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| Big 19-05lbs daily creel seals the win for Aaron! More information to come. (Photo: BASS) |
IBASSIN is your first choice for all things bass fishing. Tournaments, new lures, articles, interviews and resources centred around bass fishing.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Aaron Martens Wins the BASS Elite Lake Havasu Event with 68-09lbs!
Saturday, May 9, 2015
2015 Bassmaster Elite Lake Havasu Day 2: Cliff Pirch 36-12lbs.
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. - After two days, the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Havasu presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels has turned into a neck-and-neck battle between two home-state pros with a star-studded cast lurking not too far behind.
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| Cliff putting western edge to his advantage. (Photo: Shaye Baker BASS) |
The anglers, who both have a long list of tournament victories on Lake Havasu, will lead the remaining field of 52 into Saturday, as they brace for the lake’s legendary weekend boat traffic.
“The increased boat traffic may hurt me, I just don’t know,” said Pirch, who finished second in a Bassmaster Open on Havasu in 2003. “It’s one of those things where you just hope you can make some adjustments and keep on fishing. It was tough out there today.”
Friday, May 8, 2015
2015 Bassmaster Elite Lake Havasu Day 1: Edwin Evers Leads with 20-07lbs!
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – The wind was blowing hard across Lake
Havasu before daylight Thursday, and it only got worse throughout the
day as it sometimes pushed 30 miles per hour.
But big gusts and even bigger waves weren’t enough to keep the scenic fishery on the California-Arizona border from showing just how far it’s come.
Oklahoma pro Edwin Evers caught five bass that weighed 20 pounds, 7
ounces to take the Day 1 lead in the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Havasu
presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels. He was one of 20 anglers to
bring at least 16-0 to the scales on a day when many elected to fish
close to the launch site instead of making rough journeys along the
Colorado River.
Phoenix, Ariz., pro John Murray was second with 19-8. He was followed by Matthew Herren of Ashville, Ala., with 18-9; Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., with 18-3; and Mike Kernan of Wylie, Tex., with 18-2.
“It was a great day, but I wasn’t really doing anything special,” Evers said. “It’s not like I’ve got one area I can go into and find a big school of fish. I’m going to have to fish new water all week, and hopefully find more fish like I caught today. The fish are out there, but it’s going to be a week of adjustments, for sure.”
A 20-pound bag was once considered virtually impossible on Havasu, but anglers raved Thursday about the lake’s metamorphosis. Murray, who has been fishing Havasu for three decades, said he once enjoyed fishing tournaments on the lake because he knew it wouldn’t take much to win.
He said things are different now.
“I’m fishing techniques I don’t normally fish, actually a technique that I used to win a tournament on this lake 23 years ago,” Murray said. “I’ve been fishing this lake since 1985. Back then, it took about 10 pounds to win here. I’m fishing the same spots now and just catching bigger fish.”
Murray said he believes the size of the bass on Havasu began improving when quagga mussels appeared during the early 1990s.
Quaggas are an invasive Ukrainian species that most believe were accidentally introduced into the lake. The mussels often settle in massive colonies that can block water intakes and affect municipal water supplies, causing billions of dollars in damage.
But Murray said the quaggas actually jumpstarted Havasu’s fish growth.
“Quagga mussels kicked the food chain into high gear,” Murray said. “Divers say the crawdads are all over the bottom, and the redear (sunfish) are growing to world-record size now. Before the quaggas showed up, fish this size just weren’t here.”
While some anglers were bothered by the high winds Thursday, others, like Murray, said it actually helped their cause on a lake as clear as Havasu.
“The wind is why they bite,” Murray said. “If we didn’t have the wind today, it would have been a battle – at least for my stuff. I saw the weather forecast, and I geared my tackle for the wind.”
If the forecast is correct and the wind is much lighter for Friday’s second round, Murray said he might have to use some new tricks to further his success. Tharp and other pros said it isn’t likely to have much effect on their tactics either way.
