but I got one on it and it was the biggest of the day.
The spinnerbait he employed was a ½-oz double-willow, purple shad War Eagle and his bed fish from the marina hit a dropshot with an oxblood Roboworm.
Hugo fished his way to top-spot earning $15,750 which included contingency dollars of $250 Lowrance, $250 P-Line and $250 Yamamoto. He plans to put the money towards a new boat.
2nd – Shane Moline
Leading the locals on the leaderboard wit 36.53, was Shane Moline from Kingman, Ariz. Moline credited 20 years of experience on the fishery and a productive crankin’ pattern for his success.
“Most of my weight came from throwin’ a crankbait on submerged trees,” he said. “I did catch a couple on beds, but the crankbait was my main thing.”
Moline alternated between two locations – one area with bed fish and one “really good” crankin’ spot. “It was ledge that went from about 3-ft and dropped to 10-ft and there was trees scattered on that ledge,” described Moline. “The key was puttin’ that crankbait in those trees.”
He noted the importance of the jet-ski race on day one. “It caused a lot of wake action in my area, which really turned the fish on,” he said. “On day two, it was super-slick and it was hard to catch ‘em. I really had to rip the bait up out of the wood to get them to eat it.”
Moline threw a shad-colored, mid-diving Strike King crankbait. It was responsible for his biggest, a 5.42. He tempted the bed bass with two offerings – a Bass Pro Shops Speed Shad and a Canyon Plastics Gitzit in daiquiri. He added chartreuse to the Gitzit.
Moline made $8,000 payout for his fish.
3rd – Justin Kerr
Lake Havasu City local, Justin Kerr also felt his experience on the lake gave him an edge. Kerr claimed third place with 34.58.
Kerr had a two-part plan, with separate strategies for morning and afternoon. “I would start out smallmouth finesse fishing with light line, worms and jigs,” he explained. “When the sun got high, I would go flippin’ for largemouth in the river. The main lake was too clear to flip; but the river was stained, so that’s why I chose it.”
Timing was of utmost importance to Kerr. “I didn’t have the timing dialed in as well on day one,” he said. “I got it figured out for day two. I caught seven keepers the first day and probably 25 the last day. I needed one more day.”
Kerr used two different jigs with a Yamamoto Craw trailer – a hand-tied, brown and green Evergreen finesse jig and a brown custom Gibbs jigs. The finesse jig was a ¼-oz and the flippin’ jig was ½-oz.
Kerr claimed $5,500 for the weekend on the water.
1st Co – Jason Akins
Topping the co-angler side was Jason Akins, of Apple Valley, Calif. with 22.20. He led the pack by more than two-pounds.
Akins put all his bass in the box using a dropshot. “I had six rods on the boat, but I only used my drophot rod for the whole two days,” he said. “The worm that I was using had been producing a lot of bites and it gave me all the confidence that I needed to keep on using it.”
His dropshot was rigged with a shad-colored, 4 ½ inch custom-pour worm and a 3/16 oz weight.
“I was throwing out to the manmade structure and caught a lot of fish from the cages,” said Akins. “The first day, I got a couple bed fish that were out deeper; but by day two, all the beds were dry. So, I was just throwing out there lookin’ for pre spawners (the heavier fish). I had to fish super, super-slow. A lot of the guys were shaking the worm. I didn’t find that to be working. I had to do more a drag.”
Akins pocketed $6,250 with contingency dollars of $250 Yamamoto, $250 P-Line and $250 Lowrance.
The Run and Win with Lucas contingency program paid $500 each to Marty Lawrence, Sunny Hawk and Ramiro Flores.
The Yamamoto Toad of the Day honors and $500 went to Kevin Finley and John Helm, for the biggest bass on their respective sides.
Evinrude contingencies paid Bill Brown $5,000, Jimmy Savoini $3,000 and Ben Foster $2,000.
Full results are available at the WWBT website.
The WWBT Add-A-Wrap Industrial Decals “Hold Up on Havasu” Pro/Am was hosted by the Lake Havasu City Convention and Visitors Bureau. The event will be televised on Fox Sports and the Pursuit Channel, airing in 2017.
The WWBT debuted in 2016 with 17 events that include two Pro/Am and two Teams circuits – one based in California and the other in Arizona. Each Pro/Am circuit consists of three tournaments and a combined, year-end qualifying championship event. The Teams circuit includes four tournaments and a year-end championship. The WWBT will conclude the Arizona Pro/Am circuit with its final stop at Roosevelt Lake on March 19.
A special thanks to all of the WWBT sponsors – Lucas Oil, Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Lowrance Electronics, Dobyns Rods, General Tire, Add-A-Wrap, Protect the Harvest, Gator Guards, P-Line, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Power-Pole, Industrial Decals, Hydro Force Marine, Super Clean, E3 Spark Plugs.
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