Six foot rolls, 40mph winds and with nothing but the flat shores of Lake Havasu, Ariz., to stop it, high winds result in a canceled day two of the championship. Sixty TBF anglers fished day one of the 2013 TBF Southwest Division Championship presented by Lowrance on Lake Havasu, in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Tomorrow, those 60 anglers, their day one standings and all the luck one tournament day can provide, will go straight into the final day to decide this year’s Southwest Division Champions both in the individual and state team standings. The final day will also advance 10 anglers, the top two from each state in the Southwest Division, to the 2014 TBF Federation National Championship.
Leading going into the final day is Tom Shimabukuro from Oakland, Calif., with a 
five bass limit weighing 15lbs 12ounces. Shimabukuro had a limit by 10am and culled two or three times to get his leading bag. “It was kind of a grind; it was tough out there,” Shimabukuro said. “The wind really threw everything off, made it hard to get where I wanted to fish.”
This year’s Federation National Championship was recently held on Grand Lake in Grove, Okla., and a California state team angler won it. Shimabukuro was also the co-angler at the 2013 FNC event and now leads the California state team and the tournament, continuing to represent anglers in the West.
Tomorrow, he’ll try to hold on to the lead for another chance at the National Champion title. “I think it’s supposed to lay down a little bit; today, I don’t even think I could get to my water. Tomorrow, I’m gonna run the same thing I did in practice and the first day, not going to adjust much; just got to get three good ones and I will be alright.”
Leading the Southwest Division in the state standings is the host state team of Arizona. “The fact of the matter is Arizona’s Stephen Price is a co-angler leading the state – something to be said for the back of the boat,” Arizona President, Greg Krueger, said. Stephen Price from Phoenix, Ariz., is also holding second place in the individual standings with a limit of bass weighing 15lbs 6ounces right behind Shimabukuro.
“We talked about patterns that the fish are responding too and the game plan tomorrow is to get everybody on a limit,” Krueger continued. “Overall, being a host team and leading after the first day is pretty exciting.”
The cancellation of day two will either hurt or help the day one leaders as they sail into the final day. Tomorrow, only one tournament day matters as the 2013 Southwest Division Championship presented by Lowrance wraps up on the windy Lake Havasu waters in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
