WON BASS Nitro/Mercury Pro Circuit Headed to Lake Havasu March 19-20

Smallmouth fishing will be great. Question is, will a $10,000 largemouth be found?

The biggest change in the Colorado River lakes in the last decade has been the emergence of smallmouth bass in the fishery, and nowhere is this more evident than at Lake Havasu, next stop on the WON BASS Nitro/Mercury 2010 Pro Circuit.

“It’s going to be a wide open smallmouth spawn, it should be crazy good,” said John Galbraith, who directs the WON BASS Team Tournament circuits along the Colorado River. “Normally if we get a premature warming trend, the smallmouth can come up in late February, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. That means the moon phase and a warming trend in March should really turn it on.”

Galbraith said all the smallmouth caught in his most recent team event on Lake Havasu were all pre-spawn fat smallmouth ripe with eggs.

“The smallmouth come up in waves, and since the spawn will be a little later than normal, the smallmouth spawn will be on right through April,” Galbraith noted. “Big smallies spawn as deep as 8 to 10 feet, smaller fish in 2 to 6 feet.”

Not only will the shallows of Lake Havasu be loaded with smallmouth, but the chance at one of the lake’s big largemouth is very good. Havasu has the biggest largemouth of the river lakes and the WON BASS pro-am record stands at 8.68 pounds.

“Although they usually spawn after the first smallmouth wave, some of the bigger largemouth will come up the same time as the smallmouth, or at least be up and catchable,” noted Galbraith. “We get a lot of the big female largemouth that are up cruising when the smallmouth spawn and fishermen get a lot of them on swimbaits and jerkbaits.”

The odds are pretty long that someone will beat the record 8.68 largemouth, but then again that’s why WON BASS Director Harvey Naslund is willing to put $10,000 on the line. That’s right, if the biggest bass of the tournament beats the WON BASS record, the angler will get a check for $10,000.

That’s in addition to all the great cash awards, prizes from sponsors such as Quantum, Owner, Daiwa, Ardent, Plano and PRADCO that will be handed out and awarded. And the payouts should be considerable, since the fishing is good and everyone is excited about the return of a WON BASS pro event to the Colorado River.

“Everyone’s talking about the WON BASS Havasu tournament, I expect there will be over 100 boats,” said Galbraith. “All the new guys around here are talking about fishing AAA , and all the guys with boats say they are going to fish Pro.”

The Lake Havasu Invitational, while the second on the WON BASS Pro Circuit, is the first in the South Region. The top 30 Pros AAA from the South will compete against the top 30 Pros and AAAs from the north in this fall’s Western Classic — for no additional entry fee.

Entry for the WON BASS Nitro/Mercury Lake Havasu Invitational is just $350 Pro and $100 AAA, with the $100 Pro Option and $50 Big Fish Option open to all competitors. To sign up call Ashley or Sally at (949) 366-0030 ext. 38 or go to www.wonbass.com to get an entry form.


Headquarters for the 2010 WON BASS Mercury/Nitro Lake Havasu Invitational March 19 & 20 will be at the Quality Inn & Suites, 271 South Lake Havasu Ave, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403. For reservations: Call : 928 855 1111 or 800 528 5169

Tournament check-in March 18 will be at the Quality Inn commencing at 12 noon until 5 pm. Pairing of partners to follow.

All boats must be off the water by 2 pm March 18.