Gonna do my very first Tournament!

[Durdy Daug]

Going to Havasu and fish in my very first striper tournament! The Tournament sponsored by WON is next weekend, May 14, & 15 @ Havasu.
My plan is to pre fish the whole area, or as much of it as I can in 3 days, Going to Parker Az. on Tuesday, starting at Bill Williams Arm, hoping to spend most of the day there and then possibly sleep on the boat at anchor. Leave my bait out there with my clicker on as my alarm. I tried to buy Sardines today with no luck, I was able however to buy 15 pounds of Anchovies from Turners, and I am hopeful that there are bait shops close to the river that I can get Sardines from. I'm also going to take 8 dozen night crawlers. Hope that will get me through the entire 5 day trip! Going to try taking pictures of this trip to post on this site.
I have not heard how deep the water is down there, if it is deep enough I will be able to utilize my down rigger, or even troll lead core.

[jaggerbub]

Durdy, I talked t o a friend that just fished site 6 in Havasu. It's next to London Bridge. Says he did pretty good on the cats and striped bass. Lots of boats in the area but the fish cooperated in the early eve. I wouldn't worry too much about the sardines. Anchovies work just fine. 15 lbs and 8 dozens of crawlers??? You planning on opening up a bait shop? Lol. Good luck out there buddy. Sounds like you are ready.

[jaggerbub]

Forgot to mention that he also said guys were slaying the stripers on N. Mesquite near London Bridge as well. He said they made it look really easy this past weekend on anchovies. I haven't fished that area so I couldn't tell you much about it, but that just the Intel I was given. Hope it helps a bit?

[camdozer]

Awesome. I've always wanted to fish in a tournament, good luck!

[Durdy Daug]

Thanks for the info... And just to think that I was bummed when I could find no Sardines! I was able to get lots and lots of anchovies though! I will also try throwing the AC plugs as well as the Deps.

[jaggerbub]

I wouldn't worry about running out of bait up there. There is a big Walmart in Parker and just about every gas station/convenient store sells bait.

[Jhondayang]

Don't forget some spoons and top water spooks in case you see birds fling and diving and then you will yell out "BOIL"! If you see shad, try to get shad.

[Durdy Daug]

Well, as things often turn out in life, I bought all that bait and gear, went down there on Tuesday and spent the night on the lake. I was fishing for striper and cat fish, but only ended up hooking up on 2 LMB, stayed on fishing Wednesday and ventured up the river after spending many of hours in the Bill Williams area attempting to get a cat or 2 to join my team, but no doing. I did not even meter any fish. When I did go up River I found myself in 12 inches of water at various places, lucky I did not get beached!
I did get a case of heat exhaustion though and had to go down for the count for a pretty good period of time. The wind had come up and I took that for an additional bad sign, as I can not seem to catch any fish when the wind is blowing. On Saturday morning I did get out on the lake, and I fished all day with no results! I really did not realize how much I absolutely hated the boat traffic and the crowds!
It may sound really crazy but I actually had a much better trip down in the Blythe area, I was able to hook more fish in 1 day there than 5 days at Havasu...
The heat is comparable in both places, and the river depth was variable as well in both parts of the river. Thinking of either returning to Blythe or else looking for another place to cast a line. I know that the heat is just going to get hotter, so I am looking for a place where the Cat Fish are more plentiful, and where the camping is on the water.

[Durdy Daug]

Well, no, no bait shop, but I did buy 15 pounds of anchovy, and just this morning I bought an additional 20 pounds of anchovies, and the last 2 pounds of sardines that they had. Additionally I bought 9 boxes of 30 count night crawlers. I plan on fishing as much as I possibly can Tuesday about 12:00 till I simply can't stay awake on the river throughout the night as long as it does not get too cold or windy, and then back at it Wednesday and Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I will be in the tournament. I don't know where site 6 at London Bridge is, but I have heard and seen good postings about Bill Williams Arm out or Parker, so I think that that is where I will begin, being that I am starting on a weekday, the pressure should be a lot less.
If you have any more suggestions I will be happy to try them. My boat has a 30 gallon tank, so if I can travel up river from parker to London bridge I will most surely give it a try!