The SPRO Frog Only Tournament Lake Havasu, Arizona

The Ironman Event of Bass Competition

By Derrek Stewart 6/9/24

Team Lain and Stewart participated in the challenging Lake Havasu SPRO Frog fishing event on Saturday, June 8th, braving the summer conditions and fierce competition.

Big Game Tony Lain and his teammate Derrek Stewart at our headquarters working on rigging and strategy.

Ironman Fishing Tournament

Lake Havasu’s rugged desert beauty.

Tournament bass fishing is an intense test of physical and mental stamina. The SPRO Frog Only Tournament, held at the beginning of summer in Lake Havasu, Arizona, takes these endurance demands to a higher level. Located at the junction of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, Lake Havasu's summer temperatures easily eclipse 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Frog fishing, a top water technique demanding constant visual and mental concentration, is not for the faint-hearted. A Frog Only Tournament, a grueling seven to eight hours of intense angling in scorching desert temperatures, testing human performance like no other bass fishing competition. The pressure cooker of these demanding conditions is the essence of a SPRO Frog Only Tournament at Lake Havasu, an exceptional and exclusive event.

The SPRO Frog Series

Team Lain and Stewart’s main SPRO Frogs. Top to bottom: Bronzeye Frog 65 targets heavy cover and laydowns, Bronzeye Shad 65 Glide It presented to open water directly adjacent cover elements, the Essential Series Flapping Frog 65 buzzed over submerged grass flats.

Predetermined baits are a unique aspect of this tournament. The lures you will apply to your angling techniques are entirely focused on the SPRO frogs, making equipment choices and rigging preparation relatively simple. However, don't be fooled by simplicity. SPRO produces a vast array of frog baits, each offering a unique advantage in different fishing conditions.

SPRO offers a wide range of eleven Bronzeye frogs, each with its own unique size and action. Depending on the model, you can choose from up to fifty different color patterns. These frogs, ranging from extra-large to tiny, can walk, glide, spit, pop, flap, tap, and buzz, providing you with a variety of versatile methods for catching Havasu’s Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass.

Rigged and ready.

Tournament Rules

SPRO has a list of standard tournament rules. I won’t list them all, but SPRO has specific lure rules relevant to this specialized frog competition.

  • Only SPRO Frogs may be used and must be worked on the surface.

  • Frogs may not be altered in color in any way.

  • You may open/close the hooks.

  • You may trim the legs (you may not remove the legs).

  • You may add rattles, BB’s, and bells (you may not add weights).

  • You may add split rings/swivel.

  • You may use scent providing it does not change the color of the frog.

  • Other than what is mentioned above frogs must remain stock.

Havasu’s Frog Water

Tony Lain working a  main lake cut featuring sparse tulles, shoreline brush, and grass matts, multiple frog targets.

Havasu’s rugged desert beauty features classic and unique structure and cover elements for frog fishing. Submerged, flooded, or lining the bank, tulles, brush, trees, grass, and weeds, combined with every imaginable structural formation, create a perfect scenario for your favorite frog conditions. Lake Havasu has a unique human-made habitat program that presents another multi-faceted layer to the cover elements. Anglers can choose to fish in the main lake, marinas, and the Colorado River, including its adventurous backwater, all on the same tournament day.

Another main lake cut with more prime targets; there’s a six-pounder holding on a distinct ambush location. Where are you casting?

A human made submerged habitat provides excellent cover for Havasu’s bass.

Tournament Recap

It was a thrilling start as one hundred and twenty-two teams launched from Havasu’s Windsor Beach. The Marquez brothers, Jason and Larry, emerged as the champions with a decisive five-fish limit of 21.64 pounds. Their limit of Havasu bass, weighing 3.09 lbs. greater than the second-place team, Havasu Juggernauts, Aaron Leon and Justin Kerr. It was a heartwarming finish for the event's third-place team, father and daughter Joe Uribe and Rachel Uribe. Rachel, who had to travel 595 miles and endure a nine-plus hour drive, battled for top honors at an MLF Toyota Series in the Co-angler division at the California Delta the day before. This MLF event made Co-angler history as Deanna Moreno surpassed Rachel Uribe for a historic one, two, female angler finish. Rachel Uribe, hailing from an amazing fishing family, is truly an Ironwoman, showcasing her impressive skills and determination.

