Despite changing water levels, the threat of nasty weather and moderate boat traffic in his primary area, Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark., made zero adjustments Friday, opting instead to keep things simple and duplicate his Thursday strategy en route to posting a two-day total of 38 pounds, 13 ounces at the Alabama Charge on Pickwick Lake, the fourth Bassmaster Elite Series of the season. As they did after Thursday, Short and Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., occupied the top two spots but Short was able to increase his lead to 3-plus pounds with his Friday limit of 18-10.
While some anglers are keying in on the shallows, Short has taken a different approach to his day. Each morning, he has started shallow and rounded out a decent limit. As the day progresses, Short moves deeper, settling in at a moderate depth level and working the area for all it’s worth.
He is picking his areas apart slowly and thoroughly, keeping his lures – a crankbait and a jig – wet as often as possible on the Tennessee River impoundment. With the weather threatening to let loose Saturday, Short again planned to stick to his guns Saturday.
Photo by Seigo Saito / Bassmaster.com
“I honestly don’t know why they are biting,” said Short, who won his first Elite Series tournament last June on the Mississippi River. “It could be my bait but whatever it is, I have something figured out that most other guys don’t. I’m thrilled that I have been able to pile up this much weight.”
Fishing fans can catch all the on-the-water action from the four-day event on The Bassmasters, which airs Saturday, May 9, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN2 (re-airs Sunday, May 23, at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN2). The daily weigh-ins for all regular-season Elite events and the two postseason events will air live on ESPN3.com, ESPN’s broadband sports network. Bassmaster.com will follow the Charge each day with BASSCast, BASSCam, real-time leaderboards during weigh-ins, photo galleries, daily results, and Hooked Up with ESPN Outdoors personalities Mark Zona and Tommy Sanders.
For Short, the Pickwick success is no surprise – the season is shifting towards the more traditional fishing that Short excels at – and timely – he entered the tournament 74th in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings – as he was in danger of letting the season slip away from his with another subpar finish.
But Short dug in this week and has handled the changing parameters better than most, exhibiting consistency in a tournament that requires it. His bites have come in decidedly different manners as sometimes he entices the bass on his first cast while others take a significant amount of effort.
“No matter what happens with the weather, I know that there is enough fish moving out,” said Short, who has strictly keyed on post-spawn largemouths this week. “I just have to figure out how to catch them if the conditions change.”
There are two polarizing decisions that anglers have to make this week. Anglers have the choice of sticking to Pickwick or locking through to Lake Wilson. It is evident after two days that most anglers are sticking to Pickwick. Additionally, anglers have the luxury of either fishing for smallmouth, largemouth or both. And while Pace stuck to only smallmouths Thursday, he brought in a mixed bag Friday.
He is working a community hole that was so riddled with traffic, it tested Pace’s patience all day. But the 29-year-old kept his cool and stayed in contention with 16 pounds, 0 ounces Friday. He spent the first two hours of the day working smallmouth in the shallows but only was able to land three. He slide out to the outside areas later in the day and located the largemouth.
Pace, 28th in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings heading into this event, said his area is holding post-spawn fish that are gradually moving deeper. While he feels the area holds the quality to win the tournament, it has had little time to rest due to the saturation of competitors.
“When you fish a community area, it’s hard to duplicate success two days in a row,” said Pace, who qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason last season. “I think I can have another good day Saturday though, if they pull the current and the clouds come out.”
Moving up to third from sixth was Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., with 35-5. Martens is someone to watch as he feels right at home on Tennessee River impoundments -- last year he won an Elite event on Lake Guntersville. Moving up to fourth from a tie for 13th was Mike Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, N.J., with 34-10. Rounding out the top five was Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., with 34-6.
Both Iaconelli and Martens were in good shape in the AOY standings heading into this event and are in serious contention for the Postseason – only the top 12 in the AOY standings at the end of the regular season qualify. Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., has a sizable lead in those standings but dropped to 14th in the event, which would be his worst finish of the season.
Again, the entire Elite Series field landed limits and some anglers took advantage of the minimal separation in the standings, making serious moves. Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, posted a 20-4 limit, the biggest of the tournament, and moved up 56 places. Dean Rojas of Lake Havasu, Ariz., moved up 53 places to 30th.
