By James Hill
2,152 miles separate Thunder Bay, Ontario from Lake Havasu, Arizona which was the site of my very first FLW Rayovac event that saw me finish in the upper half of the field. After 2,152 miles worth of reflecting on my largest individual tournament to date that saw me go through both the ups and the downs of tournament fishing, I can say that I learned a great deal and had a ton of fun doing it.
Rolling into Lake Havasu City the night before day 1 didn’t allow me the opportunity to get on the water for any type of pre-tournament practice, I had just enough time to check into my motel and make my way to the aquatics centre for the tournament meeting. Surrounded by 300 plus anglers in jerseys of all different colours and standing behind fishing pros like Dean Rojas that before tonight, I’ve only read about in bass magazines or seen on TV. I started feeling a bit overwhelmed and a bit of a fish out of water …pun definitely intended. I started wondering if a bass is a bass is a bass and if I could swing with these guys with my up north smallmouth tactics. With everyone seated around the stage the tournament director read the rules and regulations to everyone than proceeded to name off the day 1 pairings, I drew boat number 111 paired with a pro from California who is highly respected in south western America as a real pro. After having a chance to talk with him for 20 minutes discussing the type of water and styles of fishing I could expect to do on day 1 I could tell this guy was not just a quality angler but a quality person as well. This gave me a bit of confidence going into day 1. Back at the motel I went to work getting my rods rigged up… I decided to go into the day with a rod set up with a finesse drop shot, another with a white double willow bladed spinnerbait, one with a suspending jerkbait from Jackall, and lastly a rod rigged up with the prodigy which is a 4” tube bait from Imperium Baits.
Alarm screamed at 4:45- Giving me a mini heart attack! I forgot to cancel my alarm since I had beat it up that morning and been up for over an hour. Already 3 cups of coffee into the morning with the 2 hour time change and my adrenaline pumping for the first bit of competition of 2014 I no longer had any need or time for sleeping! I made my way to the boat launch to meet my partner for the day, loaded my gear in his 20 foot bass boat and since I can’t drive a standard it was pretty clear that I would handle the boat during the launch. It was a crisp 58 degrees in the morning on day one. The smell of outboard motor exhaust filled the air. 310 anglers on 155 boats floated in the bay all anticipating first light and a 7:30 blast off time. With what seemed like a lifetime they finally called boat number 111 we raced to our first spot on the main lake which was a ledge not far from the launch with a dozen other boats within sight we stayed at this location for a while without much luck I threw the entire menu of baits I had started the morning with without any luck. My partner was able to boat one decent fish but this made for a bit of slow morning the bite was definitely tough. I underestimated the clarity of the water on Lake Havasu add the amount of pressure this lake had seen in the week or two leading up to the event I felt like proper line choice was going to be a key factor in how successful I was going to be.
Image courtesy FLW
Now almost noon the wind really started to blow up gusting 30 miles per hour. He decided we should head north into the river. At this point I limited myself to just one rod; a St. Croix 6’10” medium light rod strapped to a Shimano Stradic Ci4+ spooled up with 6lbs Seaguar InvisX flourocarbon I felt this was the only rod I brought with line light enough to go undetected in the crystal clear water and offer a presentation as life like as possible. As we made our way through the picturesque Colorado River surrounded by the mountainous landscape we would stop and hit pockets in the 6 foot Tule reeds which spanned the shoreline where we could find slack water in the current. This is where we both had some success; he was able to fill out a limit. I made a switch to a 4” swimbait on a 3/16 ounce mushroom head jig with a #2/0 Gamakatsu hook. With this rig I was able to put 2 smallmouths and 1 largemouth in the live well by casting it deep in the pockets and swim it back to the boat painfully slow. With an hour to go in day one he decided to head back out into the main lake to try and locate a big fish or two. He was able to hook into a nice 4lbs smallmouth sitting on a hump which culled out a 13incher… nice trade. As we headed back to the launch all I could think was how I really missed an opportunity to possibly get a limit. I figured 3 fish was enough to put me around the middle of the pack right around 75th and leave me a chance at getting in cheque range with a good day 2. It wasn’t until I stood in line and watched the anglers weigh in that I realized that on the co-angler side 3 fish was a decent bag. Not many anglers were catching them on day 1. My 3 bass tipped the scales at 5.15lbs carrying me to sit 29th just 2.5lbs out of the top 10 after day one well inside that top 42 cheque range. With a real good day I could find myself making the cut and fishing on the third day! With my confidence at an all-time high we grabbed some pasta and I made my way back to the motel to prepare myself and my gear for day 2.
Just like the day before I beat my alarm clock up, went through my morning routine then made my way to the boat launch to meet my partner for day 2. Loaded my gear in his boat and dropped him into the water went and parked the truck. I exchanged a few “Good Luck” and handshakes on my way down to the dock. Jumped into the boat and we made our way to the check in line. I knew early into that morning that it was going to be a tough day, I’m not going to dive into specifics of day 2 but after a series of unfortunate events that were out of my hands I came in with a zero… it wasn’t for a lack of trying though, I chucked all day. Switched up baits and retrieve speeds tried anything and everything to provoke a bite from start to finish… I didn’t even see so much as a bass even follow my bait that day. Coming in feeling defeated, I watched as my name slipped down the leaderboard. I dropped down 32 places to finish 61st out 155 anglers 2lbs out of cheque range. Never satisfied with anything other than a win, I wasn’t completely deflated this being my first event of this magnitude I gained priceless experience. 2,152 miles from my home lake, against some of the best anglers the Southwest region had to offer. I held my own and left myself a shot going into that second day!
I could not end this article without acknowledging the massive amounts of messages on Twitter and Facebook, calls, texts and support I received from family and friends from back home and across north America and to the guys in the local bass club watching the weigh ins online. Thanks to Smith’s RV, Crestliner, Chronicle Journal, Big Ed’s Exchange, Imperium Baits and The Sleeping Giant Brewery for helping me out. A special thanks goes to John, Kathleen and Jenna Ward for putting up with me on the road and in the motel during this whole deal. Next stop Grand Lake, Oklahoma April 3rd-5th for the first event in the Central Division of the FLW Rayovac.
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
