BY MIKE STEVENS
SHASTA – Featuring three bass species that can be found all over the water column, creek inlets, a wide range of structure and vegetation to target and forage to imitate, there’s really no time of year in which Lake Shasta can’t produce giant sacks and trophy fish. The lake finished 2025 strong with a handful double-digit bass reported, and it got a healthy batch of new water with that holiday storm. Those factors along with the later date of this year’s WON BASS Shasta Open should result in big bass coming to scale via a laundry list of baits and tactics.
“It’s going to be excellent with a lot of big bags, for sure,” said Roger Vue of Tug Life Fishing Apparel. “This year, the fish just seem healthy, and this year alone I caught 27 over five pounds out of Shasta. The fishing is great, it will only get better and I’m glad you’re doing it later.”
Vue is a not only a decorated Lake Shasta regular who plans on fishing the WON BASS Shasta Open as a pro, but he closed the book on 2025 with a trio of double-digit largemouth caught in a span of less than a month, and that run included a 13.26 pounder. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he made those catches on walking baits of his own design that imitate the lake’s trout and kokanee. He told WON he also thinks swimbaits will come into play in February, and while the lake is well known for big spotted bass, big largemouth could be the difference makers.
That late December storm that boosted just about everything that holds water in the state brought Shasta to 67 percent full on Christmas Day which is 8 percent more than before the system blasted through and 16 percent higher than normal for December 25. While there’s still plenty of room left in the lake, that 8 percent spike means the lake level shot up 16 feet in six days with plenty of runoff on deck and wet season to go, and WON BASS anglers will be preparing accordingly.
Last year’s winner at Shasta doesn’t fish the lake very often, but he’s found success there over the last several WON BASS events held there and has definitely found a rhythm.
“Last year was a huge curveball with all the rain,” said Joe Uribe Jr. who won in wire-to-wire fashion in 2025. “I think with Billy (Egan) scheduling this event later, the hope is that it will get further away from that rain and increase the number of participants. I think the water will be high but stable rather than low and rising, and that makes it easier to catch fish.”
Despite hailing from warmer, and more to the point, drier climates in Arizona, Uribe is well prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at him, and he told Western Outdoor News he thinks big kicker fish will be key.
“I dont mind the weather because it gets the bigger ones to bite,” said Uribe. “No matter what time of year at Shasta, we are going to catch them. The weights will be good, and If you can have 15 or 16 pounds a day, that will be very solid. The gamechanger will be catching a big largemouth. One big bite per day if you can, or if you can set yourself up with one really big day and two solid days to back it up, you’re in good shape.”
WON BASS pro Alex Niapas is very familiar with Lake Shasta, and while he doesn’t think the water level will be much of a factor one way or the other, he also thinks fishing will be better with the new date.
“I don’t think the rain we’re getting makes the fishing any better or worse with water being somewhat high,” said WON BASS Pro, Alex Niapas. “I expect the fishing to be better having the tournament later, and there should be more bigger fish moving up to shallower water to begin their pre-spawn movement even if there’s rain during the tournament. If there are warm sunny days during the tournament, fishing should be even better with more fish moving up.”
Niapas made a huge move in 2025 when he weighed in a 21.89-pound bag on Day 2 vaulting him into sixth place after landing in 115th after a rough Day 1. That Day 2 limit was anchored by a monster 9.14-pound spotted bass.
Logan Huntze is a young up-and-comer on the pro side who finished in 8th place in 2025, and he told WON he thinks it will once again take heavy bags to in the WON BASS Lake Shasta Open in 2026.
“I think it’s cool that the date was pushed back because it’s always nice to fish the same places at different times of year,” said Huntze. “I think it will stll be pretty cold, maybe not as cold as January, but Shasta is cool because the fishing is always good at that time of year in good weather or bad weather.”
As for the water level, he’s in wait-and-see mode with a lot of rainy season to go before the event.
“The lake could be up significantly or not,” he said. “It depends on how much more rain and snow we get. But it’s always cool to fish on a higher lake level, and it’s already rising. Last year every little inlet in the whole lake had moving water, and that was something I’d never seen before at Shasta. I honestly think it’s going to be close to what it took to win last year. There a ton more volume of fish in the lakes than before, it seems, and guys are catching them. One big bite a day is also a lot more doable than it was five years ago.”
For good measure, WON caught up with Nick Wood, who won the WON BASS Lake Shasta Open in 2024, and he’s looking forward to fishing the new dates because he’s found a lot of success at that point in February in the past.
“I like the new dates, and I think the bite is going to turn on,” said WON BASS Pro, Nick Wood. “It might be different this year because typically we don’t get rising water in December like we did. I think more of those females will be moving up shallow and willing to bite. Spotted bass love rising water, and I’m really looking forward to fishing those dates. It’s going to be a real good tournament in terms of the size of the fish.”
For more information or to register, visit WONBASSevents.com
