Chris Martin Retains Second Place Position with 35.21 pounds for two Days

Redding, Calif. – February 6, 2025 –– As if bass fishing tournaments aren’t a difficult enough proposition, competing in one of the major West Coast events like the 2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open at Bridge Bay Marina can get even tougher with variable weather.

Typically

However, one thing that has proven out historically is that Lake Shasta performs well in the kind of conditions that make people want to stay home and sit by a fire.  Such was the case on the second day of The WON Bass Lake Shasta Open, when the anglers were greeted with cold temperatures and rain in the morning, then that precipitation turned to snowflakes as the day wore on, and the bite improved for many in the field.

Day one pro leader Joe Uribe Jr. from Surprise, Ariz. and day two AAA David Undwerwood fished new water in the same area he had fished on day one and found the Lake Shasta spotted bass to be cooperative.  Uribe managed to bring an 18.83-pound limit to push Uribe’s total weight to 39.15 pounds and retain the lead in the event.

Uribe said that he ran the same area, but completely different stretches of water with the same program from day one.  “I still threw my swimbait and watched the fish rise on it on my Livescope unit,” said Uribe.  “I’m getting one to eat it every once in a while, but watching bunches of them come take a look can be frustrating; I have to trigger them into striking.”

The pair boated nearly two dozen keepers on day two using Uribe’s swimbait pattern and Underwood finesse fished behind him to contribute to their day’s creel.  “David really did a great job fishing behind me today; he caught two of the fish we weighed, including our biggest fish, a five pounder,” said Uribe.  “I locked that big rod in my hand and went after it because I feel like that is my best chance to win and I’m gonna do the same thing tomorrow and hopefully it works out.”

Day two second place pro Chris Martin from Rocklin, Calif., who also manages the Rocklin Bass Pro Shops Marine Department, and his AAA partner Rick Mikla managed to bring 16.46 pounds of spotted bass to Bridge Bay Marina to bring his two-day total weight to 35.21 pounds, enough to hold on to second place comfortably on day two.

Martin said he fished the same areas he did on day one but reported getting fewer bites than he did on the first day.  “We caught about half as many fish today, but when the first bite is a five-pound spot it kind of settles you down real quick,” he said.  “My fish moved shallower with the weather initially, but then pulled back as the sow started, and I leaned on the areas pretty hard, so I’m kind of concerned about tomorrow.  I have some pretty good backup areas, I’ll give it a go and see how this turns out.”

Discovery Bay, California’s Logan Huntze maintained his third-place position on the second day by producing a 12.93-pound limit to bring his total weight to 30.84 pounds. He was followed by veteran Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. pro Jerry Ballesteros who posted 16.72 pounds on day two to move into fourth place with 30.44 pounds and Winters, Calif. pro Joe Mariani rounded out the top five with a 13.21-pound limit to bring his total weight to 30.09 pounds

Outside of the day two leaders, the big story of the day was the 9.14-pound spotted bass brought to the scales by Altaville, Calif. pro Alex Niapas.  The monster spotted bass anchored a 21.89-pound limit that brought his total weight to 29.85 pounds and rocketed him all the way into sixth place after a disappointing start in 115^th place on day one.

In the AAA Division, Jacob Crawford of San Pedro, Calif. leads with a two-day total of 32.12 pounds.  Second Place went to Phillip Lopez with 33.21 pounds, he was followed in third place by Jake Etcheverry with 30.82 pounds.  Damon Motley stood in fourth place after day two with 30.22 pounds and Kody Sindorf rounded out the top five with 30.02 pounds.

The anglers are vying for the chance to earn the keys to the 2025 Ranger Boats Z518 with Mercury 150 ProXS outboard prize boat presented by Bass Pro Shops with Power-Pole Charge and Volta Power Lithium Power Batteries, a package valued at $55,000.

Each of the pros and AAA anglers who finished in the top five will earn a Golden Ticket berth into the 2025 Bassmaster B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic

The daily livestream of the weigh-ins airs on at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments. Daily weigh-ins from Bridge Bay Marina in Redding, Calif. begin after the first flight checks in at 3:00 PM Pacific Time.

The Top 10 in each division are below, for complete standings go to: https://wonbassevents.com/pages/won-bass-shasta-open-pairings-results.

2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open Day One Pro Standings

Place	Angler	Hometown	Fish	Big Bass	Day 1	Day 2	Total
1	Joe Uribe, Jr.	Surprise AZ	10-10	7.36	20.32	18.83	39.15
2	Chris Martin	Rocklin CA	10-10	5.00	18.75	16.46	35.21
3	Logan Huntze	Discovery Bay CA	10-10	5.99	17.91	12.93	30.84
4	Jerry Ballesteros	Rancho Cucamonga CA	10-10	4.89	13.72	16.72	30.44
5	Joe Mariani	Winters CA	10-10		16.88	13.21	30.09
6	Alex Niapas	Altaville CA	10-10	9.14	7.96	21.89	29.85
7	Cody Meyer	Eagle ID	10-10		15.25	13.96	29.21
8	Ian Boehm	Desrt Hills AZ	10-10	5.53	16.87	12.04	28.91
9	Greg Gutierrez	Red Bluff CA	10-10	4.27	16.31	12.27	28.58
10	Ryan Cool	Redding CA	10-10		13.47	15.03	28.50

2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open Day One AAA Standings

Place	Angler	Hometown	Fish	Weight	Big Bass	Day 1	Day 2	Total
1	Jacob Crawford	San Pedro CA	10-10	35.12		13.23	21.89	35.12
2	Phillip Lopez	Shingle Springs CA	10-10	33.21	5.37	18.75	14.46	33.21
3	Jake Etcheverry	Hughson CA	10-10	30.82	4.15	16.87	13.95	30.82
4	Damon Motley	Orange CA	10-10	30.22	4.51	20.32	9.90	30.22
5	Kody Sindorf	Anderson CA	10-10	30.02	3.93	16.06	13.96	30.02
6	David Underwood	Waco TX	10-10	29.57	5.30	10.74	18.83	29.57
7	Dennis Saiki	Torrance CA	10-10	29.47	4.37	15.00	14.47	29.47
8	Jeff Baird	Washington UT	10-10	29.43	4.21	14.40	15.03	29.43
9	Steve Brackmann	Wilder ID	10-10	29.40		17.91	11.49	29.40
10	Michael Grisham	Glendale AZ	10-10	28.81		16.31	12.50	28.81

The 2025 WON Bass Western Opens Series of events Consisting of five events in California, Arizona and Nevada, will culminate with the 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open at Lake Mohave in October.  The five event dates are as follows:

Feb. 5 to 7, 2025 – Lake Shasta

April 9 to 11, 2025 – Clear Lake

May 7 to 9, 2025 – Lake Havasu

Sept. 10 to 12, 2025 – Lake Mead

Oct. 6 to 8, 2025 – U.S. Open at Lake Mohave

For complete details or to register, look to wonbassevents.com and WONews.com to hear the latest news about the 2024 season and beyond and follow along at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments.

The 2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open is brought to you by Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Triton Boats, Bridgford Foods, Volta Power Lithium, Power Pole, Lowrance, Daiwa, AFTCO, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Fenwick Rods, Anderson Toyota, A&M Graphics, Anglers Marine, Signature Gates, DD26 Fishing, Bad Ass Bearings, Cipher Fishing Megaware Keelguard.

Local presenting sponsors are Visit Redding, Phil’s Propellers Huff’s Restaurant.