London calling
EverStart day two under way at Havasu
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – It’s arresting to see bass boats trolling around beneath the famed London Bridge in the middle of the desert. The bridge, which was relocated to Lake Havasu in 1971, is as peculiar as the fishing on this unique waterway. Several EverStart Series boats headed toward the bridge at Lake Havasu City Thursday morning for the second half of Western Division opening-round competition, but a good number of anglers also went upriver on the 45-mile reservoir.
The tournament fishing here has proven unique in that so many bass are on the spawning beds right now, but many of the top weights from day one came from anglers avoiding the bedding fish. Many of the shallow-water fish have been fished pretty hard already, and anglers are looking deeper for bigger, more active quarry.
It’s a run-and-gun proposition for anglers on Lake Havasu. On day one, some pros reported marking as many as 60 or 70 fishing spots in their GPS units and visiting a good number of them throughout the day. Many times, they’re finding that the fish are gone or someone else is on the spot. While the field will be cut down to 20 boats Friday and Saturday, look for anglers to stay mobile as the recreational spring-break boat traffic cranks up over the weekend.
“This is nothing,” third-place pro Todd Woods of Murrieta, Calif., said of Wednesday’s lake traffic. “Wait until Friday and Saturday; it’s going to be brutal.”
The top two co-anglers outfished the pros on day one, with the 16-pound, 13-ounce leading stringer belonging to George Diller of Surprise, Ariz. Mike Goodwin of Lake Havasu City led the pros with 15-7.
A lot of limits came across the scale Wednesday, and there’s no reason to expect anything less Thursday. The 20th-place weight on the pro side was 12 pounds, 9 ounces, so look for a cut weight around 20 to 22 pounds. A weight of 8-4 placed 20th for the co-anglers, so their cut weight should settle on 13 or 14 pounds.
Day-two weigh-in festivities begin at 3 p.m. Mountain time at Windsor Park located at 699 London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1795 Kiowa Blvd. in Lake Havasu City beginning at 4 p.m.
The full field is competing for two days to determine the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers who will advance to Friday’s semifinal round based on their two-day accumulated weights. Weights are cleared for the semifinal round, and anglers compete for one day to determine who will advance to Saturday’s final round. Only the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers compete Saturday, and the winner is determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
Thursday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:43 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 67 degrees
Expected high temperature: 95 degrees
Water temperature at the ramp: 63 degrees
Wind: from the west-northwest at 9 mph
Maximum humidity: 13 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny