Mercury and MotorGuide Pro Fred Roumbanis wins the Bassmaster Elite Series Carolina Clash

Columbia, S.C. (May 18, 2008) – Mercury and MotorGuide professional angler Fred Roumbanis won the Bassmaster Elite Series Carolina Clash tournament in Columbia, S.C., Sunday with a four-day combined weight of 66 pounds, 13 ounces.

Roumbanis, 29, who entered the final day with a seven-ounce lead, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17-pound, 14-ounces limit Sunday to claim the $100,000 first-place check on the Clarks Hill Lake.

The Mercury and MotorGuide pro also caught the tournament’s biggest bass Sunday, reeling in a six-pound, 13-ounce fish to win an additional $1,000.

Roumbanis said he won this weekend’s tournament by trusting his instincts. While every other angler concentrated on fishing Lake Murray, he fished a significant distance up the Saluda River, which feeds Lake Murray.

For the first time in Bassmaster history, pro anglers in 2008 can fish from their own boats and with their own engines in all Bassmaster tournaments. Six of the top 12 finishers at the Carolina Clash were powered by Mercury engines.

Roumbanis was followed by Mercury teammates Edwin Evers, third, 64 pounds, 13 ounces; Brian Snowden, sixth, 61 pounds, 12 ounces; Kevin VanDam, eighth, 59 pounds, 15 ounces; Aaron Martens, ninth, 56 pounds, seven ounces; and Grant Goldbeck twelfth, 52 pounds, 11 ounces.

The Clash of Carolina is the sixth of 11 events in the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series, considered the most visible and prominent tournament trail in the world.

The next Bassmaster Elite Series event – Southern Challenge – is slated for June 5-8 on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala.

Mercury Marine is an official engine sponsor of BASS.