Peoria, Ariz. – The third stop on the Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) Arizona Teams division took place on Lake Pleasant this past weekend, drawing 150 anglers to the event.
The father-son team of Kevin and Michael Caruso overcame the field with a winning weight of 20.18 for their best seven bass.
“We really just relied on the worm,” said Michael. “A lot of guys were chasing the reaction bite with swimbaits and topwater; but we just stuck to the worm bite that my dad found in practice.”
Even though they felt the conditions weren’t ideal for worm fishing, they both kicked off the day with a dropshot. Within the first 10 minutes, they had their biggest fish in the box. In the first hour, they had filled out their limit. This gave them confidence and they stuck to their Roboworm presentation, continuing to land fish all day.
“We probably caught 40 keepers,” he said. “We sight fished a couple; but mostly, we got them deeper than most guys were targeting.”
He noted they were primarily focused on pre spawn fish in 15- to 25-ft. Their dropshot rigs were presented with a ¼ -oz weight, using a 6-inch Margarita Mutilator and a 4-inch in Peoples.
“We just kept worm fishing and culled out eight or nine times during the day,” he said.
Kevin resides in Glendale, Ariz. and Michael in Peoria. The father-son duo have has been competitively fishing together since 1999. They have a long history on Pleasant, winning the first event that they entered on the lake as well as this most recent one.
This finish puts them in 4th place in the Year-to-Date standings for Arizona Teams and earned them $6,150, which included a total of $750 contingency dollars from P-Line, Lowrance and Yamamoto.
They plan to parlay their winnings into future fishing events.
2nd – Blauvelt/Copeland
With 18.80, Jason Blauvelt of Peoria and Anthony Copeland from Phoenix climbed into the runner-up position.
Blauvelt, a fishing guide, credited their local knowledge and a complete finesse approach to their finish. Their morning began in the backend of Humbug, concentrating on a shad spawn.
“There were isolated fish hanging out on the trees and there were others moving in with the shad,” said Blauvelt.
They flipped the trees in the cove with a 5-inch, watermelon Yamamoto Senko.
“It was rigged Texas-style, so that I could get in between the branches and dead stick it inside the tree,” he added.
When this bite tapered off, they went to a dropshot rigged with a green pumpkin/purple Roboworm, a 6-inch leader and a 3/16-oz weight.
“I threw the dropshot at the same trees as I did the Senko, but was flippin’ it at their base,” Blauvelt revealed.
The targeted trees were in a depth that ranged from 2- to 10-ft.
The last few hours of the day, the team moved to the main lake and again dropshotted a Robo rig in 20- to 40-ft of water to pick up a few more fish. Their leader was increased to 15-inches and the Robo was changed to a 4-inch Morning Dawn.
Over the course of the day, the team caught 15 to 20 fish. Their biggest bites hit in the morning on a Senko.
Blauvelt and Copeland have been fishing as teammates since 2004. They earned $3,100 in this event.
The WWBT total payout for this event was $24,300 and included the following contingency dollars:
$500 Yamamoto Toad of the Day to Slaton/Salazar (10th) for their 5.88 big bass
$500 Run and Win with Lucas Oil to Lawrence/Miller (8th)
$500 Evinrude to Shull/Au (4th)
$300 Evinrude to Patti/Brown (15th)
$200 Evinrude to Hawk/White (37th)
The WWBT continues the Arizona Teams division with their next stop at Havasu on May 14.
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.
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 and E3 Spark Plugs.
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