Leue Lands Co-angler Title
Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – Daniel Leue of Colusa, Calif., was the only co-angler to bring in a five-bass limit on every day of competition this week in the first Rayovac FLW Series Western Division event on Lake Havasu presented by Mercury. Though, that doesn’t mean the second victory of his career came easy. The average quality of fish being caught by his fellow competitors on Havasu meant Leue had to keep his foot on the gas to reach the finish line. And thanks to his 16-pound, 2-ounce limit on the final day (the largest of the tournament by a co-angler) he walked away victorious.
“I’d say the biggest thing this week for me was consistency,” says Leue. “There is a lot of stuff in this lake that can fray your line, and I made sure to check it almost every cast. Lots of guys would break fish off, but by checking my line I avoided that. That’s one of the main reasons why I think I was able to bring in a limit each day.”
Many co-anglers this week used traditional finesse baits like drop-shots and shaky heads. Leue, on the other hand, employed a 3-inch swimbait with a 1/8-ounce jighead thrown on 6-pound-test P-Line fluorocarbon. He notes that a prototype iRod Air spinning rod was very beneficial to his success. It's a 7-foot, 2-inch 2-power rod that's pefect for making long casts and handling big fish.
Leue spent day three with pro champion Joe Uribe Jr. and had the best day of fishing he experienced all week. He put a 13-pound limit in the boat by 9 a.m. and continued to cull throughout the day.
“Today was a lot of fun,” continues Leue. “We caught a lot of fish, and I felt really relaxed after getting my limit early. This just feels amazing to win. It’s what we anglers live for.”
Leue hopes to one day make the transition to the front of the boat, and the Ranger Z117 with a 90-hp outboard that we earned with this win will help get him started.
Top 10 Co-anglers
1st – Daniel Leue – 38 pounds
2nd – Parker Wright – 34 pounds, 11 ounces
3rd – Phil Risnes – 29 pounds, 14 ounces
4th – Rick Grover – 29 pounds, 3 ounces
5th – Stuart Hein II – 22 pounds, 1 ounce
6th – Todd Kline – 19 pounds, 7 ounces
7th – Quincy Washington – 19 pounds, 5 ounces
8th – Jordan Pinasco – 17 pounds, 5 ounces
9th – Kevin Smith – 16 pounds, 15 ounces
10th – Carl Nelson – 16 pounds, 6 ounces