Story
BY JODY ONLY
AOY
an epic season for
with Joe Uribe Jr.
F
ollowing an Angler of the Year point’s race
throughout a circuit’s trail is always exciting.
In 2015, Joe Uribe Jr. of Surprise, Ariz. gave us
an epic season to watch in the FLW Rayo- vac Western Division, earning the Angler of the Year
(AOY) honor with top-10 finishes in all three of the
circuit’s stops. His claims included a championship
not only at Lake Havasu , but also at Clear Lake and a
6th place finish at the California Delta.
WesternBass checked in with Uribe to get his
thoughts on his phenomenal season.
WB: You’ve done very well in the AOY rankings over the years, but this year was obviously your best. What do you think was different for you in 2015?
Uribe: This year, I caught a big fish at every tournament and that was the key to my success. Even in practice, I caught big fish. On every lake, Havasu, Delta and Clear Lake, I was on the right kind of fish to win, which obviously dictated what my strategy would be. I had really good practices. I fished
really clean and I didn’t have a lot of mistakes or errors and execution is always a big part.
WB: Did
you have a specific strategy going into
Clear Lake
Victory.
each lake to target big fish?
Photo Credit
Jen Edgar
Uribe: Yes. This year,
I fished to win. I definitely stepped it up.
I usually fish pretty conservatively
trying to be consistent and have made
a lot of top-10 finishes: but had never
gotten a win. This year, I just kind of put it
out there during practice and only went
for big bites.
24
®