Other notables in the cutline were Ish Monroe of Hughson, Calif. (22nd), Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan. (37th) and Greg Vinson of Wetumpka, Ala. (43rd).
Reigning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam continues to struggle this season and limped to a 57th place finish. He will look for redemption next week on Guntersville, a KVD favorite.
BASS has visited Pickwick Lake, a 47,000-acre Tennessee River fishery, for six events, including a 2002 Southern Open won by Boyd Duckett of Demopolis, Ala., with 33 pounds, 8 ounces, through three days. Duckett was ninth.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 10 38-13 310
Day 1: 5 20-03 Day 2: 5 18-10
2. Cliff Pace Petal, MS 10 35-09 295
Day 1: 5 19-09 Day 2: 5 16-00
3. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 10 35-05 290
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 17-02
4. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 10 34-10 285
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 17-09
5. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 10 34-06 280
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 18-14
6. Edwin Evers Talala, OK 10 33-01 276
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 14-08
7. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 10 32-12 272
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 14-03
8. Mark Davis Mount Ida, AR 10 32-10 268
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 17-00
9. Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 10 32-07 264
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 16-15
10. Bill Lowen North Bend, OH 10 32-07 260
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 15-05
11. Shaw E Grigsby Gainesville, FL 10 32-06 257
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 16-07
12. Rick Morris Virginia Beach, VA 10 32-03 254
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 14-12
13. Gary Klein Weatherford, TX 10 32-02 251
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 20-04
14. Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 10 31-15 248
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 13-00
15. Wade Grooms Bonneau, SC 10 31-14 245
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 14-11
16. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, KY 10 31-11 243
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 18-05
17. Dave Wolak Wake Forest, NC 10 31-05 241
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 15-05
18. Zell Rowland Austin, TX 10 31-01 239
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 13-01
19. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, OK 10 31-00 237
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 12-15
20. Paul Elias Laurel, MS 10 30-11 235
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 18-02
21. Boyd Duckett Demopolis, AL 10 30-09 233
Day 1: 5 17-11 Day 2: 5 12-14
22. Ish Monroe Hughson, CA 10 30-09 231
Day 1: 5 14-08 Day 2: 5 16-01
23. Marty Robinson Lyman, SC 10 30-01 229
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 15-15
24. Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, NC 10 29-14 227
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 15-07
25. Derek Remitz Grant, AL 10 29-11 225
Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 17-01
26. Mark Tucker Saint Louis, MO 10 29-06 223
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 15-02
27. Mark Burgess Norton, MA 10 29-06 221
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 14-15
28. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, OK 10 29-05 219
Day 1: 5 13-00 Day 2: 5 16-05
29. Kenyon Hill Norman, OK 10 29-01 217
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 15-01
30. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, AZ 10 29-00 215
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 18-14
31. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 10 29-00 213
Day 1: 5 14-15 Day 2: 5 14-01
32. Charlie Hartley Grove City, OH 10 28-14 211
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 15-13
33. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 10 28-14 209
Day 1: 5 14-14 Day 2: 5 14-00
34. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 10 28-10 207
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 14-04
35. Jeff Connella Bentley, LA 10 28-08 205
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 14-08
36. Pete Ponds Madison, MS 10 28-07 203
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 13-13
37. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 10 28-06 201
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 13-02
38. Denny Brauer Camdenton, MO 10 28-05 199
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 15-08
39. Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 10 28-02 197
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 13-01
40. Dennis Tietje Roanoke, LA 10 27-15 195
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 11-12
41. Billy McCaghren Mayflower, AR 10 27-14 193
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 5 17-06
42. Casey Ashley Donalds, SC 10 27-14 191
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 10-13
43. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, AL 10 27-10 189
