U.S.
Open
by Dan O’Sullivan
Each year the Western United States has one major
event that has served as our premier event.
For 31 years, the U.S. Open has given our region something that the rest
of the country has paid attention to.
Sure, our region introduced major finesse tactics and swimbaits to the
industry, but the U.S. Open has given the industry a tournament to watch.
This year was no different, and while the world got
to follow it more closely with the live coverage presented by Costa, they got
to see how interesting the event can be.
This year's U.S. Open presented the bass fishing world with some
components and happenings that showed why the U.S. Open is unique.
The
Venue
Lake Mead is one of those places
that you either love -or you hate. It can
be one of the toughest fisheries in the world, and anglers are never quite sure
what they are going to get from this Colorado River impoundment. This year, the 142 pro and their AAA anglers
were confronted by severe weather changes.
During
practice, the field dealt with the usual desert heat and dry conditions, but as
the event began, clouds formed on the horizon and rains peered the area. Temperatures dropped slightly, but it wasn't
enough to change the temperature of the lake much, so it created interesting
fishing conditions.
As bass
anglers, we learn that clouds, wind and rain stir up baitfish, and the bass
follow. That didn't happen on the first
two days at this year's U.S. Open. While
a great deal of the field made adjustments to typical reaction presentations
that would dominate in those conditions, the response was sketchy.
What we
learned on day two was that the air temperatures had not dropped enough to
affect the water temperatures much at all, so it did not have the effect of
moving the bass anywhere. Anglers like
Joe Uribe Jr. made the adjustment back to deep fish, and moved way up the
leaderboard.
Lake Mead
has a way of keeping anglers guessing, and this year as no different.
Opportunity
to Shine
The U.S. Open has been responsible
for jumpstarting the careers of many anglers.
In the past, anglers like Rich Tauber, Byron Velvick,
John Murray and others have come to prominence by winning this event. While it used to have much more appeal to the
touring pros, as it used to be the only tournament paying out $100,000 to the
winner, the U.S. open still draws Nationally known competitors.
Rick Clunn
was in the field once again, as were the anglers mentioned above. Aaron Martens, Clifford Pirch, Brett Hite, Morizo
Shimizu, Randy Blaukat and Kevin Stewart were all
National pros that fished this year.
match them with some of the best anglers from our region, and the
opportunity to shine was certainly present.
The one who shined most this year was the winner;
Rusty Brown, a guide from Tustin, Calif.
Brown showed how much consistency matters in a U.S. Open. The angler who is able to string together
three days of solid weights is the one who has the best chance to win, and
Brown did precisely that. Brown's 30.32
pounds was posted by him bringing consistent 10-pound limits to the scales, and
he earned his trophy.
It was not the most dramatic way to win, but it is
usually what gets it done at the U.S. Open.
U.S.
Open Moments
While Brown will go down as the
Champion, there are two moments that will always be the most vivid memories of
this year's U.S. Open for me. The first will
be the sportsmanship displayed by Vacaville, Calif. pro Billy Hines, who was
fishing his first U.S. Open.
During
practice, Hines was working on his tackle for the next day, and had an accident
where his foot slipped on his fender, and he fell to the ground, landing on his
back. He spent the next 36 hours in his
motor home, on the bed hoping to recover enough to compete. When it became clear that he wasn't going to
be able to do so, Hines called tournament director Billy Egan and forfeited his
entry fee so that a AAA who had wanted to fish as a pro, but whose sponsors
couldn't pay at the last minute, could step up and compete.
It was an
act of unselfishness and sportsmanship that truly stood out amongst the field
of competitors.
Then, the
memory from the competition itself that jumped out at me has to be the final
day charge of Pirch.
A two-time U.S. Open champion, Pirch was in
43rd place after day two of the event, and brought 15.87 pounds to the scales
on the final day to almost win the event.
Not only did he catch the biggest bag of the event, but that limit
included a 5.20 pound largemouth; which was the big bass for the tournament as well.
While the
performance itself was impressive, doing it during a U.S. Open is even more
so. I talked to as many Western bass
fishing people as I could following the event; including people at WON bass,
and none of them can remember a bag that big being weighed in during the U.S.
Open. It truly was an impressive
performance, by an angler that has shown that the U.S. Open is an event he
intends to keep his name associated with.
In
Conclusion
I have to commend Egan, and his
staff for the way they run the event. It
is a reminder of our glory days as a region when Pro/ Ams were truly events,
and anglers looked forward to signing up for them. I also want to commend Bob Twilegar for his
commitment to continue making the U.S. Open a grand event. the amount of prizes and cash he commits to
the U.S. open is staggering. Chuck Buhagiar and his sales team are instrumental
in making sure those cash and prizes are made available, from the Nitro /
Mercury prize boat, to every sample at Sponsor Row, the anglers benefit.
Finally,
to be able to be a part of bringing the U.S. Open live to the fans is an honor
to me. To work with Mark Jeffreys and Dave Rush from BASS ZONE is something I always
enjoy, and to be able to help present this event to the world is an honor. If it wasn't for Costa last year, and former
WON salesman Mike Bohn, who was able to convince Costa that it was going to be
a great event, we wouldn't have been able to be a part of it.
I'm proud
to be able to do it, and proud that so many people get to see what a spectacle
the U.S. open is, and has always been.
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