Crawford finishes on top of AAA leaderboard
REDDING – Joe Uribe Jr. of Surprise, Ariz. is no stranger to winning major tournaments. He has accomplished that feat several times over the last decade, however, competing in events at Lake Shasta has always left him feeling less than confident. Finishing third at the 2024 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open gave him a confidence boost, and in winning the 2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open in wire-to-wire fashion, he and Lake Shasta are now familiar.
Day 1
On Day 1, 126 WON Bass Pros and their AAA partners ventured out onto the lake from Bridge Bay Marina to start the quest at earning the 2025 Ranger Z518 with Mercury 150 ProXS outboard presented by Bass Pro Shops with Power-Pole Charge and Volta Power Lithium Power Batteries, a package valued at $55,000.
With practice conditions that brought cold temperatures and driving rains, many anglers in the field reported tough results, and outlook for a big weigh event was not bright. However, as day one of the event dawned, the rains stopped, the temperatures warmed slightly with the sun and breezes broke up the surface of the water and the fish began to bite.
One angler who reported a slow practice was Surprise, Ariz. pro Joe Uribe Jr. who ran to one of his favorite areas on the lake hoping to catch a limit – he did better. Uribe power fished his way to 12 bites – one of which was a 7.36-pound largemouth that was big fish of the day – to bring 20.32-pounds to the scales with his day one AAA Damon Motley to take the lead.
Rocklin, Calif. pro Chris Martin, who manages the Marine Department at Bass Pro Shops in his hometown, and his AAA partner Phillip Lopez reported catching as many as 50 spotted bass between them to weigh 18.75 pounds to open the event in second place.
Third place went to pro Logan Huntze of Discovery Bay, Calif. and his AAA Steven Brackman with 17.91 pounds. They were followed by Redding, Calif. pro Randy Doyle and AAA partner Daniel Nehrer placed fourth with 17 pounds even, and Millville, Calif. pro Stev Frick and his AAA Scott Holman bagged 16.95 pounds to round out the top five.
Uribe said that he decided to try to make the best of the situation. “I went to an area that has produced for me, put my trolling motor down and fished a swimbait, “he said. “I had never caught a 20-pound bag on Shasta before, and while I didn’t expect it today, I’m certainly glad my name is on that list; it was a blessed day.”
Uribe reported making long casts with a swimbait, then watching the lure as he retrieved it on his Livescope Forward Facing Sonar, and he would see the spotted bass rise off the bottom to take a look. “I had to trigger most of them into biting by playing with the retrieve once I saw them,” he said. “But, we were able to capitalize on enough good bites to have a great day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Martin made a medium run to the northeast and threw 3/4-ounce Bass Patrol Jigs and reaction baits in three cuts until they had what proved to be their final weigh at around 11:00 a.m., then he went looking for a big bite.
“We caught the majority of our fish in 30 to 50 feet of water,” he said. “Once I had the 18 pounds, I decided to run around and try for a big swimbait bite, which didn’t happen, but I feel good about tomorrow, a solid limit will keep me in contention.”
Day 2
Uribe Jr. Holds lead with 39.15 pounds
Martin Retains Second Place Position with 35.21 pounds for two Days
As if bass fishing tournaments aren’t a difficult enough proposition, competing in one of the major West Coast events like the 2025 WON BASS Lake Shasta Marina can get even tougher with variable weather.
Typically.
However, one thing that has proven out historically is that Lake Shasta performs well in the kind of conditions that make people want to stay home and sit by a fire. Such was the case on the second day of The WON Bass Lake Shasta Open, when the anglers were greeted with cold temperatures and rain in the morning, then that precipitation turned to snowflakes as the day wore on, and the bite improved for many in the field.
Day 1 pro leader Joe Uribe Jr. and his Day 2, AAA David Undwerwood, fished new water in the same area he had fished on Day 1 and found the Lake Shasta spotted bass to be cooperative. Uribe managed to bring an 18.83-pound limit to push Uribe’s total weight to 39.15 pounds and retain the lead in the event.
Uribe said that he ran the same area, but completely different stretches of water with the same program from Day 1.
“I still threw my swimbait and watched the fish rise on it on my Livescope unit,” said Uribe. “I’m getting one to eat it every once in a while, but watching bunches of them come take a look can be frustrating; I have to trigger them into striking.”
The pair boated nearly two dozen keepers on Day 2 using Uribe’s swimbait pattern, and Underwood finesse fished behind him to contribute to their day’s creel. “David really did a great job fishing behind me today; he caught two of the fish we weighed, including our biggest fish, a five pounder,” said Uribe. “I locked that big rod in my hand and went after it because I feel like that is my best chance to win and I’m gonna do the same thing tomorrow and hopefully it works out.”
Day 2 second place pro Chris Martin and his AAA partner Rick Mikla managed to bring 16.46 pounds of spotted bass to Bridge Bay Marina to bring his two-day total weight to 35.21 pounds, enough to hold on to second place comfortably on day two.
Martin said he fished the same areas he did on day one but reported getting fewer bites than he did on the first day. “We caught about half as many fish today, but when the first bite is a five-pound spot it kind of settles you down real quick,” he said. “My fish moved shallower with the weather initially, but then pulled back as the sow started, and I leaned on the areas pretty hard, so I’m kind of concerned about tomorrow. I have some pretty good backup areas, I’ll give it a go and see how this turns out.”
