Thursday, April 17, 2014

Bass Pro Shops Lake Havasu Open and Running the London Bridge

Had the opportunity to spend a little time out at Lake Havasu for the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Festival and Lake Havasu Open.  This was a bass fishing tournament that we sponsored.  It was a great event, with lots of fun things to do and see.  We had some great deals on Okuma and Savage Gear, had the chance to fish a little, and even got out for a fun little run.
The run was probably the best part of my trip.  I haven't been to Havasu since I was pretty young.  having just spent some time in London, I was excited to get back out to the lake and see the London Bridge.  it is a very beautiful spot.  Very scenic, and luckily, I only caught the tail end of some of the residual spring breakers (no pun intended).
I started off at my hotel and ran toward the bridge.  One you pass the casino, there is a nice stairway that leads you up to the bridge.  At the top you get a pretty nice view of the channel.  Here is a shot of where I am just about to start to enter the bridge.



Here is an actual shot of the bridge itself from up above.  Nice clear running space, and this day, there were quite a few runners out.
I ran across the bridge and down a block or so, then I turned around and headed back over the bridge.  Once on the other side, I headed off to my right down the stairs and down toward the water front.
There is a great little pathway that runs along the waterfront.  It wasn't too crowded this day, so made for easy running.
I guess you'd call this southbound.  I ran this direction for about 3/4 of a mile.  I got to a little point, then decided to turn around. 
As you run along the channel you see all kinds of fun things.  This day I caught a few of the left overs from spring break.
Loud music, beer, boats, bikinis, and did I mention beer?  Lots of that going around.  This was mid afternoon, so they were all pretty wasted by this time. Hope they all had fun.
I am now going northbound back toward the bridge.  Once you pass the party boats, you get your first glimpse back at the bridge.
It is a really pretty structure, and feels pretty out of place out in the middle of the desert.
There are a few street vendors selling glow sticks, beer, and souvenirs.  Lots of boat and wave runner rentals are found along this path as well.  As you pass all of that you actually get to the bridge.  Here is a look up at the bridge from down below.
Here is a look back underneath and toward the rental area.
Empty pathways made it pretty nice.
As you continue north past the bridge, you eventually come to the end of the pathway.  From here it turns to sand.  A good little leg workout ensued from here for a bit.
Way at the end of the point in the above picture is where we were holding the Bass Pro event.  From here, I doubled back and made it back to my hotel just in time for a little evening float tube fishing session.
The smallmouth bass fishing is said to be excellent, and i did nail this little guy on my first cast.
Lots of largemouth followed over the next couple days, but only that one smallie.  Kind of strange.
Fishing was fun, and I got out as often as I could before the event and after.  I'd get on the water by 6am and fish until 9, then back on at 5pm after the event finished.   I'd fish until dark and saw some pretty incredible sunsets.
As I mentioned, the event went very good.  I hope this is something they choose to do every year, and let Okuma be a part of.  Here is a quick look at my office for the weekend.




All in all it was a lot of fun.  Some great exposure for Okuma and Savage Gear, fish were caught, and a great run was had. 
 

Happy Running...and Fishing!!



#Fishing, #LakeHavasu, #BassFishing, #Running








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