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Local experts predicted that a 20-pound bag would come to the scale on each day of the Lake Havasu Bassmaster Elite Series. On day 1, that stringer was caught by Edwin Evers. The veteran from Oklahoma's 20-07 haul placed him just under a pound ahead of the 111 other anglers on the circuit's first visit to the desert impoundment that sits on the Arizona-California border. Despite winds that reached 30 mph at times, the lake lived up to its newly gained reputation as the prime bass fishery of the Desert Southwest, surrendering 20 sacks that weighed 16 pounds or more. Arizonan John Murray, who's competed on Havasu since 1985 and vividly remembers when 10 pounds was considered a superb day, grabbed the No. 2 slot with 19-08. Matt Herren, who had mechanical issues and never even made it to the scale on day 1 last week at the Sacramento River, caught 18-09 to settle into 3rd. Randall Tharp, trying to turn around a miserable season in which his finishes started out bad and have gotten progressively worse, sacked 18-03 and sat in 4th. Second-year pro Mike Kernan, bidding for his second Top-12 showing of the campaign, completed the Top 5 with 18-02. Here's a look at the early Top 12, with red numbers in parentheses indicating deficit margins from the leader: 1. Edwin Evers: 20-07 2. John Murray: 19-08 (0-15) 3. Matt Herren: 18-09 (1-14) 4. Randall Tharp: 18-03 (2-04) 5. Mike Kernan: 18-02 (2-05) 6. Shaw Grigsby: 17-15 (2-08) 7. Bobby Lane: 17-13 (2-10) 8. Kelly Jordon: 17-12 (2-11) 9. Cliff Pirch: 17-08 (2-15) 10. Kevin VanDam: 17-06 (3-01) 11. (tie) Stephen Browning: 16-11 (3-12) 11. (tie) Alton Jones: 16-11 (3-12) 11. (tie) Greg Vinson: 16-11 (3-12) The wind was the dominant story of the day, and it helped some competitors while hindering others. Havasu's water is mostly ultra-clear and the roiling surface undoubtedly aided the reaction-bait bite. Conversely, it limited the anglers' ability to move around freely and made proper boat positioning and precise casts difficult for those relying on slower-moving offerings. Angler of the Year (AOY) leader and Lake Havasu City resident Dean Rojas had a lackluster day, catching a 14-01 sack that left him right on the mark where the cut will fall after day 2 (52nd place). Skeet Reese's AOY hopes took a severe blow as he weighed just three fish for 6-00 and is mired in 105th. The wind is expected to subside significantly on day 2 – WeatherChannel.com predicts that it'll blow at 13 mph out of the south/southwest. The air temperature will top out at only 72 degrees, which is unseasonably cool for May. Evers Surprised Read more: http://www.bassfan.com/news_article/7236/evers-pulls-to-front-with-lone-...

STOP #4 LAKE HAVASU, DAY 4

It's springtime, and everyone's excited about warming waters and more active bass. But sometimes that excitement turns to frustration when the fishing's not quite as good as we think it's going to be or should be. Yes, the fish are shallower and more active than they have been all winter. They're eating more and are more susceptible to our lures, but that doesn't mean we're going to get out there and hammer them. At this time of year — like every other — you just never know. But there are a few things you can do to stack the odds in your favor — things a lot of other anglers don't do. Fish faster Unless you're sight fishing and targeting individual fish on beds, this is a great time to speed up your approach, make more presentations and get on a reaction bite. A lot of anglers will get into a rut with their flipping outfits, thinking they need to grind it out in the shallows with precise vertical presentations. But unless you're looking at them or they're chewing the paint off your sinkers and jigheads, a better approach might be to pick up a spinnerbait and get to chunkin' and windin'. It's true that a lot of anglers love a spinnerbait in spring, but probably not the one I'm going to recommend. Most of them are throwing (a) something light they can keep near the surface even on a slow retrieve or (b) something heavier that they can slow roll along the bottom. My choice is a 1/2-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait in chartreuse and white or white. I like one silver blade and one gold blade — a Colorado blade up front and a willow leaf in back — but I want smaller blades than most anglers choose at this time. Instead of the #4 or 4 1/2 blades that typically come on such a spinnerbait, I drop down a size to a #3 1/2 and 4 … or even smaller. The smaller blades give the bait a lot less "lift." That lets me keep it under the surface even on a very fast retrieve. I can cover a lot of water with this bait, fishing it faster than the guys using bigger blades, and I get more reaction strikes because of the speed and because the fish don't get such a good look at my lure. When the water's clear...

One minute James Holbrook was reeling in a 2-pound bass caught on his first cast of the day. The next minute he had a crankbait and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Dennis Tietje's face in, uh, an unfortunate place – Holbrook's crotch. Blood was spilled, which is nothing new for Holbrook. He survived an AK-47 round to the helmet and suffered shrapnel wounds in his forehead and both knees in 2007, while serving as a Navy Hospital Corpsmen in Afghanistan's Korangal Valley. From a distance, it looked as if rabbi Tietje was performing some Bassmaster version of a bris as he went to work on Holbrook's crotch, where one treble hook was buried in one side of the angler's pants and one hook was snagged in the other, very near where the inseams meet. "Hold on, dude," said Tietje, trying to suppress laughter, as he clipped off the hook barbs with pliers. The blood (only a bit) came from Holbrook's hand that got hooked momentarily when he initially tried to remove the crankbait from his pants. There was no more bloodshed, but the smiles and fish catches continued well into the afternoon Saturday in southwest Louisiana. Holbrook, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, and Tyson Scott, 29, of Houston, Texas, were the first two participants in Elite Series angler Edwin Evers' "Healing Heroes In Action" campaign. Combined with one of Evers' major sponsors, OPTIMA Batteries, there will be four more events this season where combat-wounded Purple Heart veterans from the Wounded Warriors In Action (WWIA) Foundation participate.