July 2025 Saguaro
Summary
In the July tournament at Saguaro Lake, the Midweek Bass Anglers of Arizona witnessed fierce competition among skilled pairs, with Vern Ridgway and Chris Beverley emerging victorious in first place, boasting an impressive 19.37 pounds anchored by a 7.45-pound big fish. Their success stemmed from adaptability, shifting from reaction baits to Texas rigs upriver after initial spots proved occupied, allowing them to land multiple heavyweights despite a slow start. Close behind in second were Joe Michels and Loren Moore, whose 18.11-pound bag included a 7.31-pound lunker, achieved through relentless passes on bluff walls that yielded a flurry of fish over four pounds. Rounding out the podium in third place, Bryan Colby and Joe Pettinato compiled 16.10 pounds, fueled by an early limit on main lake points and strategic culls, resulting in a livewell featuring three five-pounders amid a day of consistent action.
Anglers employed a diverse array of techniques to coax bites from the lake's inhabitants, blending aggressive reaction fishing with crankbaits and topwater lures to cover water quickly in the early hours and provoke strikes from active bass. For more deliberate pursuits, finesse methods such as dropshots, free rigs, and Neko rigs proved invaluable, enabling precise presentations in deeper zones or when the bite turned sluggish. Power fishing rounded out the arsenal, with Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, and jigs allowing competitors to probe stubborn structures and elicit commitments from larger, more selective fish lurking in cover.
The lake's varied topography dictated strategic choices, as participants honed in on bluff walls and sheer cliffs where fish congregated in surprisingly narrow 30-foot stretches, offering prime ambush points amid vertical drops. Main lake points, river banks, and steeper inclines served as transitional havens, drawing bass to edges where currents and depths converged for feeding opportunities. Additionally, snags, expansive flats, and shadowed walls—often in depths ranging from shallow ledges to 24 feet—provided reliable habitats, rewarding those who targeted these features with patience and repeated casts.
Bait selection mirrored the tournament's demands, with crankbaits like the 6XD and 10XD in alluring patterns such as sexy shad diving deep to mimic fleeing forage and trigger reaction bites. Soft plastics dominated the finesse and power games, including Texas-rigged creatures and worms in natural hues like watermelon green or red flake, alongside Senkos, ribbon-tail worms, Brush Hogs, and Super Hogs for versatile dragging and flipping. Specialized setups, such as dropshot rigs featuring oxblood Roboworms, light-sinkered free rigs, Neko rigs, and hefty 3/4-ounce jigs, completed the toolkit, each tailored to exploit local conditions and entice Saguaro's quality bass into striking.
Top Three Places
1st Place: Vern Ridgway and Chris Beverley with 19.37 pounds, including a 7.45-pound big fish, achieved by adapting to spots upriver using Texas rigs after initial reaction baits failed.
2nd Place: Joe Michels and Loren Moore with 18.11 pounds and a 7.31-pound big fish, succeeding on bluff walls with multiple passes yielding several fish over 4 pounds on big baits and free rigs.
3rd Place: Bryan Colby and Joe Pettinato with 16.10 pounds, starting strong on main lake points and culling with crankbaits and plastics for a bag including three 5-pounders.
Techniques
- Reaction fishing with crankbaits and topwater lures for early coverage and aggressive bites.
- Finesse methods like dropshots, free rigs, and Neko rigs for deeper or slower presentations.
- Power techniques including Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, and jigs for probing structure and eliciting strikes from quality fish.
Structures
- Bluff walls and sheer cliffs for concentrated fish in narrow stretches.
- Main lake points, river banks, and steeper banks for transitions and ambush areas.
- Snags, flats, and shadowed walls in depths from shallow to 24 feet.
Baits
- Crankbaits such as 6XD and 10XD in colors like sexy shad for deep diving.
- Soft plastics including Texas-rigged creatures, worms (watermelon green or red flake), Senkos, ribbon-tail worms, Brush Hogs, and Super Hogs.
- Dropshot rigs with Roboworms (oxblood), free rigs with light sinkers, Neko rigs, and 3/4-ounce jigs.
Saguaro Weight Distribution
Tournament Reports
1st Place: Vern Ridgway & Chris Beverley – 19.37 lbs (Big Fish: 7.45 lbs)
Vern Ridgway
I had the pleasure of fishing with Mr. Chris Beverley, a talented young angler who proved to be an excellent partner and a valuable asset in the boat.
