Bertrand Out Front
Taking advantage of the quality bites he received was Josh Bertrand, who sacked up 20 pounds, 4 ounces to take the early lead. His five fish were actually the only bites Bertrand encountered, which proves how critical it is to capitalize on every opportunity at Havasu. Read More over on FLWoutdoors >
05.Feb.2015 by Kyle Wood
Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – Hot, calm conditions presented a challenge to the field during day one of the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division event on Lake Havasu presented by Mercury. Yet, each of the top 10 pros was able to haul in more than 16 pounds of bass, led by Josh Bertrand, who sacked up 20 pounds, 4 ounces.
Quality over quantity was the story for Bertrand on day one. In fact, the five bass he brought to the scale were the results of the only five bites he got all day. Mental toughness proved a valuable trait.
“After pre-fishing I didn’t know if I would even be able to catch a limit in the tournament,” says Bertrand. “But the quality of fish out here is so good that if you can get five bites they are more than likely going to be good ones.”
The more rods the merrier – that was Bertrand’s strategy when rigging up for day one. He went junk-fishing today, figuring that if he could hit a high number of spots then his chances of getting bit would also increase.
“I never ran into an area with a high concentration of fish,” continues Bertrand. “There were some similarities between a few of my keepers in terms of where I caught them, but then the others were in oddball places. I could easily blank tomorrow, but in theory there should be more fish moving up.”
Read More over on FLW Outdoors >
Day 2 Havasu Midday Update
Leader Josh Bertrand is among those struggling a bit to keep pace. He was still looking for a limit at lunchtime, but the ones he has are the right size.
(Photo by Matt Pace)
FINAL Day Havasu
2nd – Josh Bertrand – 52 pounds, 5 ounces
After losing the lead on day two, Josh Bertrand of Gilbert, Ariz., didn’t have enough to keep up with the unstoppable Uribe on the final day. Still, he posted a solid performance with a 16-pound, 13-ounce final limit to boost his total weight to 52-5.
“I found a special area with a pretty good population of female smallmouth,” says Bertrand, who earned $15,500 for his runner-up finish. “They were staging outside of spawning coves, and the water was a little cooler, which is why I think they were still on those outside points. The bite usually picked up for me later in the day when the sun came out.”
Bertrand was one of the few anglers to show out this week while relying on smallmouth for the bulk of his bag, although he did take advantage of the early largemouth bite for the first hour or so each day until the sun climbed over the mountains.
The Havasu Palms area is were Bertrand spent most of his time chasing smallmouth. His main bait was a Berkley Havoc Beat Shad swimbait rigged on a 1/4-ounce ball-head jig. A 7-foot medium-action Abu Garcia Veracity rod matched with an Abu Garcia Revo SX reel and spooled with Berkley Nanofil and a 6-pound-test Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader was his setup. Read More over on FLW Outdoors >
