Past Champs Hawk, Kerr Dish On Lake Mohave

By Dan O'Sullivan
WON Bass

As the first day of the 40th WON BASS U.S. Open arrives, the unknowns of competing on a new body of water bring some intrigue to the most prestigious event in Western bass fishing. Due to the extreme low water conditions at Lake Mead, the event was moved downriver to Lake Mohave with headquarters in Laughlin, Nev.

While WON BASS held the first-ever Laughlin Open earlier this year on Lake Mohave, the prestige of the U.S. Open has increased the numbers of anglers who will compete on the lake today through Wednesday; some of them with little to no experience on the fishery.

Past U.S. Open Champions Roy Hawk and Justin Kerr, the latter of whom won the inaugural Laughlin Open back in March, shared their expectations for the event. Both anglers expect the lake to not be in its prime, but to still produce for the field.

Hawk, the defending U.S. Open Champion and a two-time winner, said that Mohave is an interesting lake and that conditions will dictate a lot.

“I think you’ll see the weights will be heavier than past U.S Opens because the population of fish is greater than Lake Mead, but I don’t think it’s going to be an easy event to win,” said Hawk. “Mohave is not the size of Lake Mead, so the outcome will depend a lot on boat number and where you can find water that is not covered up by other competitors. It’s going to be an interesting event.”

Kerr echoed those sentiments.

“I think it will fish small at times because there is nowhere to really hide on the lake,” he said. “You can pretty much see what everybody is doing so it’s going to be hard to have something to yourself the whole time.”

Despite the concerns about the size of the playing field, the two champions are optimistic. Hawk said that he thinks quality weights will be on the menu.

“I think we’ll see some competitors with bags that top 20 pounds, but the question will be whether they can sustain it,” he said. “I think we’ll see a winner that averages 17 to 18 pounds a day, with 12 to 14 pounds a day cashing checks.”

Kerr agreed, and further explained how the conditions would affect the fishing.

“I think there will be a lot of good limits caught, but the conditions won’t be prime for really big bags consistently,” he said. “The cold weather that really makes the fish move hasn’t arrived yet, and with light winds projected for the week, it could be a grind at times.”

Both anglers believe that mixed bags of smallmouth and largemouth bass would be key and that the angler who wins will forced to adjust.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to focus on smallmouth because the colder weather hasn’t arrived, so you’ll have to be able to have a largemouth pattern, too,” said Hawk. “You’ll have to be versatile.”

Kerr agreed and said that multiple presentations would also be important.

“We will have to be able to power fish and make finesse presentations,” he said. “If the weather had cooled more, or we had more wind, we could probably focus on one style or the other, but it’s going to take adjustments to win this event.”

Pro anglers will be competing for a Champion’s prize haul that will include cash and a 2023 Bass Cat Cougar FTD powered by a Mercury ProXS 250 outboard, equipped with a Power-Pole Shallow Water Anchoring System and Next Gen Lithium Batteries, a package valued at more than $85,000.

Takeoffs with nearly 200 pro and 200 AAA anglers will commence at safe light and weigh-ins will occur in the afternoons each day. Takeoff and weigh-ins will be held at Katherine Landing at Lake Mohave Marina, located at 2690 Katherine Spur, Bullhead City, Ariz.

For a look at the official program for the event, click here.