Step back to about a week ago, I found myself trying to study and pack for a lake unlike any I’ve ever been to, a lake unlike the natural lakes of Northern Ontario. Lake Havasu is classified as a Canyon Impoundment, 45 miles long with an average depth of 30 feet. It is part of the Colorado River system and spans across the Arizona/California border. It boasts a wide array of aquatic vegetation and other types of cover with plenty of different bait fish including small panfish, crayfish and shad. With a healthy population of both largemouth & smallmouth bass trying to limit myself to 4 rods and just a few trays of baits turned out being tough, normally I have all my gear in my own boat, everything having its own designated place. Now trying to condense that to a carry on size to fish out of the back of someone’s boat in the FLW Rayovac series tournament was a tougher task than I originally thought it would be. I guess one of the troubles of being a co-angler.

Being a successful co-angler means I’ll have to be versatile, being able to adapt to the water my boater goes to will determine how well I do, whether he’s on fish that are deep and fishing vertically, to pitching at laydowns in shallow water. I’ll have to be sure I’m prepared for anything! Add in the fact that I’ll be looking for fish that he’s missed since he’s at the front of the boat getting first crack at them turns into a bit of a daunting task.

Having to be prepared for all the types of fishing I might encounter, this is how I broke down my rod selection and limited myself to just 4 rods:

• My first rod is a 7’6″ medium heavy casting rod for close encounter with laydowns or weed cover where I could pitch a weighted plastic or jig into and horse them out.
• Rod number 2 is a 7’1″ medium heavy casting rod which I will use for moving baits while my boater is targeting a specific piece of structure I’ll pick up this rod and look for active fish around it by throwing a spinnerbait, chatterbait or swimjig.
• Rod number 3 is a 6’10” medium light spinning rod which I can use when trying to really pick apart an area by tossing out a drop shot rig or worm on a shakeyhead rig and offer a bit of a slower presentation for less active bass. This rod could also serve as a top water rod as well.
• Finally my last rod is a 7′ medium spinning rod which is my versatility/general rod I’ll have this one rigged up with a tube or a grub on a weighted jig at the start, but this rod could also get the job done with several other techniques.

With all that being said here’s the disheartening thing. I won’t know if I am actually in the tournament until the night before take-off. With the high number of co-anglers entered there aren’t enough boats for everyone and since this is the only event in the Western division I am fishing, I have low priority. But I couldn’t let that affect my preparation. I studied and packed with the expectations of fishing. Should I not get the call to fish, it won’t all go to waste as I’ll be renting a boat and heading towards another bass filled lake in Arizona named Roosevelt Lake ensuring that I get to wet a line and boat some bass with flip-flops and shorts on!

Stay tuned for live updates on my Arizona trip by following me on twitter @JHillFishing. You can also check out my website www.jameshillfishing.com to stay up to date on my fishing endeavours in Arizona and the many more to come now that the 2014 fishing season has started!

About James Hill

Residing in Thunder Bay, Ontario and fishing throughout Northwest Ontario, it’s only natural to love the outdoors… and now chashing smallmouth has become more than just a pastime for FLW, BFL pro, James Hill. Sponsored by Crestliner Boats, Smith’s RV Centre, Big Ed’s, D&R Sporting Goods & Chronicle Journal, James will be fishing 3 FLW Everstart central events as a co-angler in 2014, and sharing his bass fishing knowledge with FHQ readers. You can find James on the airwaves as host of internet’s Fishin’ Outdoors Radio, and on the web at jameshillfishing.com