BY BLAKE WARREN
SAN CLEMENTE – Coming on the heels of an excellent tournament season in 2022 which saw the new Laughlin Open at Lake Mohave chalk full of huge bags of big springtime smallmouth, the first-ever U.S. Open not hosted at Lake Mead due to historically low water levels (back to Mohave this past October) for the prestigious tournament’s 40th anniversary and the celebration of the first class of the newly-minted WON BASS Hall of Fame with its five deserving inaugural inductees, the 2023 tourney season is primed to be a big one yet again on the WON BASS circuit.
The season will once again consist of four primary tournaments, kicking off with the Arizona Open at Lake Havasu, Feb. 22-24 and followed by the Laughlin Open at Mohave, April 26-28, the California Open at Clear Lake set for June 7-9, and culminating with the Oct. 16-18 U.S. Open back at Mohave. All four of these Open tournaments will qualify for Lifesource/Power-Pole Angler of the Year points race for the 2023 season.
Each of the four 2023 WON BASS events will once again feature a championship prize of a Bass Cat boat armed with a Mercury outboard, and as always, each event boasts the highest payouts of any tournament organization in the West, with 100% entry money payback to its anglers. For tournament anglers, it truly is the best game in town (that town being the entire western United States). Throw in the unique shared weight format of WON BASS events with which many lifelong friendships have been forged over the years, and you have yourself something special you won’t want to miss out on in the year ahead.
Registration for all four events just opened last week and is currently underway heading toward the New Year. Anglers can lock up their spots for 2023 by visiting WONBASS.com or calling tournament director Billy Egan at (949) 366-0248. Pro entries for the Arizona, Laughlin and California Opens are $1,000 with a $1,600 Pro entry for the U.S. Open, while AAA entries are $400 for the first three events and $600 for the U.S. Open. Signing up for any of the four tournaments also includes a $50 WON BASS membership fee, for which anglers will receive a one-year subscription to Western Outdoor News/WON BASS, a custom WON BASS hat and sponsor item giveaways.
So, don’t miss the boat and be sure to hop on board for all four WON BASS Opens in 2023. That would make for one heck of a New Year’s resolution.
Happy holidays, and we’ll see everyone out at Lake Havasu in late February!
To sign up for 2023 WON BASS tournaments, visit WONBASS.com or call (949) 366-0248.
