SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – February 12, 2025 –– Following the 2025 WON Bass Lake Shasta Open, questions surrounding the fishing locations of one of the top finishers began to surface. WON BASS Tournament Director Bill Egan received communications from several competitors regarding the topic.
At the pre-event rules and pairings meeting, Egan announced that areas near gas docks or within 100 yards of any man-made structure – excluding bridge pilings – would be off limits and would therefore be against the rules of the event to fish.
Questions surrounding where eventual tournament winner Joe Uribe Jr. was fishing in proximity to timber surrounding a submerged parking area and a service dock in Jones Bay on the final day of the event. Egan witnessed Uribe fishing the Jones Valley area and deemed it allowable.
Per WON BASS rules any protest must be provided to tournament officials in writing, within 30 minutes of the completion of weigh-in with supporting evidence to corroborate the infraction. Despite no such formal protest being filed, and in a desire to maintain the integrity of the competition and the field, WON BASS made inquiries into the situation and found it necessary to question Uribe.
Despite little evidence of infraction, WON BASS followed through with an informal inquiry into the allegation. To avoid any confusion, Uribe was scheduled to receive a truth verification survey or Polygraph – which he passed conclusively on Wednesday February 12, 2025.
This matter is considered closed and tournament results are confirmed as originally posted.
The integrity of WON BASS competition is the utmost priority to the WON BASS and Western Outdoor News organizations, and the expectation of the anglers in our field is that the rules are followed to the fullest extent of the letter of the law, in regard to competition or reporting of possible rules violations.
The 2025 WON Bass 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 – Joe Uribe Jr. – 55.37 pounds
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 2025 season and beyond and follow along at Facebook.com/WONBassTournaments.