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Denny Brauer is the king of flipping and knows what line works best for that technique. He chooses Seaguar InvizX and tells you why in this Seaguar tip.
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Hook and Look TV's Kim Stricker gives an overview of the new Ranger Z521. Great program and great boat!
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Every now and again we have products dropped off at Wired2Fish Headquarters that we just say "WOW" to. We just received a bottle of the new Thee Fisherman's Soap and as always we tested it out. A mild scent greeted us and we tested it with Gulp juice, Hog Tonic, WD40, paste wax and gasoline and after we washed our hands no residual smell from the other products was present. Just a fresh smell. Its noted to work well for smokers, on onions and smelly fish as well and we are impressed. They even tout that "skunk" smell will be eliminated. We hope we don't have to test that one!
Thee Fisherman's Soap is distributed by Reel 'Em In Products out of Eagle, Wisconsin and comes in two sizes. The 4 ounce bottle (shown above) for $5.49 and a 1 ounce bottle for $2.99.
Tell them Wired2Fish sent you!
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Alabama resident and former BASS Angler of the Year Tim Horton is inviting bass clubs to come to Colbert County Alabama to fish Lakes Pickwick and Wilson this summer. They will feed your entire club a BBQ dinner and Tim will provide tips on both lakes. Scheduling for your trip and dinner has to be made through the Colbert County Tourism Office at 1-256-383-0783.
"I am amazed at the numbers of quality fish that these lakes are currently putting out and I look forward to your clubs dropping by and enjoying it first hand" said Horton.
Contact can be made through Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau, 719 U. S. Highway 72 West, Tuscumbia, Alabama at 1-800-344-0783 or go to fishpickwicklake.com or fishwilsonlake.com for more details.
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Free TESTRIDE™ days, paired with local festivals and events, allow consumers to experience features and benefits of new products on the water. "Pro-level anglers in TESTRIDE™ have special training with key product knowledge," shared George Liddle of LMC. "That means customers get to see the latest gear and try the equipment out on the water. With a pro sharing what they know about the products right there, it makes for a fun event. Even better-it's free."
The staff and pro anglers enjoy it, too. "I love taking potential boat buyers out for a TESTRIDE™," added TESTRIDE™ director George Feder. "We can showcase not just the boat and motor, but the full package-electronics and custom rigging. It's worth driving an hour to get to a TESTRIDE™ event. Folks will have a lot of fun and find it very educational."
Special contests and prizes are part of the TESTRIDE™ experience, so going home with free gear and goodies is a common occurrence. "Boats are a big investment and TESTRIDE™ is an easy way customers can try one out with absolutely no obligation," shared Troy Morris, Ranger Boats Regional Sales Representative. "Customers experience the fit and finish and the ride: how well the engine performs, how the boat handles, even how the depth finder works. It's great to be able to offer it."
Dealers appreciate being able to dovetail into the event with their products. "We love this kind of promotion through Evinrude and Ranger," shared Wendy Heim of Pamp's Outboard in Green Bay, Wisc. "It's a great selling tool and we generate a lot of sales from TESTRIDE™ events."
See www.liddlemarketingcompany.com for complete details. LMC is proud of the partner relationship with the following organizations: Evinrude Outboards, Ranger Boats, Humminbird Electronics, Minn Kota and Rapala.
Liddle Marketing Company is pleased to announce the 2011 schedule for the TESTRIDE™ events as follows:
April 16 - Smithville, Missouri
Smithville Walleye Tournament
June 4 & 5 - Walker, Minnesota
Leech Lake Walleye Tournament
June 10 & 11 - Bemidji, Minnesota
Krause-Anderson Classic
June 17 & 18 - Gilbertsville, Kentucky
FLW TOUR at Kentucky Lake
July 9 -Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Hodag Country Festival
July 30 - Sauk Centre, Minnesota
Stearns County Fair
August 6 & 7 - Bays de Noc, Michigan
Cabela's National Team Championship
August 13 & 14 - Ouachita, Arkansas
Forrest L. Wood Cup
August 20 - Ortonville, Minnesota
Cornfest Days
September 24 & 25 - Bismarck, North Dakota
FLW Walleye Championship
Media Contact
George Liddle at 612-961-4734
or e-mail: george.liddle@liddlesales.com
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The MWC Walleye lid lifter kicked off to world-class fishing, countless lead changes and near-unanimous limits, Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit veterans Tom Brunz and Mark Meravy rode a pair of solid baskets to victory in the MWC’s Spring Valley Central Division season opener on the Illinois River.
“It’s wonderful,” Meravy, of Shorewood, Illinois, said of topping the field of 123 two-person teams. It wasn’t Meravy’s first trip to Spring Valley or the winners’ circle. He first fished the MWC Spring Valley tournament in 1990 and won the event in 2003 with a different partner, John Broncato.
“We primarily trolled crankbaits,” he said of the 2011 victory. In a true display of MWC teamwork, he and Brunz countered strong winds by dividing the duties of fishing and boat control. While Brunz tended the team’s four rods at the stern—and their kicker outboard pushed them along at 1 mph—Meravy steered their bow-mount electric, using his Lowrance X-15 to follow a key hard-bottom breakline dropping from 14 to 17 feet.
 Brunz and Meravy The team spread their lines with 12-foot rods on the outside and 7-footers on the inside. The long rods were spooled with Berkley 100 Percent Fluorocarbon, while the short rods held 10/4 Berkley FireLine. They used three-way rigs with 4-ounce weights to pull shallow-running, pink-and-white crankbaits doused with Berkley Gulp! Alive! Spray.
“To win this one is really special,” said Brunz, of Madison Lake, Minnesota. He noted that the event marked the 25th anniversary of the MWC visiting Spring Valley—a milestone celebrated with the return of longtime Circuit director Bob “Kaz” Kaczkowski to the MWC stage. “My whole fishing career culminated right here,” he added.
The team also found success jigging 3/8-ounce, orange jigheads tipped with Berkley PowerBait Ripple Shads on high-vis green 6-pound FireLine. Together, the presentations produced a 10-fish MWC limit weighing 24.05 pounds—good for a $17,300 first-place check, along with a $500 Berkley Baits Prize Package, $500 Cabela’s gift card for being the highest-finishing MWC Premier Team, U2 contingency and $750 for second place on Day Two in the Big Fish Pot.
After leading on Day One, the local father-and-son team of Tom and Tom Giachetto of Ladd, Illinois, placed second with 23.51 pounds, worth $7,100. “We fished the clambeds both days, but just couldn’t find the big fish today,” said Tom Sr. The team jigged 5/16- and 3/8-ounce leadheads tipped with minnows in 15 to 17 feet of water.
Ronald Levin and Nick Ingoglia, of Beach Park, Illinois, placed third with 23.24 pounds, worth $4,800 in cash plus a $1,000 Cabela’s gift card through the Cabela’s Angler Cash program, $500 in cash thanks to the Worldwide Marine Insurance contingency, and $300 Cabela’s gift card for being the second-highest placing MWC Premier Team.
In all, the top 24 teams shared a $64,000 cash purse, plus thousands in contingencies and Big Fish Pot winnings. Kevin Oyen and Steve Kopp of Dubuque, Iowa, earned the $1,000 Ranger Cup, $500 Lowrance HDS/Elite DSI, and Oxygenator contingencies, while Bob Apple of Chadwick, Illinois, and Brad Linton of Rock Falls, Illinois, won $200 Cabela’s gift cards for being the third-highest MWC Premier Team.
Rightly called the Sauger Capital of the World, the Illinois River yielded a total of 1,208 fish—mostly saugers but with a few walleyes in the mix—weighing 2,273.01 pounds. Big fish of the tournament was a 5.96-pound walleye caught on Day Two by B.J. Liebe and Brian Ernat, of Ladd, Illinois.
As it has for the past quarter-century, the Spring Valley Walleye Club provided an army of volunteers to host the tournament operations. Site coordinator Mike Hurless was pleased with the day, and the great fishing. “This is as good as I’ve ever seen it,” he said after Day One produced 120 limit catches.
Following Saturday’s weigh-in, the MWC and National Professional Anglers Association presented a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic, giving away free rods and reels, along with tackle packages courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle and a mountain bike donated by Spring Valley City Bank.
This is the first stop on the MWC Central Division’s 2011 season. The remaining Central schedule includes the St. Croix River and Pools 3 & 4 of the Mississippi River at Red Wing, Minnesota, June 3-5, and Bays de Noc, Michigan, August 5-7. Next up for the MWC, however, is the Detroit River April 16 and 17—which promises to be a high-stakes, big-fish shootout in the shadows of the Motor City.
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Kevin VanDam is a power fisherman. He wins with power fishing techniques, but he also knows how to finesse fish as well. Specially designed hooks from Mustad increases your odds. A super wide gap combined with a unique bend makes it work better.
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Spring fishing season is here - and don't forget the camera. Photos of your catch could win you a BoatUS Angler membership with basic on-the-water towing and roadside assistance, a $50 Visa gift card and a fishing "prize pack" filled with fishing and BoatUS Angler gear in the "Catch of the Month" prize drawings at www.BoatUS.com/angler/contest. In addition, winning photos will appear in BoatUS Angler Magazine as well as Tacklebox, a monthly fishing e-newsletter.
The contest, which kicks off April 1 and runs monthly through October, offers both freshwater and saltwater categories and is sponsored by BoatUS Angler, a program from the nation's largest boat owners group that helps anglers spend more time on the water and less time worrying about breakdowns on the water or road.
In addition to the prize drawings, each month's winner will be automatically entered to win the grand prize in November: an upgrade to unlimited on-the-water and on-the-road towing assistance, a $50 gift certificate from BoatNameGear, and a high-quality fish replica from Mount This! Fish Company that specializes in hand-painted fiberglass replicas. The full size mounts are hand airbrushed and can be displayed indoors or out.
BoatUS Angler is a membership program from the nation's largest association of recreational boaters that offers services and helps protect the interests of boat-owning anglers. Visit www.BoatUSAngler.com for more.
Anglers can also check out all of the photos submitted at www.BoatUS.com/angler/contest.
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University of Tennessee Wins Inaugural Big Bass Bash presented by HydroWave
San Antonio, Texas - The 2011 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Series got off to an exciting start as Tennessee Volunteer, Bradley Cooper, landed a 6.78 pound largemouth bass to win overall big bass and day two big bass honors during the Big Bass Bash presented by HydroWave, part of the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Series. The inaugural event was held at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama on March 25 -27.
Cooper's 6.78 pound overall big bass, combined with a 4.29 pounder that he boated to win the 9:00 am session award, netted him $3,500 in cash and prizes. Cooper reported that he caught the biggest bass on a Texas rigged Berkley Chigger Craw and the other on a Bomber crankbait.
"Pickwick Lake has become one of my favorite fisheries," said Cooper. "With grass flats, ledges, cypress trees, and several other types of cover and structure, everyone has the opportunity to fish their strengths and catch a really big bass. The good Lord blessed me with the quality bite needed to win the overall big bass award. I'm looking forward to using the prizes compete at the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship and the Collegiate Bass Fishing Open presented by Pepsi." Cooper continued, saying "The format of the Big Bass Bash was tons of fun. The change of pace was awesome and is something I'd like to do more often! I would like to thank Florence/Lauderdale Tourism, BoatUS, HydroWave, Ranger Boats, Cabela's, Costa, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Columbia, Lazer TroKar, frogg toggs, and EOD Technologies for their support."
Day one of the event was cancelled due to severe weather affecting the entire north Alabama region, causing tournament organizers to adjust the format on day two. The revised format featured hourly weigh-ins beginning at 8:00 am and the scales closed at 3:00 pm. In addition to overall big bass and daily big bass awards, prizes were awarded for the five biggest bass each of the eight weigh-in sessions. The collegiate anglers were allowed to weigh only one bass per session and could not have more than three bass in their possession at any time; making it difficult to decide which session to bring a bass to the scales.
University of North Alabama's Isaac Broussard won day one big bass and the 10:00 am session awards with a 5.90 pound Pickwick Lake lunker. Kyle Curry of University of Arkansas won multiple sessions with bass weighing 4.31 and 3.68 pounds. Other session winners included Kevin Bryant (4.35), Noah Kruzitski (4.63) and Tim Dobbins (4.08).
Almost forty competitors won prizes provided by the Association of Collegiate Anglers, HydroWave, Power Pole, Yamaha, Yamaha generators, Pure Fishing, Cabela's, Costa sunglasses, Columbia Sportswear, Garmin, Daiwa, frogg toggs, Lazer TroKar, Big Bite Baits, Ranger Boats, American Rodsmiths and Activision.
The BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Series visits Lake Lewisville, Texas May 24 - 27 to determine the 2011 national champions.
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Mike Daleo at Bluewater LED has stepped it up again with his QuadBeam compartment lighting. Fully submersible, the new QuadBeam Lights are brighter and take up less space for the install. We installed a set in our livewell and another set in the battery compartment in about 30 minutes with switches included.
The new QuadBeam has a four full one watt LEDs. Old lights used a .3 LED so the new lights are much brighter.
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Photo by B.A.S.S. Communications
Gerald Swindle was so sick and weak with a stomach illness on the final day of the Bassmaster Southern Open event on Lake Norman, that fellow ATX Wheels sponsored pro Britt Myers had to drive him to the morning launch. Swindle laid in the cab of his Tundra wrapped in a blanket debating his ability to compete as the sun began to rise over nearby Charlotte.
Keep in mind, Swindle already has a 2012 Bassmaster Classic qualification in the bag based on his win in 2011’s first Bassmaster Southern Open at Lake Toho. Still, Gerald not only crawled out of his truck and competed, but he also proved tougher than the nails he used to pound as a house framer. He fished the entire day and caught a 14-pound limit of Lake Norman bass that proved solid enough for an admirable second place finish in the tournament.
Along with cash prize from B.A.S.S., Swindle also collected $300 in bonus money because he took time to buy an affordable BoatUS ANGLER membership and sign-up for their new Weigh-to-Win program for tournament anglers. This is the second Bassmaster Southern Open in a row from which Swindle has hauled home the Weigh-to-Win money.
The Weigh-to-Win program will pay the highest placing, registered angler in most B.A.S.S., FLW and PAA events, as well as the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship. For example, for as little as $38, the cost of a BoatUS ANGLER membership and Unlimited On-the-Road Towing service, a B.A.S.S. Weekend Series angler who performs well in a single regular season tournament could win a $150 cash bonus.
For more details about tournament paybacks and getting signed-up for Weigh-to-Win, visit BoatUSFishing.com or call Kendell at (918) 742-6424.
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Veteran professional angler Dave Mansue of Texas has joined the Denali Rods pro staff.
Mansue has competed professionally for 10 years on the PAA Tournament
Series, Bassmaster Tour and Top 150, and Bassmaster Open circuits. He
qualified for the 2005 Everstart championship from the FLW Everstart
Series along with two prestigious Toyota Texas Bass Classic
championships.
"I'm so excited to be with Denali Rods," Mansue said. "Denali's lineup
of rods combines the best of old world craftsmanship and
state-of-the-art technologies to bring today's bass angler rods that are
feather-light, extremely sensitive and remarkably durable. Tournament
conditions, as well as everyday fishing, calls for rods that you can
count on."
Mansue ran a successful guide business on the Upper Chesapeake, Delaware
River and various lakes in New Jersey while serving as a law
enforcement officer. Following a decorated 30-year career, he retired as
a lieutenant with the West Windsor Police Department. Mansue created
and organized the annual Special Olympics Benefit Bass Tournament, the
police department's most successful fundraiser for Special Olympics New
Jersey.
Mansue then moved with his wife to Texas to live on Toledo Bend
Reservoir to fish and enjoy the outdoors. He remains active as a
volunteer for many activities and serves on the Board of Directors for
the Professional Anglers Association.
"We are very excited to have Dave on board with the Denali Team," said
Scott Estes of Denali Rods. "He has been very successful on the water
fishing with the PAA, BASS and FLW, including winning the Bassmaster
Northern Open on Upper Chesapeake Bay in April 2009. Off the water he is
a great representative of all his current sponsors, and we are
extremely proud to now be on that list of sponsors."
Denali Rods offers four distinct series of rods: Jadewood, Rosewood
Matrix, Rosewood Shadow and Noirwood. From the very affordable Jadewood
to the ultra-sensitive Noirwood comprised of graphite and carbon fiber,
anglers can find a rod to fit any buget and specific fishing technique.
They're backed with a comprehensive warranty program including a "No
Fault" warranty.
"Having a rod you can count on day to day is extremely important to your
performance," Mansue said. "Denali Rods provide that sense of comfort
to me and allow me to perform at my best! Denali is dedicated to
providing today's bass angler with a state of the art, custom quality
rod at an affordable price. I know you will be impressed with the
features and affordability of Denali Rods."
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The Berkley Bass Tank will be at the NMMA Boat Show in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. The tank is scheduled for March 30th-April 3rd and will
feature product demonstrations and technique seminars.
Berkley sends the 4,000-gallon bass tank all over the country to help
out the everyday angler. Kids and adults alike will enjoy learning about
new Berkley products and tips on how to use these innovative baits
along with rods, reels and line.
"The Berkley Bass Tank is on the road, giving all anglers the
opportunity to hone their skills," said Andrew Marks, Berkley Marketing
Director "Not only will attendees learn to "Catch More Fish," they will
also learn about new products that will help them become a better
angler."
If you are unable to make it by the Bass Tank in Minneapolis, Minn., plan on attending one of the upcoming events.
March 30-April 3
NMMA Boat Show
331 2nd Ave S # 701
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2394
(612) 332-8330
Upcoming Events
April 16-17, Academy - McDonough, Ga.
April 30-May 1, Sportsman's Warehouse - Phoenix, Ariz.
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Diet Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces Sunday to lead the tournament wire-to-wire to win his first Tour title as well as $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 70-11.
“This goes to the people who support me,” said an emotional Christie. “They’re sitting there watching me right now – my parents, kids, wife and uncles.”
The final day of competition started slowly for Christie. He made a run down the same area in Beaver Creek he had fished the previous days of competition and didn’t have a bite at almost 10 a.m. Christie stuck with his game plan, however, and relocated to another spot in the same creek.
“I had one stretch that I could catch them in, but I went through the entire stretch and never got a bite,” Christie said. “I moved across to a little half-moon - a little notch in the bank that has a deep cut that runs into it. That’s where I caught my fish.”
Christie said he caught most of his keeper fish in Beaver Creek with four coming during the second day from Shoal Creek. Christie said he caught one fish by flipping a YUM soft plastic bait the second day of competition, and said 75 percent of the rest came on a BOOYAH spinnerbait and the others on a YUM F2 Mighty Bug. Christies’ rigs consisted of Falcon rods, Quantum Smoke reels and 20- and 25-pound-test Silver Thread Fluorocarbon line.
“The spinnerbait has taken a lot of trial and error with me,” Christie said. “The BOOYAH ½-ounce spinnerbait has a single willow blade on it and the wire is light, so when you throw it, it has the same vibration as a (BOOYAH) Boogie Bait. It has a thumping vibration. And the fish – pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn fish – they like that vibration.
“One of the reasons I picked that creek was it was landlocked,” Christie added. “So you’re going to have some pre-spawn fish, some fish that are spawning and some post-spawn fish. I mean, they’re going to spawn in there for another month. It’s just a big area. Three guys in the top 20 were in there and the co-angler won in there. There’s some really big fish in there. I was shocked.”
Christie opened the tournament on Thursday with five bass weighing 22-4. On Friday he added another five bass weighing 20-4. He then caught five bass weighing 13-6 Saturday to make the crucial top-10 cut in first place.
“People don’t realize how hard it is to win a tournament after four days,” Christie said. “And it’s not done very often out of one area. After the second day I had come in with two big bags and I still had to catch them two more days to win. I know if I had gone scrambling good things wouldn’t have happened.”
Christie’s final day catch gave him the win by a 10-pound margin over National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 60-11 and earned $35,000.
“Coming into today I didn’t think second (place) was doable,” Ehrler said. “I was thinking, ‘Man, I hope I just catch them OK and move up into third or fourth.’ It was brutal because it took all day. I didn’t just go out and catch them on the one spot. I did something different every day. And that’s tough, because you don’t know if you’re going to catch 7 pounds or 20 pounds.”
The remaining top 10 pros finished the tournament in:
3rd: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 20 bass, 59-4, $30,750
4th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 20 bass, 57-10, $25,000
5th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 55-13, $20,500
6th: Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 20 bass, 55-2, $17,000
7th: Joe Thomas, Milford, Ohio, 20 bass, 54-2, $16,500
8th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 20 bass, 54-1, $15,000
9th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 19 bass, 50-12, $14,000
10th: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 16 bass, 50-10, $13,000
Overall there were 46 bass weighing 111 pounds, 12 ounces caught by pros Sunday. The catch included nine five-bass limits.
J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and $25,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 40 pounds, 9 ounces followed by Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., in second place with 14 bass weighing 33-0 worth $7,500.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are vying for valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, where they could win up to $600,000 – the sport’s biggest award – and $60,000 respectively. This year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachita.
Pros and co-anglers are also competing for the prestigious Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s in 2011 that will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors. The pro winner will receive $100,000, while the co-angler title holder will win a new Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy was hosted by the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau, and was the third of 10 Walmart FLW Tour tournaments of the 2011 season. The Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga presented by National Guard will be the next tournament and will be held April 14-17 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The event will be hosted by the Great Chattanooga Sports Committee and boats will launch from Chester Frost Park in Hixson, Tenn. For a complete schedule, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
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The Hampden-Sydney team of Dylan Bishop and Allen Luck won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division event on Smith Mountain Lake Saturday with five bass weighing 16 pounds. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split between the university and the university’s bass fishing club - $7,500 for the bass club and $2,500 for their school. The win also helped them advance to the Northern Division Regional Championship.
“It was rough out there today, cold, rainy, windy, but we stayed with it and fished tough all day and things worked out for us,” said Bishop, a sophomore philosophy major. “All our fish came off rocky banks in 10 feet of water or less. We were using various colors of Rapala Shad Raps and were lucky enough to find a pattern early that worked for us and just stayed persistent all day long.
“Allen and I grew-up together, but this was the first tournament that I have ever fished with him and the first time I have ever been on this lake,” added Bishop.
Rounding out the top five teams and also advancing to the Northern Regional Championship are:
2nd: Wake Forest University – Ryan Casey and John Thomas, (five bass, 13-10, $3,000)
3rd: University of North Carolina, Wilmington – Joshua Dipaulo and Jacob Kupselaitis, (four bass, 13-7, $2,000)
4th: Virginia Tech – Carson Rejzer and Andrew Blevins, (five bass, 13-5, $2,000)
5th: Ramapo College – Charles Danza and Bob Rieder, (five bass, 13-1, $2,000)
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 Diet
Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught a five-bass
limit weighing 13 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to capture the lead at the
Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy and advanced to the
top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass
weighing 55-14,he now holds a 6-pound, 1-ounce lead in the tournament
going into the final day of competition.
“They’re there … I just have to make them bite,” Christie said. “I
think I’ve figured it out. Hopefully this dirty water will make it where
I can catch them.
“The water has gotten really clear,” Christie added. “I thought the
lake had come down a lot, but it’s actually just clearing up to where I
can see the bottom, and I don’t like that. They can see my bait too
good. I can’t tell you how many I had wake my bait … just running out of
the bed after my bait.”
Christie said he employed the same technique to catch his limit on the
third day of competition that he used the first two days - a ½-ounce
white BOOYAH spinnerbait with a single gold Colorado blade. Christie
said he doesn’t plan on changing tactics.
“I’m going to go down swinging doing the same thing tomorrow,” Christie said.
Christie said the creeks are flowing muddy water into the lake after
Saturday’s rain, and he thinks that could play right into his hands for
his first FLW Tour win.
“Hopefully it’s going to wash dirty water into my area,” Christie said. “And if it does, it’s going to be fun.”
Tom Monsoor of La Crosse, Wis., advanced to the final round of 10 pros
in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 49-13.
“It was a long, slow day, but I ground it out and ended up with a
decent sack,” Monsoor said. “I’m going to go out and grind it out again
tomorrow. I’m happy with what I’m doing.”
Monsoor said he targeted bass with a jerkbait on “specific” types of
grass on the lake during the first three days of competition and
believes his method will continue to be productive on the last day.
“Fish are slowly moving up as the water goes up, and there’s a few
more fish every day,” Monsoor said. “It’s been beat up pretty bad. But
today I had a little more than yesterday. Each day I try to find another
little spot here or there.”
Despite his 6-pound deficit, Monsoor remained optimistic about his chance for his first FLW Tour victory.
“It all depends on if I do good and if (Christie) does bad,” Monsoor said. “I guess we’ll just have to see tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:
3rd: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 15 bass, 45-9
4th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 45-6
5th: National Guard pro Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 15 bass, 45-3
6th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 45-0
7th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 14 bass, 43-5
8th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 15 bass, 42-6
9th: Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 15 bass, 42-5
10th: Joe Thomas, Milford, Ohio, 15 bass, 42-3
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Mike Reynolds, Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 42-0, $12,500
12 th: Prevacid 24HR pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 41-9, $12,500
13 th: Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 41-8, $12,500
14 th: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., 15 bass, 41-3, $12,500
15th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 40-14, $12,500
16 th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 15 bass, 40-4, $12,000
17 th: Ishama Monroe, Hughson, Calif., 14 bass, 38-10, $12,000
18th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 37-0, $12,000
19th: Troy Morrow, Toccoa, Ga., 15 bass, 36-8, $12,000
20th: Chevy pro Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., 10 bass, 29-7, $12,000
Houston was late to check in and as a result, his day’s weight was negated.
Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Overall there were 93 bass weighing 215 pounds, 1 ounce caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 17 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus
valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup
presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This
year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake
Ouachitawhere pros will compete for a top prize of $600,000 – the
sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious
2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that
will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour
Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and $25,000
Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 40 pounds, 9 ounces
followed by Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md., in second place with 14
bass weighing 33-0 worth $7,500.
“I fished three different styles this week,” Wright said. “The first
day I was in stained water. I threw a drop-shot (rig) with a Jackall
Flick Shake … and I just got the right bites. Today I weighed in all
largemouth; I had been weighing in spotted bass.
“Today I fished with Jason Christie and had plenty of room,” Wright
added. “I caught them on a spinnerbait and a drop-shot (rig) that I
throw down on the (California) Delta. It has a 6-inch leader in about a
foot of water. So every day it changed.”
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 14 bass, 30-14, $5,000
4th: Jeff Sprague, Forney, Texas, 15 bass, 30-11, $4,000
5th: Andy Scholz, Reno, Nev., 14 bass, 29-14, $3,250
6th: Tommy Milligan, Seneca, S.C., 15 bass, 29-12, $2,500
7th: Mike Helton, Jeffersonville, Ind., 14 bass, 29-5, $2,000
8th: Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 27-11, $1,800
9th: Doug Caldwell, Kane, Pa., 15 bass, 27-8, $1,700
10th: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 11 bass, 26-4, $1,600
Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
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Photo by Doug Cox / B.A.S.S. Communications
Fletcher Shryock got off a
dirt bike and into a bass boat four years ago, and couldn’t be happier.
The Newcomersville, Ohio, pro has only recently become serious about
bass fishing, but is on his way to the 2012 Bassmaster Classic with
his win at the second Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open on North
Carolina’s Lake Norman.
“This is incredible. I don’t know what to say. What do you say?” he
asked while holding his trophy. “I don’t think I’ll sleep for a year. I
zigged when I needed to zig, and I zagged when I needed to zag.”
Yesterday, Shryock said the area that he was fishing could produce
20 pounds. He came close to proving it by bringing in 17 pounds, 5
ounces to the Day Three scales. He left his fish biting on the first two
days, setting a relaxing tone to his tournament.
But, the weather turned ugly on Day Three, and his easygoing pace turned
frantic early.
“They weren’t there today like they were the first two days,” he
said. There were also two other tournaments on the lake today, putting
more heat on the already pressured fishery. “First thing this morning, I
didn’t go to my best area. That way, no one
else would know exactly where it was.”
Shryock’s main spot was roughly 25 miles north of Blythe Landing.
It was in front of a rocky bar along the main river that blocked access
to a backwater that he intended to fish but couldn’t because of the
supershallow depth. He relied on four baits to
catch his three-day total of 49-9: a Strike King Red Eye Shad (both
rattling and not), a 1/4-ounce Strike King shaky head with a Berkley
finesse worm, and a 1-ounce Strike King Tungsten weight anchoring either
a Berkley Chigger Craw or a Strike King Rodent
that he flipped into thick grass. He keyed on wood in the main river.
“It was just like fishing at home,” he said.
Shryock also credits a “guardian angel” named Tony who shadowed him all day.
“He was the reason that I kept my cool today because he told me
that he’d be around all day so if I broke down or something, he’d be
there to take me back to the ramp,” Shryock said. “I knew in the back of
my mind that I could catch ’em up to the last
minute. He really helped me fish up there longer. Thanks to him.”
Though he realizes the gravity of his win, Shryock isn’t worried about planning for his Classic debut.
“This win hasn’t even come close to sinking in,” he said. “I’ll
worry about it next week — maybe next month! I just want to go home this
summer and work on every fundamental technique that I can work on and
do more of everything that I’ve been doing.”
In second place is Elite Series pro Gerald Swindle who has a firm
lead on the Southern Open points. Swindle fought food poisoning during
all three days of the contest.
“I don’t know what’s in Domino’s Kickers, but there’s something that just doesn’t agree with me,” he said.
Swindle caught 14-15 today for a total of 43-15. Like Shryock, he’s
already sewn up a 2012 Classic berth through his win — his first
B.A.S.S. win — on Florida’s Lake Toho.
In third place is Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C., with a total of
40-4; in fourth place is Brandon Card of Caryville, Ky., also with 40-4;
and in fifth is Bradley Roy of Lancaster, Ky., with 39-8.
On the co-angler side, Kevin Clark of Leesburg. Fla., earned a
brand new Triton/Mercury rig for his winning catch of 18-9. Clark showed
his versatility from the back of the boat for all three days.
“I caught ’em on a spinnerbait, crankbait and a shaky head; I did
just about everything,” he said. “But, the big ones ate the crankbait.”
Clark wanted to fish the Southern Opens as a pro this year, but
didn’t have a boat to do so. However, his new Triton will put him in the
pro division for the 2012 Opens.
In second place is George Hirapetian of Charlotte, N.C., who was a
mere 2 ounces away from a home-lake win. He caught 6-5 today, giving him
a three-day total of 18-7. In third is Brandon Williams with 16-11; in
fourth is Dan Jolly of Houston, Texas, with
16-7; and in fifth is Robert Jeffrey with 15-14.
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Day one of the Big Bass Bash presented by HydroWave was
cancelled due to severe weather affecting the entire Pickwick Lake
area.
"It was difficult to make the call to cancel day one," said Wade
Middleton, Tournament Director. "However, the safety of the contestants
is always our number one consideration in situations like this."
While
Sunday may not bring chamber of commerce weather, it's expected that
conditions will improve enough that no weather delays will be necessary.
