Rocky start on Roosevelt

Post-frontal conditions will challenge Stren Series anglers

PAYSON, Ariz. – Nature’s frequent give-and-take protocol will come to bear on Stren Western Division anglers competing on the Salt River impoundment known as Lake Roosevelt.

A day before the event, a cold front slid into the area, knocked the mercury down several notches and even dropped brief snow flurries. Excessive winds preceding the front stirred the lake and decreased visibility. California pro Matt Newman said he was on a good reaction bite during practice, but that deal fizzled when the weather changed.

Fortunately, the week’s forecast shows conditions headed in the right direction with winds remaining light to moderate and plenty of sunshine warming the days. Those who make Friday’s top-10 cut will probably enjoy the tournament’s best conditions on Saturday.

Lake Roosevelt currently holds a mix of pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn fish. Prior the recent cold front, anglers had found big fish in the shallows. However, the cold put the procreation thing on hold and sent the big gals back to their offshore staging areas.

Tournament director Chris Jones noted that during the day before the tournament anglers reported seeing some males coming back to the banks. The heavier females, however, will require sustained warmth before making their move.

The key element working in the favor of Stren anglers is Roosevelt’s record-high water level. An active rainy season sent heavy flows surging in from the Tonto River (north end), Salt River (south) and several lesser streams. (The last row of parking spaces at the Cholla Recreation Site currently are under water.) This has pushed the lake far into shoreline vegetation, thereby offering new cover and feeding opportunities amid the mesquite, salt cedar and willows.

Rich Smith of Kelseyville, Calif. will spend a lot of his day flipping this hard structure with a Zoom Super Hog. The cold snap has its downside, he said, but the fish’s response may create other opportunities.

“Hopefully, in some of the areas where we were getting one or two bites in practice, they might be packed in there and schooled up (today),” Smith said. “I’m just going to run and gun. It seems like on this lake you’ll get four or five good bites on a spot and then that’s it, so you have to move and move and move.

“I have 40-45 GPS spots from seven days of practice so we’re just going to run and find one that’s productive. Once we find (such a spot), we might just make a milk run when we find out what is productive today.”

Anglers are likely to try a variety of tactics from cranking, to jigging, to Carolina rigging. Newman said he’s hoping his reaction bite will return

“In practice, I was making the shortest casts possible so I didn’t waste time,” Newman said. “I was reeling fast with a (high speed reel) and yanking the rod to move the baits as fast as humanly possible. That’s when I was getting my best bites.”

Lake Roosevelt has plenty of trophy bass with many in the double digits. The lake’s slot limit allows anglers to keep one fish between 13 and 16 inches. The others in a 5-fish limit must be over 12 inches or over 16 inches (with mouth closed and tail pinched).

Smith’s co-angler is Aaron Reitz, an accomplished finesse fisherman from Soda Bay, Calif. Reitz, who is rarely seen without his trusty drop shot rig with a Robo Worm in the Margarita Mutilator color. Reitz said a healthy dose of persistence will go a long way on Lake Roosevelt.

“It’s going to be tough out there, but you just have to grind it out,” he said. “I think local knowledge will play a big role, but there are so many ways to catch the fish (on this lake). With the slot limit, you’re going for (fish over 16 inches). You can catch a bunch of slot size fish, but the 16’s are tough to come by, but they can be caught.”

Weights will likely start off light, with 15-17 pounds being competitive for day one. As the weather improves, anglers should find their way to bigger sacks and a few will probably break the 20-pound mark.

Logistics

Anglers will take off from Cholla Recreation Site located five miles northwest of the Roosevelt Dam on Hwy. 188 in Roosevelt, Ariz. at 6:30 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins also will be held at Cholla Recreation Site beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 300 North Beeline Hwy. in Payson, Ariz. beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The Lake Roosevelt Stren Series tournament is hosted by the Town of Payson. The entire field competes for the first two days of Stren Series events. The top 10 professionals and co-anglers continue competition on day three, and the winner in each division is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all three days.

Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a 198VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $7,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.

Co-anglers will cast for a top award of a 177TR Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and trailer. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $2,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.

Wednesday’s conditions

Sunrise: 5:53 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 36 degrees

Expected high temperature: 53 degrees

Water temperature: 61-64 degrees

Wind: SW to W at 10-15 mph

Humidity: 25 percent

Day’s outlook: mix of sun and clouds