Tournament News | Points, battles, quotes and more from the Elite Series

5/10/2011 1:13:43 PM

Pros chime in on points races and other battles this bass fishing season

Jones still on point after West Point: At first glance, the tiptop of the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings appears to be a snapshot of what it was before the May 5-8 Pride of Georgia event on West Point Lake.

Alton Jones still leads, Terry Scroggins is still the runner-up, and Kevin VanDam is still in third place.

The not-so-obvious difference is that there are 107 points between Jones and Scroggins, and 118 points between Jones and VanDam.

Jones of Waco, Texas, wrapped up another stellar performance and with it, the fifth-round claim to the lead in the 2011 race for Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year. Jones finished in sixth place at the Pride of Georgia, the fifth of eight events in the regular Bassmaster Elite Series season. That gave him enough points to secure the points lead for the fourth consecutive time.

“I’ve got to keep saying it: This is not a sprint, this is a marathon. Now, the last tournament — that’s going to be a sprint. But right now, it’s about consistency; it’s about making Top-12 cuts and high finishes,” Jones said.

He contends that his TTBAOY goal is helping him narrow his focus on the water.

“It’s fun to have the ‘big goal’ out there of Angler of the Year, but that’s got to be for between tournaments. When I’m on the water, the goal is the next fish. Every ounce is critical. I’m thinking about that with every cast, being real careful, making sure that I’m presenting the lure to make a catch that will help me,” Jones said.

Other big movers in the TTBAOY standings included Ish Monroe, up 29 places into 35th; Denny Brauer, up 17 places to 28th; Jared Lintner, up 15 ticks to settle in at 12th; and Bobby Lane, who helped himself into 20th place with a Top-12 finish in Georgia.

Lane’s advancement from 31st in points was also significant in that he’s now above the Bassmaster Classic cutline of 28th place — a long struggle since his bad start in Florida on home water. He and his brother Chris now are on track to qualify together for the 2012 Classic, which has happened only once before, in the 2008 Classic.

With three events left, he hasn’t thrown in the towel in the Angler of the Year race.

“Some have accumulated so many points that not too many guys can catch them, but it’s not over until the very end,” Lane said. “Alton might go in with the lead, but we watched Skeet lose it last year. So I’m not gunnin’ for one of them, I’m gunning for all of them.”

DeFoe vs. Montgomery? No way: Ott DeFoe now leads Andy Montgomery by 48 points, but no one should expect a contentious rivalry between them for this season’s Bassmaster Rookie of the Year award.

While the current frontrunners would like nothing more than to claim 2011 rookie bragging rights, DeFoe, 25, and Montgomery, 27, just so happen to be roomies on the road (it’s a way to shave the cost of travel) and the best of friends.

Sunday, May 8, as the Pride of Georgia competition ended, DeFoe of Knoxville, Tenn., speculated whether the official points tally would have his friend from Blacksburg, S.C., in the top spot.

“He’ll gain some ground on me, for sure,” DeFoe said, but then he shrugged. “Maybe we’ll tie for top rookie — that would be good. There’s a lot of pride in the award, but we’re friends, we help each other out. We even helped each other out in this tournament, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Fishing the same pattern, Montgomery suggested a bait adjustment to DeFoe after the first day when Montgomery was in 11th place and DeFoe struggled in 57th place. Defoe took the advice and sacked a 17-2 bag because of it. By Day Three, they were both fishing well enough to score Top 12s — DeFoe’s first, Montgomery’s second consecutive.

The tournament ended with DeFoe in 11th place. Montgomery ended in ninth place and with seven points more than DeFoe collected. Still, he didn’t surpass his buddy in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Few seasons have seen two rookies so high in the overall Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points standings after five events. DeFoe sits in sixth place, and Montgomery is 10th.

Ring of champions: Kevin VanDam already owned three Bassmaster Classic rings, but it wasn’t old hat to get another.

The ring VanDam earned by winning the 2011 Bassmaster Classic was presented to him onstage May 7 during the Pride of Georgia by Jerry McKinnis, one of three investors who purchased B.A.S.S. last fall.

“Lookin’ good — and it fits, too,” VanDam said after he stepped off the stage and displayed to reporters the gold ring with a bass cut into the centerpiece and surrounded with diamonds.

“I’ve seen some Super Bowl rings, and they’re pretty cool, but to me nothing is cooler than this right here,” he said as he took a first good look at the ring himself. “I’ve got four of them now — all different — and I’m super proud to have each one of them.”