Discovery Bay, California’s Logan Huntze maintained his third-place position on the second day by producing a 12.93-pound limit to bring his total weight to 30.84 pounds. He was followed by veteran Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. pro Jerry Ballesteros who posted 16.72 pounds on day two to move into fourth place with 30.44 pounds and Winters, Calif. pro Joe Mariani rounded out the top five with a 13.21-pound limit to bring his total weight to 30.09 pounds
Outside of the day two leaders, the big story of the day was the 9.14-pound spotted bass brought to the scales by Altaville, Calif. pro Alex Niapas. The monster spotted bass anchored a 21.89-pound limit that brought his total weight to 29.85 pounds and rocketed him all the way into sixth place after a disappointing start in 115th place on Day 1.
In the AAA Division, Jacob Crawford of San Pedro, Calif. leads with a two-day total of 32.12 pounds. Second Place went to Phillip Lopez with 33.21 pounds, he was followed in third place by Jake Etcheverry with 30.82 pounds. Damon Motley stood in fourth place after day two with 30.22 pounds and Kody Sindorf rounded out the top five with 30.02 pounds.
Day 3
Uribe Jr. wins 2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open
Martin holds steady in second place for three consecutive days
Uribe rode an A-Rig and swimbait pattern during the first two days of the event when it was either windy, raining or snowing, however, when the conditions slicked off on day three, Uribe showed his versatility and picked up a Neko Rig and closed out the win.
His final day, 16.22-pound limit pushed his total weight to 55.37 pounds, earning him the title of Lake Shasta Champion and the keys to the 2025 Ranger Boats Z518 with Mercury 150 ProXS outboard prize boat presented by Bass Pro Shops with Power-Pole Charge and Volta Power Lithium Power Batteries, a package valued at $55,000 and an additional $12,000 cash.
Uribe was thrilled with the event. “I really had a bad practice and just decided to go fishing,” he said. “I went to the Pit River arm and fished a few pockets in there and around Jones Bay. It’s the area I felt most comfortable in to start.”
On days 1 and 2, he used a one-two punch of an 88 Baits A-Rig with 1/4-ounce VMC Boxer Heads rigged with 4.3 Keitech Swimbaits in Electric Shad and a Uribe Magic Swimmer swimbaits designed by his father. He targeted main lake points and transition areas making long casts and watching the lure on his Livescope unit, when he saw fish rise on the lure, he varied his retrieve to trigger strikes. Those two lures were thrown on a 7’11” medium-heavy Daiwa Zillion Reaction Bait rod and Tatula SV reel spooled with 40-pound-test Sunline SX-1 Braid and a 16-pound-test FC Sniper Fluorocarbon leader.
On the final day, after a few smaller strikes on reaction baits, Uribe figured out that the fish had made a move into the cuts, and he turned to a 7’1” Daiwa Tatula Elite Takahiro Omori All Around spinning rod and Tatula 2500 size reel spooled with 20-pound-test Sunline Siglon PE8 yellow braid and 8-pound-test FC Sniper Fluorocarbon leader and a Neko Rig with a Green Pumpkin Daiwa Neko Fat worm, a 5/64-ounce Voss Tungsten nail weight and a size 4 Gamakatsu B10S hook.
Uribe said that being able to adjust to the conditions was key. “We had to hunt a little, but when we found that they had moved into the cuts and gotten shallower, the Neko Rig really helped us,” he said. “I fished clean all week; I never lost any fish, and I’m just really humbled to have won this event against these anglers and to have qualified for the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for the second year.”
Chris Martin, of Rocklin, Calif. was able to maintain his second-place position from the first two days of the event as well, finishing with 52.06 pounds. H said he fished close to the same areas as Uribe and used one technique the whole event. He threw a trio of 3/4-ounce Bass Union Football Jigs, purple, brown and purple and green pumpkin with green-pumpkin/purple-copper Yamamoto Bait Cowboys as a trailer.
“I caught them in 15 to 30 feet on Day 1, and they went shallower, in 5 to 20 feet today,” he said. “I really would have liked to pull out the win, but I fished as clean as I could and just got beaten. Congratulations to Joe, he fished a great event. I’m excited to have qualified for the 2026 B.A.S.S. Nation. Each of the pros and AAA anglers who finished in the top five will earn a Golden Ticket berth into the 2025 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic, and I really need to thank Jeff Ahrens at Cultivated Landscape for his help in being here this year.”
Alex Niapas of Altaville, Calif caught his second consecutive limit eclipsing 21 pounds on day three and finished third for the event with 51.28 pounds, fourth place went to Jerry Ballesteros of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. finished fourth with a total weight of 46.96 pounds and Ryan Cool of Redding, Calif, rounded out the top five in the pro division with a three-ay total of 45.87 pounds.
Jacob Crawford of San Pedro, Calif. claimed the title of AAA Division Champion, posting a three-day total of 55.00 pounds to walk away with the trophy and a $5,000 payday. Troy Diatte of Salina, Calif. finished in second place with 48.20 pounds. Third place went to Dennis Saiki of Torrance, Calif. with 43.64 pounds.Derek Anderson f Meadow Vista, Calif. finished fourth with 42.74 pounds and Redding, California’s Eddie Bouslaugh Jones finished out the AAA Division top five with 42.67 pounds.