“I really only saw one other angler doing what I’m doing,” said Tharp, who needed the good day after finishing 61st, 84th and 98th in the first three Elite Series events of the season. “I caught my fish early and then spent most of the day running new water, looking for something I could use the rest of the week. I actually got three bites this afternoon and didn’t set the hook.
“I know it does for some, but I honestly don’t believe the wind makes any difference for what I’m doing.”
The tournament will resume with take-off at 6:15 a.m. Friday from Lake Havasu State Park. Weigh-in is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. back at the park, with only the top 52 anglers advancing to Saturday.
But big gusts and even bigger waves weren’t enough to keep the scenic fishery on the California-Arizona border from showing just how far it’s come.
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| Edwin leads tight pack of pros. (Photo: James Overstreet BASS) |
Phoenix, Ariz., pro John Murray was second with 19-8. He was followed by Matthew Herren of Ashville, Ala., with 18-9; Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., with 18-3; and Mike Kernan of Wylie, Tex., with 18-2.
“It was a great day, but I wasn’t really doing anything special,” Evers said. “It’s not like I’ve got one area I can go into and find a big school of fish. I’m going to have to fish new water all week, and hopefully find more fish like I caught today. The fish are out there, but it’s going to be a week of adjustments, for sure.”
A 20-pound bag was once considered virtually impossible on Havasu, but anglers raved Thursday about the lake’s metamorphosis. Murray, who has been fishing Havasu for three decades, said he once enjoyed fishing tournaments on the lake because he knew it wouldn’t take much to win.
He said things are different now.
“I’m fishing techniques I don’t normally fish, actually a technique that I used to win a tournament on this lake 23 years ago,” Murray said. “I’ve been fishing this lake since 1985. Back then, it took about 10 pounds to win here. I’m fishing the same spots now and just catching bigger fish.”
Murray said he believes the size of the bass on Havasu began improving when quagga mussels appeared during the early 1990s.
Quaggas are an invasive Ukrainian species that most believe were accidentally introduced into the lake. The mussels often settle in massive colonies that can block water intakes and affect municipal water supplies, causing billions of dollars in damage.
But Murray said the quaggas actually jumpstarted Havasu’s fish growth.
“Quagga mussels kicked the food chain into high gear,” Murray said. “Divers say the crawdads are all over the bottom, and the redear (sunfish) are growing to world-record size now. Before the quaggas showed up, fish this size just weren’t here.”
While some anglers were bothered by the high winds Thursday, others, like Murray, said it actually helped their cause on a lake as clear as Havasu.
“The wind is why they bite,” Murray said. “If we didn’t have the wind today, it would have been a battle – at least for my stuff. I saw the weather forecast, and I geared my tackle for the wind.”
If the forecast is correct and the wind is much lighter for Friday’s second round, Murray said he might have to use some new tricks to further his success. Tharp and other pros said it isn’t likely to have much effect on their tactics either way.
“I really only saw one other angler doing what I’m doing,” said Tharp, who needed the good day after finishing 61st, 84th and 98th in the first three Elite Series events of the season. “I caught my fish early and then spent most of the day running new water, looking for something I could use the rest of the week. I actually got three bites this afternoon and didn’t set the hook.
“I know it does for some, but I honestly don’t believe the wind makes any difference for what I’m doing.”
The tournament will resume with take-off at 6:15 a.m. Friday from Lake Havasu State Park. Weigh-in is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. back at the park, with only the top 52 anglers advancing to Saturday.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Avoid 3 Common Ledge Fishing Mistakes with Lunker Hunt pro Michael Neal.
As largemouth bass complete the spawn, they'll slip into deeper water and school in large groups. With clusters of bass living in deep water, anglers and fish will focus on structure. At times, fishing can a fast and furious. Time it incorrectly and expect a lot of frustration.
Here's FLW pro Michael Neal, a ledge fishing expert, as he shares his knowledge with IBASSIN to help anglers avoid common ledge fishing mistakes.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Ray Hanselman Clean Weep of All Three FLW Rayovac Texas Division Events!
