ProTourNews Week Of January 24, 2005 (BASS Tour-Toho / EverStart Tour-Havasu)
Breaking News-Takahiro Holds On To Win The BASS Tour Stop At Lake Toho, Florida.  Details Coming.
1/29/05 Omori Still The Man At Toho-Fishing got even tougher today as bright sun, high winds and overcast skies showed themselves during different periods of the day.  BassMaster Classic Champion, Takahiro Omori continued with his "secret crank bait pattern," bringing another limit to the scales that weighed 11-05 giving him a total of 42-10.  Omori leads second place angler David Walker (37-00) by five pounds five ounces.

Fishing was really off today for most anglers, although Omori seemed to just roll with the changes.  Big fish of the day was a 6-01 brute caught my Angler Of The Year for 2004, Gerald Swindle.  The final twelve have been trimmed to the final 6 for tomorrow's championship finals.

  • 1.Takahiro Omori Emory, Texas   14    42-10 

  • 2. David Walker Sevierville, Tenn. 15  37-00

  • 3. Gerald Swindle  Hayden, Alabama     15   33-10

  • 4. Ron Shuffield  Bismarck, Arkansas  15  33-10 

  • 5. Jeff Reynolds  Platter, Oklahoma  14   33-04

  • 6. Terry Scroggins Palatka, Fla. 13   32-14
1/29/05-C.Meyer-On Fire-About the toughest fishing conditions you can find are those at Lake Havasu, Arizona in the Winter.  The Lake has plenty of hefty Largemouth and Smallmouth bass, but they don't bite very well during the Winter.  San Diego angler, Clayton Meyer figured them out this week.  Fishing a jig on long points South of Havasu City, Meyer was the only angler to catch 4 limits all week.  Today, Meyer again came to the scales with a limit of bass that weighed 12-02 giving him 25-10 for the final two days and a 5-05 pound cushion over Washington angler David Kromm.

The Final Results From Havasu 

  • 1. Clayton Meyer, San Diego CA 25-10
  • 2. David Kromm, Kennewick WA 20-05
  • 3. Art Roland, Brentwood CA 18-05
  • 4. Justin Kerr, Simi Valley CA 17-10
  • 5. Gary Dobyns, Yuba City CA 17-07 
  • 6. Tim Klinger, Boulder City, NV 2-01
  • 7. Clifford Pirch, Payson, AZ 13-04
  • 8. Richard Smith, Santa Clarita CA 12-11
  • 9. Paul Hodges, Glendale, AZ 10-14
  • 10. Gregg Warne, Meas AZ 6-01
1-28-05 Weigh To Go-Takahiro!  This is getting to be "business as usual," Bassmaster Classic Champion, Takahiro Omori has taken a solid lead into tomorrow's semi-final round of the BASS Tour Stop at Lake Toho in Florida.  Omori brought in the tournament's largest stringer, an impressive 17-15 giving him 31-05 to take into tomorrow's fishing.  Omori leads second place pro David Walker, (25-08,) by nearly six pounds, and unlike the FLW Tour, where weights are zeroed, BASS Tour events carry the weights into the final rounds.

Several anglers made big charges today, Arkansas pro, Ron Shuffield who yesterday found himself in 54th place with a weight of 6-12 brought the day's 3rd biggest bag, (17-11) to the scales to make the cut in 5th place with a weight of 24-07.  Scott Rook, also of Arkansas weighed only 4-15 and was in 70th place on day one before bringing 17-12 to the weigh in, he makes the cut in 6th place with 22-11.  Superstar Jay Yelas also had a heroic second day making up for his disappointing first day, (4-08-79th place,) Yelas brought 16-10 to the scales and makes the cut in 10th place.

The following pros have qualified for the semi-final round and will carry their weights into tomorrow's action:

  • 1.Takahiro Omori Emory, Texas   9    31-05 

  • 2. David Walker Sevierville, Tenn. 10  25-08

  • 3. Terry Scroggins Palatka, Fla. 9   24-15

  • 4. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, Okla. 10   24-13

  • 5. Ron Shuffield  Bismarck, Arkansas  10  24-07 

  • 6. Scott Rook    Little Rock, Arkansas  8    22-11

  • 7. Woo Daves Spring Grove, Va. 10    22-06

  • 8. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 7   22-00

  • 9.  Gerald Swindle  Hayden, Alabama     10   21-02

  • 10. Jay Yelas  Tyler, Texas    9   21-02 

  • 11. Jeff Reynolds  Platter, Oklahoma  9   21-02

  • 12. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 10   20-07

1/28/05-Fishing For All He's Worth-Kevin Wirth, the former professional jockey and Crest, Kentucky Pro took the lead on Thursday at the BASS Tour Stop at Florida's Lake Toho.  Wirth's five weighed in at 15-05 and he narrowly leads Connecticut's, Lee Baily who brought 15-03 to the scales.  A 2 1/2 hour fog delay cut the day's fishing by that much which might account for the smaller weights today.  In fact, a look down the leader board might make a ProBassAngler think he was fishing Old Hickory, because double digit weights were golden today.

It also appears that the fish are biting better in the afternoon which favors those with later flights.  A number of pros reported catching some of their better fish later in the day, so warming water temperature seems to be a factor.  "All of the good weights came in the later flights, I weighed in with the fourth flight today, and my four pounds had me in seventh place," noted Darryl Burkhardt who finished the day in 41st.1. 

  • 1. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 5 15-05

  • 2. Lee Bailey Hebron, Conn. 5 15-03 

  • 3. Takahiro Omori Emory, Texas 4 13-06 

  • 4. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, Okla. 5 13-03 2

  • 5. Dean Rojas Grand Saline, Texas 5 13-02 

  • 6. Woo Daves Spring Grove, Va. 5 12-15 

  • 7. David Walker Sevierville, Tenn. 5 11-12 

  • 7. John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 4 11-12 

  • 9. Terry Scroggins Palatka, Fla. 5 11-08 

  • 10. Tim Loper Terry, Miss. 5 11-06 

  • 10. Norio Tanabe Tokyo 153, Japan 5 11-06 260

  • 10. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 5 11-06

The top 12 make the cut on the BASS Tour.  Here are the days leading pros:
1/28/05-For Meyer, Seeing Is Believing-He won't say what he is doing, but there is a good bet that it involves some form of sight fishing.  San Diego's Clayton Meyer brought in an impressive bag of Lake Havasu Small mouth bass on Thursday and he leads the first stop on the FLW Western EverStart tour with a two day total of 31-00.  Thursday's limit, 14-12 came on a day when many of Wednesday's top ten stumbled, including first day leader Mike Folksted who only managed two fish that weighed four pounds.  Folksted fell from the top ten, taking 12th place money.  The top ten at Havasu include:
  • 1. Clayton Meyer, San Diego CA 31-00
  • 2. Richard Smith, Santa Clarita CA 25-14
  • 3. Gary Dobyns, Yuba City CA 25-11
  • 4. Paul Hodges, Glendale, AZ 25-08
  • 5.Tim Klinger, Boulder City, NV 25-04
  • 6. Art Roland, Brentwood CA 23-06
  • 7. Gregg Warne, Meas AZ 22-11
  • 8. Clifford Pirch, Payson, AZ 22-08
  • 9. Justin Kerr, Simi Valley CA 22-03
  • 10. David Kromm, Kennewick WA 22-01

Weights will be zeroed to begin today's final round.

Breaking News-BASS Event At Toho Is Underway-Day One of the first BASS tour stop of the year is underway as of 9:25 AM est.  After nearly a two hour delay, the fog has lifted enough for BASS officials to allow the event to begin.  Day one was in jeporday, as BASS rules mandate cancelation of the tournament day if the fog has not lifted by 10:30 AM.

