Dean Rojas was back on his home waters of Lake Havasu after fishing the BassMasters Classic in Alabama when WON BASS caught up with him to talk about upcoming tournaments on the Colorado River lakes chain.

"The fishing in the Classic was a little tough, the water was a little cool, but I had a half-way decent showing," said Rojas. "I managed to make the cut for the final day and weighed in more than 20 pounds for the tournament."

What's surprising is that while tuning up for the big event, Rojas caught nearly 20 pounds in a single day fishing a WON BASS Team Tournament on Havasu -- in January.

"We won with 18  ? pounds of smallmouth and that was in January," said Rojas, who fished with Justin Locatis in that event. "I remember it used to be if you caught 10 pounds in January you would win hands down."

The chance to fish year-round and keep finely tuned for the Eastern circuit was the main reason Rojas moved to Havasu. And it looks like he started a trend among bass pros.

"Seems like everyone is moving to Havasu, it's a fantastic fishery," said Rojas. "The smallmouth have played a big role in the lake's development, plus the largemouth keep getting bigger and bigger."

That means the WON BASS Team Tournaments held on Lake Havasu not only offer a chance to fish, but to fish against some of the top pros in the West, with sticks like Shaun Bailey, Justin Kerr, Mike Rooke, Roy Hawk, Mike and Clint Goodwin and Shad Berweger competing.

But the draw at Lake Havasu is the fishery, and though his commitments back East won't let him fish the WON BASS Nitro/Mercury Lake Havasu Invitational March 19-20, Rojas said Havasu should be more than on its top game come the tournament.

"There are going to be some huge weights, you might even see a 9 or 10 pounder," said Rojas. "It depends on the weather, but there are sure to be some fish on beds and a lot of pre-spawn fish.

"Weightwise you're going to need 14 pounds or more a day," he added. "You can catch them on anything. Everyone will have limits, it's just a matter of catching that kicker fish one day and bringing in 20 pounds."

If that kicker fish happens to top the existing WON BASS Pro/Am record of 8.68 pounds, the lucky angler will be awarded $10,000.

Rojas said there are a number of factors that have contributed to the improved fishery at Havasu besides the burgeoning population of smallmouth bass.

"I think all the habitat enhancement, the brush piles and all, has really helped," he noted. "I also think striper population has declined. Now even in the winter it takes 15 pounds to get in the top ten of a Team Tournament."

While he can't make the Lake Havasu March 19-20, Rojas has his eyes set upriver for the two WON BASS events on Lake Mead, the first of which is the U.S. Open July 17-21.

"Yes I'll be at the Open, I think it's great that it's right after ICAST," said Rojas. "There should be a lot more of the big pros there. You're going to get a lot of the big names. Of course you'll get Western guys like (John) Murray, Ish (Monroe) and me, but you'll also get top Eastern pros. You'll get Klein and Clunn and probably a dozen more from back East.

"The U.S. Open will easily have over 100 pros compete this year," said Rojas. "I love that it's back in the summer, back to the true U.S. Open. It's the biggest tournament on the West Coast, and I hope they never change it from Lake Mead."