The format of the event will be adjusted to compensate for the
cancellation of day one. Hourly weigh-ins will be held at McFarland Park
beginning at 8:00am and the final weigh-in will occur at 3:00pm.
Competitors will receive on the water updates via text messages as big
bass are weighed in throughout the day. The rules also allow the anglers
to view the results of each weigh-in session as they are posted on www.facebook.com/CollegiateBassChampionship .
Collegiate
anglers from as far away as Wisconsin and Iowa are competing for a
large prize pool provided by event sponsors. In addition to overall big
bass and daily big bass awards, a total of 40 prize packages will be
awarded to the top 5 anglers each weigh-in session. Additional incentive
awards will enhance the prize pool even further.
<"After
driving almost 15 hours to get here, it's really difficult to not fish
today," commented Jordan Meddaugh of the University of Wisconsin -
Steven's Point Big Dawgs fishing club. "We're super excited to get out
on the water and compete tomorrow!"
Pickwick
Lake has produced impressive catches in the early season events this
year and it's expected that several big bass will be brought to the
scales tomorrow. Local angler, Shawn Dalrymple of the University of
North Alabama fishing club caught a bass in excess of 10 lbs in a recent
tournament and hopes to repeat that feat on Sunday. For more information about the BoatUS Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship Series, please visit www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com.
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Sgt.
1st Class Mark Thompson of Anderson, S.C., and Sgt. 1st Class Robert
Osteen of Sumter, S.C., won the National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation
Tournament held on Lake Hartwell Saturday. The team, fishing with
Indiana National Guard pro Wes Thomas of Hanover, Ind., caught three
bass for a total of 9 pounds, 9 ounces to take the title and bragging
rights amongst their peers.
“This feels fantastic,” said Thompson. “I couldn’t have fished with
anyone that would have been more fun and more knowledgeable about it.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Thompson added. “I’ve seen FLW on TV,
but I’d never really thought about being in (a tournament). It exceeded
my expectations.”
“At first I thought it was going to be one person per boat with a pro,
and then they told us we were going to team up and that was even
better,” said Osteen. “Me and Mark go way back and we hunt and fish and
do everything together. We’re just like brothers. It was a lot more fun
than I thought it was going to be even with the wind and the rain.”
Each of the participants in the National Guard FLW Soldier
Appreciation Tournament are members of the South Carolina National Guard
and most have had at least one tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.In
this tournament, Walmart FLW Tour pro anglers took teams of two, which
consist of members of the National Guard, fishing to compete amongst
their peers. Each team was allowed to bring in three bass. FLW Outdoors
is operating the tournaments in conjunction with the National Guard to
show appreciation to our service members of the National Guard.
Thomas said the team caught their fish on a shaky-head rig, although their biggest fish came on a BOOYAH spinnerbait.
“We pulled up on the first place and in less than 15 minutes of
fishing we had three nice fish in the boat,” Thomas said. “Then I went
to a place where I had caught some big fish in practice and we caught
that big one that put us over the top.
“These guys fished hard all day long and didn’t miss a beat,” Thomas added.
A total of 23 service men, 11 teams, participated in the tournament. Rounding out the teams was:
2nd: Sgt. Jason McMurry, Boiling Springs, N.C., and Cpl. Michael
Moss, Blacksburg, S.C., with National Guard pro Brett Hite, three bass,
9-0
3rd: Capt. Daniel Screws, Columbia, S.C., and Sgt. Scott Mingie,
Columbia, S.C., with National Guard pro Mark Rose, three bass, 8-13
4th: Sgt. Kaleb Johnson, Camden, S.C., and Staff Sgt. Wayne
Hughes, Hemingway, S.C., with National Guard pro Scott Martin, three
bass, 8-11
5th: Sgt. 1st Class Tim Green, Pelzer, S.C., and Master Sgt. John
Gambrill, Prosperity, S.C., with National Guard pro Command Sgt. Maj.
Doc McGhee, three bass, 8-5
6th: Sgt. Richard Kelly, Union, S.C., and Sgt. Newton Bentley, Union, S.C., with pro Joe Thompson, two bass, 8-2
7th: Sgt. 1st Class David Revell, Relton, S.C., Pfc. Glenn
Kimbrell, Anderson, S.C., Staff Sgt. Trey Anthony, Leesville, S.C., with
National Guard pro Jonathan Newton, three bass, 7-9
8th: Sgt. James Glass, Columbia, S.C., and Sgt. William Kyzer, Lexington, S.C., with pro Matt Arey, three bass, 7-1
9th: Maj. Victor Adams, Columbia, S.C. and Sgt. 1st Class Davzy
Ramsey, Columbia, S.C., with pro Kevin Hawk, three bass, 4-13
10th: Sgt. 1st Class Vance Burgess, Inman, S.C. and Cpl. John Brown, Moore, S.C., with pro Jay Keith, two bass, 4-1
11th: Sgt. Joe Berendzen, Lugoff, S.C., and Sgt. Randy Crews, Prosperity, S.C., with pro Payden Hibdon, one bass, 3-5
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Diet
Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught a five-bass
limit weighing 20 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to extend his lead on day two
of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy. His
two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 8 ounces gives him a
massive 9-pound, 1-ounce lead heading into the third day of the
tournament. There were 155 pros and 155 co-anglers from across the
United States and Canada that started the tournament. The top 20 will
fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.
“It was kind of the opposite of yesterday where I caught them pretty
fast,” Christie said. “I pulled in and after about an hour had caught a
5-pounder and a 3-pounder.”
 Christie said he had a limit by 1:30 p.m. and had been changing
locations when he happened to pull into an area where he expected boat
traffic. He had the area to himself, however, and he caught fish
weighing 6, 4 and 2 1/2 pounds. Christie said the fish fell for a BOOYAH
spinnerbait.
“I actually had two more big fish in there, so I left and got back closer to (check-in),” Christie said.
Christie said he’s confident his areas will replenish with fish over
the next two days of competition and hopes for anything but a bright,
sunny sky.
“If it’s cloudy I think I can catch them,” Christie said. “I know
where they’re living. They’re bedding so shallow I can see them whether
it’s cloudy or not. I hope the wind blows. That would be fine with me.
“There’s big fish around me,” Christie added. “I’ve just got to get
the bites and get them in the boat. It seems like I’m either catching
12-inchers or big ones. I’m not catching anything in between.”
Rounding out the top 20 pros that will fish another day on Lake Hartwell are:
2nd: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 33-7
3rd: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., 10 bass, 32-14
4th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 32-8
5th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 10 bass, 32-7
6th: Prevacid 24HR pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 32-3
7th: Mike Reynolds, Modesto, Calif., 10 bass, 32-1
8th: National Guard pro Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 10 bass, 31-12
9th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 31-1
10th: Joe Thomas, Milford, Ohio, 10 bass, 30-14
11th: Ishama Monroe, Hughson, Calif., 10 bass, 30-9
12th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 30-8
13th: Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 10 bass, 30-6
14th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-6
15th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-5
16th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 10 bass, 29-14
17th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-12
18th: Chevy pro Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., 10 bass, 29-7
19th: Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 29-1
20th: Troy Morrow, Toccoa, Ga., 10 bass, 28-15
Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.
Thrift caught the Snickers® Big Bass of 6-9 on the pro side and won $500.
Overall there were 689 bass weighing 1,571 pounds, 5 ounces caught by
152 pros Friday. The catch included 119 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus
valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup
presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This
year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake
Ouachitawhere pros are competing for a top prize of $600,000 – the
sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious
2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that
will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour
Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif., leads the Co-angler Division with an
opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 5 ounces, followed by
Jade Keeton of Florence, Ala., in second place with 10 bass weighing
25-6.
Rounding out the top 20 co-anglers are:
3rd: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 10 bass, 24-8
4th: Andy Scholz, Reno, Nev., 10 bass, 23-9
5th: Jeff Sprague, Forney, Texas, 10 bass, 22-14
6th: Tony Nation, Springdale, Ark., 10 bass, 22-7
7th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., 10 bass, 21-9
8th: Tommy Milligan, Seneca, S.C., 10 bass, 21-3
9th: Doug Caldwell, Kane, Pa., nine bass, 21-0
10th: Chad Pipkens, Holt, Mich., 10 bass, 20-14
11th: Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 19-13
12th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., nine bass, 19-10
13th: Luke Dehaan, Summerville, S.C., nine bass, 19-9
14th: Larry Hostetler, Floyds Knobs, Ind., eight bass, 18-15
15th: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., eight bass, 18-12
16th: Bob Ebel, Concord, Calif., eight bass, 18-7
17th: Mike Helton, Jeffersonville, Ind., nine bass, 18-2
18th: Shane Melton, Greentown, Ind., 10 bass, 17-9
19th: Timothy Lane, Momence, Ill., eight bass, 17-9
20th: Patrick Bone, Cleveland, Ga., eight bass, 17-8
Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.
Grant Holderman of Augusta, Kan., caught the Snickers® Big Bass of 6-8 in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 486 bass weighing 878 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 137
co-anglers Friday. The catch included 52 five-bass limits.
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Photo by Doug Cox / B.A.S.S. Communications
Fletcher Shryock spent a few dollars on a shovel Monday night. Those few dollars could prove to be a valuable investment after the last fish hits the scales Saturday.
While practicing Monday, Shryock spied a promising backwater that he knew he needed to get into, but he got stuck when trying to cross a rocky bar that blocked his access. While waiting to be towed off the bar, he saw a 3-pounder bust on the surface and started casting as he killed time.
 “I made a few casts with a crankbait and caught one that was 3 pounds and thought it was a fluke,” the Newcomersville, Ohio, pro said. “Then I caught a 6, then thought I’d try to get one off of the bottom, so I tossed a jig.”
Shryock felt a tap on the end of his line, but when he tried to pull the jig away from the fish, it wouldn’t budge.
“I started getting bites all over the place,” he said. “So I went back there on Tuesday and dug the rocks out of the way so I could get back in there.”
On Day One, Shryock wound up with 14 pounds, 8 ounces for seventh place, and he did it almost without breaking a sweat. Friday he went back to his spot and had his 17-12 limit in the boat by 10 a.m. He ran back toward the ramp so his co-angler could try for a limit.
“I lost three giants today,” he said, and that included one bigger than the 4-15 anchor he brought to the scales. “The key for today was finding the bigger bites. You’re not going to do well if you start your day looking for 2- and 3-pounders.”
Shryock plans on heading back to his honey hole first thing Saturday to add to his two-day total of 32-4. He feels confident that the fish will still be there despite the foul weather that will hang around the lake tomorrow. He believes that if all goes according to plan, he could show up at Bass Pro Shops with 20 pounds in the livewell.
“The key for today was making repetitive casts, like KVD did in the Classic,” he said. “It might have taken 10 casts, but they’d eventually hit it. I left ‘em biting today.”
In second place is Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C., who caught 12-10 on the second day, giving him a total of 30-2. Adams was one of the few anglers who sought bedding bass, despite the pickings being slim and the conditions less-than-ideal after a cold front moved through late Thursday.
“I think that we got most all of ‘em the first day,” he joked on stage. “I know it’s going to rain tomorrow, and they don’t like that, so I’m going to have to change up what I’m doing.”
Adams plans on chucking spinnerbaits and crankbaits around Norman’s abundant docks.
In third place is Brandon Card of Caryville, Ky., whose Day Two catch of 14-1 gives him a total of 29-10. Alvin Shaw of State Road, N.C., who added 14-10 to his Day One weight for a total of 29-4, stands in fourth and Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., is fifth with 29-0.
Swindle caught 12-9 despite food poisoning ailing him all day.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever tried sight fishing with it coming out of both ends, but let me tell you what, it’s tough,” he said.
On the co-angler side, Glynn Goodwin of Marietta, Ohio, enjoyed another “blessed” day on Lake Norman as he caught three fish that weighed 4-11, giving him a total of 13-4 and retention of the lead.
“Today was tougher; the cold front had them off a little bit,” Goodwin said. “They didn’t seem to want to eat very well.”
Goodwin said that he caught his fish the same way as he did Thursday, but again declined to share details of his pattern.
Also in contention for the first-place prize of a fully rigged Triton/Mercury boat is Dan Jolly, who shared the Day One lead with Goodwin. Jolly, of Houston, caught 4-7 for a total of 13-0.
In third place is Marc Mode of Mooresville, N.C., with 12-2; in fourth is George Hirapetian of Charlotte, N.C., with 12-2; and in fifth place is Robert Jeffrey with 12-0.
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This year's Classic Champ Kevin VanDam knows all the angles. He never wastes a minute on the water. Check out this video and you will see one of the reasons he is so successful.
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B.A.S.S. Communications
This Sunday the Bassmaster TV - Sunshine Showdown airs on ESPN2 at 8:00am EST (7:00am CST) and then again on ESPN Classic at 10:00am EST (9:00am CST).
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1. In the 6:00pm CST time slot during “Quest For the One” Professional Angler Scott Glorvigen shares his knowledge about deep water jigging through out the entire year.
2. In the 10:30pm CST time slot during “City Limits Fishing" Wired2Fish anglers Terry Brown & Scott Glorvigen share their Spoon fishing techniques to help you catch more Bass, Walleyes and anything else that swims.
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Photo by Doug Cox / B.A.S.S. Communications
The top weights shocked
most of the field on Day One of the second 2011 Bass Pro Shops
Bassmaster Southern Open on North Carolina’s Lake Norman.
Those atop the leaderboard, who brought in more than most had
thought possible, were sight fishing all day for spawning fish; and
they’re cautiously optimistic that the bedding bite will be on Friday as
well, despite an anticipated drop in temperature.
Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., took the top spot with 18 pounds, 13
ounces. He was flipping a Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty into beds, avoiding
the smaller, male bass until the larger female would bite. He dipped the
tip of the bait into chartreuse J.J.’s Magic
Dippin’ Dye, a garlic-smelling coloring dye.
“I’ve gotten a lot of practice bed fishing these last few weeks,”
Lane said. “We sight fished at the first Elite event on the Harris
Chain, then again on the St. Johns River, so I just picked it up here
again.”
However, Lane hasn’t found any more big fish that he feels are
worth pursuing for Day Two. He plans on rounding up a limit of five bass
early, then hunting for another big female or two. Lane’s stringer was
anchored by a 5-5 largemouth.
Hot on Lane’s heels is Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C., who managed
17-8. He relied on a Zoom Speed Craw to catch most of his bag. He says
that the high winds early played havoc on his sight fishing bite, but he
was still able to see and catch several
of his fish.
“I couldn’t see all of ‘em, but I knew about where they were so I
could throw in there to the general area,” he said. “I covered a lot of
water today and fished bunches of places I know from my history here. I
had a few bites today that I didn’t set on,
so hopefully I can go back tomorrow and catch ‘em.”
In third place is Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala. Swindle won the
first Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on Florida’s Lake Toho. With that
win, he claimed the first 2012 Bassmaster Classic berth along with
$10,000 cash and a fully rigged boat-and-motor package;
the pro prize for this event is a Triton/Mercury package, a Classic
berth and $10,000.
Swindle caught 16-7 on Thursday. Right behind him is Brandon Card
of Caryville, Ky., with 15-9, and in fifth place is Jason Quinn of York,
S.C., with 15-4.
On the co-angler side, Dan Jolly of Houston, Texas, and Glynn Goodwin of Marietta, Ohio, are tied for the lead with 8-9.
Jolly said that fishing slow was the key to his day; otherwise he played his hand close to his vest.
“This was a heck of a day,” he said. “I was lucky to get a few good bites then get them in the boat!”
Goodwin’s pro was sight fishing, which usually makes for a long,
boring day in the back of the boat, but he managed to make good on his
less-than-ideal situation.
“It seemed like every time that he put his Power-Poles down to fish
for a spawner, I got hooked up!” he said, remaining secretive about the
technique he used and only adding that he’s going to do it again
tomorrow. “This day was a real blessing.”
In third is Robert Jeffrey, who caught 7-14; in fourth is Marc Mode
of Mooresville, N.C., with 7-11; and in fifth is Tom McDermott of
Madison, N.C., with 7-8.
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Diet
Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., crossed the stage
Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces to lead day
one of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy.
Christie holds a 5-ounce lead over Mike Reynolds of Modesto, Calif., who
caught five bass weighing 21-15 in a tournament featuring 155 anglers
from all across the country and Canada.
“I started on a little stretch that I was hoping to get two or three
fish off of,” said Christie, who has won more than $359,000 in FLW
Outdoors competition. “I made one pass and had 18 or 19 pounds. I didn’t
know how the day was going to shake out, so I decided to leave and go
fish other stuff. I’d fish new water and go to other stuff where I
thought I could catch one. I didn’t catch a lot of fish today, but I
caught good fish.”
Christie said he caught “about a dozen” keepers during the course of the day.
“It’s hard to tell when you’ve got all good (fish),” Christie said.
Christie said the warm weather trend has the fish moving up into
shallow water and nearly every pocket holds pairs of fish preparing for
the spawn. He said he was catching “spawners” but wasn’t visually
targeting them. Instead, he’s fishing slightly dirty water and using
BOOYAH brand baits to provoke a reaction strike.
“I don’t think they’re conducive to being caught while you’re looking
at them right now,” Christie said. “Some guys are going to catch them
and there is probably going to be somebody come in with 25 pounds he
caught while looking at them. But they’re too interested in each other.
You just have to get them on a reaction strike on a bait and I can do
that better fishing than I can looking at them.”
Chevy pro Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Okla., who finished the day in
fifth place, also used BOOYAH spinnerbaits and jigs for reaction bites
to fill his limit.
“The only time I saw them was when I put them in the boat,” Houston said.
Houston said fishing during practice was solid but the bite seems to
have slowed with the cold front that has approached Lake Hartwell.
“We’re going to have to slow down and fish a lot differently than we
did in practice,” Houston said. “I think it will get a lot more
difficult for me. I don’t think the guys who are sight fishing are going
to have many more fish come in, and those stringers might deteriorate a
little bit.
“I’ve got fish but I don’t think they’re going to bite very well,” Houston added.
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on Lake Hartwell are:
3rd: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 20-0
4th: Joe Thomas, Milford, Ohio, five bass, 19-10
5th: Chevy pro Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., five bass, 19-3
6th: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 18-9
7th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-2
7th: Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., five bass, 18-2
9th: Prevacid 24HR pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 17-8
10th: Randy Macabee Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., five bass, 17-5
For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Thomas caught the Snickers® Big Bass weighing 6-10 in the pro division to win $500.
Overall there were 713 bass weighing 1,703 pounds, 9 ounces caught by
152 pros Thursday. The catch included 124 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus
valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup
presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This
year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake
Ouachitawhere pros will compete for a top prize of $600,000 – the
sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious
2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that
will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour
Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas, leads the Co-angler Division with
five bass weighing 16-13 followed by J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif., in
second place with five bass weighing 16-3.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Jade Keeton, Florence, Ala., five bass, 14-2
4th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Mo., five bass, 13-15
5th: Andy Scholz, Reno, Nev., five bass, 13-7
6th: Mike Helton, Jeffersonville, Ind., five bass, 13-3
6th: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., five bass, 13-3
8th: Chad Pipkens, Holt, Mich., five bass, 12-13
9th: Doug Caldwell, Kane, Pa., five bass, 12-12
10th: Patrick Bone, Cleveland, Ga., five bass, 12-9
For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Scholz caught the Snickers® Big Bass weighing 5-6 in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 428 bass weighing 752 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 135
co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 36 five-bass limits.
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By all accounts, it’s shaping up to be quite a party. For one thing, this section of the Illinois River—rightly called the Sauger Capital of the World—is primed for world-class sauger fishing. "We weighed more fish at Spring Valley last year than in the three previous tournaments combined," says on-site tournament director Dan Palmer, also a veteran guide, tournament angler and river fisherman. "And I wouldn't be surprised to see someone break the Illinois state sauger record."
The ever-changing Illinois sets the stage for a high-stakes shootout among the nation’s top competitive walleye teams. With a $30,000 first-place paycheck and more than $100,000 in cash up for grabs (based on full field), teams pull out all the stops to catch walleye and sauger gold.
Plus, 2011 marks the 25th consecutive year the Cabela’s MWC has visited the Illinois River. Local coordinator Bill Guerrini and the Spring Valley Walleye Club are commemorating the milestone with a fundraising banquet Wednesday night before the tournament. The event will feature many past MWC Spring Valley winners, along with former MWC executive director Bob “Kaz” Kaczkowski. (For details, visit the Club’s website, www.spring-valley-walleye.org.)
While the region’s heavy snowfall has led to concerns about river levels, Guerrini assures anglers that conditions are shaping up for a great event. “In the past two weeks, we went from several feet of snow and 10-below zero to bare fields and 60 degrees,” he said. “The river has crested and is on its way down. We can’t predict what Mother Nature will give us in the next month, but we can guarantee the best tournament possible, and anglers who come to Spring Valley will be treated like royalty!”
As it has for the past quarter-century, the Spring Valley Walleye Club will monitor the river closely to ensure safe conditions for MWC anglers. “Safety is our top priority,” Guerrini promises.
Kaczkowski, who ran the MWC from 1984 through his retirement in 2004, will also emcee tournament weigh-ins. “I'm very pleased at being asked to emcee the 25th anniversary of the Spring Valley Cabela's MWC tournament,” he said. “My wife, Beverly, who was an integral player in the success of the tournament and the circuit, will be joining me. We are looking forward with much enthusiasm to re-establishing the family-type relationship we experienced with Bill Guerrini and his fellow members of the Spring Valley Walleye Club, the community and the DNR staff of the LaSalle fish hatchery. This event stands as a benchmark as to how a fishing tournament should be conducted. And I have to admit, I can't wait to get on that stage again."
Two-person teams still have time to sign up for the tournament. A late fee kicks in March 7, and registration closes Monday, March 21. For details, click on the Registration tab above, email events@masterswalleyecircuit.com or call (877) 893-7947.
The public is invited to the weigh-ins, which begin at 3 p.m. daily at Barto Landing in Spring Valley. The MWC and National Professional Anglers Association will present a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after Saturday’s weigh-in. The first 50 youths will receive rods and reels, and tackle packages courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle.
This is the first stop on the MWC Central Division’s 2011 season. The remaining Central schedule includes the St. Croix River and Pools 3 & 4 of the Mississippi River at Red Wing, Minnesota, June 3-5, and Bays de Noc, Michigan, August 5-7.
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Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent contest for Lew's where we are giving away 4 Lew's Speed Spool SS1H reels. Wired2Fish readers are very smart and did their homework. This reel is the "real" deal and it was obvious by the comments in the message field that the excitement was very high regarding Lew's getting back on the map. Good news travels quickly and the word has spread on the quality and durability of these products.
We did have one wrinkle in this contest and accepted two answers for the price of the TP1H reel. Retail price on the Lew's Website was $199.99 but they are currently on sale for $179.99 at Tackle Warehouse so being good folks we accepted both answers as CORRECT!
The correct answers are below:
1. Where is Lew's Headquarters located? B. Springfield, MO
2. Which of the following pros is on the Lew's pro-staff? A. Tim Horton
3. The Tournament Pro TP1H reel retails for? D. $179.99 or $199.99
The winner's of the contest are:
Bryan Scott
McKinney, TX
Dennis Eye
Pekin, IL
Brian Krestian
Moscow, ID
Casey Crouch
Lindsborg, KS
Congrats to all and your new reels are on the way!
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One of the highlights of this year's Bassmaster Classic was Ranger's introduction of the new Z118. We had a chance to sit in it and eyeball all of the great features of this new offering. We loved the smaller boat for anglers who are restricted in garage space but still want Ranger quality and features.
Tournament level performance and features in a 18-foot, 8-inch high-performance boat is what the all-new Ranger Z118 Comanche is all about. This new model offers Ranger Quality with a maximum 150 horsepower rating and enough fuel capacity at 38 gallons to fish the biggest events. Whether you are a die-hard tournament angler or just love fishing, the Z118 is the perfect set-up for you. The features of the Z118 includes, a patented pultruded transom and hallmark smooth, dry ride. The extra wide 92 1/2-inch beam makes for a extremely stable ride and fishing platform. The large front deck is highlighted by a padded casting area, retractable rod straps and an available recessed trolling motor pedal.
Storage boxes in the Z118 are large and feature stainless steel compression lid locks to help keep gear secure and dry. A Minn Kota® trolling motor, Lowrance® electronics, remote oil fill, on-board charger, LED compartment light package and custom-matched RangerTrail® trailer are standard offerings in this boat.
We loved the look of this new ride and were thrilled to see the high quality brand building in a more affordable tournament ready boat in 2011.
Here are some of the numbers for the Z118.
Z118 Ranger
Approximate Boat Weight 1550 (lb) Single Console
20-inch Engine Shaft Length
24 gallon Livewell Capacity
150 Max Hp (w/select engine configurations)
Trailer
23' 7" Approx. Length on Trailer with Motor Down
21' 7" Approx. Length on Trailer with Swing Away Tongue Open
99-inch Width on Trailer
*-options determine final pricing
For specific information on pricing contact your local Ranger dealer or visit RangerBoats.com.
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 Humminbird and Minn Kota will support the 2011 Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series season as the newest PAA Associate Sponsors.
In each event of the Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series presented by
Carrot Stix, the angler with the biggest bass of the tournament will be
awarded a new Humminbird 898c Si Combo sonar unit. A new Minn Kota Talon
shallow water anchor will be awarded to the angler with the biggest
bass from the entire Tournament Series season, and a new Talon will be
awarded to the big bass winner at the PAA All Star Series tournament in
April.
“The
addition of Humminbird and Minn Kota, two legendary companies in the
fishing and boating industry, is yet another great benefit to our
anglers and membership,” said Danny Blandford, PAA program director.
“Both companies have been on the cutting edge of product innovations
through the years, and we’re pleased to welcome Humminbird and Minn Kota
to the PAA.”
“Humminbird and Minn Kota are excited about the opportunity to work with
the PAA team for 2011,” said Kimber Austin, marketing coordinator for
Humminbird and Minn Kota. “We look forward to a great partnership that
will benefit everyone, especially the anglers.”
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By Terry Brown
A few years ago I took a trip to Sam Rayburn Lake near Jasper, Texas. I dropped by the local tackle store to purchase a fishing license, and as always, just like a kid in a candy store, I had to shop around a bit looking for something I had not seen before or a few old baits that were out of production. As a side note, I am a tackle junkie, and I am always in the market for a killer bargain. I rummage through junk at flea markets, tackle stores and garage sales. You never know when you might run into either a great bait to fish with at a discount price or one that goes into the collection.
Back to the story. I ran into a crusty old guy who looked like he fished every day in the Texas sun and had never heard of sunscreen. His skin was rough as a burlap sack, and he was very tan, had a three-day-old beard, an old Stren "hover" hat with more mileage than Allied Van Lines and wore some Key Brand bib overalls. Got the visual picture burned in your brain?
He told me he fished every day which apparently left little time for showers, and he was a retired navy veteran. We struck up a 15-minute friendship. He told me the fish were biting, but they wouldn’t bite everything. Out of the corner of his mouth in a very secretive manner he said “it has to be watermelon red.” I told him thanks, shook his hand and went about my business.
I felt like I might have just been given the Holy Grail. No one else could have possibly been given this information. I had a pile of watermelon red creature baits, tubes and worms. I was in like Flynn and loaded for bear. It was my secret alone.
On the way from that tackle store to the ramp, we needed some ice. We stopped at the Stump Restaurant and Tackle Store, and I went in to buy the ice. There was a group of older men sitting at a table drinking coffee and swapping war stories, and one of them was leaving as I walked in. He met me at the cash register and kindly asked “Where you boys from?"
I told him we were down for the week and we were from Illinois. He laughed and told me he was originally from Illinois too, and he hoped we caught a bunch of fish. I barely had time to tell him thanks and he pulled me aside and said “you need to get you some watermelon red Zoom Trick Worms. That is the only color that they bite”. Coincidence, maybe, but I was willing to bet that watermelon red might just be the ticket. When I got back in the truck my buddy asked what the old guy had said and all I told him was he said he was from Illinois. Angling secrets are best kept secrets in my book, and I had the secret color locked down.  We dropped the boat into the water and picked a few creeks to explore. I pulled out four rods and rigged them with, you guessed it, watermelon red Zoom Trick worms, and Brush Hogs. My buddy didn’t know the secret color and he rigged his go-to black and blue and bubble gum trick worms. I grinned a bit as I made the first few casts and caught several 2 pound fish. We have a dinner bet on first fish, most fish and biggest fish on every trip so I took the lead in two categories right out of the shoot. I was looking at locking down the trifecta as we pulled up on a flat with two willow bushes on the end of it. The first flip into the willow bush, it shook, and I landed a 5 pounder. I put him in the well for proof to other guys that were there. Flipped that same Brushhog to the other side of the bush and caught one nearly 10 pounds. The trifecta was mine.
Did color really make a difference? I don’t really think so, but you could never convince my buddy of that. Before you could say “Big-un”, he dug into my compartment and was fishing the secret “watermelon red."
“You don’t have to hit me over the head to see that color is making a difference,” he said.
By my very nature I chose to switch colors. I changed that bait out to a dark watermelon and continued the whack fest. None as big and the largest fish but we had plenty in the 2-4 pound range. Color was not the key. Patterning the fish and presentation was. You had to drop the bait into the center of the bush and when you did it could have been pink with purple polka dots and they would have slammed it. The moral of the story is color can be a confidence factor but it may not be as important as presentation when flipping.
I met with Strike King Angler Mark Davis. He is not a believer that color is a major factor but does believe it is a variable.
“I am old school, but I believe it doesn’t matter much to the fish,” he said.
He likes to match his colors to the dominate forage but told me presentation is the key and fishing where fish live is the most important factor. Color doesn’t matter as much.
“With crank baits, depth is the first consideration, size is the next consideration, and action is next and last but not least is color and sound. Color and sound are the least important in my opinion. As far as plastics go I am not very elaborate with colors here either, greens like dark watermelon, and watermelons, then blacks/browns, and then translucent colors. I may use smoke or strawberry red in clear water. Confidence is the main factor. A crankbait imitates several things -- crawfish, shad, or bluegill -- and to me, that is a prime factor in your selection. The bottom-line is color is as important as an individual wants to make it. If it’s important to the angler, then it’s important.”
I recently spoke to Gary Klein on this subject as well.
“It’s definitely a factor," he said. "Sometimes it’s an advantage and sometimes it’s not. I like to change colors to get them fired up again if the bite slows down and color can do that. I usually pick colors based on water colors and am more anal when the water is clear. Off color water it doesn’t matter as much. I use basic colors like black, brown, and other dark colors like dark watermelon. Basically it’s a factor. I don’t waste my time worrying about it but it is part of the equation and I do think about it.
“I am looking at contrast as well” said Klein. “When we are building our skirts at BOSS I like to personalize colors in shades, different combinations of shades of one color, and it helps the angler to think more about the ‘what ifs'. What is the primary forage and time of year you are fishing? Water conditions are also critical. What are the fish feeding on in the spring versus summer and fall?”
