BASS Photo
"I've always said that the toughest fishing in the world is when the water's cold and muddy," said Kevin VanDam. "Nowhere was that more evident than on Lay Lake last weekend during the official practice period. It was by far the most difficult Classic practice I've ever fished." Having typed those words in his blog just four days ago, VanDam followed it up today by doing what he "occasionally" does and figured out how to catch them better than everyone else. His catch of 19 pounds, 8 ounces, however, didn't give him a comfortable lead as many would assume given the extremely tough weather and shad conditions in the lake right now. Todd Fairclotth was only behind by a small margin with a limit weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, followed closely by Jeff Kriet with 16 pounds, 7 ounces.
What's interesting is Faircloth, VanDam and Kriet are all in the same general area but not on the exact same stretches. So the area has a lot of bass but they are catching them in a variety of ways and they're not the only ones in the area.
The tournament is already shaping up to be a lot better than many anglers and speculators expected. And as each sunny day warms the water, the bite is liable to change and improve for most.
Here's an excerpt from VanDam's blog this evening after coming in with a somewhat "shocking" weight and day-one lead.
- "I said yesterday that I thought this Classic would be different
because you wouldn't need fish for three days. Honestly, when I wrote
that I believed one good day would be enough this year. After today, you
can throw that idea out the window. This will be a three day event.
There's no doubt about that. The changes out there since Wednesday are
dramatic and they matter.
-
"Several writers have asked me what changed. Why are there so many limits
and so much weight? The simple answer to that question is the fish.
They're biting. It really isn't the weather, or at least I don't think
that's it anyway. The fish have developed a brand-new attitude. It has
really altered the way this tournament has to be fished."
Bassmaster.com has had great coverage of the event thus far, and we encourage all to check out what Ken Duke and his team are providing there.
