Quick Bites: FLW Series Western, Lake Havasu, Day 4

Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division

Lake Havasu, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Final round, Saturday

Home sweet home … Mike Goodwin called his victory Saturday a “life-changing” win, but in fact his life – or his fishing career, at least – actually changed the day that FLW Outdoors decided to bring its four-day events out West in 2004 and, specifically, to Lake Havasu. He won that first one here on his home lake, the second-ever Stren Series Western event, and now he’s won the latest one, a much more lucrative FLW Series Western tournament. Around here, Goodwin’s known as “The Dominator,” a moniker he embodied wholeheartedly as he led the event wire to wire. While he’s basking in his big win at Havasu, he knows he’ll have his work cut for him as the Series makes its way north into California and Washington this season. “These are some of the best fishermen in the world,” Goodwin said. “Every one of these guys who gets to fish at home, they’re double-tough.”

Hooah! for Phua … While Goodwin won, his friend, second-place Mike Phua (pronounced “poo-ah”), actually outfished him Saturday and made a pretty good run at the title. Goodwin’s two-fish catch weighed 5-13, but Phua’s four-bass effort weighed 8-5. Still, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Phua or any of the finalists, for that matter. Like many, Phua had stories of the ones that got away Saturday. “Today was a tough day,” he said. “I caught all of my fish on water that I never fished all week. I had two in the livewell at 10:30, and then I didn’t get my next two until late in the day. Everybody loses fish, but you just can’t lose them in the big show.”

The siren of Lake Havasu … Phil Strader also lost a fair number of fish Saturday and lost the footrace to the finish line to Goodwin, but he gave credit to Debbie Blanchard, his camera-boat driver, for the two bass he did catch. Having a tough go of it in the morning, Strader asked Blanchard, a Lake Havasu City pro, to sing him a lucky song. She did, and he caught his first bass. Strader then proceeded to dump four more good fish throughout the day, so he asked Blanchard later that afternoon to sing him another lucky song. She did, and he landed his second and final fish. “Why I waited until 2:30 to have her sing me another song, I don’t know,” Strader said. “She sounded pretty good.”

Quick numbers

116,500: Amount, in dollars, of the difference between Mike Goodwin’s last winner’s check on Lake Havasu and this one. He earned $8,500 for his Stren Series win here in 2004 and $125,000 in FLW Series action this week, which included the $25,000 Ranger Boats contingency bonus.

9-7: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of Saturday’s heaviest catch. Caught by Randy McAbee, it was the only limit of the day and propelled him into a fourth-place finish.

Sound bites

“I had several calls in the middle of the night from some Lake Havasu locals. I wouldn’t call them threats, but they did suggest that I go easy on Mike.”

– Phil Strader, who came into the day tied with Goodwin for the lead.

“These fish out here have some issues. They come up to the boat and they’ll slap at the jerkbait. Then they’ll slap it again and slap it again, but they just don’t want to commit.”

– Ninth-place pro Chris Zaldain on the extremely tricky bass bite at Lake Havasu this week. He caught just one fish Saturday.

“The fish are just kind of goofy right now. They’re not committing to anything, and it’s hard to get them in the boat. So I’m really happy with what I had.”

– Seventh-place Brent Ehrler, echoing the same sentiment.

“I don’t really have a weakness. If I do, it’s with a spinning rod , which is what I threw in this tournament.”

– Gary Dobyns, who finished eighth. For the record, Dobyns now has a 54-percent career top-10 success rate in FLW Outdoors tournaments.

“I think I’ll just pay off my truck. I’d need to win about seven or eight of these things to pay off my house. I’m from Southern California, which is sort of a high-rent district.”

– Mike Phua, on his winnings this week. He took home over $48,000 Saturday.

“Go early and stay late.”

– Jay Yelas’ key piece of advice for aspiring young anglers.