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Howland angler juggles it all
Nick Prvonozac was still a teen when he won his first bass tournament, and now, more than 20 years later, the thrill of victory hasn’t faded, even on his home water.
Prvonozac, of Howland, has competed at the highest level of professional bass fishing, but he always gets a kick when he’s casting for cash at Mosquito Creek Reservoir just minutes from his house.
He kicked it up a notch again last Saturday at Mosquito by topping the field at the Walmart Bass Fishing League Buckeye Division tournament.
In a sport where success often means catching five or six good keepers a day, Prvonozac was able to boat more than 30 largemouths at Mosquito, with his best five totaling 13 pounds 14 ounces.
No doubt Prvonozac went into the event as the odds-on favorite to win. He’s been fishing there since he and brother George were able to persuade someone to drive them there. As teens, they were regular competitors in tournaments around their hometown of Warren, often beating anglers with decades of experience.
Today Prvonozac juggles fishing and family, occasionally jumping up to the Big Leagues, but he’s always a threat to win when he enters Ohio bass tournaments. His conquest of the Walmart BFL tournament last weekend is a prime example of how his fishing knowledge gives him a competitive edge.
“I just mixed it up throughout the day, and caught them at a number of locations around the lake,” Prvonozac said.
He began early with a Booyah Pad Crasher, a hollow body frog that he worked over matted vegetation. He chose black as his early morning color.
As the day wore on, Prvonozac switched to pitching to grass lines with a Yum Christie Craw. It is a soft-plastic, crawfish-style bait designed by Bassmaster Elite pro Jason Christie, who was among the competitors in last week’s Major League Fishing tournament action on four Youngstown-area lakes.
The Christie Craw worked well, and Prvonozac wrestled more than 20 keepers from Mosquito’s weedbeds.
His biggest fish came late in the day when he pulled up to a spot where the vegetation was thin enough that he could work a Ω-ounce Booyah Pigskin jig. The football-style head tricked a chunky largemouth that capped his day’s catch and earned him not only first place, but also big-bass-of-the-day honors.
Winning at Mosquito is pretty much par for the course if your name is Prvonozac.
Nick and brother George recently notched a victory in the Mosquito round in the Northern Ohio Anglers Association Open, as they sorted through nearly three dozen largemouths to amass a five-bass weight of 13.89 pounds.
What’s Prvonozac’s counsel to those who want to catch more Mosquito bass?
“It’s not difficult at all,” he said. “Just look for baitfish around the grass. If you see baitfish activity, the bass will definitely be in there with them.”
Vegetation has become much more of a factor in recent years as Mosquito’s water clarity has improved. Increased sunlight penetration has helped establish the grass beds in water depths out beyond 7 feet.
It’s out on the deeper edges that Prvonozac recommends anglers explore during the hotter weeks of summer.
With the winning formula so firmly etched in his head, how many times has it propelled him to victory on his favorite lake? Surprisingly, he’s not exactly sure.
“I don’t know. I never counted them. But it’s a lot.”
Mosquito’s largemouth population can count on one thing: Prvonozac will not be giving them a break any time soon.