BY DAVE HURLEY
ALTAVILLE – Calaveras County native, Alex Niapas of Murphys has won several tournaments since he first started fishing competitively at 19 years of age, but there is something special about competing for the 2025 Bridgeford WON BASS Angler of the Year. Niapas is holding a 9-point lead with 751 points after three events, and he is looking forward to the opportunity to compete in the two remaining events at Lake Mead and Lake Mojave. Niapas has parlayed a 3rd-place finish at Lake Shasta with a three-day total of 51.28 pounds, an 8th place finish at Clear Lake with 85.22 pounds, and 21st at Lake Havasu with 45.11 pounds to hold his slim lead.
“WON BASS Angler of the Year would be a real honor as there are so many excellent fishermen in the competition, and to end up in first would be an amazing accomplishment,” said Niapas, adding, “I’m really competing with myself since I try and control what I can control and not worry about others who are close in points. We can only do what we can do.” Niapas is known as one of the top swimbait specialists in northern California, and he holds the lake record at McClure with 16.50 pounds with personal bests of 15.76 at Don Pedro and 17.74 pounds at his home lake of New Melones. He was well known for his prowess with swimbaits, but his reputation soared during the 2019 Wild West Bass Super Clean Showdown at Lake Shasta with a three-day total of 62.95 pounds, 25 pounds more than the nearest pro competitor. Shasta has been good to Niapas as in addition to his 3rd place in the WON event, he took first in the 2025 Bass Angler Magazine Pro Division.
“I see both Mead and Mojave as lakes you must finesse, and I am as comfortable with finesse techniques as with big swimbaits. There could be a swimbait bite at these lakes, but not at this time of year. Mead has mostly largemouths with a population of smallmouth bass while Mojave is primarily smallmouths with some largemouth bass. I will most likely work finesse presentations like Senkos or drop-shot. You have to adjust what the fish want depending upon the time of year and the weather and water conditions. It’s a matter of willing to be flexible,” added Niapas.
