The Rayovac FLW Series is headed to Lake Havasu Feb. 5-7 for a tournament presented by Mercury Marine when as many as 300 pros and co-anglers will take to the water for the first stop of 2015 in the Western Division. “The lake is fishing really good right now, and there should be a really good bite for this tournament,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Jimmy Reese of Witter Springs, California, who has 20 top-10 finishes on Western fisheries in FLW competition.
“This is a tournament where you could have 10 different rods on the front of your boat deck,” Reese continued. “Anglers are going to have three main options to choose to fish. They can choose to fish the backwater ponds and sloughs up the Colorado River. They can fish the main lake and target the man-made structure and wood. Or, they can run down the river and fish in the deep water, coves, pockets and target the rocks and points.
“Shallow-diving crankbaits, pitching and flipping tubes and jigs, spinnerbaits and Yamamoto Senkos will all be popular baits on the river,” said Reese. “Guys fishing the main lake will be drop-shotting RoboWorms, throwing Frenzy Baits Umbrella Rigs, ripping jerkbaits and fishing Carolina rigs.”
Reese said that the winning angler would most likely have a few different patterns and areas each day, and that adapting to the conditions would be the key to winning the tournament.
“The weather will have a lot to do with it,” Reese said. “Water levels are down about a foot right now, but that could change overnight. The biggest factor in this tournament will be the wind. I predict that it will take right around 60 pounds to win this tournament.”
Anglers will take off from the Windsor Beach boat ramps at Lake Havasu State Park located at 699 London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, at 7 a.m. MST each day. Weigh-in will be held daily at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public. The event is being hosted by the Lake Havasu City Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Pros will fish for a top award of $40,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2015 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 29-31 on the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Rayovac FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.