Thanks to the weigh-in team and the administrative staff who made this event possible—another outstanding job by these dedicated individuals.
The day began early, and we made a quick stop on the main lake. We spotted the skilled Joe Michels just ahead of us and decided not to follow in his wake.
We moved upriver and found another accomplished angler occupying our intended spot, so we adapted by working the available area with reaction baits, topwater lures, and Big Dawg Baits. With no success, we switched to Texas-rigged creatures and worms. Our first bite came around 8:30 a.m., yielding a fish over 7 pounds. Soon after, I noticed my line moving, and we landed another 7-pounder! Shortly thereafter, we hooked our third fish, weighing between 4 and 5 pounds. We couldn't cull further but did catch some smaller ones that fought like giants.
We used 14-pound line, a 1/4-ounce weight, a size 3 hook, and watermelon green as the color.
See you all at Canyon Lake.
2nd Place: Joe Michels & Loren Moore – 18.11 lbs (Big Fish: 7.31 lbs)
Joe Michels
Congratulations to Vern and Chris. I didn't think anyone could surpass our weight, but Vern truly knows Saguaro Lake and how to assemble a winning bag there! I also want to thank all the volunteers who assisted at the weigh-in.
Several tournament reports highlight Vern and me with our impressive sacks, which is accurate, but I want everyone to know that Loren Moore was the hero in our boat. He caught the 7-pounder and our second-largest fish at 5.5 pounds. I credit him for persevering while we targeted those sheer cliffs. I'll be producing a video on our finish. We caught them in a big way, discarding five fish over 4 pounds in search of even larger ones.
Loren Moore
Congratulations to Vern and Chris for their exceptional performance in claiming first place! I was fortunate to partner with an outstanding boater in Joe Michels. Joe introduced me to a new fishing technique that I'm sure I'll love to hate: bluff fishing. We pre-fished the week before the tournament, where Joe used big baits, so I opted for a small free rig with a light sinker. Joe's pattern proved highly effective, though I wasn't initially thrilled. I learned that you can cover miles of identical-looking bluffs, only to find the fish concentrated in a 30-foot stretch. Armed with this insight on tournament day, we knew we had to position ourselves near big fish when they decided to bite. We worked a bluff where everything initially went wrong—Joe broke off a couple of times, and I lost one. We turned around for another pass, and suddenly everything clicked; we probably caught five fish over 4 pounds in the next 30 minutes. It was an incredible day on the water, as we released 4.75-pounders—who could ask for more? Thanks again, Joe, for two great days and for teaching me a method I know I'll both cherish and dread.
3rd Place: Bryan Colby & Joe Pettinato – 16.10 lbs
Bryan Colby
It was a well-run tournament—thanks to everyone who helped. Congratulations to Vern and Joe; you dominated the field with those massive bags.
At our first spot, we caught about eight fish, mostly on crankbaits with a few on plastics. We made our initial cull before 6:00 a.m. and left with over 14 pounds. We hit several more locations and managed only one additional cull. Together, we landed around 18 fish, including three 5-pounders in the livewell. We hooked plenty of 3- and 4-pounders—the lake is fishing exceptionally well.
See you all at the next one.
Joe Pettinato
My greatest fear is that when I'm dead and gone, my wife will sell my fishing gear for what she thinks I paid for it.
The Saguaro tournament was an absolute thrill. On the morning of July 16, 2025, I witnessed my boater, Bryan Colby, hooking 4- and 5-pounders almost nonstop. Don't get me wrong—I caught my share, but the sizes I landed didn't measure up. That said, I went 12 for 12 with the net and should be in contention for "Net Boy of the Year." Here's what unfolded.
The plan was to make "three or four casts" on a main lake point before running to our next spot. Less than 15 minutes later, we had a limit approaching 12 pounds—at 5:16 a.m. We didn't leave until around 8:30 a.m. When the spot slowed, we departed with a solid 15 pounds in the box to hunt for hogs. We ran and gunned but only caught small fish until Bryan tossed a Senko toward a rock near the bank. Two minutes later, thanks to my stellar netting, we had another 5-pounder on board. Unable to find another kicker, we settled for 16.10 pounds as our final weight. The key baits were crankbaits, Senkos, and ribbon-tail worms.