The competition was fierce, with a 'whopping' number of teams vying for the top spot. It took a 'benchmark' fifteen pounds plus, 15.06, to secure a top-ten finish. Almost all teams, in fortieth or better, managed to weigh a five-fish limit. My team partner, Tony Lain, and I finished in a 'respectable' thirteenth place, weighing five for 14.89. Team Brayden Bernard and Nick Mandella earned the coveted Big Fish honors by bringing a 'stout' 5.98 lb. bass to the scales.

The unique challenges of this desert tournament were not lost on Lain and me. After the first two hours of angling, we managed to boat our fourth bass. However, we then faced a grueling five-hour dry spell, testing our patience and skills to the limit. Despite the odds, we persevered, and our persistence was rewarded with less than forty-five minutes before our check-in time. Lain's catch of a 4.46 largemouth was a testament to our hard work and determination, representing a well-earned, cherished limit of keepers. This experience underscored the importance of perseverance in fishing tournaments, a lesson we hope to inspire in our fellow anglers.

Tony Lain with our two best tournament bass.

Never give up; our fifth keeper's weight vaulted us twenty-eight places into a check reward. Like us, the last cast can produce your limit fish, the biggest fish of the event, or your only fish; keep casting.    

Official Stats

  • Teams Fished:                                       122

  • Total Fish Weighed:                               321

  • Total Fish Released:                              317 (99%)

  • Total Fish Weight:                                  869.35 lbs.

  • Average Weight/Fish                             2.71

  • Average #Fish per Team:                      2.63

  • Average Weight per Team                    7.07

Prefish Champion

Author’s first pre-fish catch a high 4-pound largemouth resulting from a Flapping Frog working over submerged grass flats.

This bass, blind in one eye knocked the frog up the line off its internal rigging, pinned with both hooks.

My practice session started off with a bang. On my second cast, I hooked a beautiful 4 to 5 lb. class, Largemouth Bass. Two more respectable bass in the high two-pound range followed. As the cover elements dictated, I switched to a gliding frog. Spotting a prime ambush location, I made a lengthy, precise cast to exactly where I wanted my frog to land. And then, it happened... SWISH BOOM! I had barely started to move the lure when I was rewarded with a hefty largemouth.

I went four for four on my frog topwater strike-to-hook-up ratio. After weighing the 6.34 Largemouth Bass, my personal best Lake Havasu Bass, three things happened. We rejoiced at the moment, took photos, and then Tony proceeded to cut all my hooks off!

4 for 4, and a Lake Havasu Personal Best 6.34 lb. Largemouth Bass!

This 6 pound plus largemouth choked a SPRO Bronzeye Shad 65 Glide It Frog!

Catching fish in practice is a separate discussion and for another article. However, it had been over four years since I had been in a tournament. Nor had I been to Lake Havasu within the same timeframe. Frog fishing has a reputation for a pour hook-up ratio; those practice fish created a high level of much-needed competition confidence for going into my first-ever frog-only tournament. I would have preferred to catch these big fish during the event. But, hey, catching a PB during any portion of a road trip is always excellent.

Gratitude   

Big Game Tony Lain and his fish-catching machine.

I must give a big shout-out and recognize Big Game, Tony Lain. Without his hospitality and guidance, I could not have achieved the same level of joy and satisfaction from this road trip. My friend Tony, thank you.

Next Year’s Ironman

The morning sun begins its climb over Lake Havasu as we head to our main lake starting location.

Thank SPRO USA for hosting this incredible competition.

Regardless of the results, making it to this tournament’s finish line is a well-earned accomplishment. Who thinks they have what it takes to handle these demanding conditions and compete in next year’s SPRO Frog Only Tournament on Lake Havasu?

Photo Credit: All fish catch pictures of the author are by Tony Lain; all other images and photo collage creations by DSF.