Lake Havasu Day 1 - Bassmaster

You could have watched Takahiro Omori fish from the shoreline at the launch site at Lake Havasu State Park.

Brandon Palaniukâs family and friends followed him around all morning.

John Murray was fishing nearby, too.

This is where the weigh-in will take place at the end of each day.

There were a few spectators on the water, taking photos and enjoying the beauty of Lake Havasu.

Recreational boat traffic is expected to be heavy on the lake this weekend.

John Murray has fished many tournaments on this body of waterâ¦

â¦and obviously remembers where some of them live.

He points his rod directly at the fish he had near the surfaceâ¦

â¦snatches it toward the boatâ¦

â¦and safely aboard.

He gives his Day One Marshal an opportunity to take a quick photograph of the fishâ¦

â¦moves to the back of the boatâ¦

â¦and puts a nice keeper in the livewell.

After moving on from John Murray we caught up with Kevin Hawk battling a fish.

He moves to the back of the boat to finish the fightâ¦

â¦then moves back up front as the fish surges.

He tires the fish down and has a keeper in the boat.

After a few casts he was battling another bassâ¦

â¦gets a good grip on the fishâ¦

â¦and puts it in the livewell.

We found Casey Scanlon near one of the many lighthouses on Lake Havasu.

He was mixes up his bait selections, but when we caught up with him he was finesse fishing.

Line peels from his spinning reel after a cast.

A nice spot in the shade to watch the proâs fish.

He may not have a lot of horsepower on this boat, but itâs rigged up pretty good for fishing.

Yes, thatâs the London Bridge.

Welcome to paradise.

Yet another lighthouse. According to Wikipedia, Lake Havasu has more lighthouses than any lake in America.

The lighthouses are scaled down replicas of lighthouses all across the country.

Charley Hartley and Joe Sancho were the only two anglers we found out of the wind. They were sharing water in the back of a marina.

Thereâs no wonder Lake Havasu is such a mecca for boaters in Arizona.

Thatâs the California side of Lake Havasu.

B.A.S.S. emcee Dave Mercer says heâs going to inquire about using one of these Cabanas to do his live broadcasts from this weekend. And yes he wants the pink one.

A man and his dog on a paddle boardâ¦and a lighthouse.

And yet another lighthouse. Maybe Wikipedia is right, there really are more lighthouses on Lake Havasu than any other lake.

We caught up with Fred Roumbanis and he wasâ¦

â¦culling! Thatâs always a good thing.

Roumbanis was showing up as one of the early leaders on BASSTrakk.

Dave Mercer hopped in the boat with Roumbanis for a few minutes to record a BASSCam.

We witnessed him heave a giant swimbait.

Obviously this was one of the more popular areas on Day 1.

Brent Chapman found an area to fish out of the crowd.

Then moved back out of the tulles and threw a jerkbait awhile.

John Murray was fighting waves from not only boat traffic, but the 30-mile per hour wind that had begun to blow.

Brandon Palaniuk banks his boat out of the way of Clifford Pirch.

Byron Velvick grimaces as he heaves a big swim bait. He is recovering from a back injury sustained during the last Elite Series event on the California Delta.