The 2011 Classic win was VanDam’s fourth. He also won in 2001, 2005 and 2010.

Ashley’s album: This week, as he competes in his home state, Bassmaster Elite Series pro and country singer Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., will be tracking the progress of his newest venture, two years in the making.

The 27-year-old pro plans to introduce Release, a six-song demo album (a CD, actually). He said the demo will go up this week at CaseyAshley.com.

“I’m excited to see where it goes,” he said.

A demo album contains polished songs, but fewer of them than a CD’s usual 10 to 12 tracks, he explained. He’s been working on the project for about two years, and he has been very selective about which songs he records.

“It took a while to find some songs I really liked, but we got them, six good ones,” Ashley said.

One of the tracks is Fisherman, which he first recorded in 2008 just days before he competed in the Greenville, S.C., Bassmaster Classic. Fisherman, which became Ashley’s signature song on the Elite Series trail, is about a professional angler’s life.

One of the new songs is titled What I’m Fishing For — “not really a tournament, go-get-’em song,” Ashley said.

The others he described as “good timin’ songs” and “summertime songs” — music about having a good time, but not necessarily about fishing.

Four of the album’s six songs were written by Rodney Clawson, a Nashville songwriter who loves to go bass fishing. The author of Fisherman, Clawson has many credits, including co-authoring I Saw God Today, recorded by George Strait. Clawson also was the producer of Release, Ashley said.

Ashley said clips of the new songs will be available on his website.

Bonus awards: Bonuses earned at the April 14-17 TroKar Battle on the Bayou event were awarded to Bassmaster Elite Series anglers during the next event, the May 5-8 Pride of Georgia:

* Alton Jones cashed in for the fourth time for leading the 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. A “big check” presentation commemorated his newest $1,000 award from Toyota.

 
* Also on stage, Ish Monroe received $500 from Berkley for his 10-pound, 15-ounce catch, the bass that won the Berkley Big Bass of the Tournament contest in the Battle on the Bayou.

Autographs for tornado victims: Bobby Dennis held out a pen and a map to a Bassmaster Elite Series pro as he stepped off the stage.

“Could you sign this? It’s an auction item for storm victims,” he said.

Dennis repeated the request 99 times, and 99 times a pro signed the map of West Point Lake.

Dennis, a lure designer with Elite Series supporting sponsor Luck “E” Strike USA, was helping out a stranger he had met at the May 5-8 Pride of Georgia event, just days after the April 27 plague of tornadoes that attacked the South.

“The guy walked up to me and asked if I would help. I said sure,” Dennis explained.

The auction is being organized by ProAnglerRadio.com, a new venture of Drew and Kelli Berry, a couple from Douglasville in northern Georgia and Matt Driver, the director of the website.

“We were spared, but just 20 miles north and 30 miles south was not,” Drew Berry said. He said the map will be one item in an auction he is organizing for victims. The money raised will be donated to the American Red Cross or other relief organizations, he said.

Go Fish Georgia: The new docks, multiple-lane boat ramp and large-capacity parking area of Pyne Road Park in LaGrange, Ga., helped the May 5-8 Bassmaster Elite Series event come off smoothly.

The facilities were built through a successful program called Go Fish Georgia.

The statewide initiative started with $19 million in state funds. Private donors and local communities contribute the rest of the money needed to launch a local project.

Docks and ramps aren’t the only types of projects in the program. Others improve the quality of fisheries, promote fishing to attract major circuits or help educate the public about Georgia’s aquatic resources.

The Pyne Road Park boat launch area is one of eight “mega ramp” projects completed; a total of 17 are planned. A Bassmaster event on Lake Seminole last fall enjoyed the use of another mega ramp.

One of the newest stars of the Go Fish Georgia initiative opened in October 2010. The Go Fish Education Center in Perry, Ga., provides angling information and learning experiences as well as a hatchery.

Quotes from the May 8 finale of the Pride of Georgia on West Point Lake:
Due credit: “Steve earned it today.” — Edwin Evers on being overtaken by Steve Kennedy, who came from behind to win

Missed opportunity: “You don’t get very many opportunities to win one of these things, and you need to make the most of your chance when it comes. I had the bites to win; I just didn’t get them in the boat.” — Edwin Evers, leader for two days, ending in second place

A fight for the win: “Every day has been a struggle. There are plenty of fish in this lake; we just haven’t had the right conditions.” — Steve Kennedy
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