The heaviest largemouth bass ever brought to the scales in an FLW Outdoors event stands at 12 pounds, 11 ounces. But according to Wal-Mart FLW Tour pro Andre Moore of Scottsdale, Ariz., the 1-year-old record set last spring at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in eastern Texas could very well crumble when the EverStart Series Western Division heads to the California Delta in early May.
“The Delta has some huge fish, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see FLW’s big-bass record broken in this tournament,” Moore said. “Early May is an awesome time to visit that place. They’re going to crush the fish.”
Moore thinks it could take as much as 38 pounds to make the top 20, as much as 20 pounds to advance to the finals and upwards of 30 pounds on the last day to cash in on the biggest chunk of the tournament purse.
“I’ve seen 30 pounds swimming around one or two nests before,” Moore said. “If you get in the right area, you can put some heavy weight in the livewell really quickly.”
Areas with plenty of potential include Franks Tract, Big Break, White Slough, Disappointment Slough, Rock Slough and Mildred Island. Moore said the fish will be relating primarily to tules in 1 to 6 feet of water.
“There will be bass in all stages of the game – prespawn, spawn and postspawn,” he said. “You can fish just about any way you want to and catch bass. But if I were fishing it, I’d spend my time sight-fishing with a Boom Boom Tube or throwing a top-water like a frog, buzzbait or Zara Spook.”