Arizona's Au Goes Wire to Wire on Havasu
Posted by T.J. Maglio on Apr 15th 2020
By TJ Maglio
Images courtesy of FLWFishing.com
Despite sporting a tournament resume stacked with top-10 finishes, regional AOY championships, and thousands of dollars in winnings, Yamamoto pro Tai Au couldn’t help but feel like he was the bass tournament embodiment of the saying “always a bridesmaid, never the bride.” Through the end of the 2019 season, in FLW triple-A events alone, Au had landed 4 top-10 finishes in only 15 events - a better than 25% ratio, a number that would be the envy of most warm-blooded bass heads.
It was the win that always eluded him though, and going into the first FLW Toyota Series event of 2020 on Lake Havasu, his inability to close the deal was something that weighed on him heavily. “I think I’ve got something like 15 top-10’s in regional competition,” Au said, “and I’ve been close so many times that I was actually starting to think it just wasn’t in the cards.”
When he saw the 2020 schedule come out, he even tossed around the idea of not fishing the Havasu event, although he’s got a ton of successful history on the beautiful desert fishery. “I didn’t even get into the tournament until late – and although I love fishing up there, I just wasn’t sure if I was going to jump in.” He decided to do so though, and it was a good thing he did because he slapped a tournament-best 26-1 on the scales day one, and never looked back on his way to his first major win.
As another old saying goes “all good things come to those who wait.”
Derby Time
When Au got to Lake Havasu City the Monday before the derby, he did a lot of driving and looking, and very little fishing – and what he saw didn’t impress. “I was actually a bit worried it wasn’t going to happen after that first day of practice,” he said, “but I saw a few more move up on Tuesday, and by Wednesday it was full-on coming. I saw a couple great big ones late in the day that had me pretty excited, so for me it was all a matter of praying for a good boat draw.”
After drawing boat 11, it was all he could do to sleep that night, which is unusual for the seasoned pro. “I don’t know why it was, but I just couldn’t sleep that night. I just kept thinking and planning for my day, and hoping I’d execute properly.”
And execute he did, as he caught the first 3 big ones he had marked, jumped around a bit, then ran into a 7 plus pound fish that he quickly caught. When it was all said and done, he had the biggest bag of the day in the box by 10:00, and he was able to focus on how he would back it up on day two.
Making adjustments
Au’s plan on day 2 was to start on some bedding fish he’d marked in a tule-lined cove, but when he got there he realized pretty quickly that he was going to have to make some adjustments. Storms had ravaged the Havasu area the prior night, and his best sight fishing areas were chocolate milk. “I pretty much threw that away as soon as I saw what the water looked like,” he said, “I decided to just concentrate on areas that I know have fish, and play the conditions.”
An avowed believer in the effect of barometric pressure on bass behavior, Au predicted that the bite would pick up in the afternoon when the pressure was set to drop, and he focused on secondary points, and then fished his way back to the tules. As he predicted, the afternoon got better and he made a couple of key culls with a chatterbait and a flipping stick to end up with 18-3, enough to increase his lead to just under 2 pounds going into the final day.
Bringing it home
Heading into the final day, Au knew that he’d have to make more adjustments, as he suspected the post-frontal conditions would continue to deteriorate the bite. “I was totally overcome with emotion that morning, thinking about all the people back home supporting me, and thinking about how close I’ve come in the past.”
But once he blasted off, he did what he does – which is catch bass better than most, and stuck to patterns he has confidence with in areas that he knows hold fish. Numbers-wise, day three may have been his best day total, but after numerous practice days and two full competition days, the fish in Havasu were beat up and the bite just didn’t materialize the same way for him on day 3.
“I knew I had to push it hard on that final day,” Au said, “I threw any thought of smallmouth out the window, and focused on a main lake pattern, just bouncing from tule pocket to tule pocket, fishing everything I could see.”
When the scales settled at the end of day 3, his 16-15 on the final day was enough to keep his almost 2 pound margin intact, and take the trophy, as well as a heavy dose of redemption.
Tackle notes
At Havasu, Au predominantly used a one-two punch of a Neko-rigged Daiwa Yamamoto Neko Fat, and a wacky-rigged 5 inch Senko. He used the Neko rig in deeper water and the Senko up shallow. “I’d just bomb casts out at absolutely anything that could hold a bass. It could be a clump of tules, a rock, a light spot, a piece of wood, whatever really. Those two presentations are my bread and butter, so I’ve got a ton of confidence fishing that way.
One of the keys to Au’s presentation is the speed at which he fishes. “I feel like I can fish a Senko or a Neko rig faster than some other guys can fish a spinnerbait,” Au said, “It may be finesse fishing, but I’m doing it in a power-fishing manner. I wasn’t messing around and working the bait back to the boat. If it hits bottom and there’s no fish, I reel it up and fire again. That way I can fish way more targets in a day than someone who’s soaking it.”
A long road
Winning a major event out West may seem like a heck of a treat to any tournament angler, but it is especially satisfying for Au, who at one time in 2009 thought he may never fish competitively again. “I lost everything in the 2008 crash,” he said, “I flat-out couldn’t afford it. I didn’t have any money, no boat, and was just really down on the whole prospect of tournament fishing. But my brother convinced me to enter the 2010 FLW Everstart on the Delta, and I finished second in that one, which reignited my fire to keep doing this.”
Since that 2010 event, Au has been fishing like a man on a mission, and has been steadily climbing the ranks of the best western anglers.
What’s next for Au? He’s got his sights set to the next level, but going east to compete on one of the national trails is something he knows will take work to tackle. “Of course I’d like to see how I stack up against the top names in the sport,” he said, continuing. “I’ve never envied the doctor, or the lawyer. Sure, those are great professions, but I envy the guys that have figured out how to fish for a living and I am going to work as hard as I can to get there with them.”
