Power Worms are a staple at Havasu as well. The bass there just love purple Power Worms. For split-shotting, it's hard to beat 4-inch curlytail or straight-tail Robo Worms in Bold Bluegill or Warmouth colors.

Wayne Crowder of Orem, Utah, often fishes tournaments at Havasu. This time of year, a split-shot rig is always his first choice.

He likes main-lake areas like the humps and reefs around Site Six, and has his best luck on long main-lake points in about 25 feet of water. He often finds his fish holding on the manmade structures that have been placed in these areas.

Like Blanchard, Crowder uses fluorocarbon line and Robo Worms, but his favorite color is oxblood.

Being able to read your depthfinder is a crucial skill on Havasu. When he's fishing a long point, Crowder is often at least 50 yards from shore, and the only way he can stay on the right structure is by keeping an eye on his graph.

It takes patience, especially when you're split-shotting with an open hook. The artificial structure that holds bass also grabs hooks and hangs on to them.

When the weather is clear and calm, go with the finesse baits and fish very, very slowly. Blanchard uses a 10-inch leader on split-shot rigs, and 3 feet on Carolina rigs.

The slower the bite, the longer the leader. She paints her sinkers brown to blend with the bottom and to prevent the fish biting the sinkers instead of the baits.

Once the fish go into active pre-spawn mode, Blanchard starts using reaction baits, like crankbaits and jerkbaits. These are also the go-to baits on windy days when fishing a split shot or Carolina rig becomes impossible.

The bass at Havasu love chartreuse-shad colored baits. Pointer 78s, cranks and Rat-L-Traps in ghost minnow, chartreuse shad, pearl ayu and American shad are among their favorite hard baits.

Largemouth Locations
While the smallmouth bass seem to love the deeper waters of the main lake, the big largemouths head for the backwaters and spawn on the shallow sandy banks.

If you're simply racing down the main lake, it's easy to miss the entrances to these backwaters.

If the water's a bit low, you may have to pole your way through the tules to reach them.

Slow down and slowly cruise the edges of the tules while you watch for small channels leading to open areas hidden behind the reeds.

Local angler Mike Baldwin of Mohave Valley loves to throw spinnerbaits along the tule line and in the backwaters. There's just one problem: At Havasu, there are literally miles and miles of tules.

How do you decide where to fish?

"Look for dark water," Baldwin said. Dark water is deep water, and the bass love to use the little holes near the tules.

The good water is maybe four feet deep. Baldwin starts in coves near the north end of the lake, fishing a Pointer 78, but slowly. Water in these shallow areas is usually warmer, and the manmade brushpiles hold fish.

Baldwin said that from the Arizona Channel to Blankenship is the first area where the largemouths will spawn. There is a series of coves going up this area. He stops to fish the rocky points along the way.

Baldwin travels with the trolling motor because if he rams into a sandbar on the trolling motor, he won't get stuck as badly as he would with the big motor