The bottom line is color can be a personal preference and it’s all about being where the fish live combined with the proper presentation.
Unless it’s “watermelon red” on Sam Rayburn. Then apparently all bets are off!
What do you think about color?
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Todd, Terry and Jason picked their favorites for tomorrow's FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. And not surprisingly, we had several overlapping picks. If you're not sure who to put on your fantasy fishing roster, maybe this will help. What do you guys think of the picks and let us know who you would pick on our facebook fan page!
Todd’s Picks
Brent Ehrler –
How can you not pick him? Last year he won every third tournament. This is the
third FLW Tour event. You do the math.
Bryan Thrift – He makes me pay every
time I don’t pick him by doing well in the tournament. Heck he won the last
one. So guess what Bryan? You won’t be out of my lineup again this year.
Koby Krieger – Rumor has it
that 3/4 the field will be sight fishing. If it comes down to a site fishing
beat down, Koby will rise to the top as he’s won of the best sight-fishing
anglers on the Tour.
Troy Morrow – Home Field
Advantage pick on this one. Morrow knows more spots and stretches and how the
fish behave on this lake better than anyone in the field. He’ll do well here.
Chris Baumgardner – Another Carolinas stick in mix on this pick. He’s good around the spawn and he’s been relatively
quiet so I expect to see him back in the top 10 mix.
Terry’s Picks
Brent Ehrler -
Based on last year’s numbers, he’s due for another win. Brent doesn’t take
missing top 10 cuts lightly. We expect the dominant angler to be back on track
with the good fishing this week.
Dave Lefebre -
Lefebre is one of the best FLW Tour pros and can catch them anywhere. He proved
that by dominating his nemesis fishery at the last event. If it’s sight fishing
or power fishing which it looks to be, Lefebre will have back-to-back top 10s.
Glenn Browne -
In the last few years, Browne has become a major stick on the FLW Tour and his confidence
is high in this one.
Terry Bolton –
this tournament plays well to his shallow water strengths. If a spinnerbait becomes
a factor in this event which I think it will, Bolton will be a force to reckon
with.
Randall Tharp –
Tharp is a stud on these types of
fisheries and he’s proven himself already this year in the prespawn and spawn
tournaments.
Jason’s Picks
Troy Morrow – All-American
champion Morrow is the local favorite. He in fact lives on Hartwell. I figure
he has a few pet bass he can go catch anytime he wants. And he sounds confident
on this one. Rumor has it he went out and fished a Jackpot tournament on
Tuesday and won it fishing “his other stuff” he didn’t need for the FLW Tour
event. Yikes.
Bryan Thrift –
Uh yeah, that’s right I left him out of my picks in the last one. Go ahead and
say it. I won’t make that mistake anymore this season. Where does the guy struggle?
It’s certainly not on a lake this close to home and not when the bass are
biting this well.
Dave Lefebre –
Uh oh, Lefebre made it out of Northwest Arkansas with a top-10. Can you say
momentum? He’s a top sight fisherman (which will play heavily in this event)
and he can power fish shallow as good as anyone as his track record shows. He
will double up on top 10 finishes.
Terry Bolton –
He’s due for a breakout tournament and he seems to do well in years where the
FLW Tour visits Kentucky Lake for some reason. People overlook how good a
shallow power fisherman he is. This tournament is setting up just like one does
when he does well.
Clark
Wendlandt – Let’s see. Three sight-fishing tournament FLW
Tour wins. Yeah that about sums up this pick. Clark can run and gun in sight
fishing events with the best in the business. And he’s got a good power game
too. Both will play here.
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Bass Pro Shops, the world’s
foremost retailer of fishing tackle and other outdoor gear, has
elevated its sponsorship of Bassmaster events to the top level and
enhanced its multifaceted marketing alliance with B.A.S.S. LLC.
In an agreement announced by B.A.S.S. today, Bass Pro Shops becomes
an Official Sponsor of the Bassmaster Classic, Bassmaster Elite Series
and Bassmaster Open Series.
The retailer also will continue its title sponsorship begun in 2010
of all nine Bassmaster Open events within the Southern, Central and
Northern Open divisions.
The agreement specifies that Bass Pro Shops’ Nitro boat brand will
continue as a Supporting Sponsor of the Bassmaster Elite and Bassmaster
Open series.
“This agreement further unites the sport’s most respected brands,”
said Don Logan, who with Jim Copeland and Jerry McKinnis purchased
B.A.S.S. in late 2010. “Anglers everywhere, and especially our
membership, will benefit from the offerings from Bass Pro
Shops and B.A.S.S.”
New for 2011, the companies will provide Bassmaster University
events as part of the annual Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Classic, one
of the biggest consumer events of the year. B.A.S.S. created a new
publication, “Bassmaster Techniques,” which was distributed
to Bassmaster University attendees at the Bass Pro Shops Spring Classic.
In addition, Bass Pro Shops will continue to offer B.A.S.S. members
special Outdoor Reward points programs throughout the year.
Said McKinnis: “B.A.S.S. and Bass Pro Shops were pioneers in this
sport and remain industry leaders. It’s only right that we pool our
strengths to find new ways to grow the great sport of bass fishing.”
“Competing in Ray Scott’s B.A.S.S. tournaments many years ago
helped lead to the starting of our company,” stated five-time Bassmaster
Classic qualifier and founder of Bass Pro Shops Johnny Morris. “It is
fitting that we now join together in this partnership.”
The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern
Open is happening this week on Lake Norman out of Charlotte, N.C.
Competition will begin March 24 and conclude March 26 with the winner
being awarded a first-prize package of $10,000,
a Triton/Mercury bass boat rig valued at $45,000, and a 2012 Bassmaster
Classic berth.
2011 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2011 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance, Luck “E” Strike, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ramada
2011 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Mercury, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2011 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Supporting Sponsors: Humminbird, Luck “E” Strike, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats
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 Sufix, the leader in
precision-wound fishing line, has added professional
angler Rick Clunn to its prostaff line-up. Clunn - a seasoned veteran of
the sport - has won four Bassmaster Classics and has more than 100
top-10 appearances, winning 17 of those.
"I'm excited to be joining the Sufix pro staff," Clunn said. "My
experience with Sufix mono has been great and the new 832 is definitely
revolutionary."
"We are honored to have Rick on our pro staff," said David James, field
promotion and media relations manager for Rapala. "Rick's an amazing
angler and respected promoter. We will continue to meet his high
expectations for fishing line and equipment."
Sufix, in partnership with GORE®, the makers of GORE-TEX® Fabrics,
created a breakthrough in fishing line technology with its new Sufix
832, which allows anglers for the first time to have a fishing line
designed with all of the characteristics to match any application
worldwide.
Formulated with eight fibers - seven Dyneema and one GORE - at 32 pics
(weaves) per inch, Sufix 832 is the first fishing line to combine both
Dyneema and patented GORE Performance fibers.
For more information on Sufix 832, please visit sufix.com.
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Mark Zona portrays a bass fishing angler making an all too common mistake and how he deals with it.
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Winning a tournament is great, and even greater is the chance to get an
extra bump in the wallet from cash bonus incentives as a benefit of
being a PAA Tournament Series competitor.
PAA
members have four great ways to earn bonus money for winning sanctioned
Tournament Series events this season. Members may win money from Bass
Pro Shops, BoatUS, Power-Pole and ProPatterns incentives programs.
Contingency money is available in the PAA Tournament Series and PAA All
Star Series events. Up to $36,000 will be available - $9,000 at each
event, including the PAA All Star Series – to pros meeting eligibility
requirements.
In the PAA Tournament Series events, anglers who meet contingency
partner requirements will be eligible for up to $7,000 from Bass Pro
Shops with a qualifying Nitro/Mercury boat and motor combination; $500
from BoatUS guaranteed to the highest-placing BoatUS member finisher;
$500 if the tournament winner is a Power-Pole Captains Cash member; and
$1,000 if the tournament winner is a member of ProPatterns.
"We appreciate the continued support of our partners throughout the
industry,” said Danny Blandford, PAA Program Director. “These are all
products and services used by many of our anglers and we are likely to
award several thousand dollars in additional winnings to our competitors
in 2011. Our General members and fans should also take time to review
these programs because there are a variety of ways to win at the local
level, as well.”
For information on the PAA’s contingency partners:
Bass Pro Shops Tournament Rewards (www.tournament-rewards.com/)
BoatU.S. “Weigh-to-Win” (www.boatus.com/angler/tournament_incentives.asp)
Power-Pole Captains Cash (www.power-pole.com/pages/captains-cash.html)
ProPatterns Payday Program (www.propatterns.com)
Different membership fees and eligibility rules apply for each program, and participation is optional.
Anglers interested in any of the programs should check all membership
and eligibility requirements prior to tournament competition. Specific
requirements must be met prior to competing and submitting any claim.
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Georgia
clear water fishing specialist Troy Morrow turned a $120,000 win at the
2010 BFL All American into a well-funded first step to life as a
touring bass professional. His hometown fans attending this week’s FLW
Tour event on Lake Hartwell will get the chance to tell him “good luck”
in person, and get an up-close look at his new boat graphics.
A
brand new vinyl boat wrap showcasing the BoatUS Angler Weigh-to-Win
cash bonus program is a punctuating look to Troy’s recent landscape of
tournament success. The Weigh-to-Win program is an appropriate match to
Morrow, a proud family man and grass-roots level competitor who solidly
represents the sort of tournament angler who can best benefit from the
program.
The
Weigh-to-Win program will pay the highest placing, registered angler in
most B.A.S.S., FLW and PAA events, as well as the BoatUS Collegiate
Bass Fishing Championship. For as little as $38, the cost of a BoatUS
Angler membership and Unlimited On-the-Road Towing service, a BFL angler
who performs well in a single regular season tournament could win a
$150 cash bonus.
Anybody
that has ever towed a boat has thought about “what if.” What if I have
a flat trailer tire in the darkness at 5:00 am on a busy interstate
eighty miles from home? What if somebody fails to stop behind me, and
crashes into my boat and motor rendering it un-towable? And what if
once I’m launched, I have a battery failure or spin a prop hub five
miles from the ramp?
BoatUS
Angler is the nation’s largest association of recreational boaters, and
they offer boat-owning anglers roadside and on-the-water towing
assistance as well as boat insurance. Benefits begin at only $38 for a
BoatUS Angler membership and Unlimited On-the-Road Towing, which
provides services such as fuel delivery, jump-starts, flat tire
assistance, lockout service, ramp winching and tow truck service for
both your trailer and tow vehicle while trailering your boat.
Getting
signed-up for Weigh-to-Win is simple. Go to BoatUSFishing.com or call
them at (877) 584-2628 to purchase an affordable BoatUS Angler
membership and one or both of the Unlimited On-the-Road or On-the-Water
BoatUS Angler towing memberships. Then plug your membership number into
the Weigh-to-Win registration form, and you’re ready to fish, win and
have ‘peace of mind.’
For more details about tournament paybacks and getting signed-up for Weigh-to-Win, please visit BoatUSFishing.com or call Kendell at (918) 742-6424.
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Legend Boats owner Todd Castledine took full advantage of the Legend Advantage Program March 17-19, 2011 with his win at the FLW Everstart Series Event on Toledo Bend Reservoir. As a Legend Advantage Plus Member, Castledine automatically double-qualified for both the Legend Advantage and Advantage Plus contingency programs and will receive a huge check of up to $6500 from Legend Boats for his victory.
To learn more about the Legend Advantage and Advantage Plus programs, visit legendmarine.com/advantage and register now. The next big check they write could be to yours! |
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Shipping to customers in April, Eco Pro Tungsten had added a full range of tungsten in line spinners to their lineup. As with their premium weights, Eco Pro spins are 100% lead free eco friendly tungsten. With Eco Pro Spins you get all the advantages of tungsten over lead. Farther, more accurate casts. Increased sensitivity. More fish! Eco Pro Spins are available in three of the most popular sizes and 19 fish catching colors. Special “seal coat” painting resists chips and scratches. Add black nickel hooks and Eco Pro Spins are the finest in-line spinners on the market!
The Eco Pro Tungsten Website has more!
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Semi-Full
Hookups
or
DribbleMaster
"Come over baby whole lot of shaking going on…"
Dateline: Greyhawkin' Between B.A.S.S and the PAA
Normally I
wouldn't be telling you campground stories, until I got the expense account
check for that campground, cashed it, and replenished the Margarita bar.
But this one needs
to get out.
I'm going to
footnote this story, but since I hate those footnote things instead of hiding
them at the bottom of the page, or worse, back in the end of the book where you
never look, I'm going to put the footnote right up front here like.
No searching, in
and out quick learning. Here she comes:
*Moron.
Now I'll explain
why I put the note before the foot. Here's what would have been footed: What db is when it comes to mechanical stuff.
See, isn't it
easier that way, if only the grammar cops would listen to me.
Basically, I was
going to call this story, "28 Feet of Double Sided Mystery," but I'm
going hold that title until I'm really stuck for something to write on
deadline. PS: When you see that title you might want to
just run from the story, but click on it anyway so I get the click credit…then
hit delete.
Get yerself a
coffee, I've got some explaining to do.
Ya see, for the
past week, I've been a dribbling.
"Shake it baby shake…"
Not DEPENDS
dribbling. Spaghetti & baby shampoo
dribblin'. You crawl under my rig in
that last campground you might be want to find a half ate bagel with cream
cheese getting all fuzzy like.
Not to mention the
almost level rock pad I was parked on was probably about 110-PROOF when I
pulled away seeing that I was also a dribblin' a bunch of USED crush ice, if
you get what I mean (UpFrontFootnote* Unfrozen Margarita going down the sink).
Now normally I'm
hell bent on not dribblin' and drinkin' but here's the problem I ran into at
this past campground…it weren't FULL hookups, only had them teasin' hookups.
You see, they let
you run a garden hose to their spigot and you could get all the water ya
wanted, but then they kind of abandoned ya'll by basically sayin' "Here
we'll give you all the drinkin' and washin' you want…but dude you gotta keep
it…don't be givin' it back ya hear."
They have no
problem putting the stuff in your rig, but by golly, you try and get it back
out, you got no where to go because the tease-hookups means this exactly,
"What goes in, STAYS IN."
Dudes, no sewers.
That's like
building a 3 bedroom 2 bath house and having the builder explain to you the two
baths are those two saplings out back yonder.
Drink and be merry
up until, you know, you have to….
"Shake it baby, shake."
So, with their no
return camping policy, I'm trying to wash a frying pan in a shot glass to save
on filling my Grey Tank with the water stuff they are shooting in through my
garden hose.
Dudes I went to
one of those SuperDooperWalmart things where I could almost buy the eggs AND
the chickens and for $4.95 Great Deal I bought this white plastic bin thing you
can stick in your sink to make your sink not a sink but more like a tub, so I
quickly wash the dishes in it and then I pick it up, spill about a quarter of
it on me (a totally up until that moment unknown way of conserving grey water)
then go over to the shower and dump it in.
*UpFrontFootNote:
MORON.
In my shock of
even doing dishes, I figure I'm going to be brilliant like and not let the
water run down the sink drain and into the Non-Campground-Return-Tank so I take
it way over across the db/bb/rv (two steps) and dump it down that drain.
'Cept that drain,
and every drain in this thing that you don't sit on, goes to the same
Non-Returnable place…that grey area underneath.
Now you need to
know this one other fact, before I took to Communal Showering I got in the rig
shower with TWO of those plastic bins, one on both feet, and showered thinking
that all of the clear water hitting me and coming off grey, would end up in
those two bins.
*See above
UpFrontFootNote.é
Each bin held four
drops of baby shampoo, five gallons of non-returnable campground went right
down the middle of my body and straight into that grey area, that was quickly
getting full.
Emergency measures
were called for.
I became a,
DribbleMaster.
"Shake it baby, shake"
Now all you EPA
guys, and all those Save The Environment types, best turn away about now, I'm
about to not make your day.
I dribbled coffee
on the EARTH. Some Coca Cola too. And soup. Toothpaste, and some ice cream I forgot I left on the dinette table. If America's groundwater suddenly tastes like
Sensodyne and Scope…that was me.
Sorry.
But I was full…the
four red lights on the "Uh-Oh" board said time to go, so it went.
One drop at a
time.
I'm telling you
dudes, by day three of almost being full and then suddenly not so much, I could
dribble right in front of the Campground Boss, and unless he smelled the grey
and red ketchup, I was the DribbleMaster.
Smushed up Walmart
sweet blue icing cupcakes…GONE…pretty much right where the dude was standing (a
side note that blue icing is Saweet, but from my dribbling experience basically
indestructible, might be hanging in those almost level pebbles longer than the
dinosaurs were around…so if your well water suddenly be tasting like blue
Walmart icing, that would be me….sorry).
Now here's a
secret that the people who only build ¾'s of an Non-Return campground must be
entirely unaware of…for about $5-bucks, you too can become a DribbleMaster.
"Shake it baby, shake."
But I have to warn
you…the TSA guys at the airport aren't the dribblin' type.
Here's the concept
of buying all the dribblin' you need in a shrink wrap package. You take this black cap thing that you stick
on the end the stinky end of the rig, attach a garden hose that you will never
touch with bare hands again…ever…to it…and twist some stuff, and out comes the
soup, in drips all night when no ranger would dare crawl under your rig
sniffing.
*****Important tip
here*** Your rig is going to be waking up smelling like Chicken Soup or Buffalo
Wing sauce so I found the best way to not be looking entirely guilty while the
campground cop is standing in front of you sniffing is to go to the sale aisle
in Walmart and buy the WORST smelling candle you can find because when you
light it there is NO WAY even the best dribblin' nose can sniff out yer hot dog
mustard on the ground when your whole site be smelling like "Sea
Breeze" from the Dead Sea.
Just saying.
But here's the
problem with dribblin' to go…when they xray your carry on your soup eliminator
one drip at a time cap looks like a bomb. A big bomb.
I wasn't quite
aware of that exactly, until TSA "suggested" I do some explaining.
"Sir, what
exactly is this." The dude said
while handling it with those blue TSA gloves (which BTW are good things to have
once you begin dribblin').
"It's my
dribbler," I said as I saw him frown while looking at a frozed stiff piece
of Ramen Noodle that was stuck on the inside.
I figure at this
point, I'm probably done flying for at least 5-10, maybe sooner if I behave.
"Stand right
where you are and don't touch anything," he says as he goes to talk to
what only can be a supervisor since he is wearing one the same uniform as the
first guy, but it's tailored so that I'm sure to notice his arms are bigger
than my thighs.
I'm thinking now,
will my Frequent Flyer status still be good in 10-15. Maybe sooner…
So Tarzan of the
metal detectors comes walking over to me, holding my dribbler like it is some
kind of trophy mount, walks right up to and into my personal Mitchum space, and
leans so close that I can see his future, and says to me….
"Sir…"
I'm trying to take
off my watch so the cuffs won't scratch it…
"….Sir…love
these things…we dribble in the rain…sometimes even while we drive…."
Ah, what a great
idea, Interstate-Dribblin', but what…what…what…
Turns out, there's
more DribbleMasters out there than I thought.
Which explains why
I-95 North sometimes smells like Chef Boyardee.
After one of those
quick Florida rains.
Yep.
Those Spaghettios
coming out of yer tap.
That would be me.
Sorry.
"Well I said shake baby shake
I said shake baby
shake."
Whole Lot Of Shaking Goin' On.
Jerry Lee Lewis
db
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Bill McElroy has the creative juices flowing and had added several new Scales and Tales cartoons for your enjoyment. Looks like Charlie Sheen is an easy target. To see them all click here. |
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 Irwin Jacobs, CEO and Chairman of J&D Acquisitions, owners and operators of Seaswirl, Fincraft, Larson and Triumph boats has filed a lawsuit against the seedealercost.com website that launched last week claiming that their information was obtained illegally for contractual and proprietary pricing. He also stated in a letter to dealers that they are investigating how the information was gained and who might be involved.
Excerpts from Jacobs letter show the intent of their action.
“As you know, a
website was recently launched which includes contractual and proprietary
pricing information for some of our brands. I am writing to inform you that we
have initiated a lawsuit in Hennepin County, Minnesota against such site to
stop this illegal behavior. These unconscionable acts have and will damage our
brands and our dealers and we will not stand for it. We will pursue every legal
remedy available to us, including injunctive relief, to stop this in its tracks
and recover our damages.
"Please also know that we are fully investigating how this
site obtained our contractual and proprietary information. Once such source is
identified you can trust that the appropriate actions will be taken to deal
with these individuals. In the meantime, I cannot stress enough the importance
that each of you continue to protect and not disclose to third parties any of
our confidential business information. We will hold all of our employees,
dealers, and sales representatives to the highest standards in this area.”
It is unclear if manufacturers of other freshwater fishing boats are affected by the new site and whether or not they plan to take action if so. The only boats we saw listed as bass boats on the site were Sterling boats. So far no mention of Ranger, Legend, Triton, Stratos, Phoenix or Basscat.
For more information on the lawsuit, here are a few other sources reporting this morning on the story as well.
Boating Industry
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Dodge Ram Trucks and Bass Champs are holding their Mega Bass tournament on Lake Fork in Texas this weekend. The Big Bass format tournament will award a Dodge Ram 1500 Truck to the winner of each hourly big bass prize as well as a Ram Outdoorsman truck to the overall winner. They will also pay cash prizes every hour from $500-$150 to the top 10 bass each hour. This one day event happens on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at Lake Fork Marina.
The entry fee is $150 per person and Registration times are as follows:
Friday Mar 25 5-7 PM
Saturday Mar 26 12-7 PM
Sunday Mar 27 5 AM
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Last week, Don Barone caught up with Sunshine Showdown champion Shaw Grigsby at the Citrus Slam on the St. John's River. Not only is db a big fan of Shaw, but so are we and so are a lot of you all. So we just wanted to pass on the link to his story in case you missed it.
Also be sure to tune into Bassmaster.com. They have been doing a bang-up job covering their tournaments. The photos have been remarkable from the first three events this year and their on the water blogs, basstrakk, videos and Hooked Up shows are top notch. We stay glued to the web most days and it makes it nice to have the tournament activities running behind the scenes at the office.
Don's story with Shaw can be found here.
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Photos courtesy of B.A.S.S. Communications
With a three-day total of 77 pounds, 1 ounce, Oklahoma bass fishing pro Edwin Evers shocked the crowd and favorites to win, namely Terry Scroggins and Alton Jones. Using a mix of sight fishing and mat flipping, Evers was able to remain incredibly consistent, never falling below 16 1/2 pounds on any one day of the four day event. His worst day was day two and after that everything seemed to fall into place for him.
"I started the first day in George. Probably 10 out of the top 20 were within eyesight of me. I prayed hard that night, and the next day I went 180 degrees another direction. Flipping Okeechobee Craw colored Mighty Bugs on mats in practice helped me locate an area where I caught a 3-pounder and felt like I had some big bites in practice. So I went back in there and there were big ones on the bed. In like 10 minutes I caught an 8 pounder. I burnt 220 miles of gasoline that second day and at the end of the day I saw some bucks. So I just hoped the females were coming.
"That big fish today, I found that fish the end of the second day. I saw here in Crescent Lake. I put that male in my livewell for a minute that I caught off the bed. Turns out I didn't need it so I let it go. Today I caught the male and the female moved up."
"I work hard at this. I've been known to stay out until midnight in practice scanning around. Those fish I found on Table Rock a few years ago, I found in the dark on my electronics and went back and caught them during the tournament. So it feels really good to do this in Florida, somewhere I've struggled. And it's such a relief to already be qualified for the 2012 Classic!"
Terry Scroggins made a run at the trophy, with the only 20-pound limit of the day, but in the end came up 2 pounds, 14 ounces shy of his goal.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get this win for you all, but maybe we'll come back here, and I can make another run at it," he said to all the fans in his hometown crowd.
Scroggins cranked, flipped and sight fished his way to the second place finish.
Scroggins, who gave Evers a little advice as the tournament began, also got a tip from another Elite pro in the top 12. Knowing he could not win, Casey Ashley stepped back from going to a big bass he’d seen in a canal, and gave the location to Scroggins. But when he got there, the fish was gone; but he found another nearby. It weighed 7-12, and was a key to his finish.
“Without that, I wouldn’t even have come close,” Scroggins said.
Competing in his hometown, Scroggins said he was happy to do well, even if he ended as No. 2.
“I’ll take second place every day,” he said.
For Alton Jones, the wind on Sunday killed his Lake George sight bite.
“You’re not going to catch the big ones unless you’re looking at them, so I was fishing for buck bass most of the day.”
But he can find some solace in that his back-to-back Top 12 finishes gave Jones the lead in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race from last week’s event winner, Shaw Grigsby. Scroggins moved into second, Kevin VanDam is third, and Evers is in fourth place.
Berkley Big Bass honors of the tournament went to Jason Williamson of Aiken, S.C., whose 10-3 lunker from the first day withstood all challengers — and several of those were in the high 9’s. Williamson won a $500 bonus.
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Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam Daily Notes & Quotes
Alton won’t ‘jump ship’:
After he weighed in Saturday, Alton Jones said he would play Sunday by
ear, and let the conditions come morning guide his decision on where and
how to fish.
Sunday morning, waiting at the docks, Jones said he felt confident his sight bite would stand up.
“I’m certainly not going to jump ship on a pattern I’ve been fishing
unless conditions dictate,” he said. “It’s something I won’t know until I
get out there — if it (wind) happens at all.
“It looks to me like, at least for a few hours this morning, it’s not
going to be too windy,” he added. “They’re predicting for 14 up to
gusts of 20 later in the day. But at 15, you’ll still get a lot of stuff
that’s very fishable out of the main lake.”
Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic winner, is looking for his first
Bassmaster Elite Series win. He’s had five other top-level Bassmaster
wins, but not in the Elite Series, and not since the 2008 Classic
title.
It’s a given he’d enjoy the 2012 Classic qualification awarded to
Elite event winners for the first time this season. After a down 2010
season, Jones did not qualify for the 2011 Classic. He had been one of
the pros one just expected to be in the Classic; he has had 13 trips to
the world championship since 1996, missing only 2005 and 2006.
Wind on the water: By daylight Sunday, most of the
12 finalists had checked out the forecast for winds of up to 17 miles
per hour. Their observations:
Alton Jones (leader, 60-10): “Wind makes fishing these open-water flats difficult. You just can’t see the fish.”
Edwin Evers (2nd, 2-9 behind Jones): “It’s going to make it a lot
tougher, but I have a few areas that are protected, so I think I can get
in there and catch them.”
Terry Scroggins (4th, 6-11 behind) “That’d be good for me. I know
where to go to get out of the wind. I know where they live, I don’t have
to guess about it.”
Kevin VanDam (9th, 13-8 behind): “It’s going to make it hard to
sight-fish, for sure, so maybe I’ll do something different. I’m not
going to try to sight fish if it’s blowing 20 miles an hour.”
Keith Combs (10th, 13-13 behind): “That may play into my hands.
Yesterday I wasn’t sight fishing — that stuff is playing out. Now, I’m
just fishing.”
Steve Kennedy (7th, 12-5 behind): “It should blow right over my head.
I’ve been looking for wind every day. I’ve got a little topwater bite
going, and when the wind blows, it kind of sets them up pretty good.
That’s only good for 12-15 pounds worth; I haven’t got a big bite there
yet.”
Wreck fishing: And now, for something completely
different: Terry Scroggins tried a wreck pattern Saturday within
eyesight of the launch area.
“There’s actually some old sunken barges over there, wooden barges,”
said the Palatka area native who cut his fishing teeth on the St. Johns
River. “They’re on a mud bottom, so the barges are a hard structure for
them to get on, so they gang up there. It’s offshore, you have to know
where they are, and I know where all of them are, so I’ve been hitting
them every day. I can catch them every day, but I didn’t get the key
bites I wanted today (Saturday).
Eye candy: Kevin VanDam said that if the wind holds
off long enough, he’s going back after some good-size fish in an area
where he lost a 10-plus-pounder Saturday in the middle of the day.
“It only took me 15 minutes to get it to bite, but it came unhooked. I
couldn’t get it to bite again — it nipped my bait a couple of times,
but just wouldn’t eat it. I probably spent an hour and a half trying to
get it to bite again,” he said. “I saw half a dozen more that were
probably 6-plus pounds that were just not quite ready yet. I’ve got to go and look at them.
“It’s eye candy.”
Big bass, big bag: Steve Kennedy had Day Three’s biggest bag, 26-0. It popped him from 39th place into seventh place and into the final round.
He also had the day’s largest fish, an 8-12. Even such a lunker
wasn’t enough to overtake Jason Williamson’s 10-3 of Day One, which
still stands as the Berkley Big Bass of the Tournament. The winner of
the Berkley Big Bass award, determined after Day Four is over, will get a
$500 bonus.
Kennedy said that before the tournament began, he’d have guessed that
his biggest day would have been sooner. The first day he had 13-8. The
second day was lighter, an 8-13 bag.
“I was looking at some pretty big fish,” he said. “The first day of
the tournament, there were so many boats in what I thought was the best
place, I was surprised I didn’t get a big one, and yesterday I managed
to catch two.”
Family tradition: Steve Kennedy’s father, Van
Kennedy of Fort Valley, Ga., qualified for the 1982 Bassmaster Classic
through the B.A.S.S. Federation Nation. Van Kennedy finished 28th in the
competition, which was on the Alabama River.
It was his only Bassmaster pro-level tournament.
His son, who has fished 70 Bassmaster events since 2002, has
qualified for five consecutive Classics, 2007-2011. His best finish was
eighth in 2007 on Alabama’s Lay Lake.
Quotable:
“I was fortunate to get that one (an 8-6); I couldn’t catch two. The
main thing here is to catch two of those big ones a day, and you’re
doing fine.” — J. Todd Tucker, 5th place with 53-13
“You can get one bite out here that weighs 11.” — Keith Combs, 10th place with 46-13
“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of 4- or 5-pounders. They’re either 7 to 8, or 3 or less. — Steve Kennedy, 7th place with 48-5
“I finally got an over-8-pound bite. I hadn’t had one the first two
days and everybody else had, seemed like, so it really felt good to
finally get a really good one.” — Kelly Jordon, 8th place with 47-9
“They’ll still be caught sight-fishing (on Sunday), but I don’t know
that I’m a good enough sight fisherman to catch them in the wind.” —
Billy McCaghren, 11th place with 44-4.
“I’ve got some crankin’ stuff I’m going to. I didn’t catch any big
fish there today, but the other two days I did. I caught a lot of fish
today, just no big ones.” — Terry Scroggins, 4th place with 53-15.
“At the beginning of the week if somebody had said, ‘Would you take a
top 20 and be happy?’ I’d have said, ‘Absolutely.’ — Brent Chapman,
finishing up at 17th after being the Day One runner-up.
“I can win. There are big ones swimming around everywhere, and I can win. — Edwin Evers, 2nd place with 58-1
For more information about the Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam, including a live blog, B.A.S.S.Trakk, live hourly updates from the Hooked Up! Toyota Trucks stage, B.A.S.S.Cam video and photo galleries, go to www.bassmaster.com.
