One’s enough
Au holds on for co-angler win
PAYSON, Ariz. – Around noon, Tucson co-angler Vu Au wasn’t feeling very good about his position in the Stren Series Western Division event on Lake Roosevelt. Five hours later he felt just fine when he lifted the first-place trophy over his head.
Flipping tubes and Texas-rigged Sweet Beavers did the trick on days one and two, but the final round required a change. When the down baits failed to produce, Au tied on a Dean Rojas model Spro frog
and started working it in pockets within the shoreline brush. One of those casts drew the ire of a lone largemouth that went 1 pound, 8 ounces and gave him enough weight to win.
Paired with pro winner Roy Hawk, Au’s opportunities were few and far between: “I was fishing behind a vacuum cleaner today. (Hawk) is an amazing fisherman. I had the honor of fishing with him today.”
Au’s catch was the second-smallest of the final round, but a huge first-day limit of 16-5 gave him enough momentum to top his division all three days of the tournament to win a Ranger boat and trailer.
In the second round, Au caught a pair of keepers that went 5-13.
On day one, Au fished with Don McBride, who placed second in the opening round with 15-14. “I had a good pro who was on something big, and I stayed in the back of the boat and did what I do well, which is flipping.”
Desmangles struggles, ends up second
Roy Desmangles Jr. of Lincoln, Calif., also caught only one fish in the final round, his weighing 1 pound, 12 ounces. Weights of 9-7 and 11-8 on days one and two put him in second place with 22-11 worth $3,391. Desmangles caught his final-round fish on a custom-painted Tater Hog shallow-diving crankbait.
Desmangles caught a limit on day two, but barely missed it on day one. That, he said, hurt him in the long run.
“Fishing was very tough today, even though I did all the right things. I came up short with just four fish on day one. Vu just had a tremendous day one. When a guy goes out there like that, he’s had a special time.”
Thiel moves up three spots to third
George Thiel of Banning, Calif., had the biggest final-round performance of any co-angler. He caught 
four bass weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce and ended with a tournament total of 21-11 worth $2,543. He caught his fish by drop-shotting 9-inch hand-poured worms in ox blood color and Aaron’s Magic Roboworms.
Best of the rest
Keith Adams of McKinleyville, Calif., was fourth with 20-11 worth $2,120, followed by Michael Tafoya of La Plata, N.M., in fifth with 19-5 worth $1,908.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finishers at the Stren Series Lake Roosevelt event:
6th: Derek Stewart of Venice, Calif., 19-0
7th: Mike Crothers of Chandler, Ariz., 18-8
8th: Eric Norlin of Norco, Calif., 17-6
9th: Britt Brittain of Cupertino, Calif., 17-4
10th: Chad LeBlanc of Sutter, Calif., 17-1