The Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) Lucas Oil Western Classic presented by the City of Henderson returns to Lake Mead for their 2nd annual year-end invitational event Sept. 8 – 10, 2017.
Once again chosen as the site of the season-ending Championship, Lake Mead is aptly described as the “fairest tournament lake in the entire western United States” by WWBT co-founder Gary Dobyns.
Again choosing Mead, because it doesn’t favor any one technique or style of fishing, Dobyns advised that experience on the fishery wasn’t necessary as this lake could grant the victory to “any angler, fishing anything that they wanted to fish” .
Dobyns’ sentiments were proven true at the inaugural event last year when Mead newbie, Bryant Smith of Castro Valley, Calif. traveled to the desert lake for the first time in his bass fishing career and walked away with the 2016 WWBT Championship trophy.
Not many would have put their money on a “Delta/Clear Lake guy” to come in green to Mead, catch only two keepers in practice and walk away the champion; but that is how it happened.
“I caught one fish about two hours into the first day of practice and never caught another keeper until the last hour of the final day of practice and that was it,” confirmed Smith. “But, I paid attention to those bites and put together a pattern, mostly off that last bite. I took that into the tournament the next day. I kept it going as many places as I could find, fishing hard and covering water.”
Although he was intimidated by his lack of experience on the vast body of water, Smith thinks it may have been a benefit.
WWBT Pre Event Angler Seminars Wednesday, September 6
“It made me have an open mind to keep trying different things, especially when basically everything I tried, didn’t work,” he explained. “I knew I wasn’t going to get a lot of bites, so having a tough mental attitude about being there, when I wasn’t doing well in practice, also helped.”
Smith again qualified for the Championship and expect another super-tough event.
“You have to really, really focus on each bite you get in practice, because you’re not going to get many and the few that you do get are going to tell you a lot,” he said. “It is such a great pattern lake, it only takes a few bites to really dial you into what the fish are doing. The other thing that is important there is make sure that you don’t get locked into one area. You have to keep fishing new water and fish a lot of it.”
Smith hasn’t been back to Mead since the win; but is looking forward to his return and defending his championship next week.
“To this day, I have spent six days on the lake total in my life (three for practice last year and three for the tournament last year),” he said. “I still feel very unfamiliar with the lake; but I have more confidence than last year.”
Knowing that Smith’s first time on the lake and only a pair of keepers in practice resulted in a near wire-to-wire victory and a payday of nearly $67 thousand, should give all competing anglers the confidence of a potential first-place finish at Mead, regardless of their own experience.
Smith and the rest of the competition field plan to will blast off daily for the three-day event to compete for the 2017 WWBT Championship title for both a pro and co-angler fishing for their own individual five-fish limits.
In addition to the 100 percent payback of the WWBT, the title of the 2017 WWBT Classic crowns, and two Ranger Boats/Evinrude Outboard prize packages will be up for grabs
Fans can follow the action, with live daily weigh-ins at Callville Bay Marina or at the WWBT website. Ranger Boat demo rides will be available throughout the event.
A special thanks to all of the 2017 WWBT sponsors – Lucas Oil, Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Lowrance Electronics, Dobyns Rods, General Tire, Protect the Harvest, Gator Guards, P-Line, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Power-Pole, Industrial Decals, Hydro Force Marine, Super Clean and E3 Spark Plugs.
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Offering professional-level competition throughout the west, the Wild West Bass Trail provides its anglers the opportunity to further develop and advance their fishing careers. Additionally, the WWBT offers its corporate partners the opportunity to expand sales through comprehensive national and regional television coverage, exclusive on-the-water demonstrations and various tournament incentive programs.
In 2017, the WWBT will conduct 16 events that include a Pro/Am circuit and two Teams circuits – one based in California and the other in Arizona. The Pro/Am circuit consists of five tournaments throughout California and Arizona and a year-end qualifying championship event. Each Teams circuit includes four tournaments and a year-end championship. For more information visit WildWestBassTrail.com.
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