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The
Lamar University team of Matt Morrison and Danny Iles won the National
Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Division event on Toledo Bend Saturday
with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces. The victory earned the team
$10,000 to be split between the university and the university’s bass
fishing club - $7,500 for the bass club and $2,500 for their school. The
win also helped them advance to the Texas Division Regional
Championship.
“It is difficult to win one tournament, but to win two is
just unbelievable,” said Iles, a junior mechanical engineering major.
“Matt and I have had an incredible year against some really good
competition. It is really hard to believe we won again.
“We had a pretty decent day,” Iles went on to say. “We
had about 10 keeper fish which was a few more than the rest of the teams
seemed to have. Most of the other teams were sight fishing. We didn’t
do much sight fishing which is what I think made the difference for us.
We were using Strike King Game Hawgs and an All Terrain Jig with a
Strike King Game Hawg trailer to catch most of our fish. Our big one
came with the Strike King Game Hawg.”
The pair from Lamar University won earlier this year at
Choke Canyon and have also qualified for the National Guard FLW College
Fishing National Championship taking place April 7-9 on Kentucky Lake
being hosted by Murray State.
“We are really excited about making nationals,” said
Morrison, a senior mechanical engineering major. “We were able to make
it up there for three days of practice and feel pretty good about our
chances. Kentucky Lake fishes a lot like Sam Rayburn so it should be a
lot of fun.”
Rounding out the top five teams and also advancing to the Texas Regional Championship are:
2nd:Stephen F. Austin – Ryan Watkins and Andrew Upshaw, (five bass, 14-8, $3,000)
3rd: University of Texas, Arlington – Steve Cermak and Todd Fontenot, (five bass, 14-8, $2,000)
4th: Baylor University – Alton Jones and Brian Bauer, (five bass, 13-5, $2,000)
5th: Lamar University – Justin Royal and Troy Luce, (five bass, 12-13, $2,000)
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Courtesy of B.A.S.S. Communications
If only it were lonelier at
the top. Leading by 7 pounds, 9 ounces on Friday, Alton Jones hung on
Saturday at the Power-Pole Citrus Slam with a 60-10 total, but his lead
shrunk to 2 pounds, 9 ounces, and he has 11 anglers to watch out for
Sunday.
“I did the same thing today as on the other days,” Jones said. “I
blind-fished early, then went sight-fishing the rest of the day.”
Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic champ, hunted hard for the
larger spawning bass, the holy grail of every Bassmaster Elite Series
angler this week on the St. Johns River.
“I did come up on one of about 7 pounds, and I fished for her for
about an hour. She always looked like she was going to bite on the next
cast — and then she swam off and never came back. I was kind of puzzled
by that, but sometimes the fish will fool
you,” Jones said.
Edwin Evers replaced J. Todd Tucker as the pro closest to
overtaking Jones, who has led for three days. Evers inched up from
fourth place to second on the strength of his 19-4 bag of bass, for a
three-day total of 58-1.
Todd Faircloth, one of only three to break the 20-pound mark,
claimed third place, jumping up from eighth with 20-2 on Saturday for
54-1 over three days. St. Johns area native Terry Scroggins dropped from
third to fourth after bringing in 13-15, for 53-15
overall.
Tucker fell to fifth place, pulled down by a lackluster 12-0 on the third day.
The Elite field was cut from 50 to 12 for the final round Sunday.
The anglers are fishing for a first-prize package that includes $100,000
and an instant qualification for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic under a
new rule that awards berths to event winners,
bypassing the points system.
Runner-up Evers said he didn’t veer from his sight-fishing pattern.
“I’m covering a tremendous amount of water,” Evers said. “I’m
standing on the trolling motor and looking, looking, trying to find the
big ones.”
His biggest bass was a 6-5, a hefty contribution to his 19-4 of Saturday.
“I’ve seen bigger ones,” he added. “I’m pretty excited to go back tomorrow.”
The wind is supposed to kick up Sunday, a potential wrecker of a
true sight bite, the pattern to which almost the entire field turned.
“We may get a couple of hours tomorrow before the wind gets up,” Jones said.
Faircloth, in third, said he had some areas to go to that would not be heavily hurt by high winds.
“The areas are protected, and I think I can get back in there and catch them,” he said.
Local favorite Scroggins said his day was tough, and he was finesse
fishing to make them bite. The rub to that tactic, he explained was
that the lily pads were rough on his lighter gear and 8-pound line.
“When you hook a 4- or 5-pounder, it’s all you can do to get him out, but that’s the only way I can make them bite,” he said.
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Todd
Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18
pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Texas Division
event on Toledo Bend with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 65
pounds, 2 ounces. For his victory, Castledine earned $27,842.
“Seems like every week I come up against these guys,
[Bird and Martin], but I love the competition. It makes me a better
fisherman” said Castledine. “This really has been an incredible week.
This morning after my boat broke down I was real nervous, but then
everyone came out to help and I knew I was prepared for this moment and
everything worked out.
“I was sight fishing all week long,” Castledine went
on to say. “I never strayed and stayed 100 percent committed to that. I
love to sight fish and know that it is one of my strengths. All my fish
were caught off beds using a sweet beaver. I was mostly in about two to
three feet of water.
"The fish weren’t plentiful, but I was able to catch
the quality ones that mattered. On the first day I only had five
keepers. On day two I think there were only six keepers and today I had
the most, about 10.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 62-7, $9,546
3rd: Cody Bird, Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 54, $7,955
4th: Tim Reneau, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 52-12, $7,159
5th: Chris Wilkerson, Conroe, Texas, 15 bass, 50-8, $6,364
6th: Joe Elkouri, Lawton, Okla., 15 bass, 48-15, $5,568
7th: James Caldemeyer, Gilmer, Texas, 15 bass, 48-15, $4,773
8th: Eric Wright, Scurry, Texas, 15 bass, 47-13, $3,977
9th: Robert Brown, Round Rock, Texas, 15 bass, 47, $3,182
10th: Cecil Russell, Willis, Texas, 10 bass, 36-9, $2,386
Christopher Brasher caught the biggest bass of the
tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 9-pound, 4-ounce bass – that
earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of
$214.
Rick Parker of Kaufman, Texas, won the Co-angler
Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor
plus $5,000 with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pound, 4
ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Steve Hope, Ovilla, Texas, 15 bass, 47-4, $3,755
3rd: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 13 bass, 43-15, $3,338
4th: Brent Broussard, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 42-12, $2,920
5th: Eric Richey, Paradise, Texas, 15 bass, 42-8, $2,503
6th: Robert Moffett, Silsbee, Texas, 14 bass, 38, $2,086
7th: Randall Coyle, Nederland, Texas, 14 bass, 34-11, $1,669
8th: Rich Dalbey, Greenville, Texas, 12 bass, 33-9 $1,252
9th: Kevin Carter, Spring, Texas, 11 bass, 32-10, $834
10th: Stephen Francis, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 30-10, $668
Reggie Rivera caught the biggest bass of the
tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday – a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass –
that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $142.
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Photos courtesy of Larry Morris / LBAA
29-year-old Kim Bain-Moore keeps adding to her list of “firsts” as today she won the first ever-regular season Lady Bass Anglers Association tournament on Texas’ Sam Rayburn. Bain-Moore added 14 pounds even to her day one total of 20.94 pounds to give her 34.94 and the win.
“I felt like I could catch a limit, and yesterday, I set my goal around 12-15 pounds," Bain-Moore said. "I figured that would keep me in it. I caught my five yesterday fairly quickly, and the big ones all bit in about a 30-minute window.
“Based on the good fishing I had there yesterday, which was on a Revenge green pumpkin vibrating jig with a Reactions Innovations Dirty Sanchez Skinny Dipper as a trailer. Today I went back to the same spot intending to do the same thing and get my fish early before the wind blew.”
“I only caught one keeper and was beginning to get slightly worried. I then watched my co-angler catch three pretty nice fish on a Senko. I then saw a recreational angler catch one up shallow too and finally the light bulb came on.”
“I took my watermelon with red and black flake Senko and drenched it with Smelly Jelly and was able to get my limit and culled two.”
She took home $7,000 for the win plus the big bass award for the pro angler side.
“This feels really wonderful. It is a tremendous honor to win this LBAA event and I love coming and seeing all the ladies and hanging out with them again,” she added.
Reaction Innovations, Oakley Sunglasses, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Pfleuger Reels, Legend Boats, Evinrude E-Tec, High Seas, Navionics, and Gillna Rain Gear all sponsor Bain-Moore.
Behind Bain-Moore was Juanita Robinson in second with 30.57, Cheryl Bowden in third with 28.86, Patti Campbell in fourth with 28.69, and Pam Ridgle in fifth with 25.65. Rounding out the top ten on the pro side were Pam Martin-Wells in sixth with 22.87, seventh was Kay Pennington with 22.18, eighth was Diane Phillips with 20.98, Keri Schieber in ninth with 18.07, and tenth was Emily Shaffer with 17.48.
Over on the co-angler side of the LBAA Texas ProAm Diana Uebelhack just like Bain-Moore, took the day one lead and never looked back heading on to claim the title of 2011 LBAA Texas ProAm Co-Angler Champion.
"This couldn’t have been any better," an emotional Uebelhack proclaimed after the event. “I’ve never won something like this so people cannot even have a clue as to how excited I am. I have to thank everybody that is around me -- my family, my daughter Erica, my husband – they all have been so supportive of this and of me.”
Following Uebelhack in second in the co-angler division was Pam Rodden with 17.77, Teri Neal in third with 15.06, Barbara Harris in fourth with 12.56, Traci Tullos in fifth with 12.52, Kim Giddens in sixth with 11.95, Gail Wood in seventh with 11.45, Denice Johnston in eighth with 10.97, Renee Key-Johnston with 10.69, and Tommie Domingue in tenth with 10.14.
LBAA “Big Bass” honors for Rayburn were Bain-Moore on the pro side with a 6.17-pound bass and Diana Uebelhack on the co-angler side with a 7.17-pound bass and both lunkers were caught on day one.
Day 3 (03/19) of the LBAA Sam Rayburn Tournament will be the LBAA Sam Rayburn Rainbow Room Charity Team Tournament. This tournament is open to the public with proceeds going to support the Rainbow Rooms of Jasper and Lufkin. Entry fee is $100 per team. There will be a guaranteed first place prize of $1,000. There will also be a $200 bonus prize for both the highest finishing team with a female and the highest finishing team with a child age 12 or under. The LBAA Sam Rayburn Rainbow Room Charity Tournament is open to all interested parties and LBAA membership is not required to fish this tournament. The weigh-in will get underway at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Jasper County
Courthouse Square and will be a highlighted part of the 23rd Annual Jasper Azalea Festival.
Immediately at the conclusion of the weigh-in for the LBAA Sam Rayburn Rainbow Room Charity Tournament, there will be a drawing for raffled items. This will add to the support for the Rainbow Rooms of Jasper and Lufkin. For more information, visit Rainbow Rooms of Jasper and Lufkin online.
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Photo by Gary Tramontina / B.A.S.S. Communications
Alton Jones has a plan,
and he’s sticking to it. After all, it’s taken the pro from Waco, Texas,
into the lead for two days running at the March 17-20 Power-Pole Citrus
Slam on the St. Johns River.
Friday Jones brought in 22 pounds, 13 ounces, more than enough to
repeat his Day One lead. His 49-6 total over two days put a distance of 7
pounds, 9 ounces, between him and J. Todd Tucker of Moultrie, Ga., who
had 41-13 for second place. In third place
with 40-0 was Terry Scroggins of Palatka, Fla., the hometown pro who has
a rich history to tap into, and a seemingly infinite number of spots to
go to up and down the river.
Rounding out the top five were Edwin Evers of Oklahoma and Billy
McCaghren of Arkansas. Evers moved up from 20th and McCaghren from
seventh place.
Daily big bass honors went to the angler who claimed sixth place,
2010 and 2011 Bassmaster Classic champ Kevin VanDam. His 9-5 beat
McCaghren’s 9-4. Jason Williamson’s 10-3 of Thursday, however, remained
as the Berkley Big Bass of the tournament so far.
The field was cut to the top 50 for Saturday’s competition. Only
the top 12 will fish Sunday for a $100,000 first prize. The winner’s
take also includes a 2012 Bassmaster Classic qualification. Elite
anglers are also after points that count toward qualifying
for the coveted 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title
and 2011 postseason, a winner-take-all, $100,000 contest.
Like most of the field, Jones is fishing for bedding bass, hitting a
milk run of areas both days. He said he’ll go right back Saturday to
the area that’s produced for him two days running.
“I left my first spot with a limit of only about 8 pounds, I went
to my secondary area where I caught a 5-pounder yesterday, and got
another 5-pounder today,” Jones said. “Then I went to a place I tried to
go yesterday, but the way wind was blowing, you
couldn’t see anything. It was basically empty today, but I did get my
8-7 there.”
He said he plans to go back to the spawning grounds he’s been
working, a lake off the main St. Johns River, and he expects that the
bounty of spawners will dwindle.
“It has been a sort of mass exodus, but they don’t all leave,” he
said. “All it takes is one good female to pull up to give you a good
day.”
Second-place holder Tucker pulled up from 11th place by remaining
consistent; he had 21-5 Friday to build on his 20-8 of Thursday.
“I spent half of my day — until 12:30 with only three fish,” he
said. “I stayed in my area, and let the fish show up and come to me.
It’s more about having confidence in what you’re doing, and being
patient. I’m banking on one or two big bites a day.”
His strategy is to quit trying for a fish that is showing signs she
won’t bite. “I just leave her alone until she’s more comfortable,” he
said.
Scroggins, who grew up fishing the St. Johns River, said he headed
north Friday morning, hit a fog bank and turned around and went south.
He simply tapped into another area he knew from past competitions would
likely be productive.
His first stop was slow going — until he hooked and landed a 6-pounder.
“That kind of turned me on to something,” he said. “I really found something special.”
He said he lost a 7-pounder and a 4, and found a 10-pounder and 6-pounder that he could not get to hit his lure.
“They’re still sitting there, I know where they are,” he said. “I could have a really big bag tomorrow.”
For more information about the Power-Pole Citrus Slam, go to bassmaster.com.
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Tonight on Versus another triple play:
1.
In the 6:00pm CST time slot during “Quest for the One.” Professional Angler
Marty Glorvigen shares his techniques on rigging live bait for Walleyes.
2.
In the 6:30 pm CST time slot during “Quest for the One.” Professional Anglers
Marty & Scott Glorvigen discuss how changing weather patterns affect fish
behavior and how you can monitor those changes in advance with Sirius Marine
Weather.
3. In the 10:30 pm CST time slot during “City
Limits Fishing.” Elite Series Angler Denny Brauer talks about the basic
fundamentals of Carolina
rigging that every bass fisherman should know.
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By Mark Zona
Right here, right now, this time of the year, is a lot like the opening week of NFL football season for me. I don’t care if you live near Lake Minnetonka, Minn. where it’s 45-degrees, or Guntersville, Ala. where it’s 75-degrees – your head is swirling like a buck bass on a spawning bed with all things bass fishing.
The Bassmaster Elite Series has begun, fish are spawning in the deepest parts of the southern U.S., and guys up north, and all parts in between, are planning their next bass fishing trip. It’s time, baby. It’s that magical time of the year.
I just finished covering the Elite Series opener at the Harris Chain of Lakes, and I’m getting ready to cover the next one that starts today on the St. Johns River, but bud, let me tell ya, and please don’t tell Jerry McKinnis, but all I can really think about is where the Z Train is headed fishing.
Yep, I’m going somewhere. I have no clue where. But, I’m going bass fishing. To me there’s nothing better than planning the next trip. The process of planning and packing tackle for the next excursion is addictive. Do me a favor, get over to my Facebook page – “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show” – and tell me what body of water I should fish next week when this derby on the St. Johns River concludes. One rule: I’m not going ice fishing.
Speaking of going places, dudes – please do yourself a favor – sign-up for a Boat US Angler Membership before you hit the road. Seriously, if you don’t spend the very affordable $38 to become a member and buy their Unlimited On-the-Road Towing service you’re putting yourself behind the eight ball. It’s about peace of mind that comes from knowing somebody will be dispatched to help you if you have a dead battery, lock your keys in the truck, or have a broken leaf spring on your trailer. Plus, once you spend the $38 – you’re eligible to sign up for their Weigh-to-Win program which is a cash bonus program for tournament anglers.
I’ve had a handful of Elite Series anglers ask me if the BoatUS Angler Weigh-to-Win program is the real deal. One word: “Yes!” It’s as real as the $1,500 cash that KVD won at the Classic because he took the time to sign-up for BoatUS Angler, or as real as the $500 that one of the nicest guys in bass fishing, Stephen Browning, just won for finishing third at the Harris Chain. Remember you don’t have to win the tournament to win the Weigh-to-Win money, but I’m warning you now – if Browning ever wins an Elite Series Event – I’m gonna cry tears of joy because I love that man.
Until next time, tell me where you think I should go fishing at my “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show” page on Facebook. Because seriously, right now, that’s all I can think about.
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In
early February, the world’s best bass anglers descended on Clewiston,
Fla., to fish Lake Okeechobee for the first event of the 2011 Walmart
FLW Tour. Complete coverage of the tournament presented by Evinrude,
which saw FLW Outdoors records fall, will air Sunday, March 20, from 1-2
p.m. ET on VERSUS as part of the weekly “FLW Outdoors” program. The
show puts fans right in the middle of the action with quality
on-the-water coverage of the top anglers competing for the title.
The first event of the Tour season saw a resurgence of top-notch
bass fishing at Lake Okeechobee, and fans and anglers were treated to
some spectacular weigh-ins throughout the tournament. The first-place
purse of $125,000 went to local pro Brandon McMillan as he came from
behind to claim his first Tour title.
“FLW Outdoors” airs on VERSUS in high-definition (HD) Sundays
from 1-2 p.m. ET. Hosted by Jason Harper, “FLW Outdoors,” is broadcast
to more than 500 million households worldwide through agreements with
WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport. FLWOutdoors.com also provides an online guide listing
upcoming episodes of “FLW Outdoors.” In addition, each episode of “FLW
Outdoors” is available on demand in its entirety on FLWOutdoors.com/flwondemand.
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Thanks to everyone who participated in the Lazer Trokar hook contest. Surgically sharpended, super tough hooks that take less pressure to penetrate the fishes mouth the Lazer Trokar is a top notch hook for every fishing application.
The correct answers to the contest and
winners are below:
1. Who was the last angler on the Lazer Trokar team to win the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year? D. Skeet Reese
2. What city does Shaw Grigsby live in? A. Gainesville, FL
3. What is the parent company of Lazer Trokar? C. Wright & McGill
4. What is the best hook in the Lazer Trokar line-up for punching vegetation?
B. TK130
Daniel Davis
Katy, TX
Walter Oppelt
Frankfort, IN
Pete Rush
Herndon, VA
Rod Gaskill
Rhinelander, WI
Congrats to all and your hook packages are on the way!
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Photos by Larry Morris / LBAA
Legend Boats pro Kim Bain-Moore came right out of the gate at the first tour stop on the 2011 Lady Bass Anglers Association (LBAA) Tour to sack a huge limit of five bass weighing 20.94 pounds to take a sizable lead. East Texas’ Sam Rayburn Reservoir is the site and it is a fabulous time of year to be fishing Rayburn.
A 6.17-pound kicker fish topped off Bain-Moore’s five-bass limit and helped her put a bit of distance between second place Patti Campbell who weighed in 15.57 pounds of bass. Third was Pam Ridgle with 11.81 followed in fourth by Pam Martin-Wells with 11.76 and Juanita Robinson with 11.27.
Sixth was Kay Pennington with 11.24; seventh was Diane Phillips with 9.75; Emily Shaffer was eighth with 9.62, Cheryl Bowden was ninth with 8.85, and tenth was Sue Crochet with 8.74 pounds of bass.
On the co-angler side of the LBAA Rayburn event, first time angler Diana Uebelhack brought a three-fish limit to the scales that weighed an impressive 16.16 pounds. Uebelhack’s three-bass limit of bass included a nice Rayburn giant weighing 7.17 pounds.
“I think it was just beginners luck,” Uebelhack said. “I just had an awesome time. I only hope I can take this beginner's luck to tomorrow.”
Following Uebelhack was Teri Neal in second with 9.20, Pam Rodden third with 7.69, Kim Giddens fourth with 6.46, and Martha Goodfellow was fifth with 6.40.
Rounding out the co-angler top 10 were Traci Tullos in sixth with 6.03, Dawn March in seventh with 5.80, Donna Newberry in eighth with 5.74, Barbara Harris in ninth with 5.67, and Denise Johnston in 10th with 5.26 pounds of bass.
The LBAA Sam Rayburn Pro-Am Event concludes on Friday with a “safe light” launch and weigh-in at 3 p.m. -- both at Sam Rayburn Marina Resort. Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies turning partly cloudy with southerly winds of 10-15 mph and highs near 80.
Day three (03/19) of the LBAA Sam Rayburn Tournament will be the LBAA Sam Rayburn Rainbow Room Charity Team Tournament. This tournament is open to the public with proceeds going to support the Rainbow Rooms of Jasper and Lufkin. Entry fee is $100 per team. There will be a guaranteed first place prize of $1,000. There will also be a $200 bonus prize for both the highest finishing team with a female and the highest finishing team with a child age 12 or under. The LBAA Sam Rayburn Rainbow Room Charity Tournament is open to all interested parties and LBAA membership is not required to fish this tournament.
Immediately at the conclusion of the weigh-in for the LBAA Sam Rayburn Rainbow Room Charity Tournament, there will be a drawing for raffled items. This will add to the support for the Rainbow Rooms of Jasper and Lufkin. For more information, visit the Rainbow Rooms of Jasper and Lufkin online.
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Keying on bedding bass, Alton Jones of Waco, Texas,
led with 26 pounds, 9 ounces after the first day of the Power-Pole
Citrus Slam on the St. Johns River.
“I always say that the three most important things in fishing are
location, location, location,” Jones said. “That was certainly the case
today.”
He was 1 pound, 5 ounces in front of his nearest challenger, Brent
Chapman of Kansas, in second with 25-4. In third was Texan Todd
Faircloth with 23-10, and in fourth was South Carolina’s Jason
Williamson. Rounding out the top five was Tim Horton of Alabama,
who had 22-4.
The 99-angler field is competing over four days for a $100,000
first prize. The winner’s take also includes a 2012 Bassmaster Classic
qualification. Elite anglers are also after points that count toward
qualifying for the coveted 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster
Angler of the Year title and 2011 postseason, a winner-take-all,
$100,000 contest.
Jones’ location was good, but he was sharing it. With multiple
anglers working the same spawning grounds off the main St. Johns River,
out-of-the-ordinary tricks were in order, Jones said.
“A lot of it is just patience, but I do have a bait that’s really
working well,” said Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion. “It’s
not like you catch a 5-pounder with it every time you throw it. It’s a
grind. You have to work for every one of those
big bites. It’s nice to have confidence in a bait.”
He weighed in a 9-6 as his biggest bass, but it wasn’t enough to
take honors for largest of the day. That went to Williamson, who brought
in a 10-3.
“That was the second biggest fish I ever caught in my life,”
Williamson said. “I actually lost one today that was a little bigger
than she was, so I look forward to tomorrow. I think I’ll have a good
chance to catch her.”
Chapman, also sight fishing in an area shared by 12 to 15 other
Elite pros, had two anchors in his 25-4 bag. One was a 9-4 and the other
was an 8-9.
The 9-4 almost came unbuttoned at the boat, but Chapman grabbed it. The 8-9 hit while he snuck a bite of a sandwich.
“All of a sudden, the rod about got jerked out of my hand,” he
said. “Those two fish there made a world of difference. They were
typical big fish for Florida, and that’s what you need here — a big one
and a limit.”
For more information about the Power-Pole Citrus Slam, go to bassmaster.com.
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“The best two days in a boater's life is the day they buy one and the day they sell it.” That old proverb can have a lot to do with cost. Here at Wired2Fish we like saying “The best two days of a boater life is when they buy one and when they buy another one.” It's not quite the same, but knowing what costs stand in front of you can make the boat buying experience better.
Die-hard Wired2Fish anglers know that buying a boat is just the first step to enjoying a day on the water. There are several things that should be checked and rechecked prior to putting the boat on the water. In prior articles we have talked about safety, maintenance, repair, electronics, storage and ride, but some things that should be addressed before stepping foot in a dealer's building are insurance and other costs. Being able to afford the payment is very important, but gasoline, oil and maintenance should also be taken into account with the purchase. Taking into consideration today’s gas prices at or above $3.50 a gallon, and with the mileage of today's tow vehicles, it can be a costly proposition even before putting the boat in the water. There is nothing worse than having a brand new boat and not being able to put it in the water because it costs too much to operate. It should be part of the family budget and should not be a surprise when the boat is parked in the driveway.
Another thing that should be addressed is insurance. There are a lot of great companies out there who would love to collect your premiums and give you a promise should anything arise, that they will be there for you. The procedure and repercussions of filing a claim should be considered as well. What type of record does the company chosen have in regards to claim filing? Is it easy? Do they have a representative that understands boats? Do they know boats and fiberglass repair? If I file the claim, will I get canceled? Ask others who you know have insurance with that company, and make sure they are reputable and will work with you on your claim. Talk to the insurance representative prior to purchase, and ask him the aforementioned questions.
Another consideration is what the boat is used for. Major insurance companies usually cover pleasure boats and fishing boats that are NOT used for tournaments. It’s important to know what companies insure what. For example, grandpa who just goes fishing on the weekends with a buddy is usually covered but if grandpa was fishing tournaments he may not be. Boats used for tournaments are considered commercial vessels and are not necessarily covered. Most companies ask on the application if the boat will be used to entertain clients or if you tournament fish. Some do offer endorsements for these cases but others will simply may not write this policy or when a claim is submitted, decline it.
It is very important to be honest with your insurance company to not have an issue arise. Some will stipulate that if 50 percent or more of their income is derived from tournaments, they are not able to be insured. This is a gray area, and the only way to be sure is to talk it over with your insurance agent or representative. There are organizations like BoatUS and commercial companies who do cover tournament anglers and embrace that opportunity. They also have equipment and emergency towing clauses in their policies as well. Additional coverage can be purchased for electronics and amounts of equipment stipulated in the base policy in many cases.
BoatUS Angler even offers incentives for tournament anglers fishing sanctioned events.
Buying a boat should be a wonderful experience but it is critical for owners to go into the purchase with both eyes open and make sure they cover all of the details, not just the boat purchase.
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Photo courtesy of B.A.S.S. Communications
Grigsby’s big mo: Shaw Grigsby has not stopped moving since he won the season opener on the Harris Chain of Lakes last Sunday.
“It’s been pretty exciting,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “The
phone keeps blowing up. The first day, Monday, it didn’t sit more than a
minute before I got another call or text message. Friends, family, fans
— all congratulating me, and it’s still happening.
I’m honored.”
The momentum is carrying him into the Power-Pole Citrus Slam,
Thursday-Sunday on the St. Johns River out of Palatka — like last week’s
event, not far from his Gainesville, Fla., home.
He said he doesn’t feel like people expect him to turn in back-to-back victories in his home state.
“In reality, it’s so hard to win one, you don’t think about it
(winning two in a row). You just think about doing the best you can,” he
said.
Grigsby won on Harris by sight fishing, the technique he’s most
noted for. By most accounts, the sight bite will be a key pattern on the
St. Johns, too.
Grigsby said his practice days were “nothing like I was hoping.”
“There are a lot of boats in the areas I want to fish, so it will
be a matter of banging out some fish and hopefully I can stay
competitive,” he said.
Made-to-order conditions: Peter Thliveros says his home water of the St. Johns and adjacent lakes will show their stuff during the Citrus Slam.
“I think it’s probably going to be the best tournament B.A.S.S. has
had here since I’ve been fishing,” he said. “We’re hitting it at the
right time. Moon phase is perfect (see “Supermoon” at Bassmaster.com),
we’re right in the middle of the spawn, and we’re going to see some big weights tomorrow.”
It’s fielder’s choice for the spawner bite, he said.
“You can go any direction you want to go in right now. You can go
north and catch spawning fish, you can go south and catch spawning fish,
and you can go to Rodman for spawning and postspawn fish,” he said.
Northern light: After three days of practice, another
home-state Citrus Slam competitor, Bernie Schultz of Gainesville, noted
that the St. Johns River water level was down.
“Normally there is another foot of water on these fish and eel grass beds,” he said.
The tide becomes much more of a factor the closer one gets to the mouth of the river.
“I went north today, and the tide came in strong. Grass beds I saw
in the morning that were a foot deep were 2 1/2 feet deep. Tides could
make a big difference for the angler who goes north (from Palatka),” he
said.
Scroggins then and now: It is not amazing that Terry
Scroggins, a native of the Palatka area, fished his first two pro-level
Bassmaster events in his own backyard, the St. Johns River. What angler
doesn’t start at home?
It is certainly noteworthy that Scroggins won the second of those
tournaments, the 2001 Florida Eastern Open. The field was 328 anglers.
His prize was $16,000 and a $35,000 boat.
“That was the tournament that launched my career,” Scroggins said.
It led to a Classic berth and qualification to compete at the top level,
now the Bassmaster Elite Series.
Roy vs. Crochet: Bradley Roy and Cliff Crochet have a friendly competition on the side under a mutual sponsor’s setup.
Fuel additive Biobor EB, a new sponsor for both of the Bassmaster
Elite Series young pros, is inviting fans to pick which one will outfish
the other, and how many gallons of gasoline they’ll need to do it.
Fans can vote at biobor.com
up until noon on the first tournament day, beginning with the March
17-20 Power-Pole Citrus Slam. The winning guesser will get a case of
Biobor EB, a pair
of Rugged Shark shoes, and lures from Taylor Man’s Custom Lures and Bill
Lewis Lures.
In 2010, Roy was the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year and Crochet was
the runner-up. Age 20, Roy is the youngest pro on the tour. Crochet, 27,
is among the season’s young guns.
Going up?: The St. Johns River flows from the south to the
north. The seemingly illogical direction of the water flow makes no
difference to the anglers’ strategies in the Power-Pole Citrus Slam. But
they do have to explain to onlookers that “downriver”
is to the north, “upriver” is to the south.
Stable weather: The March 17-20 weather forecast is a treat
for Bassmaster Elite Series pros in the Power-Pole Citrus Slam. It’s not
so much the moderate temperatures or the lack of rain that’s so
pleasing — any condition Mother Nature can dish
out is just part of the game. No, the treat lies in that the prediction
is for four days of almost identical conditions.
For Slam anglers, the steady weather means not having to start over
with a new pattern when air temps plummet overnight, or the wind kicks
up, like what happened in the March 10-13 Elite event on the Harris
Chain.
