Havasu Midday Update – Day 1
Slow morning for some despite beautiful weather
Lovely weather is not always conducive to great fishing, and that appears to have been the case for a few anglers this morning. Day one of the Costa FLW Series presented by Ranger kicked off on Lake Havasu under mostly calm conditions with sunny skies. Though it was a little brisk at takeoff, the temperature has been steadily rising all morning and it’s going to be shorts weather for sure by the afternoon.
Though plenty of pros haven’t been checked on, the leaders of the pack so far are Joe Uribe Jr. and Mitch Southern. Both had three good ones in the box early – Uribe with about 9 pounds and Southern with a bit more than that due to a kicker he caught first thing.
Elsewhere, Cliff King had an early 3-pounder in the box when we checked on him. Co-anglers Michael Fisher and Bryan Davis each had a keeper in the ‘well. Shawn O’Connell was fishing a wacky rig mid-morning and added his third keeper while we looked on. Fishing near takeoff, Manas Malikian had two in the boat around noon – one keeper and one nearing the 3-pound mark.
Additionally, Jim Hallauer was on the board early with two keepers. Co-angler Valentino Bagnani had boxed up a 4-pounder to start his day. Finally, pro Matt Dal Porto reported in with three keepers.
Overall, it seems like swimbaits and finesse stuff have been the order of the day. With fairly light winds, there’s not much of a reaction bite happening and we didn’t see any umbrella rigs at all. With fish so close to spawning, the afternoon bite could be key as more fish pull up into warming shallows.
Weigh-in starts at 3:30 p.m. MT, and it ought to be pretty good. Though the bite is always tough for some on Havasu, it’s a lake with some gorgeous fish of both species (largemouths and smallmouths) in it. Plus, there are some true Havasu hammers besides Uribe that remain mysteries.