REDDING, Calif. – The Wild West Bass Trail (WWBT) returns to Lake Shasta for the 2nd stop of the California Teams division on Feb. 27.
Named by many as one of the top spotted bass fisheries in the country, Shasta is known for its abundant supply of four pounders and is ready to kick out a giant on any cast. This time of year, it is quite the draw and a breeding ground of excitement to the expected 200-plus competing anglers.
Familiar with Shasta’s prolific spot population, tournament pro Ken Mah of Elk Grove claimed a 2012 Won Bass championship on the lake – weighing in with not one, but two 7 lb, bookend spotted bass.
To replicate the same strategy for this Teams event, Mah suggested team partners target different fish by divvying up the aggressive vs. bottom-hugging bait responsibilities.
“One team member has to be fishing a reaction or big bait the whole day – something like an umbrella rig or a swimbait,” he explained. “That guy is going to fish for only two to four bites the whole time; but, they will be the right bites. The other guy should be fishing down – something like a jig or a nail-weighted, wacky-rigged Senko.”
The anglers anticipate a warming trend with the lake area basking in 70 degree days and no precipitation through game day. This brings hopes of big bass and big limits.
“In the WWBT Pro/Am last month, the fish were already in less than 35 ft,” said Mah. “With the increase of daily overnight lows and daytime highs, they will move even shallower and as long as there isn’t a big influx of water from now until then, I could see it taking 20 lbs to win the event.”
Pro angler Craig Gottwals of Auburn offered the tip of “flexibility”.
“With the warm sunny weather, we may be planning to fish reaction baits up shallow; but in a one day event, with no practice, if we have not gotten a bite in the first 90 minutes, we had better be ready to pack up and go deep. There is no time to lose with only a single day of competition.”
Gottwals also weighed in on the WWBT Teams format.
“The off-limits period is monumental and we’re really going to benefit from it at this Shasta event,” he stated. “There have been some big 100-plus boat tournaments held back-to-back at Shasta and the lake will be pounded pretty hard for seven or eight days straight the week before we get there; but, the mandatory off-limits is going to give the lake a rest. I can’t stress the importance of that and the difference it will make for the WWBT events.”
Mah touted the organization’s 100 percent payback and considerable contingency awards, inviting anglers to be part of the premier team event of the West.
Same day sign-ups will be taken at the lake from 4-6:30 a.m. with a late fee of $20. Same day entries are only accepted for team events.
Anglers will blast off and weigh-in at the Bridge Bay Marina located at 10300 Bridge Bay Rd, Redding, Calif. Blast off time is safelight and weigh-in will kick off at 3 p.m. Both are free of charge and open to the public.
The WWBT debuted in 2016 with 17 events that include two Pro/Am and two Teams circuits – one based in California and the other in Arizona. Each Pro/Am circuit consists of three tournaments and a combined, year-end qualifying championship event. The Teams circuit includes four tournaments and a year-end championship.
For complete details and updated information, visit WildWestBassTrail.com. For tournament news, event updates and more, follow the WWBT on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Wildwestbasstrail/
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