According to the National Weather Service, the sun is supposed to
shine all four days, but with come-and-go cloud cover. No rain. High
temperatures are expected to be in the high 70s to low 80s; lows are
predicted for the high 40s to high 50s. Winds are
expected to be just enough to cool a brow — and hopefully not enough to
wreck anyone’s sight bite.
Elite inspiration: Larry Cahan of East Palatka, Fla., says
the Elite event across the St. Johns River in Palatka this week is an
inspiration to his own fishing career.
Cahan fishes as a pro in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern
Open, which will stop on Lake Norman next week. He’d like to end the
Open season with enough points to qualify for the Elite Series in 2012.
“Seeing the Elite tournament here will get me motivated for doing
well at Norman,” he said. “I already know some of the Elite guys through
the Opens.”
One is Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Fla., just down the road from
East Palatka. Because the St. Johns River is his home water, Scroggins
is a favorite to win the Elite event.
“I’ve known him since he first fished as a pro,” Cahan said. “I
fished as an amateur a year and a half with him when he was getting
started as a pro; I was 21, 22 then — I’m 31 now. I learned a lot doing
that.”
When he was offered his current job running a fishing lodge owned
by the Norfolk Southern Railroad, Cahan stopped being Scroggins’ travel
buddy. Cahan gets to guide some of the railroad’s guests, but mostly he
works long hours on shore. He knows it’s a
good job that some people might envy, but he would like to sample the
life of an Elite angler.
“I’d have to make sure my ducks are in a row before I ventured out
into the Elite Series, but I’d like to see some kind of way into fishing
the Elites, that’s for sure,” he said.
For more information on the Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam, go to bassmaster.com. |
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Today Hammonds Fuel Additives, Inc. officially announced a sponsorship of Bassmaster Elite Series anglers Bradley Roy and Cliff Crochet to promote Biobor EB, the Ethanol Buster. They also released the details of a contest for fans of the two future stars.
The 2010 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race went down to the last event where Roy edged out Crochet for the title by just 61 points. Thanks to Biobor EB, this season fans can win prizes by voting for which of the two Elite Series sophomores finish higher in the standings at each event. The winner of the contest will be the fan who correctly guesses the number of gallons of gas used by the winner during each event, including the 3 official practice days.
Crochet was the higher finisher in the first event of 2011, the Sunshine Showdown. He finished in 12th place and used 73 gallons of gas.
Fans will cast their votes at www.biobor.com (direct link is http://www.hammondscos.com/index.php?id=270) up until noon on the first day of each event. Each winner will receive a case of Biobor EB, a pair of Rugged Shark shoes, and a selection of baits from both Taylor Man’s Custom Lures and Bill Lewis Lures.
Both anglers are excited about the contest. “2011 is a brand new year and all that, but I do draw some motivation from not winning the Rookie of the Year last year,” said Crochet. “Bradley is a great angler and a great competitor so adding this friendly competition will be fun. As far as advice goes for picking a winner at each event…I’d pick me,” he said with a grin.
“I have a lot of respect for Cliff. He nearly won an Elite Series event last year (Crochet finished runner-up by 2 ounces at the Pride of Georgia on Clarks Hill), so that is all you really need to know about how good he is,” said Roy. “What advice would I have for picking which of us is going to win? I don’t see a reason why anything would have changed from last year,” said a smiling Roy. Roy was the higher finisher in 5 of the 8 events in 2010.
Hammonds Fuel Additives, Inc. CEO Allan Hohman is excited about these two anglers and what they represent. “Bradley and Cliff are great ambassadors for both their sport and for our company. Our goal is to spread the word that protecting motors from the harmful effects of ethanol is a must. Biobor EB, the Ethanol Buster effectively treats 45% more gasoline than the leading fuel stabilizer on the market. So in addition to eliminating repair bills we also save boaters money on their fuel treatment.”
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“Supermoon” could affect the fish and the fishermen during Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam
The March 19 “supermoon” will look bigger than other
full moons, and it could play big in the March 17-20 Bassmaster Elite
Series event on the St. Johns River.
According to astronomers at earthsky.org,
a supermoon is a full moon that falls on the same date as perigee
within a lunar month. Perigee is the closest point to Earth in the
moon’s elliptical orbit. The orbit varies somewhat, so some lunar
perigees are closer than others to earth, and the March 19 perigee is
one of them.
Thus the anglers are facing what’s sometimes called an “extreme supermoon.”
While not a negative, a supermoon is a factor that could play big for
some anglers who are sight fishing or who are fishing the tides. The
closer the moon is to earth, the greater the force it exerts on tides
and on the behavior of wildlife. And, although this does not affect
sportfishing, the full moon will appear larger to the human eye.
When they gathered Wednesday afternoon for the event’s registration
after three days of practice, some Bassmaster Elite Series pros said
they had never heard of a supermoon. After all, this is relatively new
ground; a supermoon happens only once in a blue ... um, rather, only
once in a while.
Peter Thliveros, whose home water is the St. Johns River, had researched the coming phenomenon.
“What we’re going to have, apparently, is a real high high tide, and a
real low low tide,” he said. “It’s going to affect the fish, and the
low-low is going to affect the fishermen, too, in some areas. A lot of
guys are going to try to get into places they make not get out of. If
you’re not watching the tide, you can get stuck for a couple of hours.”
Water clarity can be a key to a sight-fishing pattern. If the water
is clear enough — in the area’s natural springs, for example — then a
higher tide isn’t going to change anything. If a higher-than-normal tide
covers the beds with more stained water, then that sight bite could be
in trouble.
“We don’t have a drastic tide fluctuation here. It rises 18 inches,
falls 18 inches, usually not more than that. A supermoon will change
that by 6 inches either way,” Thliveros said.
Kelly Jordon said that a stronger lunar pull on bass could help bring the big spawners up.
“We’ll see,” he said. “When it’s closer, there is a greater effect.
The tides are bigger — they’re always big on a full moon and on a new
moon — but now they’re going to be as huge as they can be.”
That does not affect all the areas anglers will be fishing, he noted.
Rodman Reservoir, noted spawning area, for example, is not a tidal
water.
“If the moon is the influence to bring them (bass) up, and if we have
a super moon, it just ought to be super. I hope it’s super for me.
We’ll find out later.”
Two notes: The experts at Earthsky.org note that the March
19 supermoon is the moon’s closest encounter with Earth since December
2008. The moon won’t come this close again until November 2016. And, say
the site’s astronomers as well as other reputable sources, a supermoon
did not cause the Japanese earthquake or tsunami for the simple reason
that the supermoon has not yet happened.
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 The Lady Bass Anglers Association (LBAA) is set to kick off the 2011 pro women's bass fishing tour on Lake Sam Rayburn on Thursday, March 17. The St. Patty's-day kickoff should be green with bass if the practice is any indication. We've been corresponding with Deb Warner of Murray, Ky. who is fishing the event this week, and she's been sending photos from practice. The fish are catchable right now, and she has a pattern that will give her a limit. The weather, however, could change things daily. The fish seem to be in classic prespawn patterns but warming weather seems to have the fish moving to the banks in rapid fashion.
The ladies were blown off the lake during one of the days of practice, due to a front and extremely high winds. But they were back on the water yesterday getting ready for the event.It should be a good event with a lot of fish caught.
The LBAA was founded by Cheryl Bowden and Secret York after B.A.S.S. disbanded the Women's Bassmaster Tour (WBT). The LBAA has been picking up sponsors steadily and their momentum seems to be gaining with a good schedule for 2011.
Their tournaments are two-day events fished on Thursday and Friday, with a team charity event that is open to the public at each venue that will fish on Saturday. It's a neat concept to get the public and local anglers involved with a tournament with these lady pros. The tournament schedule is below if you're interested in fishing the local charity events put on in conjunction with these LBAA events in your area.
Tournament Schedule
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Dates
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Location
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Ramp
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Off Limits Dates
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| Mar 17-19 |
Lake Sam Rayburn, Texas |
Sam Rayburn Marina and Resort |
Mar 7-12 |
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| May 5-7 |
Lake Hartwell, South Carolina |
Portmant Marina |
Apr 25-30 |
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| July 7-9 |
Lake Guntersville, Alabama |
Guntersville State Park |
Jun 27-Jul 2 |
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| Aug 25-27 |
Old Hickory Lake, Tennessee |
Bull Creek (Flipper's) |
Aug 15-20 |
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| Oct 6-8 |
Championship - TBA |
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Aug 26-Oct. 2 |
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If you were broke down on the side of the road, Terry “Big
Show” Scroggins is the guy you’d want to call. Not only did he used to be a tow truck driver, but the five-time B.A.S.S.
tournament winner is also capable of fixing just about anything, and he’s got a
huge heart for lending a hand to others.
Along with Scroggins’ huge heart, capable hands and “it’s-all-good” demeanor comes a tongue full of verbal quips dripping in southern
drawl -- delivering relentless perspective to make all of those within earshot
smile.
After a Top 12 finish at the 2011 Elite Series opener at the
Harris Chain of Lakes, Scroggins now returns home to his backyard waters of the
St. Johns River. All eyes will be upon
him, but perhaps we’d be wise to listen as well as watch. Here's some observations from the life of a likable pro.
Blue Herons – “I
call those birds George. I stole that
from my buddy Charlie Flowers. He’s an
old timer that doesn’t believe in sonar or GPS. He follows nature’s signs. And
every time he sees a Blue Heron he says ‘there’s ole George, he knows where the
baitfish and bass are.’”
Speaking of following
nature’s signs – “A gar rolling on the surface a long way from the
shoreline is usually over top of a major form of bass holding structure.”
Most call it a
Carolina Rig – “Gerald Swindle and I call it the ‘double splash rig.’”
On diet – “If
everything you eat contains at least half as many proteins as carbs, you’ll be
in good shape. At least that’s what the
lady at the gym told me.”
When he was
struggling to find a fish-catching pattern – “I’m as lost as last year’s
Easter eggs.”
Old School Skirts –
“You can’t hardly find living rubber skirts on a spinnerbait or jig anymore,
but when I can find them I like to add them to a Booyah spinnerbait for fishing
in dirty water. Living rubber has a lot
of action, my favorite color is blue and yellow.”
Before he secured a
reel sponsor – “By looking at all the different brands of reels I’ve got,
you’d think I’d been to the flea market.”
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Ono’s
Polarized Performance Eyewear announced that it has become the latest
sponsor of the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, FLW
Outdoors. The Alabama-based Ono’s specializes in sunglasses that feature
polarization as well as built-in “readers” that allow anglers an option
in prescription and non-prescription eyewear.
“Ono’s offers anglers a complete eyewear solution, bringing
clear and protected vision to a wide assortment of sunglasses," said Trisha Blake, president, FLW Outdoors Marketing Division. "We are
proud to have formed this partnership with them.”
"We are very excited to have entered into this sponsorship
with FLW Outdoors," said Chris Nelson, director of sales and marketing
for Ono’s. “Ono’s offers a number of sunglass solutions for every level
and age of angler, and we feel that this partnership is the perfect
avenue to increase product awareness to the fishing public as well as
other active adults who participate in a wide range of outdoor
activities.”
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"Come
over baby whole lot of shaking going on…"
Dateline:
Greyhawkin' breakfast with db
I'm naked.
And it's 40-degrees
outside.
I'm almost outside, the
only thing standing between my nakedness and the 40 degrees out there is some
cold concrete cinder blocks.
And a lizard.
Not to mention the guy in
the next shower stall singing some Elton John song.
I'm not moving.
Cold and shakin' or not.
Yep, staying put right
here in this communal bathhouse thing.
"Shake
it baby shake…"
The reason I'm shakin' and
communal bathin' is because I'm only 2/3 full hooked up.
I have electric.
I have water.
I have no place to put the
water though once it goes through the sink … or you know … me.
The site I'm parked on has
no place to dump, ah, hmm … ah … dumps. So
all that stuff has to stay in the holding tanks in the db/bb/rv until I can get
to a joint where I can hit the flush handle.
For both tanks.
Grey Water … which frankly
isn't close to that color with all the cold coffee, shampoo , soap, pieces of
spaghetti, a drop or two of Tequila, and a whole bunch of other stuff that goes
down the sinks in one form but somehow magically transforms into bubbles when
it comes out the grey tube.
Black Water … don't even
ask. Just pull the Black handle and run…come
back in a week and cap the thing. If the
Middle Ages were like this, I'm flabbergasted that there was
A-Just-The-Other-Side-Of-The-Middle Ages.
But me and the Lizard are
still waiting this communal RV'ing out.
"Shake
it baby shake…"
Now you need to know that
just because I grew up in the summer of love, I never got communally unclothed
with anyone.
Most ever happened, took
my sandals off once at a Strawberry Alarm Clock concert. And for the record, I was one of the very few
people on the planet my age who I talk to now who doesn't say I was at
Woodstock.
During August of 1969, my
arse was in summer school trying to pass English 10 before I actually stepped
into English 12 in my senior year at Kenmore West Sr. High School near Buffalo,
N.Y.
So I saw the lines of
hippies on the NYS Thruway; I just wasn't in it.
Here's something else I
wasn't in back then -- Communal High School Boys Gym Showers.
I chose to be the stinky
kid in class rather than the really embarrassed/self-conscious kid in the
shower.
Yeah that's what I really
wanted to do, get all naked up in front of 60 or 70 of my best, or worst,
friends in the world. Especially the worst ones. We had this one dude, in the
worst category, who I can't name because I don't know if he turned into a
spiteful suing lawyer or where he lives now in case he is living right around
the corner here, who couldn't play any sport if his life depended on it. But by
God, he could nail you with a towel snap from 50 yards behind your arse … which is
what he always aimed for.
Except me. Me, he did this: right
midway in the snap, right when the wet towel was still curled, he would yell
out "Hey Barone," and as I would turn, the darn towel would
reach it's most straightened *snap* point right at the spot my arse would have
been had I not turned.
Three class periods later,
I would crawl off the locker-room floor.
"Shake
it baby shake…"
Fast forward through the
flat belly years to the….well you know….the Middle Belly Years where you can
still wear a belt but you be dreaming of those "Comfort Waist" pants
in the Sears Catalog.
I'm working at the NBC
affiliate TV station in Pittsburgh, PA. My gig, during the summer, Pittsburgh Steelers Training Camp. So one day my boss, Brian, who I won't name,
gets this hair brain idea and calls me into his office to tell me about it.
From multiple past
experiences just about everywhere, me being called into a bosses office has
never worked out to well for me. But I
go.
"Don (pre-db) got this
idea. Why don't you get Media-Man (his real name is Joe but for some reason he
referred to himself as Media Man) and go on out to Steelers training camp ... AND
STAY THERE A COUPLE OF DAYS."
I have no idea how they
got this to happen, but I guess BILL COWHER being in his first year as head
coach was still just only Bill Cowher, and I was the least of his concerns
(probably even more so today).
So me and the Media Man
load up one of the not too broken TV station vans and headed out to Steeler
Camp. And there we lived for a couple of
days in the same dorm as the players. We
ate with them, we goofed with them, we talked with them, we watched them work
out, and …
… we showered with them.
Big "arse" mistake!
Having never been in a
dorm hall, I'm thinking the sign on the wall pointing to "SHOWERS"
was just a janitorial printing faux pas.
I was wrong.
Showers meant showers … multiple
professional NFL football players being showered. So I, being stupid, just peal down to my
nakedness and bound around the corner to scrub up …
… and there stands the
offensive front line of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And they be all naked.
All I can say is, if you
yourself don't happen to be an NFL offensive lineman, well, hmm, ah ... you know ...
"Shake
it baby shake…"
One last communal
showering issue. Back a couple of years ago, my kids for a Christmas present got
Barb and myself a night over at the Mohegan Sun Casino Resort. They got us a room and
some eating coupons or something.
So Barb and I pack a
little bag and head out for a night of giving the casino a massive amount of
money in the form of slot machines in return of which we can maybe get a
"free" hamburger.
But before I go, I call the
hotel just to make sure the kids didn't send some sort of check that had
already bounced. The kids didn't, and
the room was a waiting.
So then I told the front
desk person exactly this, "Good, because you know me and the wife are
celebrating our anniversary."
And left it like that.
When we get to the hotel
the front desk, lady does the punching on the keyboard and reads the screen they
never let you read. She then looks up
and says to me, "Well congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Barone."
I try and hush her up a
bit because I can see Barb looking at me with the "What-did-you-do-now
look" wives of 30 plus years have perfected.
But as we leave the
Check-In, the lady kills me by saying, "Have a Happy Anniversary."
All the while up the
elevator Barb is looking at me, and then when we open the door to a huge corner
Master Suite Barb asks, "What exactly did you do?"
So I come almost clean and
say, "I just told them we are celebrating our Anniversary, which I do every
time I look into your eyes. I never said our Anniversary was today."
Being that, in fact, it was
several months away. Can't help what the
desk clerk thought they heard.
We kept the room upgrade
though.
So we are in this fancy
room, bigger than our first apartment, and it has this two person bath thing
right in front of a picture window. The
whole hotel is a glass tower, and one of those glass things is right by the
tub.
So I tell Barb, don't
worry, it's one-way glass. It has to be.
And I get in it, all naked
like, and I'm soaping and conditioning and standing up dancing all around
feeling like the rich Hollywood types. Barb would have none of it.
Next morning, Barb is over
by the sink and hits this one button by mistake, and behind me in the bath tub…a
before unseen heavy SHADE comes down over the
not-so-quite-one-way mirror/window.
So now you know the
history of me not doing well with this communal shower thing. I prefer my naked to be on me, and your naked
be on you.
And the two never lay eyes
on one another.
Which is why me and the
lizard are staying put until the guy singing in the shower next to me leaves.
But this darn lizard is starting
to do that push up thing.
And I'm not real sure what
that means.
"Well
I said shake baby shake
I said shake baby shake."
Whole
Lot Of Shaking Goin' On.
Jerry
Lee Lewis
db
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Due to popular demand we've added a few new colors to the wristband line-up. There are nine colors in all to choose from. Show everyone that you're Wired2Fish and Fish On!
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Lucky Craft posted a link to the Red Cross on their TheDailyCrank.com blog about sending financial donations to the victims of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami over in Japan. A bunch of fishing companies, professional anglers, and friends are from Japan and have families in Japan and it's our turn to reach out to them in their time of need.
PAA has also posted the link on their FishPaa.com page. Both pages can find the link on a bar on the very top of the page. Or you can click the link to the RED CROSS here to send donations to Japan. My grandmother always said she helped people because she could. If you're able, please help.
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Lew's announces it has entered into an exclusive marketing agreement
with famed crappie angler Wally Marshall to develop together the next
generation of Wally Marshall Signature Series and Mr. Crappie rods,
reels, pre-mount combos and fishing line products. Lew's officials say
the partnership is a logical fit for the legendary American fishing
brand that is focused on a return to prominence.
"This latest
move is taking us back to our original roots of how Lew's began more
than 60 years ago," said Lew's President Gary Remensnyder. "Lew Childre
started out selling bamboo poles for panfish anglers, and that
eventually led to his design and introduction of the famous Bream Buster
poles that were favorites of panfish anglers for years to come. Then
Wally came along in the 1980s with his unique vision for the crappie
market, and he's been the crappie authority ever since. Bringing his
brands and product development expertise together with ours under the
same umbrella makes perfect sense."
Lew's and Marshall have more
in common than just an interest in crappie products, and that is Lynn
Reeves, a fishing industry veteran who acquired Lew's nearly two years
ago. For many years previously, Reeves was a top manager at a leading
fishing tackle cataloger/retailer, and that's when, in 1996, he
contacted Marshall about designing a series of crappie rods.
It
wasn't long after that the Wally Marshall Signature Series crappie rods
hit the market and were a hit with crappie anglers everywhere. Within a
couple more years, Marshall launched his Mr. Crappie brand of rods,
reels, line and accessories. Since then, while most freshwater products
have remained focused on bass, Marshall's crappie brands have continued
to grow and prosper as a result of his promotional efforts, from the
successes he had using them along the crappie tournament trail, and
through the exposures provided by the national cataloger/retailer.
Marshall has indeed become "Mr. Crappie."
"Hey, this has been a
dream come true for me," said Marshall. "And now I feel like a kid all
over again to have this opportunity to work alongside Lynn once more on
the Wally Marshall and Mr. Crappie brands that we launched together 15
years ago. He is a master at developing rods and reels per angler input,
and it's amazing what he has done with Lew's products in just little
more than the year that he's owned the company. I'm thrilled to be
working him, Gary and the rest of the Lew's team. I can assure you that
crappie anglers of all ages and skill levels are going to like what they
see coming in this next generation of Wally Marshall and Mr. Crappie
products."
Reeves says he has had already begun work on the Wally
Marshall Signature Series rods and reports the first models will be in
the hands of the popular Texas-based crappie pro soon for testing.
"Wally's signature rods will be marketed under the Lew's label, and
built with the same attention to quality and innovation by which Lew
Childre founded this tradition-rich brand so long ago. It's a pleasure
to be working with Wally again on the specs and actions for his rods and
various other crappie fishing items. The end result will be the right
products at the right prices."
While some of the new Wally
Marshall Signature Series and Mr. Crappie products will be announced and
available yet this season, the full lineup is slated for 2012 and will
be revealed at the annual ICAST fishing tackle trade show to be held
this summer in Las Vegas.
For more information on the company's history and products, visit www.Lews.com.
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In the last boat prep article we discussed the truck and trailer plus we talked about changing the lower unit lube. Getting the boat to the water is part one of the equation. Part two is making sure the boat is ready and won't have any failures. There are little things boaters can do that cost very little but if done properly can save big bucks and also a ton of frustration.
1. Batteries - Deep Cycle batteries are different buggers. They are not like car batteries. They are made to be charged and drained, charged and drained. They are also not all created equal. Better batteries can get pricey, but the peace of mind knowing they will function properly and last is critical to a great day on the water. Nothing is worse than getting to the water, in the middle of nowhere, and have a dead battery. Simple steps can keep that from happening and general maintenance of the battery will eliminate most issues.
It is very important to make sure that properly charged batteries have terminals covered and corrosion free. A drop or two of 3-in-1 one oil can keep most deposits from forming, and a small amount of oil and a brush can clean contacts. In most states, you must cover both the positive and negative posts, and it's always best to use red for positive and black for negative. Battery boxes and trays should be secure and make sure straps or battery brackets are tight.
It is also important to keep batteries filled but not overfilled. You can use battery acid that you can get at most automotive stores or as a second option distilled water. NEVER use tap water in your batteries. It can shorten the battery life and may not provide a quality charge.
We run electronics and the outboard on the starting battery and only have the trolling motor on the 24-volt system. Its good to carry a set of jumper cables in the boat as well. Long cables are a must. Don't scrimp on the cost as the better cables work better.
A battery hydrometer can be purchased for a few dollars at the automotive store. This simple device can tell you what shape your batteries are in by simply pulling battery water into the unit. More expensive load testers are also available and a good investment.
2. Trolling Motor - It is very important to keep your trolling motor in tip-top shape.
Remove the prop now and again, and check for line on the shaft of the motor. A few feet of discarded line can ruin bearings and be a costly repair if not removed. We also lubricate and protect the foot, spring and head of the trolling motor after each trip. We use Cover-All Protectant for the non-moving parts, and WD-40 for those that move and are outside the unit. The main spring on our Minn Kota is lubricated numerous times during the year. It not only allows it to function properly but keeps it from rusting. Also check the plug on the motor a few times a year and always after fishing in a heavy rain. A drop of two of light oil on the leads is all it takes to make sure you are getting the most power out of your unit.
When you are doing this its a great time to lubricate seat pedestals as well. This eliminates squeaks and also keeps them from rusting.
3. Fire Extinguisher and Battery Charger- A properly maintained fire extinguisher is a must in a boat. Most state laws require it but from a safety standpoint it gives the angler peace of mind. Most good units either have a meter or a test button on the unit to tell if its good or not. Its a good idea to check this before launching the boat each time you put into the water. Simple deal but could be well worth it should a fire occur.
We also check the battery charger now and again as well. Check to make sure you are getting a good connection on each battery and also that its not boiling the batteries. Good chargers have lights to show charge rate. Its good to have the compartment lid open during charging as units can get hot.
4. Steering cables - Lubricate steering cables if possible. Some take grease while others hold hydraulic oil and should be serviced by your dealer.
5. Electronics - Use a UV protectant on on your electronics several times per year. Do not spray directly on the unit but rather spray on a soft rag and gently wipe back, around screen and bracket. Use a reputable screen cleaning spray sparingly on your display screen like Ardent Screen Kleen or the Professors Screen Cleaner Protectant. We clean our graph after every trip and never use an abrasive or chemical cleaner with ammonia on our screens. Manufacturers have specifications for their respective screens.
6. Livewells and Sump - Spring is a great time to wipe and vacuum out livewells and the sump area of the boat. Get all loose particles from screens and from under bilge pumps and livewell pumps. Rinse sump area with a light soap and flush. Never use soap in the live well for obvious reasons and several companies have tank cleaners that will not harm fish yet get grime and residue removed. We like to shut off the livewells on our first trip of the year and season the livewell with U2, Rejuvenade or Please Release Me. A teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide is also good as a seasoning additive. Biologists recommend non-iodized salt as well. Fill livewells completely, recirculate and drain. This will keep your fish healthy on that first trip and also make sure all pumps and baffles are working effectively.
Rheostat and switch timers should be tested at this time as well to assure they work as designed.
7. Outboard - Service work is best performed in the fall to assure the outboard is properly protected for storage. Many dealers will winterize boats with a fogging oil. Its always good to start with a "fresh" tank of gas each year but using Stabil or Sea Foam in old gas will make sure moisture is eliminated. Its good to let your motor warm up on the first trip to make sure cylinders are properly lubricated and your engine is ready to put the hammer down. Again, check with your dealer if you have any motor issues. Note: Engine may smoke a bit more than normal if fogging was performed.
8. Lights and Supplies - Plug in and test both the bow and stern lights on the boat. Its always good to carry a spare bulb for each in the boat. We use a small Hefty Ziplock Bag and a Plano 1449 Guide Box to store spares. Clean up corrosion and properly store your lights too. We also have a whistle, horn, wipes, fuses, spare plug, tape and connectors in that box, just in case. We also carry a marine tool kit, prop wrench, spare prop and a first aid kit in the boat.
The tow vehicle, trailer and boat are now ready. Lets go fishing!
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B.A.S.S. Communications
Shaw Grigsby, you still have it.
The veteran pro from Gainesville, Fla., outfished the 99-man
Bassmaster Elite Series field in a nerve-jangling contest over four days
that hinged on an on-again, off-again sight bite on the Harris Chain of
Lakes.
Sunshine Showdown, it was called. For Grigsby, it was a personal test as well as a competition.
“I’ve been close quite a few times since my last win in 2000. I’m
turning 55 in May, and at this age, you wonder, you question, do I still
have it? — and I guess I do,” Grigsby said.
He flashed his trademark grin and waved the $101,000 check he’d
just been handed as reporters interviewed him. “This is awesome,” he
said. “Yeah, baby! That’s a lot of zeros.”
Grigsby led for two days in the Harris event before he wrapped it
up with 75 pounds, 4 ounces on Sunday. He won by 7-6 over Grant
Goldbeck, who finished second with 67-14 after starting out in 97th
place. Stephen Browning was third with 66-9. Kevin VanDam
finished fourth with 65-13, followed by his nephew, Jonathon VanDam,
fifth with 56-13.
Day 1 leader Pat Golden ended in sixth place with 55-5.
Grigsby’s Sunday win was his first in a Bassmaster event in over 10
years. He also won a 2012 Bassmaster Classic berth. It was the first
one awarded under new rules that give each of the eight regular-season
Elite winners an instant entry, bypassing the
points system under which non-winners can still earn their way into the
world championship.
“That to me is as big a thing as you can have,” he said. “Winning
is great, but making the Classic is like a load off. In the past, I’ve
had some good years, but still I struggled to make the Classic, sweating
it until the last second — a lot like this
tournament, sweating it until the last second — so to make the Classic
and know it’s in the bag is like heaven, it’s so nice.”
Even though he led by more than 11 pounds going into Sunday’s final
round, Grigsby said he questioned all day whether he would pull off the
win. His fears were not ungrounded. Any one big bedder could have
altered the outcome on the final day.
“When Grant (Goldbeck) weighed in only 16 and he had the lead, I
knew I had it, and I went ‘ahhh.’ It was a relaxing moment,” Grigsby
said.
He competed under one of the sport’s most unusual circumstances.
For four days, Grigsby and Goldbeck fished almost side by side in a
small canal in a residential area between lakes Eustis and Griffin. They
respected each other’s water, and didn’t jump
a prior claim on a spawning bed the other had been working.
It was a new twist on bass competition, Grigsby noted.
“That was really fun. I guess in another sense, he was my main
competition, so you could keep your eye on him, and as long as he
doesn’t bust 20 pounds, I’m doing OK — and I did OK.”
Like Goldbeck and a few others, Grigsby said, he found the canal
off the Haines Creek during practice. It looked promising, he said,
because of the hard bottom, quiet water thanks to low boat traffic, and
deeper water adjacent to shallows.
The first day’s wind and rain created conditions that wrecked his
chances to actually look at the spawners. Grigsby managed 14-7 out of
the canal for 11th place.
 “It was really brutal conditions with overcast skies and a lot of
wind, so you couldn’t see,” Grigsby said. “I went back the second day
and, oh my goodness, all the ones I’d see were still there, and it was
just a slugfest from there.”
He slammed them Friday, that second day. His catch weighed in at 29
pounds, 8 ounces, for a lead of more than 8 pounds over Kevin VanDam.
Day 3 Grigsby held on handily, stretching his lead against Goldbeck to
more than 11 pounds.
Grigsby didn’t credit any one lure or setup for his fish. He tried
anything he could think of to entice bites from the big females settling
on the beds, from 8- to 25-pound Stren to casting and spinning reels.
He pitched different baits to the spawners.
His choices were mainly Strike King’s Rage Craw, Rodent and Ringworm
lures.
“I just mixed it up, and it didn’t matter what color. I did a lot
of black-blue, Okeechobee craw, white — white Rage Craw was really big
for me. I just kept pitching and going, and stopping, locking down on
one and working it, hopefully catching it and
going on.
“It was rare that I could just pull up, cast and catch one. I did
that a couple times, but it was more like fish one bait, and he wouldn’t
pay attention, change to another one and he wouldn’t pay attention,
change again and maybe he’d tee off on it.”
It was not a numbers game. He made repeated trips to the same beds
for his five bass Sunday, five or six the first day, and seven each of
two middle days.
“I didn’t catch very many, I caught the right ones,” he quipped.
For Goldbeck, Sunday’s second-place finish was a victory. Second
place is the highest he’s ever finished in a Bassmaster tournament, but
it was his zero-to-hero performance that thrilled him more. He had ended
Day 1 in 97th place with 1-1, but went back
to the canal’s spawners for another try, and sacked 27-1. That moved him
up to 16th. Day 3 he did it again, 22-15 for the runner-up spot and
direct threat to Grigsby.