I'd like to thank my boater, Bryan Colby, for making me feel welcome, ensuring our safety, and putting us on fish. It was a day to remember. Thanks also to the weigh-in crew and admins for their hard work and professionalism. Tight lines, everyone—see you at the next one.
4th Place: Loway Shammas & Andrew Bell – 15.23 lbs (Tournament Big Fish: 7.85 lbs)
Loway Shammas
First off, a heartfelt thank you to the Midweek team for organizing these tournaments—I eagerly anticipate them each month!
I had the pleasure of fishing with the Saguaro expert himself, Andrew Bell. We practiced both together and separately in the lead-up to the event and felt confident in our strategy heading into tournament day.
We started strong, with Andrew landing a solid 4-plus-pound fish on a crankbait while paralleling a bank. The bite was challenging, but Andrew persisted, picking up several fish throughout the day on a variety of baits: a 3/4-ounce jig, a Neko rig, and, of course, more crankbaits. I contributed a couple on the dropshot, including one 2.5-pound keeper. Later, Andrew upgraded that with another 3-pounder, leaving us with two 3s and a 4-plus, totaling around 11 pounds.
By 10:00 a.m., after relocating four or five times, we returned to our starting area. Andrew's father, Clinton Bell, was fishing nearby, and we watched him land a 4-plus. With only about 20 minutes before weigh-in, I felt the pressure, having contributed little to the bag and hoping for a kicker.
Then it happened.
We separated from Clinton and rounded a nearby corner, both throwing crankbaits. I'd been cranking all day without a bite, but suddenly my rod loaded. The headshake signaled a quality fish. I was using a 6XD in sexy shad on 12-pound line, playing it cautiously in free spool to avoid losing it on the treble hooks. After a few runs and careful maneuvering, Andrew executed a flawless net job.
We didn't weigh it until the scales, but we knew it was substantial. Andrew estimated 6 pounds—it turned out to be 7.85 pounds, my new personal best and the tournament's big fish!
Huge thanks to Andrew for keeping us competitive, and praise to God for the privilege of enjoying His magnificent creation.
Andrew Bell
I decided to participate in a Midweek tournament at Saguaro Lake, one of my favorite bodies of water in the state. I drew Loway Shammas as my boater—boat 12 for the event—and contacted him to develop our game plans. I want to thank Loway for trusting me and allowing significant input on our locations and tactics. He placed a lot of faith in a random co-angler who claims deep knowledge of Saguaro and its fish. In the two weeks leading up to the event, I pre-fished six days total, including two sessions yielding 19- and 20-pound three-fish limits in the river, so I was excited for the tournament. After discovering that pattern early in practice, I preserved it and sought backups to complement it. I covered nearly the entire lake and river, testing various techniques and eliminating many areas and methods. I determined our best chance involved diverse plastics techniques mixed with deep crankbaits. However, the river bite I'd found two weeks prior had faded, as patterns often do, so Loway and I adjusted and pre-fished together the Sunday before to assemble a Plan B. We found success with dropshots, free rigs, and jigs on various structures and habitats in the main lake, around snags and deeper, steeper banks. The challenge wasn't catching 3.5- to 4-pound fish; it was locating one or two in the 7- to 9-pound class for a shot at victory. As my home lake, I know Saguaro intimately, and given its strong fishing, I expected 19 to 20 pounds to win, with a 9-plus big fish. It did take over 19 pounds, just without the 9-pounder. The prior two weeks featured clear skies, no clouds, and heat, but tournament morning brought a storm right before launch. The forecast predicted overcast conditions all day, which I knew would alter bites for everyone, including ours. We began on a bank I favor near the snags, and within five minutes, I landed our first keeper—a 4-pounder—on a 10XD-style crankbait. I added two more keepers: one around 2 pounds and another near 3. We shifted to bluffs for a few hours, where Loway culled us up half a pound with a 2.5-pounder. But after nearly two hours with little else, we abandoned that primary plan. We checked a few community holes, resulting in small culls. With about 50 minutes left and a three-fish limit of roughly 11 pounds, we returned to our start. I culled twice more on a free rig, pushing us to about 11.5 pounds in the first few casts. With 10 minutes remaining, Loway grabbed a 6XD crankbait and hooked our big fish—a 7.85-pound tank. After an exhilarating fight and a near-net mishap, we boated her. I thought she was a solid 6.5, not nearly 8, but didn't weigh or inspect her closely—I just knew we'd culled enough for a check and was thrilled with the last-minute success. I was pleased our day, filled with 3- to 4-pounders and ounce-by-ounce culls without a true kicker, ended this way. Loway's 7.85 claimed tournament big fish, set his new personal best (non-bed fish), and secured us 4th out of 32 with 15.23 pounds. Overall, I was satisfied with the outcome, made a new friend, and enjoyed fantastic days on an exceptional lake.