Hanselman Trifecta Tops Texoma
by David A. Brown
Originally post @ flwoutdoors.com
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| Third tournament win puts Ray in a league of his own. (Photo: FLW) |
Capping this dominant effort with a 12-pound margin of victory, Hanselman adds another piece of hardware to a now complete collection, also including first-place trophies from this year’s divisional events on Lake Amistad and Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
“This is overwhelming,” Hanselman says. “It’s a dream come true. You just have to put yourself in position to win in every tournament and if everything goes your way you will.
“Everything just fell into place. I didn’t lose any fish.”
Hanselman says his Texoma success came down to a couple of key decisions, the first of which involved leveraging recent weather and its impact on the lake.
Essentially, heavy rains the weekend prior to the tournament had quickly reversed a low-water scenario and pushed Texoma a couple of feet above normal spring pool. This sudden influx of water brought the usual clarity-diminishing inflows that probably frustrated a lot of sight-fishermen.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Justin Lucas Wins 2015 BASS Elite Sacramento River with 82-14lb!
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Turning just 29 years old on Friday, it’s hard to imagine Justin Lucas has accomplished all he’s going to in professional bass fishing.
But wherever he goes from here, it’ll be hard for him to top what he experienced the past four days in the Sacramento Bassmaster Elite at Sacramento River.
“This one’s perfect,” a teary-eyed Lucas said after claiming the $100,000 victory in just his 23rd B.A.S.S. event. “For about 17 years, I’ve been dreaming of doing something like this. It’s cool. It’s just super cool.”
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| Lucas and Team enjoy his first win on the Elites. (Photo: Garrick Dixon BASS) |
Lucas began the week in eighth place with a solid catch of 21-13 Thursday. Then he bullied his way up to third with 25-14 Friday and took the lead with 19-3 during a Saturday round when difficult tidal conditions baffled much of the field.
He made at least a 90-minute run down the Sacramento River to the California Delta each of the first three days and targeted shallow largemouth with a Berkely Havoc Pit Boss in the vampire orange color pattern. He stayed with the same approach Sunday, but made an even longer run to an area he’d been holding in reserve.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
2015 Bassmaster Elite Sacramento River Day 3: Justin Lucas Leads As Weights Sink.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Justin Lucas knows he’s on the verge of something special.
But with the way fish are behaving on the California Delta, he knows he still has plenty of work to do if he’s going to raise the coveted blue trophy and pocket a $100,000 check in front of a crowd filled with his family and friends Sunday afternoon.
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| Lucas still sight fishing as the Delta becomes more difficult. (Photo: James Overstreet BASS) |
Lucas will lead the Top 12 remaining anglers into Sunday’s championship round with a pair of fellow California natives in close contention. Aaron Martens, who like Lucas grew up in California and relocated to Alabama, is in second with 63-14, followed by San Jose, Calif., resident Chris Zaldain with 60-12.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
2015 Bassmaster Elite Sacramento River Day 2: Aaron Martens Take Lead; Iyobe Lands 10 Pounder!
California Angler Continue to Set Pace!
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The West Coast dominance continued during Friday’s second round of the Sacramento Bassmaster Elite at Sacramento River, with four native Californians taking over the top of the standings.
Aaron Martens, who grew up in California and now lives in Alabama, caught five bass Friday that weighed 26 pounds, 9 ounces and took the lead with a two-day mark of 51-4.
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| Aaron Martens take slight lead into weekend. (Photo: James Overstreet BASS) |
The total was just enough to push him past Chris Zaldain, who is 6 ounces back in second with 50-14. After catching 30-7 Thursday, Zaldain added 20-7 Friday to stay within good striking distance of his second career win with B.A.S.S.
Justin Lucas – another California native who now resides in Alabama – is in third with 47-11, and California resident Ish Monroe is fourth with 45-4.
Most anglers near the top of the leaderboard are targeting shallow spawning fish 80 to 100 miles downriver in the California Delta, and they said some are easier to catch than others.
“I caught a 6-pounder right before I left to come back, and I made it back with two minutes to spare,” said Martens, who if late would have been penalized 1 pound per minute. “Some of these fish aren’t really spawning or even guarding fry, they’re just kind of there. The mornings are tough, because it’s been cold.
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