PHOTO BY SEAN OSTRUSZKA |
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1 . TOYOTA SERIES PRESENTED BY A . R . E . WESTERN DIVISION Lake Havasu September 23 – 25
Andrew Loberg is quickly making a name for himself as one of the best young anglers in the sport , evidenced by his back-to-back Toyota Series Western Division wins on the California Delta in early August and at Lake Havasu in late September .
In the latter win , Loberg had to really work for his bites , as Havasu was fishing stingy amid blazing heat and fluctuating water levels . He opted to settle down in a grassy quarter-mile stretch at the northern end of the lake .
Loberg relied on a Rapala DT16 throughout the tournament and on the final day , he put the largest bag of the tournament on the scale ( 21-11 ) for the win and a $ 24,119 payday .
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2 . PHOENIX BASS FISHING LEAGUE PRESENTED BY T-H MARINE REGION 1 REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Norfork Lake October 7 – 9
While Brad Kell had been to Norfork Lake in the past , those previous trips had been for chasing trout or half-day bass fishing excursions . In order to string together enough quality to win a three-day tournament , he needed to make some decisions on the fly .
One of those decisions involved eschewing the topwater bite on his second day of practice for brush piles , and that choice paid off to the tune of a couple mega-schools that produced 15 keepers over three days for a 34-pound , 15-ounce total that earned him $ 60,000 in cash and prizes .
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Kell targeted his fish in 13 to 22 feet of water with Strike King 6XDs and 10XDs as well as a spinnerbait , jig and a 5-inch swimbait .
Despite “ culling the wrong fish twice ” on the final day , Kell managed to replace the 1-7 that was in his livewell with a 2 1 / 2-pounder that ended up giving him enough weight to edge out Connor Cunningham by about 2 1 / 2 pounds .
3 . PHOENIX BASS FISHING LEAGUE PRESENTED BY T-H MARINE REGION 2 REGIONAL Wheeler Lake October 7 – 9
Tyler Smith used a two-pronged approach to tally 43 pounds and clinch the Regional win at Wheeler Lake . With just a couple days to practice and very limited experience on Wheeler , Smith decided to stay
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upriver all tournament and take his chances . Instead , he ultimately made a run further south when the water color in his area turned muddy after some heavy rains .
There , Smith fished some “ obvious stuff ” until he found a shell bed on a ledge that appeared to be holding some quality fish . He went on to add some quality to his livewell on that shell bed ( which sat in about 12 feet of water ) on Day 1 and proceeded to milk that area throughout the event , running upriver later on Days 2 and 3 before returning to his honey hole on the final day to catch what would ultimately be the winning fish .
Smith weighed in a healthy mix of smallmouth , largemouth and spots , and though he only managed to land four keepers on Day 1 , consecutive limits on the final two days were enough to clinch the victory and the $ 60,000 top prize by 3 pounds , 10 ounces .
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