REDDING, Calif. – Early season bass tournaments can bring challenges for everyone involved. But however many challenges arise, the quality of the spotted bass fishery at Lake Shasta makes the challenges worth it for the anglers, spectators and for the organization hoping to put on a show.
With heavy rains, big winds and cold temperatures that turned to snow flurries, hail, colder temperatures and more rain on the final day of the 2024 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open, the fishing didn’t disappoint. Over the three-day event, many quality spotted bass, including some eclipsing the 7-pound mark and big limits of Lake Shasta bass made for an interesting tournament and some frequent lead changes throughout the event.
Day 1 saw local favorite Jeff Michels of Lakehead, Calif. take the lead with 16.77 pounds, only to have Nick Wood, another pre-event favorite, grab the lead on Day 2 with an 18.63-pound limit to move from fifth place to the top spot with a two-day total of 34.22 pounds. As the final day’s weigh-in came to a close, it became clear that the two area aces were more than prepared to overcome the challenges and rise to the occasion.
Michels took the lead momentarily by posting a final-round14.97-pound limit to total 45.93 pounds. However, Wood, from Yreka, Calif., weighed a 13.20-pound limit to jump his three-day total to 47.42 pounds and claim the victory.
For his efforts, Wood was rewarded with a prize package valued at $70,000 that included a 2024 Ranger Z518 with Mercury 150 ProXS outboard.
Wood said he used several different techniques to catch his fish. Most came from the upper reaches of the Sacramento River arm, specifically in Middle Salt Creek. His first-day pattern involved a 7-inch hitch-colored Line Thru Osprey swimbait thrown on a 7’6” heavy-action Duckett Fishing Incite rod with a 6.2:1 Duckett reel. He also targeted deeper fish with a float 'n fly rig, with a 7’2” medium light Black Ice spinning rod and 2500 size Paradigm spinning reel by Duckett Fishing. His lure of choice was a 1/8-ounce SPRO Fly in Baby Bass Color on an 8-foot leader.
As the water muddied on Days 2 and 3, Wood turned to targeting boulders with either a white and chartreuse 3/8-ounce D&M Lures bladed jig tipped with a chartreuse 5.8 Keitech swimbait or a 1/2-ounce white and chartreuse D&M spinnerbait with double willowleaf blades.
“I had to get lined up perfectly with my casts around those boulders to trigger the bites, but once I did, I was able to catch the right fish,” he said. “The last day was a little more difficult but I was able to scrape enough together to pull it out. I’m really pleased it turned out this way.”
Wood earned a trip to the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship in 2025, something he has experienced before.
“I’m a little overwhelmed, it’s not easy to beat Jeff (Michels) anywhere, especially here, and to do it in this type of an event against this type of field means a lot,” he said. “I’m also excited to be able to go back to the B.A.S.S. Nation, it was a great experience and I’m looking forward to dragging my Ranger Z520R there to compete; this is just a complete honor and it’s not quite sunk in.”
Like Wood and several other top finishers in the tournament, Michels began his event upriver in the Sacramento arm, but vacated and focused on main-lake points on Days 2 and 3 due to the water turning dirty. He alternated between two main lures, a wacky-rigged 5-inch green pumpkin Yamamoto Senko thrown on 6-pound-test Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon line and a 7’5” medium light fast action Dobyns XTASY rod and unnamed spinning reel. The second was a 1/2-ounce green pumpkin Bass Patrol football jig and 5-inch Yamamoto Twin Tail Grub in the same color. He tossed the jig on a 7’5” medium heavy fast action Dobyns XTASY casting rod rigged with 12-pound-test Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon. A few of his weigh fish came on 5- or 6-inch Shasta Bass Tackle swimbaits in rainbow trout color.
“I broke off a key fish each day being stupid, and you can’t have that kind of human error and win against a field like this,” Michels said. “I congratulate Nick – he and I go against each other regularly but losing sucks and I’ll do my best to beat him and the field next time.”
Michels received $12,000 for his runner up finish.
Joe Uribe Jr. of Surprise, Ariz. brought an 18.18-pound final-day limit to the scales to bring his total weight to 45.76 pounds, jumping 12 spots finish in third place. He was followed by Orangevale, Calif. angler Chris Raza in fourth place with 45.28 pounds. Alex Klein of Oroville, Calif. rounded out the Top 5 with 44.36 pounds.
