For most of us Arizona is a state known for the Grand Canyon and high country deserts. But six Bassmaster Elites have strong ties to the state and five of those guys made the top 51 cut and are fishing today in Alabama.
Roy Hawk lives at Lake Havasu, as does Dean Rojas. Brett Hite lives in Phoenix, Josh Bertrand lives in San Tan Valley, Clifford Pirch in Payson, and John Murray, the Godfather of the group, lived for many years in the state, though he now resides in Spring City, Tenn.
Why does Arizona produce so many top angler? “It’s so diverse in terms of fisheries,” said Hawk. He went on to describe Lake Havasu, Lake Powell and the Colorado River. “We have lakes where you can catch giant bass and others where 10 pounds a day will win a tournament. You can fish shallow and dirty or you can fish in gin clear water. Largemouth and smallmouth. Lake Havasu is the best
raining ground with a ton of diversity like backwater and current, underwater structure, grass and rock.”
Consider me much more educated on Arizona fishing now. I checked the weather at Havasu for today and it will be sunny and 79. It would be nice to fish there today!