“You don’t have to win them to get that feeling,” he said. “It’s an awesome feeling.”
|
By Alan McGuckin
Shaw Grigsby loves reading his bible, and he loves flinging arrows from his compound bow at nuisance wild pigs. He loves spending time with his young grandson, and he loves looking for spawning bass. As simple as it may sound – he loves life. This week he loved a lot en route to winning the $100,000 Bassmaster Elite Series event at Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes.
It was no surprise that Grigsby stood on the stage while weighing in another fat limit of largemouths and told an audience of a few thousands fans to “trust in the Lord with whatever you do.” Advice uttered through Shaw’s calm smile under a full-grown mustache, with “Romans 8:28” scripted across the back of his tournament jersey.
This week he again trusted his faith and followed his strengths. He did what he does best -- look for fat bass on shallow water spawning beds in the springtime, and catch them with a level of proficiency that few in the world have ever rivaled. Grigsby used a Quantum Smoke baitcaster loaded with 25-pound test line, and a Quantum size 30 Tour Edition spinning reel spooled with 8-pound Stren. His top two lures were a Strike King Okeechobee colored Rodent and a pearl white Rage Craw. Both reels were mounted on easy to identify royal blue Quantum Tour Grigsby rods.
And the cool thing is – as Shaw marched toward victory – unlike the wild pigs that tear up his Gainesville, Fla. lawn, nobody was rooting against him.
“Shaw’s a great human being," said Grigsby’s long-time fellow competitor and roommate on the road, Gary Klein. "He loves the outdoors. He has tremendous respect for Mother Nature. He’s a very positive person – and that’s by choice. I figure it takes equal energy to be negative as positive. I’d rather exert my energy toward being positive, and Shaw is the same way – that’s why we’re close friends. And knowing Shaw like I do, I’d have to say he’s the best sight fisherman there’s ever been.”
Grigsby’s style earns the respect of not just fellow pros, but his long-time sponsors too. Guys like Bob Bagby at Quantum.
"I've had the pleasure of working with Shaw for more than 20 years," Bagby said. "We've both been with Quantum a long time. I can honestly say you won't find a guy in the fishing industry that is a nicer human being and has a more upbeat attitude than Shaw. But, don't let his happy-go-lucky attitude fool you. The dude is an intense competitor, and as cool under pressure as you can get. This event just showed the young guns that you never want to count out the old veterans. Congratulations buddy, you earned it, and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy."
Well-liked, down-home and talented B.A.S.S. photographer James Overstreet echoed Klein and Bagby’s thoughts.
“Oh man, Shaw’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. He loves life. He just makes you feel good. It’s hard to beat being around positive people like Shaw,” said Overstreet.
“The most amazing thing about Shaw is how giving he is," said B.A.S.S. weigh-in host Dave Mercer. "He was standing on the dock minutes before morning blast-off, all the pressure on him to win, yet he’s signing autographs and posing for photos with every fan that asked for one.”
Perhaps it was Shaw himself, as he held the first place trophy during an interview, who best explained his approach to life.
“There have been a lot of people in my life that served as bright spots, I try to live each day in an effort to be a bright spot to others,” he said.
A good guy finished first. A bright spot indeed.
Final Day Standings
|
Pasta day changed my life.
Small bowl, $2.95, large bowl, $3.95.
I went small.
Ziti. Sausage. Peas. Green Peppers. Black Olives. Marinara with meat.
No onions. Heartburn you know. Enough agida in a Sportscenter editorial meeting without adding onions.
Had I brown-bagged it that day, none of this would have happened. A new career happened because I forgot a ham sandwich.
It was a Tuesday. Or possibly a Thursday. I'm trying to be as honest here as possible in case I somehow make it on Oprah and she starts calling me on some of the facts.
You only need to look at me to know that while I can remember exactly what I ordered to eat, I don't remember exactly what day I did it on. But it was pasta day at ESPN.
About noon-ish I think. I'm walking back over through the catwalk, white Styrofoam small pasta thing in my hand, minding my own bringing my lunch back to my desk business. Halfway cat-walked, the door at the end I'm heading to opens and out comes one of my several thousand ESPN bosses.
Out into my own personal cat-walking space. You can't hide in a catwalk, especially if it's just you and the guy you want to hide from cat-walking.
Normally I would pretend that something important just happened outside the catwalk, or that the Styrofoam thing in my hand was melting, or that the carpet was the most interesting catwalk carpet I'd ever seen, anything so as to not have to actually make eye contact with any of my several thousand ESPN bosses.
But, it was two weeks to bonus time. The closer to bonus time the more time I spent looking at the faces of those who would be deciding my bonus. Late October was my smiling time. And this boss approaching me was one of the guys who actually put his name on my bonus check.
For him, I smiled, and talked. "Hey," which for me was like a paragraph since talking was all that stood between me and my desk and eating.
I "Hey-ed," smiled, and kept walking while doing the 3% bonus-math in my head.
"Don."
There's no way I "Hey-ed" like I wanted some sort of response.
"Don."
We are now having a serious breach of catwalk-etiquette. A catwalk is nothing more than a laid-down elevator, and therefore should conform to the basic elevator rule of two head nods. I get in to what should be just my elevator to begin with, but find someone else in my elevator space, so I give him my half head up-down elevator nod, of which he returns the same since we are now sharing personal public space.
But there is never a third nod.
Never.
A third nod and I hit the stop button and spray some nasty aerosol in your face. Perfectly acceptable third-nod-elevator-self-defense.
There is also never an answer for, "Hey." Had I wanted to fake like I wanted an answer I would have said, "Hey, how you doing," but kept walking anyway since everyone understands that none of us really care how the other people we are trying to avoid, feel.
But this being two weeks until bonus day, so I stop. It was right about here that the beginning of the end of my career started.
"Don, by any chance do you fish."
"Nope."
"Do you hunt."
"Nope."
I've known this boss for 15 years so I can say "Nope" instead of "No" and not suffer bonus dollar deductions.
"What do you do outside."
"Stay inside as much as possible."
"Not much of an outdoor kind of guy are you."
"Nope, don't like being inside the outside."
"Hmmm. Pasta day huh."
"Yep…see ya."
A week later I was an Outdoor Writer.
They told me that I was going to write about the outdoors while I was sitting in my cubicle with no view of the outside. For me to see what I was about to write about I had to stand on my tippy toes. And look around a building column. And over two big gray file holding things. And through my immediate supervisor's office, if his door was open.
I was a complete outsider to the outside. I prefer the outdoors to have a window between me and it. I have nothing against the outside, as long as it's out there, and I'm not.
Before
I was supposed to be someone else.
When I was born I was born to not be me. I was born to be the dead guy. My life was supposed to go like this, "Ooops." I was a drive-by on earth.
My career was over before I started. I already came and went before I even got here. I'm trespassing. On life.
I was born dead, but lived.
I'm an accidental adult. The accident that happened. That keeps happening. Happen, happens in spite of me.
Originally, I wasn't even a white guy. I wasn't born your typical Caucasian.
I've changed colors. I arrived color coordinated, a newborn fashionista.
I began blue.
Blue eyes. Blue arms. Blue legs. Blue body. Being blue is being born on borrowed time.
This was the plan for db…he came…he left…next. The future doesn't belong to those born blue.
I was born dead on Father's Day, 1952. Years later my father told me that his first Father's Day present came DOA. And that would be me.
I wasn't supposed to be db, either. rb, was supposed to be me. My mother wanted to name me Reginald Barone…I was supposed to be a Reggie.
But being born already deceased changed that. Time speeds up when you are born having already run out of time.
From what I have gathered over the years, Reginald was not on my Father's top ten names for his first born son…didn't even make the first 100. "I wouldn't name the dog that," he once said when the two of us were in our living room and my Mother was not.
Dad in fact named the dog, "Pepi." Only my apparent death at birth may have spared me from being a "pb" instead of "db."
My birth mother wasn't there for my birth.
Helen Barone, my birth Father's wife chose my birth to be "natural," which in 1952 meant she came around and woke up a couple of days after I came around for the first time.
So here I was, pretty much having come and gone simultaneously, my Mother was unconscious which meant her ability to name me Reginald was pretty much off the table, and my Father was down the hall, on a whole other floor, chain smoking in a waiting room and thinking exactly this, as told to me in that same living room that my Mother was not in…
"Crap."
Which at that precise moment in time in 1952 was actually very astute on my Father's part because one floor above my chain smoking Father, "Crap" was happening.
And that crapwas me.
Being born dead and all.
My Mother always used to say I was a problem child, "From the start," she was very literal that way.
This was how my Father told me of my birth:
Dad: "You weren't, you know, planned."
I was completely unaware of that fact having being as I was at that exact moment, "in-utero," planned for or not.
Dad: "Birth control back then wasn't what it is today."
Mind you, he's telling this to the BIRTH he wished he had CONTROLLED.
Me.
Dad: "It all just happened so fast."
db: "What did?"
Dad: "You."
db: "Me?"
Dad: "You know, Mother and I weren't married very long, barely a year or so…"
Trust me, this is not the conversation you want to have with EITHER of your parents.
Dad: "…we had just moved into our first house…."
Yep, I'm a breaking in the new house kid…
Dad: "Took the money I saved up from the war, couldn't really spend it fighting on the islands, and bought a new car too…"
Or, breaking in the new car kid…
Dad: "And suddenly, she's pregnant."
She, would be my Mother, and pregnant would be me.
I'd be chain-smoking and saying "crap" too.
I was named, Donald, halfway through a priest's bummed Benson & Hedges smoke.
Dad: "So I'm sitting in Children's Hospital waiting room and this priest walks up to and asks if I'm Don Barone."
I know that exact feeling…but that story is down the road a bit (my wife and I got married by the priest whose name was in the bible we found in the drawer next to the bed in a Rhode Island Holiday Inn…)
Dad: "I say I am and the priest sits down next to me, bums a smoke, and says there's a problem…"
db: "What problem."
Dad: "You."
db: "Oh."
Dad: "He says, 'Do you have a name for the child." I ask why, you know I hated that Reginald thing, and the priest looks right at me and says, 'The baby needs a name so we can baptize him and deliver Last Rites."
Happy Father's Day, Pops.
Dad: "And Helen…"
Priest: "She's fine, being attended to…"
Translation: Dad dude you're on your own….
Priest: "What shall we name the child…"
And the priest and my father sat alone in the waiting room and smoked Benson & Hedges, "…until a nurse walked down the hall and motioned for the priest to come with her."
Dad: "So the priest gets up to leave and he turns to me and says, Mr. Barone, I need a name…you know it all happened so fast…so I look at him and the nurse and I ask…I have to ask…is it a boy or a girl…and the nurse walks over to me, bends down and says, 'It's a boy, Mr. Barone, a baby boy…so I says to her…okay…then give my son my name."
No matter how many times Dad told me this story, it was always at this point that he would turn and look at me, stare actually, realizing that, Jr., was the one he was telling the story to, and Jr. wasn't supposed to be here to hear it.
Somehow, I had survived my birth. And I wasn't named Reggie. My temporary name stuck.
I am db.
And my favorite color is, Blue.
Why
I grew up on a street with one tree. A new tree on a new block. Post-war homes for post-war families with soon to be post-war kids.
Dad's war ended in a corner house, the first end of war house on the block. Dad had the first post-war sidewalk, the first post-war driveway, the first post-war tree.
571 was the address, a black and white ranch home for a black and white family. A Ford in the driveway, a Philco in the living room, Hop-A-Long Cassidy linoleum in the baby's room. My room. I drooled over the western plains, crawled on the Rio Grande, took my first steps over the Sierra's.
Grew up with horses, mountains, rivers, lakes, sunrise and sunset, and never left my room. Outside was my life inside. I was several years old before I realized the outdoors wasn't flat, cold, and scattered with cookie crumbs.
To this day I remember the first time my mother opened the kitchen door and I walked outside. It was a black door, the cement porch was painted green, to my left was a white trellis with red roses, on my right, the outside.
My mother held my left hand, my father held my right, and we inched me across the porch, tottered on the edge, took one step off, then a gentle lift off guided by two hands to swing out to the grass beyond the gravel carport.
And when I landed I'll never forget the feel of grass between my toes. And when I sat, the lawn I held in my hands. Nothing like the linoleum outside inside my childhood bedroom.
I remember those first steps outside.
I was 4 years old.
I spent the first three years of my life in a prison of plaster. Turtle boy. A total body cast my shell. My jail. The floor was my world, I knew people by their ankles. Shoes.
Outside began where my windows ended. My parents used to joke that I was an easy kid to baby-sit, put me on the floor, come back a couple hours later, and I would still be there.
I was packaged pretty much head to toe. From under my arms to the balls of my feet I was 1952 State-of-the-Art Plaster. I could move my head, I could open my mouth, blink, move my arms, hold things (but not pick them up if those things fell). That was me, that was how I grew up thinking me was.
This was my normal.
No other part of me could move. I was head, arms, and hands. Nothing else. Except once every three months when my parents took me to the hospital and people in white smocks took a circular saw with a long black cord and cut me out. They would saw up one side of my body, walk around the table, then saw up the other side.
Once they unplugged the saws, two guys with masks showed up, each carrying a hammer and chisel. And a lady in a white hat. The lady had curly hair, red lipstick, some sort of pin things that kept her hat on, and she chewed gum.
The lady with gum would stand at the head of the table, behind my head, and then bend over so she was looking directly into my face. Then she would grab my shoulders and pin my arms down.
And the guys in the masks would place the chisels in the saw line, and start hammering away.
I was three years old and I just watched the lady in the white hat chew gum.
And then came freedom. For a few minutes.
They painted cold orange stuff all over my naked body and sent me back to the prison of plaster. One white swatch of dripping water and globs of plaster at a time.
Layer by layer they would wrap me up into another cast (much later my grandmother would tell me she always thought I was born gift wrapped), this time a slightly bigger cast, one I could grow into. And my parents would take me home and put me back down on the linoleum where I could see the Rio Grand, close up.
I will never forget the taste of linoleum.
I will never forget the sound of chisels and the smell of doublemint.
I will never forget what it felt like to not be me.
To not be the child in the cast. To be free.
If only for a moment.
Which is why the universe hid my ham sandwich on me. And created, pasta day at ESPN. And skywalks, and thousands of bosses.
And once again took the cast off so I could be someone not me. An indoor guy inside the outside. An outsider to the outside.
Because the universe knows, that for me, the feel of grass between my toes, the smell of a lake breeze, the taste of rain on my face, will always be, magical.
|
Photos by Seigo Saito / B.A.S.S.
Shaw Grigsby sacked 18 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday for an even tighter hold on the lead in the Sunshine Showdown. But even his 11-10 cushion might not be enough on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes, given its current crop of heavyweight spawners.
Three days of enticing fussy bedding bass to bite resulted in a hard-won 62-11 total for Grigsby in the Bassmaster Elite Series season opener.
Most in the Elite field agree that big spawners are still out there, and any of the Top 12 finalists competing Sunday could overtake Grigsby by landing a lunker and amassing a big bag. Or Grigsby’s magic could evaporate. That happened the last time the Elite field competed on Harris. In that 2008 contest, Brian Snowden’s 10-pound lead was not enough to fend off Mike McClelland, who won then with 59-2.
Already surpassing that after three days, Grigsby, veteran pro from Gainesville, Fla., is the first to nod to the reality of what the Harris Chain can do to a long lead.
“I’m very blessed right now in catching the right fish, and just holding on,” he said. “I really am. I feel like I’m holding on by my toenails, my fingernails, and I’ll have to grow them out by tomorrow. I’m not catching all that’s in there, I’m just catching enough to hang on. It will be a tight one.”
Grigsby’s success has been in a canal he’s been sharing with at least two others, Grant Goldbeck and Pat Golden. The leader found heartache there too. Saturday he lost a bass that he estimated at 5 pounds.
“At the end of my day, she set up (on the bed), I threw in, and she ate it on the first cast. I got her to the boat, she went straight up in the air, and sent my bait flying, I don’t know why. I lost her, and that’s all there is to it,” he said.
A win on Sunday would be the first in a Bassmaster event for Grigsby since 2000, when he won two to add to six previous Bassmaster wins. The Elite’s first prize is $100,000, an instant qualification for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic, and the lead in the points race for the 2012 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.
 Going into Sunday’s final round of the Top 12, no pro near the leaderboard’s top was ready to concede to Grigsby. That included Goldbeck, who moved up from 16th place into the runner-up spot with 51-1; Stephen Browning, with 50-6; Golden with 49-2; and the hottest angler on the Elite circuit, 2010 and 2011 Bassmaster Classic champ Kevin VanDam, who had 48-10 for fifth place.
Goldbeck brought in Saturday’s biggest bag, 22-15, as well as the largest bass, a 7-4. It was another success on top of Friday’s, when he sacked 27-1, but still he had regrets.
“I had a couple of 2-pounders in my bag today, and I left a few fish behind that are haunting me,” he said. One was a bedding bass he estimated at between 12 and 14.
“For four hours I tried and never got her,” he said.
He bypassed a 7-pound male on the same bed, making the call that taking the smaller bass would spook the behemoth.
“That would have been really helpful going into tomorrow,” he added. “Shaw’s fished a great tournament, and he deserves to win, but it would be nice to give him a little scare.”
Grigsby and Goldbeck both said they thought their shared water would hold up under another day of pressure from them and Golden, also in the same small area.
Third-place holder Browning, who said he was not fishing for bedding bass, said he changed his tactics.
“I changed lakes, but did the exact same thing,” Browning said. “The lack of wind was wonderful. I was fishing a worm, extremely slow, and that’s been the biggest key for me this week. Every fish I’ve caught this week has been on a soft-plastic worm on the bottom.”
DAY 3 STANDINGS- SUNSHINE SHOWDOWN
2011 Sunshine Showdown - Tavares, FL 03/10-03/13 Harris Chain Of Lakes, Tavares Fla.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Shaw Grigsby Gainesville, Fla. 15 62-11
Day 1: 5 14-07 Day 2: 5 29-08 Day 3: 5 18-12
2. Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, Md. 11 51-01
Day 1: 1 1-01 Day 2: 5 27-01 Day 3: 5 22-15
3. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, Ark. 15 50-06
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 5 16-01
4. Pat Golden High Point, N.C. 15 49-02
Day 1: 5 20-07 Day 2: 5 11-03 Day 3: 5 17-08
5. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 15 48-10
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 12-14
6. Chris Lane Guntersville, Ala. 15 46-03
Day 1: 5 14-05 Day 2: 5 17-01 Day 3: 5 14-13
7. Jonathon VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 15 45-05
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 5 19-00
8. James Niggemeyer Van, Texas 15 42-07
Day 1: 5 11-06 Day 2: 5 19-12 Day 3: 5 11-05
9. Alton Jones Waco, Texas 15 42-00
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 16-10 Day 3: 5 13-13
10. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, Fla. 15 41-15
Day 1: 5 17-09 Day 2: 5 12-04 Day 3: 5 12-02
11. Rick Clunn Ava, Mo. 15 41-00
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 14-03 Day 3: 5 15-06
12. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, La. 12 39-11
Day 1: 4 13-05 Day 2: 5 16-05 Day 3: 3 10-01
13. Lee Sisson Winter Haven, Fla. 13 39-08 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-04 Day 2: 3 6-09 Day 3: 5 18-11
14. Matt Greenblatt Palm Beach Gardens, Fl 15 38-00 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-03 Day 2: 5 18-03 Day 3: 5 9-10
15. Jami Fralick Martin, S.D. 15 38-00 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 11-10 Day 3: 5 11-12
16. Jason Williamson Aiken, S.C. 15 37-04 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-01 Day 2: 5 10-07 Day 3: 5 11-12
17. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, Okla. 15 37-03 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 12-06 Day 3: 5 10-04
18. Casey Ashley Donalds, S.C. 15 36-15 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-06 Day 2: 5 16-04 Day 3: 5 8-05
19. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, N.J. 15 36-02 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 12-10 Day 3: 5 11-08
20. Ott Defoe Knoxville, Tenn. 15 36-01 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 14-02 Day 3: 5 7-15
21. Peter Thliveros St Augustine, Fla. 15 35-15 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 9-01 Day 2: 5 13-08 Day 3: 5 13-06
22. Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 15 35-13 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 9-12 Day 2: 5 11-05 Day 3: 5 14-12
23. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 15 35-10 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 13-11 Day 3: 5 10-14
24. Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 15 34-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 8-03 Day 2: 5 13-01 Day 3: 5 13-10
25. J Todd Tucker Moultrie, Ga. 13 34-03 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-08 Day 2: 5 11-09 Day 3: 3 5-02
26. Clark Reehm Lufkin, Texas 15 33-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 6-06 Day 3: 5 10-06
27. Ben Parker Springville, Tenn. 15 33-13 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 12-06 Day 3: 5 9-04
28. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 13 33-10 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-13 Day 2: 3 5-01 Day 3: 5 8-12
29. Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 15 33-05 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-03 Day 2: 5 9-01 Day 3: 5 10-01
30. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, Kan. 15 33-05 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-14 Day 2: 5 10-08 Day 3: 5 9-15
31. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, S.C. 12 33-01 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-08 Day 2: 5 18-12 Day 3: 2 3-13
32. Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas 15 31-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 9-03 Day 3: 5 10-11
33. Davy Hite Ninety Six, S.C. 15 31-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 9-11 Day 3: 5 11-03
34. Bill Lowen Brookville, Ind. 15 31-11 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 7-07 Day 2: 5 12-15 Day 3: 5 11-05
35. Cliff Pace Petal, Miss. 15 31-01 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 5 10-03 Day 3: 5 7-05
36. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 14 30-11 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-03 Day 2: 5 8-08 Day 3: 4 8-00
37. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, Calif. 14 30-08 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 11-02 Day 3: 4 6-14
38. Zell Rowland Austin, Texas 14 30-06 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-10 Day 2: 5 12-04 Day 3: 4 6-08
39. Rick Morris Virginia Beach, Va. 12 30-06 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 10-10 Day 3: 2 7-14
40. Keith Poche Troy, Ala. 14 30-01 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 6-00 Day 2: 5 16-03 Day 3: 5 7-14
41. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, Ala. 10 28-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 0 0-00
42. Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 15 28-11 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-11 Day 2: 5 10-11 Day 3: 5 7-05
43. Dean Alexander Florence, Texas 14 28-02 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 4 8-03 Day 3: 5 7-13
44. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, Idaho 11 28-01 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 3 11-07 Day 3: 3 2-04
45. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 14 27-05 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 10-02 Day 3: 4 5-10
46. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, Ark. 14 27-04 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-15 Day 2: 5 9-13 Day 3: 4 6-08
47. John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 12 25-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 4 11-00 Day 3: 3 3-11
48. Marty Robinson Lyman, S.C. 8 25-14 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 3 11-03 Day 2: 4 12-00 Day 3: 1 2-11
49. Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 14 25-08 0 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 5 9-00 Day 3: 4 5-03
50. Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 13 24-12 0 $5,000.00
Day 1: 5 9-00 Day 2: 5 11-12 Day 3: 3 4-00
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David Ryan of Levasy, Mo., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Central Division event on Lake of the Ozarks with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 52 pounds, 7 ounces. For his victory, Ryan earned $32,917.
“I’ve fished tournaments a long time and had near-misses before at big events and this is really tremendous,” said Ryan. “I’m super happy.”
Ryan was on quality fish throughout the course of the tournament and said he caught 12 to 15 keepers the first day of competition and 20 on the second day and was fairly confident of his chances of nabbing a win on Saturday.
“I think I caught over 15 keepers today, and when I caught the 5-pounder I really thought that would solidify it,” said Ryan. “I knew the (leaders) were going to have to catch them in order to win. I had put enough pressure on them in my mind that they were really going to have to catch them in order to beat me. But you always have that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you need one more. I was fortunate today, and what I caught today was enough.”
Ryan said he was fishing a “classic staging-area pattern” over a 10- to 12-mile stretch of water and fished a custom-painted suspending jerkbait on steep banks to catch his limits during the tournament.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Dan Brueggemann, Antioch, Ill., 15 bass, 51-8, $11,286
3rd: Roy Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, 15 bass, 49-7, $9,405
4th: Matthew Jones, Spokane, Mo., 15 bass, 48-7, $8,464
5th: Peter Wenners, Galena, Mo., 15 bass, 45-13, $7,524
6th: Dennis Berhorst, Holts Summit, Mo., 15 bass, 44-1, $6,583
7th: James Stamper, Montreal, Mo., 14 bass, 41-15, $5,643
8th: Pop-Tarts pro Greg Bohannan, Rogers, Ark., 13 bass, 36-13, $4,702
9th: Randall Hutson, Washburn, Mo., 12 bass, 36-10, $3,762
10th: Earl Garrison, Bull Shoals, Ark., 12 bass, 36-4, $2,821
Jones caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 6-pound, 13-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $272.
Seventeen-year-old Kenny McGar of Crofton, Ky., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 12 bass weighing 31 pounds, 3 ounces.
“This is awesome,” said McGar. “It feels great. I’m on top of the world right now.
“I’ve won a couple of small tournaments in the past, but this is my first big tournament,” McGar added.
McGar said he caught his two keepers Saturday shallow cranking - the same method he employed on Friday. McGar began the tournament Thursday fishing a jerkbait. McGar said he had never fished a jerkbait before Saturday’s competition.
“Those were my weapons of bass destruction for the weekend,” said McGar.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Rick Carden, Cuba, Mo., 13 bass, 30-6, $4,296
3rd: Marty Bohlke Jr., Nixa, Mo., nine bass, 26-9, $3,818
4th: John Kite, Festus, Mo., 10 bass, 26-4, $3,341
5th: Dave Epema, Jefferson City, Mo., nine bass, 25-7, $2,864
6th: Chris Gable, Eddyville, Ky., 11 bass, 25-2, $2,387
7th: Jim Banks, Lamar, Mo., 10 bass, 24-13, $1,909
8th: Ricky Watkins, Springdale, Ark., 11 bass, 24-12, $1,432
9th: Sunny Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, eight bass, 24-3, $955
10th: Gary Smith, South West City, Mo., 10 bass, 23-10, $764
Epema caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday – a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $181.
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Photo Courtesy of FLW Outdoors
The MidAmerica Nazarene College team of Brandon Owen and Jacob Johnson won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Central Division event on Lake of the Ozarks Saturday with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 13 ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split between the university and the university’s bass fishing club - $7,500 for the bass club and $2,500 for their school. The win also helped them advance to the Central Division Regional Championship.
“This feels incredible,” said Owen, a junior Spanish and history major from Lenexa, Kan. “I’m not sure we’ve fully grasped how big this is really going to be for us and what it really means. It feels awesome to finally get a win … to finally even place in the top five.”
Owen said the team began the day slowly under tough conditions – high sun and no wind. Owen said jerkbaits and jigs in the backs of creeks were not producing for them, so they changed their plan of attack.
“About 11 o’clock we pulled out the map and spread it out on the deck and picked out a spot that we wanted to go to,” said Owen. “We weren’t there 20 minutes and Jake caught his first keeper. Fifteen minutes later he caught his second one.”
The team had switched from jerkbaits and jigs on ledges to natural green craw- and natural brown craw-colored Storm Wiggle Warts in 47-degree water temperatures on rocky banks between docks. The change paid off, and the team caught five keepers in an hour and a half.
“It was a real mental game today,” said Johnson, a sophomore math education major from Lenexa, Kan. “There was that brink where we didn’t give up and we were just like, ‘Ok. Let’s just try something different.’
“Now we’re going to prepare for Kentucky Lake and get ready for that next qualifier,” Johnson added.
Rounding out the top five teams and also advancing to the Central Regional Championship are:
2nd: UW-Whitewater – Jordan Truttschel and Tyler Netzer, (four bass, 10-2, $3,000)
3rd: University of North Dakota – Pat Davis and Kyle Harren, (three bass, 7-7, $2,000)
4th: Northwestern University – Matthew Kestufskie and Jimmy Morrow, (three bass, 6-15, $2,000)
5th: Kansas State University – Kyle Raymer and Jonas Ertel, (two bass, 6-9, $2,000)
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Florida’s Shaw Grigsby is considered one of the greatest, if not the
greatest, sight fisherman of all time when bass are on their spawning
beds – and he’s more than living up to his reputation here at the Harris
Chain of Lakes this week, 90 miles south of his Gainesville home.
Today he hauled a show-stopping limit of five bass totaling 29 pounds, 8
ounces to the Bassmaster Elite Series scale.
Fact
is, if kindness and upbeat attitudes could be weighed in, Grigsby would
win that tournament every time. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more
positive guy among professional bass fishing’s best than Grigsby. That
said, Pat Golden and Grant Goldbeck, who are fishing very near to Shaw,
might be the only ones in the field to root against him – but don’t
count on it – they’re known to be good guys too.
“Conditions
are not the best (referring to the moon phase), but the sun was a real
good thing,” said Grigsby. “We’ll have sun the next two days, but the
question is will there be enough bass to last all three of us for two
more days, because I’ll be surprised if the area is replenished with
more bass coming into the area,” he added.
“I
left a 5-pound male bass on a bed, so yea, there’s still quality fish
there, but again you have to question how many bass are in there, and
will there be enough for all three of us,” Grigsby contemplated.
When
asked about his penchant for catching spawners better than just about
anybody in the world, Shaw replied, “There’s was never a time in my
career when I thought I was better at it than anybody else. Alton Jones
and Dean Rojas are really, really good at it too, and my eyes are
ancient compared to theirs. I just love to look for them and find them.
It’s something I love to do.”
Grigsby caught fish on line ranging from 8- to 25-pound test.
“I
caught the 10-pounder with a Quantum Smoke baitcasting reel spooled
with 25-pound line, she was barely hooked by the skin on her jaw, but I
caught two or three of my keepers with light line spooled on a Quantum
Tour Edition size 30 spinning reel,” said Grigsby.
Can
Shaw’s 8-pound lead over Quantum teammate Kevin VanDam hold up for two
more days? In Florida, you never know. But one’s thing’s for
sure, if
it does, a nice guy will finish first.