1/27/05-Folksted Knows The Score At Havasu-The FLW Western EverStart Series is underway and Southern California legend, Mike Folksted has thrown down the standard by racing out to the lead after day one as he brought 17-04 to the scales.  Folksted said he quit fishing about 11:00 AM and is catching his fish on a dropshot in typical Folksted fashion-he is fishing deep.  One pound back of Folksted is San Diego angler, Clayton Meyer who is sight fishing, although not for spawning fish.  Elsewhere, fish at Lake Havasu seem to be in several different phases of the spawning cycle.  Anglers reported catching fish on a number of techniques including crank baits and bed fishing.  One angler, Tim Klinger or Las Vegas is fishing back water ponds using a jet boat, a relatively new concept on Western Waters.  The plan is working as he is in 5th place with a weight of 14-08.
1/26/05-Weather Warms, As Does The Fishing- Anglers pre fishing for this week's BASS 1st tour stop of the season got a welcomed break from the harsh cold yesterday.  Many pros reported better fishing and the chance to get out of snowmobile suits.  In addition, the thing that matters most, the fish seemed to bite better.  A full moon this week, along with 70 degree air temperatures could send Toho's bass to the shallows, with conditions that may resemble those in 2001 when Dean Rojas set the BASS all time record for a tournament, weighing in 108-12 in a bass fishing slug fest that has never been equaled.  While most pros that we have talked to stop short at predicting that kind of tournament, most are quietly optimistic about the fishery this week.

Of course it wouldn't be a Florida tour stop, or any tour stop in general without the weather pattern, and this week seems that it will not be any different.  Rain is expected for the three days at the end of the week.  It is not clear whether the rain will bring freezing cold temperatures or not.  Stay tuned.

1/25/05-BASS Tour Starts At Toho-The home of the most amazing tournament in the history of organized bass fishing tournaments.  By now, everyone is aware that Dean Rojas weighed a mind boggling four day total of 108-12 in winning the January BASS Tour Stop in 2001.  Rojas' wild ride included a first day limit that set the record for a single day limit as it weighed 45-02.  He followed day one with a 34-09 bag on day two.  Though he would only catch 29-01 over the last two days, Toho was immortalized in the minds of probassanglers everywhere.  What many people also forget about that tournament is that Mark Davis brought in a stringer of 41-10, and there were eight limits of over 30 pounds weighed.  In addition to that, the pros and amateurs combined in that 2001 event caught 21 bass over ten pounds.  Toho, is a big bass factory.

In recent years Toho has had a major reconstruction.  In an effort to rid the lake of certain kinds of vegetation, the lake was drawn down and scraped to remove much of the thick, shoreline grass.  What has been left behind is a lot of sandy bottoms, suitable for spawning, and some shoreline cover.  Many at this week's event think that bass may be easier to target because the vast grass beds are gone, meaning that bass will be drawn to the remaining cover, which could get fish to group up. Be sure to read Darryl Burkhardt's lake preview.
1/25/05-Burkhardt Previews Toho-ProBassAnglers.com asked Oregon Pro, Darryl Burkhardt to give us a run down of Lake Toho.  "Toho underwent a major reconstruction this past Summer.  The lake was drawn way down and scraped to remove a lot of the thick vegetation that has plague this lake over the years.  The water is now back up, very clear and a clean, sandy bottom lines most of the lake.  Most of the cover that is along the shore line now is very obvious and may act to concentrate fish that before, could be anywhere the large clumps of grass where.  There still are some very significant hydrilla beds in the middle of Toho, in fact the hydrilla beds that are off shore in deeper water, (9 feet is deep water here,) may be very important this week, as I suspect that bass will be using them to stage in pre spawn mode."

"The water temperature is still very cold by Florida standards.  They have had some very cold weather here lately, and with the lakes being so shallow, it doesn't take much to make the water temperature fall drastically.  On Monday, I found the water to be 53 degrees when I launched and it reached 59 degrees later in the day.  The Weather Channel is calling for a warming trend, so we could see a lot of warming, and with it, the possibility of a major fish movement."

"The word on the streets is that an angler will need between 14-16 pounds per day to make the cut, possibly 30 pounds.  Conditions figure to change rapidly and I expect that the fish will move fast, if the warming that is called for comes along."

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