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 16-09
44. Fred Roumbanis Bixby, OK 10 27-09 187
Day 1: 5 12-11 Day 2: 5 14-14
45. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 10 27-09 185
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 14-11
46. Bradley Roy Lancaster, KY 10 27-07 183
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 15-06
47. Terry Butcher Talala, OK 10 27-07 181
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 12-11
48. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 10 27-05 179
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 12-04
49. Randy Howell Springville, AL 10 27-04 177
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 15-00
50. Jason Williamson Aiken, SC 10 27-01 175
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 12-11
51. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, CA 10 27-00 173
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 15-12
52. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 10 26-12 171
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 16-10
53. Timmy Horton Muscle Shoals, AL 10 26-08 169
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 13-09
54. Clark Reehm Russellville, AR 10 26-04 167
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 11-14
55. Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, MD 10 26-04 165
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 5 12-00
56. Scott Rook Little Rock, AR 10 26-04 163
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 12-06
57. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 10 26-02 161
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 11-00
58. Jason Quinn Lake Wylie, SC 10 26-02 159
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 13-14
59. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 10 26-02 157
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 12-10
60. John Crews Salem, VA 10 26-02 155
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 12-14
61. Keith Poche Troy, AL 10 26-01 153
Day 1: 5 15-12 Day 2: 5 10-05
62. Matt Herren Trussville, AL 10 25-15 151
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 11-08
63. Morizo Shimizu Osaka JAPAN 10 25-14 149
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 12-09
64. Peter E Thliveros St Augustine, FL 10 25-10 147
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 12-04
65. Mark Tyler Vian, OK 10 25-09 145
Day 1: 5 10-13 Day 2: 5 14-12
66. Bobby Lane Lakeland, FL 10 25-09 143
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 12-11
67. Chad Griffin Cresson, TX 10 25-08 141
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 13-07
68. Gerald Swindle Warrior, AL 10 25-06 139
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 13-05
69. Britt Myers Lake Wylie, SC 10 25-05 137
Day 1: 5 13-08 Day 2: 5 11-13
70. Kelly Jordon Mineola, TX 10 25-03 135
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 14-01
71. James Niggemeyer Van, TX 10 25-01 133
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 12-13
72. Bradley Hallman Norman, OK 10 24-12 131
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 11-15
73. Matt Greenblatt Palm Beach Gardens, FL 10 24-10 129
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 13-06
74. J Todd Tucker Moultrie, GA 10 24-04 127
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 08-03
75. Jami Fralick Martin, SD 10 24-03 125
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 13-02
76. John Murray Phoenix, AZ 10 23-15 123
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 11-10
77. Jeremy Starks Charleston, WV 10 23-13 121
Day 1: 5 09-01 Day 2: 5 14-12
78. Alton Jones Waco, TX 10 23-13 119
Day 1: 5 13-03 Day 2: 5 10-10
79. Davy Hite Ninety Six, SC 10 23-00 117
Day 1: 5 08-08 Day 2: 5 14-08
80. David Smith Del City, OK 10 22-03 115
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 5 11-00
81. Guy Eaker Cherryville, NC 10 22-00 113
Day 1: 5 10-04 Day 2: 5 11-12
82. Pat Golden High Point, NC 10 21-15 111
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 09-01
83. Matt Reed Madisonville, TX 10 21-14 109
Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 11-05
84. Kotaro Kiriyama Moody, AL 10 21-12 107
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 5 11-04
85. Marty Stone Fayetteville, NC 10 21-08 105
Day 1: 5 08-00 Day 2: 5 13-08
86. Byron Haseotes Centerville, MA 10 21-05 103
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 09-13
87. Chris Lane Guntersville, AL 10 20-11 101
Day 1: 5 08-04 Day 2: 5 12-07
88. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 10 20-07 99
Day 1: 5 07-09 Day 2: 5 12-14
89. Yusuke Miyazaki Forney, TX 10 20-07 97
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 10-05
90. Scott Ashmore Broken Arrow, OK 10 20-03 95
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 10-00
91. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 10 18-13 93
Day 1: 5 08-11 Day 2: 5 10-02
92. Byron Velvick Del Rio, TX 10 18-09 91
Day 1: 5 08-14 Day 2: 5 09-11
93. Vince Fulks Purcell, OK 10 17-09 89
Day 1: 5 09-12 Day 2: 5 07-13
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 93 465 1257-06
2 93 465 1284-00
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186 930 2541-06