5th Place: Clinton Bell & Nathan Fearno – 15.09 lbs
No Reports
6th Place: Laron Porter & Tim Jones – 14.00 lbs
No Reports
7th Place: Joe Beaty & Doug Moore – 13.77 lbs
Joe Beaty
Congratulations to Vern and Christopher on a huge 3-fish limit. I prefished Saguaro 5 times, locating bigger fish and got on a swim bait bite that produced fish over five lbs, and my new Az PB of 8.5 lbs. Doug and I found an area on the day we prefished that had lots of fish. On tournament day, we headed to an area where two 6’s and a 5 plus were caught. Nothing biting there so we headed to the area we pre-fished the week before, and we got a limit pretty fast. Then Doug hooked up a 6.75, and it was his new Az pb on the same area I got the 8.5, I caught my fish on a watermelon/red trick worm.
Doug Moore
I was paired with Joe Beaty for the second time—always a pleasure! Joe pre-fished several days; I joined him once, and he consistently located biters. On tournament day, we started on one of his spots without success and quickly moved to another—a bank near the no-wake buoys at the river. Joe got bit immediately, boating a dink and a 3.5-pounder. Shortly after, I contributed by sticking a 6.75-pounder (my Arizona personal best) on a Texas-rigged Super Hog in watermelon red flake. Joe then added another 3.5-pounder, completing our bag by 8:00 a.m. Despite our efforts, we couldn't upgrade further. We caught about 10 fish total on Super Hogs, Brush Hogs, free rigs, and dropshots—no reaction bites.
8th Place: Steve Fergerson & Joe Edgett – 13.11 lbs
Steve Fergerson
First, congratulations to the Vern Ridgway team on their lunker bag of 19 pounds, and to Joe Michels in second with 18 pounds—impressive hauls. I mention this because I won last year with just 17 pounds—ha! I had an excellent partner in Joe Edgett; we pre-fished separately due to scheduling conflicts. On tournament day, with spots from both of us, we started on the walls as boat 26. I figured we'd be lucky to get it unoccupied, but we were alone and quickly limited with 2-pounders on dropshots—no size, though. We moved to Joe's spot, where he landed our 5-pounder on a Carolina-rigged Brush Hog, upgrading a couple of pounds in the flats. I hooked a nice 5-plus-pound channel cat that fought unlike a cat, getting us both excited—but no bass. We shifted to a practice spot of mine, where I caught a 4.5-pounder on a dropshot with an oxblood Roboworm, culling our smallest. It was a joy fishing with Joe—we both caught fish, fished cleanly, and that's all you can ask for on Saguaro. We squeaked into 8th place! Also, kudos to all anglers for fish care: In the third flight to weigh in, I saw only one struggling fish by the docks—it was fizzed and released to deeper water. No others floated or struggled—another great tournament.
Joe Edgett
Congratulations to Vern Ridgway and Chris Beverley on your first-place victory. You assembled a remarkably impressive three-fish bag for the tournament.
Steve Fergerson, thank you for boating and pairing with me as your co-angler. I had a fantastic time fishing with you for the first time and look forward to doing so again.
Steve and I couldn't pre-fish together but did so independently on Saguaro. Combined, we identified several productive spots. We started at Steve's location, catching a couple on dropshots along the upper lake walls. When the bite slowed, we moved to one of my spots along Bagley Flats. In practice, I'd caught several quality fish dragging a Carolina-rigged Brush Hog along the flat's edge in 22-24 feet. On our first pass, I snagged and told Steve we needed to backtrack. As we did, the "snag" felt odd. Over it, I felt a fish pulling. After working it from the structure, we landed our big fish—a 5-plus-pounder. We thought we were competitive now.
We relocated to fish shadows along a wall, where Steve quickly hooked a big one on dropshot. We both assumed it was the kicker—only to discover a massive catfish. Time to move.
We headed downlake to a point outside Crazy Cove, where Steve caught a nice 4.5-pounder on dropshot, culling a 3-plus. And that was it—day over, time for the ramp.