Day Two Standings
Place Angler Day1 # Weight D2# Weight Total Weight
1 Shaw E Grigsby 5 14- 7 5 29- 8 10 43-15
2 Kevin VanDam 5 17- 9 5 18- 3 10 35-12
3 Stephen Browning5 19-13 5 14- 8 10 34- 5
4 Pat Golden 5 20- 7 5 11- 3 10 31-10
5 Chris Lane 5 14- 5 5 17- 1 10 31- 6
6 James Niggemeyer5 11- 6 5 19-12 10 31- 2
7 Terry Scroggins 5 17- 9 5 12- 4 10 29-13
8 Cliff Crochet 4 13- 5 5 16- 5 9 29-10
9 Andy Montgomery 5 10- 8 5 18-12 10 29- 4
10 J Todd Tucker 5 17- 8 5 11- 9 10 29- 1
11 Greg Vinson 5 14- 2 5 14-12 10 28-14
12 Casey Ashley 5 12- 6 5 16- 4 10 28-10
13 Matt Greenblatt 5 10- 3 5 18- 3 10 28- 6
14 Alton Jones 5 11- 9 5 16-10 10 28- 3
15 Ott Defoe 5 14- 0 5 14- 2 10 28- 2
16 Grant Goldbeck 1 1- 1 5 27- 1 6 28- 2
17 Jeff Kriet 5 14- 9 5 12- 6 10 26-15
18 Jonathon Vandam 5 13-14 5 12- 7 10 26- 5
19 Jami Fralick 5 14-10 5 11-10 10 26- 4
20 Brandon Palaniuk5 14- 6 3 11- 7 8 25-13
21 Rick Clunn 5 11- 7 5 14- 3 10 25-10
22 Jason Williamson5 15- 1 5 10- 7 10 25- 8
23 Kevin Wirth 5 19-13 3 5- 1 8 24-14
24 Skeet Reese 5 11- 1 5 13-11 10 24-12
25 Michael Iaconell5 12- 0 5 12-10 10 24-10
26 Ben Parker 5 12- 3 5 12- 6 10 24- 9
27 Zell Rowland 5 11-10 5 12- 4 10 23-14
28 Cliff Pace 5 13- 9 5 10- 3 10 23-12
29 Jared Lintner 5 12- 8 5 11- 2 10 23-10
30 Clark Reehm 5 17- 2 5 6- 6 10 23- 8
31 Brent Chapman 5 12-14 5 10- 8 10 23- 6
32 Fred Roumbanis 5 14- 3 5 9- 1 10 23- 4
33 Marty Robinson 3 11- 3 4 12- 0 7 23- 3
34 Brian Snowden 5 14- 3 5 8- 8 10 22-11
35 Peter E Thlivero5 9- 1 5 13- 8 10 22- 9
36 Rick Morris 5 11-14 5 10-10 10 22- 8
37 Keith Poche 4 6- 0 5 16- 3 9 22- 3
38 John Murray 5 11- 3 4 11- 0 9 22- 3
39 Aaron Martens 5 11- 9 5 10- 2 10 21-11
40 Dustin Wilks 5 10-11 5 10-11 10 21- 6
41 Steve Kennedy 5 8- 3 5 13- 1 10 21- 4
42 Todd Faircloth 5 12- 0 5 9- 3 10 21- 3
43 Edwin Evers 5 9-12 5 11- 5 10 21- 1
44 Lee Sisson 5 14- 4 3 6- 9 8 20-13
45 Gary Klein 5 9- 0 5 11-12 10 20-12
46 Mike McClelland 5 10-15 5 9-13 10 20-12
47 Davy Hite 5 11- 0 5 9-11 10 20-11
48 Bill Lowen 5 7- 7 5 12-15 10 20- 6
49 Mark Davis 5 11- 5 5 9- 0 10 20- 5
50 Dean Alexander 5 12- 2 4 8- 3 9 20- 5
51 Dean Rojas 5 11- 3 5 9- 1 10 20- 4
52 Randy Howell 5 10-10 5 9- 7 10 20- 1
53 Yusuke Miyazaki 5 13- 3 4 6-14 9 20- 1
54 John Crews 5 10-13 5 8-14 10 19-11
55 Nate Wellman 5 10-12 5 8-15 10 19-11
56 Travis Manson 5 13- 0 5 6- 3 10 19- 3
57 Bernie Schultz 5 11- 0 5 8- 1 10 19- 1
58 Tommy Biffle 5 10- 2 5 8-13 10 18-15
59 Matt Reed 5 9- 3 5 9-10 10 18-13
60 Jason Quinn 5 9- 2 4 9-11 9 18-13
61 Timmy Horton 5 12- 3 4 6- 8 9 18-11
62 Keith Combs 5 9-14 5 8-10 10 18- 8
63 Britt Myers 5 12- 6 3 6- 0 8 18- 6
64 Bradley Roy 5 9- 0 5 9- 5 10 18- 5
65 Jeff Connella 5 9- 6 5 8-14 10 18- 4
66 Russ Lane 4 5- 8 5 12-11 9 18- 3
67 Kenyon Hill 4 7- 6 5 10-12 9 18- 2
68 Kelly Jordon 5 9- 3 5 8-14 10 18- 1
69 Greg Hackney 5 7- 3 5 10-13 10 18- 0
70 Dave Wolak 5 10- 4 5 7-11 10 17-15
71 Charlie Hartley 5 8- 6 5 9- 8 10 17-14
72 James Stricklin 5 9-15 4 7-10 9 17- 9
73 Pete Ponds 2 4- 8 5 13- 0 7 17- 8
74 Gerald Swindle 4 6- 4 5 11- 1 9 17- 5
75 Billy McCaghren 5 7-10 5 9- 6 10 17- 0
76 Denny Brauer 5 10-15 4 6- 1 9 17- 0
77 Kevin Short 5 10- 1 5 6-14 10 16-15
78 David Walker 5 13-13 3 2-14 8 16-11
79 Kotaro Kiriyama 3 13-15 1 1-11 4 15-10
80 Matt Herren 5 10-13 3 4-12 8 15- 9
81 Russell Parrish 5 10- 9 4 4-13 9 15- 6
82 Mark Menendez 5 7-10 2 7- 8 7 15- 2
83 Craig Schuff 5 11- 2 2 3-13 7 14-15
84 Scott Rook 5 9- 6 3 5- 6 8 14-12
85 Bradley Hallman 2 5- 3 5 9- 6 7 14- 9
86 Scott Ashmore 5 11- 4 2 2-14 7 14- 2
87 Takahiro Omori 4 9-14 4 4- 1 8 13-15
88 Chad Griffin 5 9- 2 2 4-10 7 13-12
89 Ish Monroe 4 6- 6 5 6-15 9 13- 5
90 Boyd Duckett 5 9- 1 3 3-10 8 12-11
91 Terry Butcher 5 7-13 3 3-14 8 11-11
92 David Smith 1 0-10 5 9-14 6 10- 8
93 Bobby Lane 3 6- 1 2 3- 3 5 9- 4
94 Brent Broderick 3 3- 5 1 5- 8 4 8-13
95 Paul Elias 3 3- 5 3 4- 3 6 7- 8
96 Morizo Shimizu 2 3-10 2 3-11 4 7- 5
97 Dennis Tietje 3 3- 9 2 2-11 5 6- 4
98 Ryan Said 4 4- 6 1 1- 5 5 5-11
99 Derek Remitz 0 0- 0 0 0- 0 0 0- 0
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Abu Garcia is announcing a
“Tips4Tackle” contest that allows anglers to submit short video fishing
tips for a chance to win a Grand Prize that includes Top Secret new Abu
Garcia products before they ever hit the market.
Anglers
can upload videos via their YouTube or Facebook accounts and
automatically submit them to the contest. Consumers will then vote for
their favorite videos. The one with the most votes wins the Grand
Prize. The contest includes prizes for the second through fifth place
videos as well. Additionally angler’s videos that are selected by Abu
Garcia to be featured on the Angler Education section of AbuGarcia.com
will receive a free Black Max low profile reel even if they are not one
of the winning videos selected by consumers.
 “This is a great opportunity for
anglers to share their best tips,” said Chris Derrick, Abu Garcia Brand
Manager. “It can be any tip that an angler feels important to share
with the angling public. All anglers are looking for helpful insights to
better their chances at success, and the Abu Garcia Tips4Tackle video
contest provides that platform. Plus, it is a great chance to win some
of the newest gear from Abu Garcia.”
The submission period for video fishing tips is March 16th through May 31st, 2011 and the voting period for videos closes on June 10th, 2011. Winners will be announced on June 13th on AbuGarcia.com.
“Anglers are encouraged to submit
tips on spooling line, knot tying, how to rig baits or fishing different
types of structure,” said Derrick. “This is the perfect time for
anglers to get creative with their fishing tips.”
Visit Abugarcia.com/about/news/Tips4Tackle for more details.
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Friday, March 11th Wired2Fish TV Triple Play on Versus
1. In the 6:00pm CST time slot during “Quest for the One”. Elite Series Anglers Mike McClelland and Gary Klein talk on the water safety and how they get the most out of each Tournament day by using their Sirius Marine Weather.
2. In the 6:30pm CST time slot during “Quest for the One”. Professional Anglers Marty & Scott Glorvigen talk about how proper net selection helps to protect game fish as well as netting techniques to get more fish in the boat.
3. In the 10:30pm CST time slot during “City Limits Fishing”. Professional Angler Scott Glorvigen shares his Techniques on Stealth Trolling for Walleyes.
Here's a video from last Friday:
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Photos and Story by Alan McGuckin
Long-time pros Gary
Klein, Shaw Grigsby and Gerald Swindle find themselves between moons and
sweating it out in Friday’s 40-degree sunrise temps at the Bassmaster Elite
Series tournament on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes.
Always classy Gary Klein
finds himself in an unfamiliar position this morning. The likable veteran is setting way down in
75th place. Still, Klein’s
early dawn perspectives were completely positive as he sat in his boat tying on
lures for the day ahead.
“Hey, I was
happy to catch a limit yesterday, and I’m only one big bite away from jumping
from the back of the pack to the front of the pack,” said Klein, who recently began a primary sponsorship with Repel Insect
Repellents. "I’ll slow up. I won’t run around. I’ll put my
head down, and focus on catching what’s living there. And trust me, they live there, I know that
much."
Klein’s long-time friend
and fellow competitor Shaw Grigsby starts the day in 11th place but
he’s certainly concerned.
“I’m sweating
it really bad. We’re pulling away from
the new moon that we had last weekend. There were tons of huge bass on spawning beds here Monday and Tuesday --
perhaps as many as I’ve ever seen in my life. It was taking 30 pounds to win
local tournaments here. But that’s when
the moon is right. But we’re between good moons, and this 40-degree weather is
scary when it comes to Florida largemouth,” said Grigsby.
Grigsby said he will not
adjust much today, instead doing more of what brought success yesterday.
“I caught one bass yesterday on a Quantum
Tour Edition PT 30 spinning reel, and the rest came on a Quantum Smoke
baitcaster,” said Grigsby, who lives 90 miles north of this week’s tournament. "There’s not much I’ll adjust. The biggest thing is staying mentally
competitive, knowing that it could be really slow the first part of the day in
this morning cold, then being mentally ready when the water heats up as the day
drags on."
Speaking of adjustments,
bass fishing’s funniest angler, Gerald Swindle, found no humor in his 86th-place start.
“I’ve gotta get my butt
in gear, and I’m thinking sooner rather than later, like right now,” said Swindle
as he revved-up his Mercury outboard and backed away from the shallow,
vegetation-laden shoreline.
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The weather is warming across the country and anglers who have been locked up in snow, cold and wet are creeping out of their garages and living rooms to hit the water for early season fishing.
Before hooking up the boat, there are several simple checks that need to be done on the boat, truck and trailer that can save a few headaches or worse disasters. Even though the boat may have been put away appropriately, it's the little things that can cause a calamity. Minor things can become major disasters. Below is a quick checklist that may help eliminate any problem on that first trip of the year.
1. Check the hitch ball - Check the nut and lock washer on your tow vehicle to assure it is tight. Its always good to put a small amount of grease on the ball as well. This is great for assuring a good ground for lights and will keep the squeaks down traveling down the road.
2. Check the receiver for rust and possible weld breaks- A quick look with a flashlight both on the outside and inside easily makes sure it is ready for another year. This is also a good time to look at the receiver pin and lock if you have one. It's always good to test the lock, give it a shot of oil and make sure it is secure and won't come unpegged if jostled.
3. Check the electrical plug the truck and boat for corrosion. A quick shot of WD40 or other lubricant and a wire brush will insure it will stay clean the entire year. Some anglers use the round plug on the truck and its good to open the door and check for corrosion, dirt or muck that may have gotten in over the winter. Again a quick shot of WD40 does the trick here too.
4. It is always good to do a general check of the trailer this time of year as well. Check for loose bolts and screws, wires not properly concealed or hanging down, tires and lug nuts, license plate holder and bunks. Check tire pressure, grease bearings and check all lights including turn signals. If a light fails its a good time to put in LEDs. They last longer than bulbs, are brighter and are not expensive. It is also important to check the wheel jack and make sure it is lubricated. Tightened U-Bolts on the trailer and spare tire holder if applicable. Lugs on the spare should be checked as well.
5. Check bow eye for tightness. Also check the winch strap and winch. Checking this can make sure of no failure during the entire fishing season. Align winch to make sure it is square with bow eye. This will keep strap for getting bound or tearing. Make sure the strap lays flat on the winch.
6. This is a great time to change lower unit lube as well - With the motor in a vertical position, place drain pan under lower unit. Remove lower screw on the front side of the nose of the lower unit. Second, remove top screw above cavitation plate and let drain completely. Fill with gear lube from the bottom until lube begins coming out of the top hole. Replace top plug and then replace lower plug. You are ready to go.
Note: check drained fluid from the lower unit for cloudiness/milkiness. This can be a sign of water and may mean a gasket or washer needs to be replaced. See your local dealer for information/guidance.
Spring is a great time to make sure everything on the boat is ready to go. Tighten, lubricate and repair!
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 COLUMBIA, S.C. (March 10, 2011) – The Berkley Bass Tank will be at the Sportsman’s Warehouse store in Southaven, Miss. The tank is scheduled for March 12th-13th and will feature product demonstrations and technique seminars.
Berkley
sends the 4,000-gallon bass tank all over the country to help out the
everyday angler. Kids and adults alike will enjoy learning about new
Berkley products and tips on how to use these innovative baits along
with rods, reels and line.
“The Berkley Bass Tank is on the
road, giving all anglers the opportunity to hone their skills,” said
Andrew Marks, Berkley Marketing Director. “Not only will attendees learn
to ‘Catch More Fish,’ they will also learn about new products that will
help them become a better angler.”
If you are unable to make it by the Bass Tank in Southaven, Miss., plan on attending one of the upcoming events.
March 12-13
Sportsman’s Warehouse
130 Marathon Way
Southaven, MS 38671
(662) 349-5500
Upcoming Events
March 19-20, Sportsman’s Warehouse – Chattanooga, Tenn.
March 30-April 3, NMMA – Minneapolis, Minn.
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Photo by B.A.S.S. Communications
If it worked once, repeat. That’s Pat Golden’s plan when he gets back
on Florida’s Harris Chain of Lakes on Friday to defend his slim lead in
the Sunshine Showdown, the season opener of the 2011 Bassmaster Elite
Series.
Working several canals for bedding bass, the High Point, N.C., pro
linked together 20 pounds, 7 ounces Thursday for a 10-ounce lead over
Stephen Browning and Kevin Wirth, who tied for second place with 19-13.
Sharing fourth place at 17-9 were Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Fla.,
and Kevin VanDam, the Michigan pro fresh off his fourth Bassmaster
Classic victory.
“I was looking at them today, mainly,” said Golden, an Elite pro
since 2008. “I had some I scoped out during practice and I went back to
them today, and some were still there and some weren’t. That’s kind of
how it goes with sight-fishing. That’s how I got them all.”
He plans to return Friday to the same area.
“You got to go with what brought you here,” he said. “I’ll start with
that first and see what happens. I’ve got some stretches I can throw
on, but I am going to start out tomorrow to see if I can look at them
again.”
He said he’ll go back after an 8-pounder he was unsuccessful in
hooking Thursday under windy conditions. That lunker would be a twin to
the big bass he hauled to the scales, an 8-15. It fell for a
green-pumpkin Senko, he said, rigged weightless with a round-bend
Gamakatsu hook, the same rig that took three other fish.
Wirth, of Crestwood, Ky., who won an Elite event in 2008, said he
made an adjustment away from sight-fishing that resulted in six bites
for six good fish.
“They came a long way apart. Tomorrow I’ll just have to keep my nose to the grindstone and keep fishing,” he said.
Browning, also not sight-fishing, said he slowed down Thursday.
“I’m taking a flipping stick and doing what you’re supposed to do in
Florida, throwing a worm and slowing down,” he said. “It worked out real
well for me today.”
He said he concentrated on one lake on the opening day and would return to the same location to try again.
“You catch almost 20 pounds, you have to go back,” said the Hot
Springs, Ark., pro, who is recovering from elbow injuries. He said he
likely will share the water with other competitors, if Thursday was any
indication of the competition for fish.
Browning is trying for his first Elite win. This year for the first
time, a win is worth an instant qualification for the 2012 Bassmaster
Classic as well as $100,000.
2011 Sunshine Showdown - Tavares, FL 03/10-03/13 Harris Chain Of Lakes, Tavares Fla.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz
1. Pat Golden High Point, N.C. 5 20-07
2. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, Ark. 5 19-13
2. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 5 19-13
4. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, Fla. 5 17-09
4. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 5 17-09
6. J Todd Tucker Moultrie, Ga. 5 17-08
7. Clark Reehm Lufkin, Texas 5 17-02
8. Jason Williamson Aiken, S.C. 5 15-01
9. Jami Fralick Martin, S.D. 5 14-10
10. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, Okla. 5 14-09
11. Shaw Grigsby Gainesville, Fla. 5 14-07
12. Brandon Palaniuk Rathdrum, Idaho 5 14-06
13. Chris Lane Guntersville, Ala. 5 14-05
14. Lee Sisson Winter Haven, Fla. 5 14-04
15. Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 5 14-03
15. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 5 14-03
17. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, Ala. 5 14-02
18. Ott Defoe Knoxville, Tenn. 5 14-00
19. Kotaro Kiriyama Moody, Ala. 3 13-15
20. Jonathon Vandam Kalamazoo, Mich. 5 13-14
21. David Walker Sevierville, Tenn. 5 13-13
22. Cliff Pace Petal, Miss. 5 13-09
23. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, La. 4 13-05
24. Yusuke Miyazaki Forney, Texas 5 13-03
25. Travis Manson Green Bay, Wisc. 5 13-00
26. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, Kan. 5 12-14
27. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, Calif. 5 12-08
28. Casey Ashley Donalds, S.C. 5 12-06
28. Britt Myers Lake Wylie, S.C. 5 12-06
30. Timmy Horton Muscle Shoals, Ala. 5 12-03
30. Ben Parker Springville, Tenn. 5 12-03
32. Dean Alexander Florence, Texas 5 12-02
33. Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas 5 12-00
33. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, N.J. 5 12-00
35. Rick Morris Virginia Beach, Va. 5 11-14
36. Zell Rowland Austin, Texas 5 11-10
37. Alton Jones Waco, Texas 5 11-09
37. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 5 11-09
39. Rick Clunn Ava, Mo. 5 11-07
40. James Niggemeyer Van, Texas 5 11-06
41. Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 5 11-05
42. Scott Ashmore Broken Arrow, Okla. 5 11-04
43. John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 5 11-03
43. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, Ariz 5 11-03
45. Marty Robinson Lyman, S.C. 3 11-03
46. Craig Schuff Watauga, Texas 5 11-02
47. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 5 11-01
48. Davy Hite Ninety Six, S.C. 5 11-00
48. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, Fla. 5 11-00
50. Denny Brauer Camdenton, Mo. 5 10-15
50. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, Ark. 5 10-15
52. John Crews Salem, Va. 5 10-13
52. Matt Herren Trussville, Ala. 5 10-13
54. Nate Wellman Newaygo, Mich. 5 10-12
55. Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 5 10-11
56. Randy Howell Springville, Ala. 5 10-10
57. Russell Parrish Riesel, Texas 5 10-09
58. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, S.C. 5 10-08
59. Dave Wolak Wake Forest, N.C. 5 10-04
60. Matt Greenblatt Palm Beach Gardens, Fl 5 10-03
61. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, Okla. 5 10-02
62. Kevin Short Mayflower, Ark. 5 10-01
63. James Stricklin Jasper, Texas 5 9-15
64. Keith Combs Del Rio, Texas 5 9-14
65. Takahiro Omori Emory, Texas 4 9-14
66. Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 5 9-12
67. Jeff Connella Bentley, La. 5 9-06
67. Scott Rook Little Rock, Ark. 5 9-06
69. Kelly Jordon Palestine, Texas 5 9-03
69. Matt Reed Madisonville, Texas 5 9-03
71. Chad Griffin Cresson, Texas 5 9-02
71. Jason Quinn Lake Wylie, S.C. 5 9-02
73. Boyd Duckett Demopolis, Ala. 5 9-01
73. Peter Thliveros St Augustine, Fla. 5 9-01
75. Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 5 9-00
75. Bradley Roy Lancaster, Ky. 5 9-00
77. Charlie Hartley Grove City, Ohio 5 8-06
78. Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 5 8-03
79. Terry Butcher Talala, Okla. 5 7-13
80. Billy McCaghren Mayflower, Ark. 5 7-10
80. Mark Menendez Paducah, Ky. 5 7-10
82. Bill Lowen Brookville, Ind. 5 7-07
83. Kenyon Hill Norman, Okla. 4 7-06
84. Greg Hackney Gonzales, La. 5 7-03
85. Ish Monroe Hughson, Calif. 4 6-06
86. Gerald Swindle Warrior, Ala. 4 6-04
87. Bobby Lane Lakeland, Fla. 3 6-01
88. Keith Poche Troy, Ala. 4 6-00
89. Russ Lane Prattville, Ala. 4 5-08
90. Bradley Hallman Norman, Okla. 2 5-03
91. Pete Ponds Madison, Miss. 2 4-08
92. Ryan Said Wixom, Mich. 4 4-06
93. Morizo Shimizu Osaka, Japan 2 3-10
94. Dennis Tietje Roanoke, La. 3 3-09
95. Paul Elias Laurel, Miss. 3 3-05
96. Brent Broderick Oregonia, Ohio 3 3-05
97. Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, Md. 1 1-01
98. David Smith Del City, Okla. 1 0-10
99. Derek Remitz Grant, Ala. 0 0-00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 79 453 1052-09
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By Alan McGuckin
I met a dreamer last night. He was holding steadfast to hopes for a bright future as a full-time B.A.S.S. pro. I was holding a Canon and a notepad.
Fact is, here at the season opener; following the mandatory Bassmaster Elite Series pre-tournament meeting, there were a lot of dreamers walking around in that Tavares, Florida parking lot. Few of them were as young as 23-year old Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Brandon Palaniuk.
Even fewer of the dreamers had spent the previous night sleeping in their tow vehicles like he did.
Palaniuk brings back soulful memories. Ask my hunting buddies, or my team tournament fishing partners, Russ and Robert. They’ll tell you. I have a mattress in my Tundra too. It’s there mostly for practical purposes, like providing a cushy place for my deer rifles and quality Quantum rods and reels to ride. And in part, I’ll admit, it’s there to remind me of simpler, freer, times.
I used to travel to compete in local and regional bass tournaments, and sleep back there too, just like Palaniuk. But I’m 17-years older than Brandon, of fewer hairs, far less fishing talent, more bills, belly fat, and privileged to a company furnished expense account. I don’t have to sleep in my truck anymore, but I don’t get to dream as much either.
With age comes humility, heck I’m technically old enough to be Palaniuk’s dad, so I told him staight-up -- I wasn’t good enough. Couldn’t catch them like you do, Brandon. Never qualified for a B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championship – let alone win one like you did. Dang sure never fished in a Bassmaster Classic, let alone give KVD a run for his money like you did three weeks ago, Brandon.
Crazy as sleeping in your truck may seem. I soulfully understand where he’s at. It’s mostly about being financially broke, trying to save money, and equally as much about youthful freedom.
Don’t feel sorry for him. He’s proud of his place in the back of his Tundra. He was happy to show me the homemade rough-cut lumber bed frame, and the 4-inch thick layer of foam his sleeping bag rests on. The sleeping bag and pillow are decorated with pine trees and moose images. I imagine that reminds him of Idaho. Home -- a 40-hour drive from here.
I thought of Brandon this morning as we woke to chilly temps and pouring rain here at the Harris Chain of Lakes in central Florida. Me in room 212 for $84 a night with fluffy white pillows, thermostat, fridge, coffee pot, European spa shower head and a laptop. Brandon waking in the back of his Tundra – with dreams.
“So we’ll live out in our old van – travel all across this land.” – Free, Zac Brown Band
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Megabass USA, the North American arm of Japan’s foremost innovator of specialized fishing tackle, announces the company’s plans to increase its product line to the US market over the course of calendar year 2011 and beyond. This effort will involve new lures and color patterns specifically tailored to US fisheries as well as a line rods with a three-year warranty. This campaign will be supported by a recently-revamped website ( www.megabassusa.com) and a Facebook fan page, both of which will provide multimedia information enabling every angler to effectively incorporate Megabass products into his or her fishing arsenal.
First up are the Orochi X4 series of rods and the Vision 110 Magnum, big brother to the vaunted Vision 110.
“The new Orochi X4 series and Vision 110 Magnum represent significant developments in the rod and jerkbait markets,”said Yuskei Murayama, President of Megabass USA. “Not only do they showcase Megabass’s renowned innovation, quality and attention to detail, but they represent a new production process that is more responsive to the specific needs of US anglers.”
Megabass rods have always been the industry gold standard, but until now American anglers have been unable to order them through conventional channels and no warranty support has been available. With the introduction of the Orochi X4 Series to the US market, those problems have been alleviated.
The rods will be available from the Megabass USA website and through select retailers with a 3-year warranty.
“They are extremely light,” said Aaron Martens, the 2004 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year. “But they have a new method of wrapping the graphite that also makes them exceptionally durable and very powerful.”
Among the series is a 6’10” spinning rod that not only answered Martens’s finesse spinning needs, but also powered Megabass pro Shin Fukae to 70+ pounds of smallmouth and a win at last year’s FLW Series event on Lake Champlain.
Veteran tour pro Blaukat has been affiliated with Megabass since 1992 and started using the company’s rods shortly thereafter. He said that it’s the company’s components and attention to detail that make the difference over more conventional options. “This is the rod for the serious angler,” he said. “It’s like the difference between buying your golf clubs at a department store versus the pro shop.”
Anglers across the country who’ve clamored for a bigger version of the Vision 110 will be thrilled to add the new Vision 110 Magnum to their arsenal. The new jerkbait is just over five inches long and weighs approximately ¾ of an ounce, yet retains the same action as its smaller sibling. Featuring a slow sink rate of roughly one foot every 15 seconds, the Vision 110 Magnum is tuned to target virtually any depth, increasing the range of this larger offering.
“It combines the profile and the darting action of the original,” Blaukat said. “It’s designed to go after the quality bite under the reasoning of bigger baits mean bigger fish. You can use 12 to 14 pound line and make really long casts.”
Blaukat sees the new jerkbait not as a tool unto itself, but rather as part of a larger sytem. “From the X-55 all the way up to this Mag 110, Megabass now has a jerkbait to meet any condition,” he said.
In addition to the new jerkbait’s size, the Megabass USA pros have been working with the company’s Japanese designers to come up with new color patterns specifically tailored to US needs and conditions – whether it’s smallmouth in the north, the highland reservoirs of the Ozarks region or the lakes of the western US. Look for new patterns on US shelves in the coming months.
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I don't want to be a clown.
I don't want to be Oprah.
I just want to be a writer.
Tears and Laughter in the Universe.
I am so happy to be here, and yet, I am so sad to be here. I'm not so sure if it bothers you but it bothers me, to be a hypocrite, which I am.
I write about love and the family, while leaving the family I love to do so. Not sure I'll ever be able to afford to get my wife Barb out on the road with me, and life is too short to live six months a year, alone, heartbroken.
Tears and Laughter in the Universe.
I have a plan to stop planning, if I follow my non-planning plan and just let life happen, I will come close to being a writer.
If I plan and then follow the plan, I will become branded.
db as a clown, db as Oprah.
Tears and Laughter in the Universe.
I think the best part about writing about life, is the ability to be comfortable and just let life happen. When you go out looking for a story, you miss all the stories that happen naturally. Stories that are there, whether you are or not.
True life.
My beat is, Something This Way Comes.
Tears and Laughter in the Universe.
I'm writing this so that you know I don't search out stories of tears, or stories of laughter, I just allow for any kind of stories to this way come. It has been a streak of tears as it should be in this time, in this place, on this earth, in this universe.
I am not a voice of what is going on, I'm a mirror of what's going on. When you cry, I cry, when you laugh, I laugh. I feel best when I can watch and write about you, so that you can read and see yourself.
Now I'm telling you all this because you are about to become part of an experiment, both on this site here, and over there on that other site Bassmaster dot com. where I'm PLANNING to call it something profound like….Hangin'. Cause that's my PLAN, just hang around and pay attention instead of just hanging around and, you know, napping.
You going to be planned.
I am going to try and plan, my non-planning, plan. I'm warning you beforehand like, planning and me are not the best of friends, and it has been my historic observation of being me made by me that when I try and go against the universe and try and make something this way comes instead of letting something this way comes…my arse ends up getting fired.
Just saying.
Let it be on the record that I don't want to actually do it, but that my mortgage company and Toyota Financial Services has strongly advised me otherwise.
So, my attitude about planning and attempts to being branded can be summed up in one word that my Mother would be sticking a full bar of Ivory soap in my mouth for saying, but she is not presently with us anymore, except always yelling at me in my mind, but y'all Unique Visitor Hits should know I'm…
..pissed.
Tighten up whatever holds you in because when I get this Ivory Soap taste in my mouth, you never know what I will spit out.
On this here site we are going to start a PLANNED thing called, Breakfast with db…which in itself is bad planning since I very rarely even eat BREAKFAST, a tiny point that the W2F Wizards who want me to do this have missed entirely….Todd.
Here's what Breakfast (that I don't normally eat) with db will be about: I don't rightly know. Mainly because I haven't not had the breakfast I don't usually have yet but when I do, do what I normally don't do it will be about all the weird stuff that happens to me and around me even though my entire goal in life is to be left alone unless you are a Unique Visit and then I want to hug you.
So the first of these Breakfast with db things may go up soon, if I decide to eat something this morning, or after hearing what I'm supposed to be trying to do…PLAN…may just fire up the Margarita maker early and crank up the Rolling Stones while toasting my eventual career demise.
But should I eat something look for the first Breakfast with db to be called, I Get All The Fruit I Need In a Jelly Donut.
I don't want to be a clown.
I don't want to be Oprah.
I just want to be a writer.
Tears and Laughter in the Universe.
db
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Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV, and B.A.S.S., the authority on bass fishing, today announced that the two companies have entered into an agreement that brings “The Bassmasters,” one of the highest-rated outdoor programs on television, to Outdoor Channel. The popular show highlighting the Bassmaster Classic and Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments will debut on Outdoor Channel beginning March 28, 2011. The addition of this successful Bassmaster series follows Outdoor Channel’s recent acquisition of other top fishing shows, such as “Buccaneers and Bones,” “The Madfin Shark Series,” “Spanish Fly,” “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show,” “The Fish Fishburne Show,” “The Salt Water Series” and “Fishing University.”
Under the terms of the deal, Outdoor Channel will air 26 weeks of programming including the 2011 “Bassmaster Classic” and “Bassmaster Elite Series” as well as several of the top episodes from 2010. The series will appear on Outdoor Channel as part of its 2011 second-quarter and third-quarter programming lineup. The Bassmaster series will join Outdoor Channel’s prime time programming schedule as well as its highly popular Yamaha Friday Night Fishing block. The hour-long Bassmaster episodes will appear on Outdoor Channel approximately 30 days after their original air dates on ESPN2 and its affiliated networks.
