TW_Staff
02-28-2011, 04:15 PM
A significant trend has developed through the first two Western EverStarts of 2011 – the winner has won by a bunch. At the opener at California's Lake Shasta in January, Jeff Michels would have prevailed even if he hadn't fished on the final day. Last week at Lake Roosevelt in Arizona, Ken Howden won by 1 ounce shy of 18 pounds.
Howden caught the only two 20-plus-pound bags of the tournament en route to a 3-day total of 56-10. He began the final day with an 8-pound lead, and then more than doubled it to win by 17-15 over runner-up Clay Lippincott.
Howden, the owner of a boat-repair business who resides in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, competed in a WON Bass event at Roosevelt (about a 2-hour drive from his home) the previous weekend and finished 7th. He was on a structure bite for that event, but it was fading fast.
"On the last day I noticed (the fish) were gone from the structure," he said. "They started moving in shallow, so I moved in with them and started catching them." His primary locale for the EverStart turned out to be a wood-laden backwater off the Salt River. He accessed the area via a 17-foot aluminum boat and had it to himself all 3 days.
Competition:
Howden's plan for day 1 was to start on some main-river stuff he'd pinpointed and save the backwater for days 2 and 3, but that didn't work out too well. "Unfortunately, with all the boats, all my places were covered up," he said. "I kept fishing until about lunchtime, and then I realized I didn't have any fish and that I'd have to go to my day-2 stuff.
"I went up the river and pushed through all the trees to get to my stuff, and I was able to get in there and catch them." He started day 2 in 2nd place and went straight to the backwater. He made a change from the previous day, however, and relied solely on an aluminum, telescopic push-pole to maneuver around in the woody jungle.
"I turned off everything except the livewell pump and went in there and put a whooping on them." It didn't take him long to do it, either. He had the vast majority of his weight by 9:00 on each of the last 2 days. All three of his bags were topped by fish that were slightly over 6 1/2 pounds.
Winning Gear:
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Fenwick Techna AV Flippin' Stik, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TDZIR) (7:1 ratio), 70-pound Daiwa Samurai braided line (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=DSB), 3/8-ounce tungsten weight (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Tungsten_Bullet_Weights/catpage-TTTB.html), glass bead, 4/0 Gamakatsu wide-gap hook, 4 1/2" Strike King Coffee Tube (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKCTF) (green-pumpkin/purple-gold flake).
He also caught some fish on a Wave Worm Tiki Swim Bug (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=WTSB), but was unsure if any of those went to the scale.
Main factor: "The combination of the time of year and all the floating debris just made that place a great habitat spot for the fish to congregate. I'd hate to say they were looking for shade, but it was a nice, comfortable spot. And some of those fish were spawning – sometimes when I'd catch one off a tree, I'd flip right back there again and catch another one."
Performance edge: "If I didn't have a push-pole, I wouldn't have been able to get on top of all that stuff. Also, having a stout rod and braided line
TW Staff
Howden caught the only two 20-plus-pound bags of the tournament en route to a 3-day total of 56-10. He began the final day with an 8-pound lead, and then more than doubled it to win by 17-15 over runner-up Clay Lippincott.
Howden, the owner of a boat-repair business who resides in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, competed in a WON Bass event at Roosevelt (about a 2-hour drive from his home) the previous weekend and finished 7th. He was on a structure bite for that event, but it was fading fast.
"On the last day I noticed (the fish) were gone from the structure," he said. "They started moving in shallow, so I moved in with them and started catching them." His primary locale for the EverStart turned out to be a wood-laden backwater off the Salt River. He accessed the area via a 17-foot aluminum boat and had it to himself all 3 days.
Competition:
Howden's plan for day 1 was to start on some main-river stuff he'd pinpointed and save the backwater for days 2 and 3, but that didn't work out too well. "Unfortunately, with all the boats, all my places were covered up," he said. "I kept fishing until about lunchtime, and then I realized I didn't have any fish and that I'd have to go to my day-2 stuff.
"I went up the river and pushed through all the trees to get to my stuff, and I was able to get in there and catch them." He started day 2 in 2nd place and went straight to the backwater. He made a change from the previous day, however, and relied solely on an aluminum, telescopic push-pole to maneuver around in the woody jungle.
"I turned off everything except the livewell pump and went in there and put a whooping on them." It didn't take him long to do it, either. He had the vast majority of his weight by 9:00 on each of the last 2 days. All three of his bags were topped by fish that were slightly over 6 1/2 pounds.
Winning Gear:
Flipping gear: 7'6" heavy-action Fenwick Techna AV Flippin' Stik, Daiwa Zillion casting reel (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=TDZIR) (7:1 ratio), 70-pound Daiwa Samurai braided line (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=DSB), 3/8-ounce tungsten weight (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Tungsten_Bullet_Weights/catpage-TTTB.html), glass bead, 4/0 Gamakatsu wide-gap hook, 4 1/2" Strike King Coffee Tube (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=SKCTF) (green-pumpkin/purple-gold flake).
He also caught some fish on a Wave Worm Tiki Swim Bug (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage.html?PCODE=WTSB), but was unsure if any of those went to the scale.
Main factor: "The combination of the time of year and all the floating debris just made that place a great habitat spot for the fish to congregate. I'd hate to say they were looking for shade, but it was a nice, comfortable spot. And some of those fish were spawning – sometimes when I'd catch one off a tree, I'd flip right back there again and catch another one."
Performance edge: "If I didn't have a push-pole, I wouldn't have been able to get on top of all that stuff. Also, having a stout rod and braided line
TW Staff