“We are excited to embark on this new partnership with B.A.S.S. as we continue to expand our fishing content with top-quality proven programming. These high-caliber Bassmaster TV series further strengthen and broaden Outdoor Channel’s angling appeal, providing us with leading fishing programs that immediately resonate with our viewers,” said Roger Werner, president & CEO at Outdoor Channel. “This agreement with B.A.S.S. reflects our ongoing commitment to providing our 35 million viewers with the best in outdoor programming.”
“Our goal has always been to have Bassmaster TV programs distributed as widely as possible to allow anglers across the country access to our leading fishing series. Our new partnership with Outdoor Channel significantly increases our reach, and enables fishing fans to watch “The Bassmasters” during weekend prime time slots along with other popular fishing shows,” said Jerry McKinnis, a pioneer in outdoor television production and one of three new owners of B.A.S.S. “We’re excited to join Outdoor Channel and be part of its roster that includes the industry’s leading outdoor celebrities.”
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We are amped about the new colors coming from Zoom. Not only are the shapes through the roof but the new colors mimic baitfish superbly as well. The latest to the line-up is Disco Green.
Disco Green is an exciting new color that uses light and refraction properties in water to entice big bass to bite . This is a different twist on the popular new color Disco Violet. Disco Green adds some green flash to this shad color imitation and is perfect for clear or stained water conditions. The green glitter closely mimics the pearlescent coloring found in many shad and baitfish throughout the country.
Disco Green will initially be available in the following lures: Super Fluke, Super Fluke Jr., The Fluke, Tiny Fluke, Magnum Super Fluke, Swimmin’ Super Fluke, Swimmin’ Super Fluke Jr., Trick Worm and Finesse Worm.
You can learn more about Zoom products and colors by going to the Zoom Website. |
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Tim Norman knows how to get products built. Get the best pros and let them design and tweak each one so buyers don't have to. He is the guys that started this type of program with pro staffs in the industry and carries that methodology with him at Eco Pro Tungsten. Venerable pro Dean Rojas was with him at Spro where they put together the Spro Bronzeye Frog, among others, and now Dean has joined him at Eco Pro. They have several new patented products they will be showcasing at this years ICAST show, all designed and tweaked by Dean. Stay tuned. This could be another fun ride.
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Talon Series Custom Lures, the manufacturer of custom quality bass lures from Milam, Tex. announced the addition of Pete Pond to their National Pro Staff. Ponds, the 51-year-old angler from Madison, Miss. will join Billy McCaghren on Talon’s national fishing team.
Ponds said that he is thrilled to be joining a company that exhibits such attention to detail. “I am very excited to be working with Talon Lures,” said Ponds. “Andi and Ivan Sanders are great people that take the extra step to make the customer happy; which is rare in today’s world.”
He said that Talon’s commitment to quality stems from the fact that they are anglers themselves. “These folks at Talon are anglers, so they understand the importance of making lures the way I need them,” Ponds explained. “Every detail is important, from quality hooks to elaborate colors with precise strand counts on the skirts; their craftsmanship gives me the confidence that I need to put more fish in the boat; I strongly recommend everyone gives them a try if they want to improve their catch.”
Off the water, Ponds is known as a promoter and a tireless worker. His reputation for energetic presentation of his sponsors is but one of the things that made him attractive to Talon lures. “Pete comes to us very highly recommended as a spokesman of not only Talon Lures, but also for our sport,” said Andi Sanders, president of Talon Lures. “He is known for being a skilled angler; a hard worker and one who goes the extra mile to make sure his sponsors, the industry and the fans of the sport get everything he has, every day.”
Sanders said that they have plans to produce signature products with the Mississippi pro, and looks forward to adding his expertise to the Talon lineup. “Pete brings us a new perspective and a new style to our team, which will help us in product development,” she said. “He is a tremendous addition to our team, and we look forward to working and growing with him.”
Ponds is entering his 15th year in Bassmaster competition. He has logged 116 entries in that time and has cashed paychecks in 43 of those entries. His career highlights include five top 10 B.A.S.S. career finishes including a win in the 2004 Alabama Citgo Bassmaster Open on Lake Eufala.
He is a former Bassmaster Classic Qualifier and has earned $338,305.66 in his Bassmaster career. Ponds also has two top 10 finishes in 17 FLW Outdoors tournament entries. His sponsors include Ardent Reels, Bandit Lures, Vicious Fishing, Duckett Fishing, Scum Frog, Ranger Boats, Mercury Outboards, Power Pole and Talon Custom Lures.
Talon Series Custom Lures is based in Milam, Tex., they are a producer of high quality tackle, built to attract and land the massive bass found in Texas fisheries. They make each lure on site in their Texas facilities, bringing expert craftsmanship and design to life in their products. Visit them on the web at www.talonlures.com
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We just posted a new Scales and Tales cartoon from Bill McElroy that asks the age old question-"Is all press good press?" Slash imposter and Scales and Tales regular Lenny the Lizard thinks Charlie Sheen is stealing his thunder. To check out the new toon click here. |
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When you are looking for killer springtime baits CP Series Custom crankbaits will get the job done. Constructed of balsa, hand carved and painted and distributed by Mystic Tackleworks the CP Series is perfect for shallow water stump knocking. The Series 100 only dives 2-6 feet and when the big girls move up the wobble is something they cannot stand.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest. We have selected the winners and they are:
Donald Thibodeau
Peru, NY
Amanda Bostic
Caldwell, WV
Brandon Crosby
Madison, MS
Jerry Calcagno
Hollister, CA
Congrats to all and your crankbaits are on the way!
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The 2011 Oakley Big Bass Tour got underway on Lake Conroe this past weekend at the 14th annual Lake Conroe Big Bass Classic. More than 600 competing anglers faced brutal conditions Saturday as rain, high winds and a cold front hit Conroe. “The front hampered fishing conditions, and the double digit fish that Conroe is known for evaded anglers the entire weekend,” said Louis Wellen of Oakley Sports Marketing. Saturday’s competition ended with Harry Durham in the lead with a 9.51-pound bass he brought to the scales in the 10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m. hour.
Sunday's weather improved dramatically, and so did the quality of the fish brought to the scales. Harry Durham's lead was erased early on Sunday by only one one-hundredth of an ounce as Mark Brenckman opened the scales with a 9.52-pound bass. The new lead held up until the final hour on Sunday when Josh Ward from Montgomery, Texas brought a 9.98-pound monster to the Toyota Trucks stage to claim victory and the $25,000 Nitro Z7 grand prize. In a random drawing from all remaining hourly winners, Kevin Hutchins won the second $25,000 Nitro Z7.
“This was an outstanding tournament and we would like to thank all the anglers, our sponsors, and Papas on the Lake for an incredible event,” Wellen added. The next stop on the 2011 Oakley Big Bass Tour schedule is the Kevin Van Dam Big Bass Classic on Table Rock Lake, March 26th & 27th. For more information regarding upcoming events please visit www.oakleybigbass.com.
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We got some of the first batch of Ardent Screen Kleen, and it rocks! It was co-developed by Denny Brauer. It is a alcohol free, ammonia free, streak free spray cleaner for electronic screens of all types including marine, GPS, fish finders, cell phones, DVDs, TV screens, computer screens, etc. It comes with a micro fiber cloth in a resealable pouch small enough for a boat or truck console, glove box, briefcase etc. We have used it on our graphs, iPhones and computers, and it works as described -- no streaks, dries quickly and leaves no residue.
We have very hard water in our lakes, and spotting can be an issue on our graphs. Spots are easily removed with this product and can be wiped off while out on the water after treatment. The 2-ounce bottle lasts a long time, and not much is needed for each application.
Every boater and computer user should have a bottle of Screen Kleen. It retails for $12.99.
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Owner of several of the tackle industry’s most venerable lure names and creator of some of its newest designs, Luck “E” Strike USA has become a supporting sponsor of B.A.S.S. LLC’s premier tournament trails.
The Cassville, Mo.-based lure maker is now an official supporting sponsor of the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series and of the 2011 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens.
“We’re excited to have Luck “E” Strike on board with B.A.S.S.,” said Jerry McKinnis, one of the owners of the Florida-based membership, publishing and tournament organization.
“We want to be a part of the growth and excitement that’s happening with B.A.S.S.,” said John Hendricks, owner of Luck "E" Strike. “I know of the love Jerry has for the sport, and the commitment he has made to it all his life. His vision is our vision. We want to bring value and excitement back to the industry.”
Within the 2011 Elite field is legendary angler Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. A four-time Bassmaster Classic champion who first competed in a B.A.S.S. tournament in 1974, Clunn also has had a long-standing relationship with Luck “E” Strike.
“We are Rick’s oldest sponsor; we’ve been together for 25 years,” Hendricks said. “We just now released our first set of Rick Clunn baits. The best way to let people know about the RC Square crankbaits is through B.A.S.S.”
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Brandon Palaniuk, a 23-year old Bassmaster Elite Series rookie, is trading time atop a bulldozer on an Idaho logging road for 40,000 miles along professional bass fishing’s soul-torching highway. He sees it as a welcomed sacrifice for running down dreams… as long as you don’t mind sleeping in your truck.
“The rumor of me sleeping in my Toyota Tundra throughout the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series season is 100-percent true,” said the more-than-genuine Palaniuk, who endeared himself to the professional bass fishing community with a very impressive fourth place finish in the recent Bassmaster Classic.
“The Federation Nation has stepped-up, and a few of the Federation Nation members are offering me a chance to stay in their homes when an Elite Series tournament is near them. There are also a few web forums that have sprung-up since the Classic that are raising money out of their own pockets to book me a hotel, but there’s sure to be nights where my Tundra becomes my hotel room,” said Palaniuk, who obviously lacks a rich relative willing to bankroll him.
Palaniuk’s Toyota Tundra has also become a career supporting investment through the Bonus Bucks program. “Between the Federation Nation events and the Bassmaster Classic, within the last three months I have won $14,000 in Toyota Trucks Bonus Bucks. In fact, Bonus Bucks was a deciding factor when I started looking for a new tow vehicle. Because of Bonus Bucks, I visited Parker Toyota in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, took a test drive and walked out with the keys to my new Tundra three hours later,” said Palaniuk, a self-proclaimed fan of throwing 6-inch swimbaits.
“My Tundra has un-matched stopping power and the most comfortable interior in the business, and trust me, when you drive 40,000 miles a year, and stand to fish 12 hours a day, those comfortable seats are a life saver. If I have to sleep it in it during the year to come, that’s fine, if that’s what it’s going to take for me to make it in this sport,” concluded Palaniuk, who listens to a lot of Johnny Cash and Jason Aldean along his travels. He welcomes fans to follow his rookie season by befriending him on Facebook.
Becoming eligible to cash in on Bonus Bucks like Brandon has is very simple. Drive a 2007 or newer Tundra, Sequoia, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser or Tacoma, send in your registration form, do well in your tournaments – and you win the Bonus Bucks. To find out more and make sure you’re signed-up visit ToyotaTrucksBonusBucks.com.
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With the Elite Series about to get under way for 2011, Koppers Fishing and Tackle Corp., producers of LIVETARGET life-like premium lures, announced today that David Walker has formally signed a deal with the Company.
"We are very excited to have David on board", said Grant Koppers, company owner and president. "David is a great addition to our team. He brings a wealth of crankbait technical knowledge to our product development team, and his track record and experience on tour (on and off the water) speaks for itself. David is one of the true gentlemen of the sport, and we are proud to have him on board."
"This Company gets it when it comes to building the right products for fish and anglers alike," Walker said. "They value my input and experience and this creates a great synergy for both sides. The quality and the finishes of their baits are incredible, and I know they will contribute to my success on the Elite Series this year."
Walker joins fellow Bass Elite Series angler Stephen Browning on the factory pro staff team.
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Photo courtesy of FLW Outdoors
Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces Sunday to win $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour presented by Straight Talk on Beaver Lake with a four-day catch of 18 bass weighing 54-8.
“I don’t want to slow down,” said Thrift, who is the reigning Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year and has posted seven top-10 finishes and two wins in the last eight events dating back to the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. “I want to catch them everywhere I go. That’s my goal.
“After yesterday when I caught a big bag I thought I might have a chance (to win),” Thrift added. “As slow as it started today I thought it was over. I didn’t think there was any way I was going to catch a big bag. And lo and behold I pulled into Prairie Creek landing 10 minutes before weigh-in and threw my jerkbait beside a cedar tree. It’s sinking down through there and my line jumps and I catch a 3 ½- or 4-pounder five minutes before weigh-in. So that’s definitely what did it for me. I culled a 12-inch (spotted bass) with it.”
That 12-inch fish was the only cull of the day for Thrift on Sunday, as he caught only six keepers on the last day of competition.
Thrift said he began the tournament catching fish on a translucent jerkbait with a blue back around timber on points and was having some success, but was tipped off by fellow North Carolina competitor Matt Arey that the fish seemed to prefer a fast retrieve, which bucks the notion that jerkbaits should be slowed down in colder water temperatures.
“I took it down the lake the third day to where I’d been catching them,” Thrift said. “I was in 4 feet of water jerking the jerkbait just as hard as I could jerk it and they were knocking the paint off of it. It was ridiculous.
“But today with the sun and no wind I had to slow down a lot,” Thrift said. “I caught one big one shallow first thing on that jerkbait jerking it real fast and all the rest of them I caught on cedar trees.”
Thrift said he changed the stock jerkbait hooks to larger hooks that would make the bait sink slowly. He said he would twitch the bait up to a tree and then dead-stick it and let the bait fall by the tree for 20 to 30 seconds (15 to 20 feet) before the strike would come. Thrift said this method produced eight bass from one cedar tree.
Thrift’s winning setup consisted of a 6-foot, 6-inch Damiki Dark Angel medium-heavy rod, a rod Thrift called “hands-down the best jerkbait rod” he’s ever thrown. Thrift relied on an Abu Garcia Revo reel and 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon to finish out his rig.
“I’ve had fished wrapped up in trees all week and bumping rocks and docks,” Thrift said. “That line is ridiculous strong to be 10-pound line.”
Thrift said he also caught two of his weigh fish during the tournament on a bluegill-colored Damiki DC-200 crankbait.
Thrift opened the tournament in 36th place Thursday with three bass weighing 8-11. On Friday he added another five bass weighing 11-6 to move to 16th place. He then caught five bass weighing 20-8 Saturday to make the crucial top-10 cut in second place.
The catch gave Thrift the win by a 2-pound, 2-ounce margin over Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo., who caught a total of 19 bass weighing 52-6 and earned $35,000.
“I fished three patterns primarily,” said King, who posted his highest finish in an FLW Tour event. “I had been catching a few fish on a jerkbait just like some of the other guys, then on a cloudy, windy day I caught them on a (Storm) Wiggle Wart a lot. Now, when it was sunny and bright I was fishing a little Cordell Super Shad that’s not even made any more. I fished them for 35 or 40 years and that’s what I caught most of them today on.”
King said his baits were shad colored with the exception of a green craw Wiggle Wart. King said his Wiggle Wart fish were scattered on steep banks and in creeks and his other fish were found on steep secondary points in coves that featured cedar trees.
“I’ve fished Beaver for many years on and off,” King said. “I don’t fish over here very much, but I have fished here a lot over the years. It fit my program pretty well.”
The remaining top 10 pros finished the tournament in:
3rd: EverStart pro Ron Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 16 bass, 49-4, $30,000
4th: Pickens Plan pro Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 20 bass, 48-8, $25,000
5th: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 48-4, $20,000
6th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 15 bass, 43-10, $17,000
7th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 19 bass, 42-12, $16,000
8th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 20 bass, 42-11, $15,000
9th: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 18 bass, 37-4, $14,000
10th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 16 bass, 35-9, $13,000
A complete list of results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
More Quotes from the Top 10:
Randy Blaukat - "I just went practicing today. My two primary areas had nothing. I hooked that big fish on 6-pound line and a Megabass Ito Vision 110 Jerkbait and it got me in a tree and I had to go around and around in a circle to get it loose. After that it changed my momentum and I caught 4 or 5 more keepers after that."
David Dudley - "I'd have to take up smoking to fish a jerkbait like these other guys. You know. Jerk it, then smoke a cigarette and then jerk it again. I can't sit still that long. I don't know how they do it. I fished a shaky head."
Dave Lefebre - "There were a lot of people who's jaws dropped when I was leading this event on the first day. This place has been a thorn in my side. I had a great start but it just got tougher every day for me. But I can't complain. This is my best finish here."
Wesley Strader - "This place is special to me. This was my first lake to make a top 10. So to make another one here is really special."
Justin Lucas - "I really wanted to take down Blaylock in this event but I don't guess I'll get it done here. I had a slow day today, but I can't complain. I was catching my fish on a Lucky Craft Pointer."
Matt Arey - "This was a great tournament. The creek I was fishing was a little bluff end pocket with some timber on it and a shelf that came out from the end. The fish were staging in the timber at first and when they would feed, the would move up on that shelf. I was catching 50 fish a day the first couple of days. The numbers just got less every day. I only had 5 keeper bites today."
Stacey King - "I had a great day today. I was watching the forecast and wasn't really excited about the fishing today. It was supposed to be sunny and high pressure and cold and I was thinking it would hurt the fishing. BUt I got out there and it was windy and overcast so I went to one spot where I had two big fish. And I caught a big smallmouth on a Cotton Cordell Super George - a 30-year-old bait. From then on it was awesome. I had that limit but I probably had several 10-pound limits of spots.
Bryan Thrift - "I'm just glad to be here. The first time I came here I finished 95th and I just learned more each year. This is the first time I've been here in March. I caught most of my fish this week on a jerkbait with a Damiki MH 6'6" jerkbait rod. They have the best jerkbait rods on the market. It's been a great week.
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Photo Courtesy of FLW Outdoors
EverStart pro Ron Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to capture the lead at the Walmart FLW Tour on Beaver Lake presented by Straight Talk and advanced to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 13 bass weighing 41-6,he now holds a 13-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.
“It was frigid, it was windy, it was cloudy and it was the kind of day going in that I thought was an opportunity to catch a pretty good sack of fish,” said Shuffield, who is looking for his first FLW Tour win. “These fish in the northern lakes, especially in the clear water where I’m fishing, tend to bite a little bit better in these conditions than they do on a bright, clear bluebird day. So I was optimistic.
“I had a new area that I practiced in but had not fished during the event,” Shuffield added. “It had all the ingredients of what I was looking for. And I could tell it hadn’t been touched.”
Shuffield said he had most of his weigh fish caught by 9:18 a.m. He said he culled “once or twice” during the course of the day and spent the majority of the day looking for particular structure and types of pockets for Sunday’s competition.
“I’m trying to fish new water every day,” Shuffield said. “I’m not trying to do much repeat stuff at all. These fish are trying to move into their spawn areas, so they’re staging halfway to the backs of the coves. But they’re on really weird stuff. Some of them are suspended under boat docks in 30 feet of water. One will be on a laydown tree and one will be on a rock formation that’s isolated all by itself. That’s the kind of stuff these fish are keying on.”
Shuffield said he’s keeping three rods ready on the deck of his boat. One has a Storm Wiggle Wart tied on and the other two feature jerkbaits. He said he finds the random objects he wants to target then approaches the structure with both types of baits to trigger strikes. Despite the water temperatures, Shuffield said he’s using a moderate retrieve for the baits.
“The fish are pretty quick to react,” Shuffield said. “They’ve seen so many jerkbaits this week in competition that I think they’re really kind of shying away from it. Each day I’ve caught a few more fish on the Wiggle Wart – especially some better quality largemouth.”
Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 40-9.
“I’d been catching some fish off of some shallow places and I knew with it being cloudy and windy that the fish should still be up shallow where I was catching them,” said Thrift, who is the reigning Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year. “And that’s what I’m doing. I’m running a shallow pattern and catching them in 10 feet of water or less and throwing a jerkbait and having a good time.”
Thrift said he caught a total of 20 fish during the course of the day, including seven keepers, and most of them came during the early part of the day. Thrift said he’s staying in one area and running “just a couple of hundred yards here and there.”
“The wind helped me a lot,” Thrift said. “I definitely need the wind blowing in on the banks. I think that helps them get up shallow a lot better.
“Me and Ron are both catching big fish, so I’m just ready to get out there tomorrow and see how it goes,” Thrift added.
Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:
3rd: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 14 bass, 35-10
4th: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 35-10
5th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 14 bass, 33-12
6th: Pickens Plan pro Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 15 bass, 33-11
7th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 33-6
8th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 31-13
9th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 15 bass, 31-12
10th: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 14 bass, 31-4
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 12 bass, 31-0, $12,500
12th: Brad Roberts, Nancy, Ky., 15 bass, 30-11, $12,500
13th: Nick Larson, Ball Ground, Ga., 12 bass, 30-9, $12,666.67
14th: Shane Long, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 30-4, $12,500
15th: Roy Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, 11 bass, 29-9, $12,500
16th: Sean Hoernke, The Woodlands, Texas, 14 bass, 29-1, $12,000
17th: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., eight bass, 26-5, $12,000
18th: Bo Cross, Knoxville, Tenn., 11 bass, 24-12, $12,000
19th: Walmart pro George Cochran, Hot Springs, Ark., nine bass, 22-10, $12,000
20th: National Guard pro Mark Rose, Marion, Ark., 10 bass, 22-7, $12,000
Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Overall there were 76 bass weighing 192 pounds, 14 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 11 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachitawhere pros are competing for a top prize of $600,000 – the sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious 2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of nine bass weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Mark Horton of Nicholasville, Ky., in second place with eight bass weighing 18-0 worth $7,500.
“I had practiced in the dirty water the whole practice,” Blaylock said. “I wanted my pro to go to dirty water today, but I ended up winning it in the clear (water).
“I mean, to go out the first day and catch 12 or 13 keepers and think everybody else is doing it … ,” Blaylock added. “I came in and everybody else hadn’t caught them and I knew the Lord had blessed me so much.”
Blaylock said he fished a swimbait on a jighead during the three days of competition. He fished the bait through trees or whatever cover he was presented and fared well on the swimbait except on the final day of competition where he failed to land a fish. In fact, he said he had only one bite Saturday and broke that fish off and lost it.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., seven bass, 17-10, $5,000
4th: Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 16-15, $4,125
5th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., six bass, 15-7, $3,000
6th: Van Foster Jr., Dalton, Ga., nine bass, 14-13, $2,500
7th: Mark Shelton, Fayetteville, Ark., seven bass, 14-11, $2,000
8th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 14-8, $1,800
9th: Brock Bertrand, Fayetteville, Ark., six bass, 14-4, $1,700
10th: Ronnie Lawson, Hollister, Mo., five bass, 13-15, $1,600
Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Overall there were 19 bass weighing 40 pounds, 10 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included no five-bass limits.
Photo by Lance Roe
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The Performa Tournament Class series spinning reels PEF 30 was highlighted in Field & Stream's Best of the Best for 2011 in the spinning reel category. Cost effective at under $100 ($89.99), this spinning reel is touted as having the best features and components in the price range.
The Performa Series offers superior smoothness due to seven double-shielded stainless steel ball bearings. It casts well thanks to its precision-machined and ported spool. The reel's tough yet lightweight ADC-12 Aluminum Alloy body, and its FatWire Bail, balanced precision rotor and ResistTwist Line Roller offer excellent line management. The Performa offers tournament class performance. Pinnacle Performa XT Spinning Reel is best for drop-shotting, shaky heads and all your finesse applications.
Don't forget to check out Pinnacles Facebook page by clicking here. New promotions are being added every day. |
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ATX Series Wheels is excited to announce its sponsorship of Elite Series angler Britt Myers for the 2011 season. “When we quick, not only was he an accomplished angler but his other passion was outfitting vehicles through his shop CS Motorsports in North Carolina, says Chris Anderson from ATX”. It seemed like a natural fit, Britt has a lot of knowledge regarding what wheel and tire combinations will work with the various boat trailers, and what the needs are for customers that are doing a lot of towing.
For the Classic we needed to have a truck in our booth that would showcase our new ATX Ledge wheel coated with Teflon® and Britt came up with the plan to build a new 2011 Tundra with a 12” lift and wrap it with matte black vinyl. The truck was built in less than a month and was a show stopper at the classic. A week later Britt completed his boat and trailer with matching 17” ATX Ledge wheels and the same matte black wrap, a combination that will definitely get some attention at the upcoming Elite Series Sunshine Showdown event.
ATX Wheels has a variety of wheel styles in both chrome and coated with Teflon® that are available in sizes to fit both your tow vehicle and your trailer. To check out all the styles that ATX has for you vehicle go to www.atxwheels.com
Watch next week on Wired Media as Britt will give a complete overview of his Toyota Tundra.
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Photo Courtesy of FLW Outdoors
Walmart FLW Tour pro Shad Schenck of Waynetown, Ind., caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces Friday to capture the lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on Beaver Lake presented by Straight Talk. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 7 ounces gives him a 2-pound, 1-ounce lead heading into the third day of the tournament. There were 158 pros and 158 co-anglers from across the United States, Canada and Mexico that started the tournament. The top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.
“I think every tournament you fish you definitely learn something when you fish against this caliber of fishermen,” said Schenck, who began fishing FLW Outdoors events in Bass Fishing League competition and worked his way to the premier field of the FLW Tour. “I’m keying on some things that were important that I learned in the past fishing the lake. It’s always the little things that really separate people when you’re fishing. Those couple of little things could be the difference.
“It doesn’t really matter if I’m first or fifth,” said Schenck. “I still have to catch them again tomorrow and again on Sunday. It’s a cumulative weight. You basically have to go out and do your job again tomorrow. With that being said, it’s a tough tournament.”
Schenck said he keyed in on two areas Friday that didn’t see much, if any, boat traffic on the second day of competition. Schenck said he was fishing slowly and not moving the boat much during the course of the day.
“I’m fishing very, very thorough,” said Schenck. “As long as I can fish those areas by myself I’ll be fine.”
Day one leader Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., is in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26-6.
“Yesterday I caught seven or eight keeper largemouth, and today I only caught two,” said Lefebre. “With the front coming, generally the fish like to feed before a front and they’re waiting until the last second. It was pretty obvious they didn’t bite as good today.”
Lefebre said he caught a limit fairly quickly in the morning and knew he wouldn’t have to catch much to make the cut.
“That was my goal – not to screw that up,” Lefebre said. “You never know what’s going to happen. I’m not disappointed.”
Rounding out the top 20 pros that will fish another day on Beaver Lake are:
3rd: Roy Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, 10 bass, 23-12
4th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 10 bass, 23-5
5th: EverStart pro Ron Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., eight bass, 22-12
6th: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 22-2
7th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-10
8th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., nine bass, 21-7
9th: Pickens Plan pro Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 10 bass, 21-2
10th: Shane Long, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 20-15
11th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., six bass, 20-13
12th: Walmart pro George Cochran, Hot Springs, Ark., eight bass, 20-8
13th: Nick Larson, Ball Ground, Ga., seven bass, 20-4
14th: Sean Hoernke, The Woodlands, Texas, nine bass, 20-2
15th: National Guard pro Mark Rose, Marion, Ark., nine bass, 20-2
16th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., eight bass, 20-1
17th: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 19-15
18th: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., six bass, 19-14
19th: Bo Cross, Knoxville, Tenn., nine bass, 19-14
20th: Brad Roberts, Nancy, Ky., 10 bass, 19-12
Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.
Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape pro Ray Scheide of Dover, Ark., Tom Spangler of Corryton, Tenn., and Larson tied for the Snickers® Big Bass weight of 6-3 on the pro side and each won $166.67.
Overall there were 412 bass weighing 903 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 137 pros Friday. The catch included 41 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachitawhere pros are competing for a top prize of $600,000 – the sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious 2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark., leads the Co-angler Division with an opening-round total of nine bass weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces, followed by Brandon Hunter of Benton, Ky., in second place with seven bass weighing 17-10.
Rounding out the top 20 co-anglers are:
3rd: Mark Horton, Nicholasville, Ky., seven bass, 16-3
4th: Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., four bass, 15-2
5th: Jeffrey Cummins, Marion, Ohio, five bass, 13-8
6th: Mark Shelton, Fayetteville, Ark., six bass, 12-11
7th: Brock Bertrand, Fayetteville, Ark., five bass, 12-7
8th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., four bass, 10-15
9th: Tony Nation, Springdale, Ark., five bass, 10-13
10th: Van Foster Jr., Dalton, Ga., seven bass, 10-7
11th: Ronnie Lawson, Hollister, Mo., four bass, 10-4
12th: Stephen Williams, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 10-3
13th: Donald Myrick, Verbena, Ala., four bass, 10-2
14th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., three bass, 9-15
15th: Jim Campbell, Maryville, Tenn., six bass, 9-4
16th: James Dixon, Southfield, Mich., six bass, 9-3
17th: Steven Meador, Bella Vista, Ark., three bass, 8-8
18th: Joseph Ellis Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 7-10
19th: Glen Williams, Cullman, Ala., four bass, 7-10
20th: Patrick Roy, Syracuse, N.Y., two bass, 7-10
Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.
Rick Harkness of St. Marys, W.V., and Jarabeck tied the Snickers® Big Bass weight of 5-7 in the co-angler division to each win $125.
Overall there were 150 bass weighing 302 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 116 co-anglers Friday. The catch included one five-bass limit.
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Wired2Fish TV Triple Header night on Versus!
1. In the 6:00 pm CST time slot during Quest for the One: Elite Series Pro Denny Brauer talks trolling motors and how he uses them the locate fish quickly.
2. In the 6:30 pm CST time slot during Quest for the One: Walleye Pro Marty Glorvigen shows us how to get maximum boat performance and the correct prop to use for your style of fishing.
3. In the 10:30 pm CST time slot during City Limits Fishing: Elite Series Pro Shaw Grigsby teaches us how to find fish and key structure they relate to faster using electronics and structure scan.
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Kellogg’s
Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., crossed the stage
Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 4 ounces to lead day
one of the Walmart FLW Tour on Beaver Lake presented by Straight Talk.
Lefebre holds a slim 7-ounce lead over National Guard pro Justin Lucas
of Guntersville, Ala., who caught five bass weighing 15-13 in a
tournament featuring 316 anglers from all across the country, Canada and
Mexico.
“You never know what you have in one of these tough (tournaments),”
said Lefebre, who has struggled at Beaver Lake in the past. “Practice
was so tough. I got three bites the first day, one bite the second day
and six bites the third day of practice. Any time it’s that tough in
practice you really don’t know what you have. I’m pleasantly surprised. I
feel very, very awesome about the next day.”
Lefebre said he discovered a spot the last day of practice that allows
him to sit in 80 feet of water and concentrate on “making two casts.”
He fishes from one boat position for a while and then repositions the
boat and focuses on a new area to let his other fish rest.
“I can catch keepers on it all day long, I think,” said Lefebre. “That
was a place I thought I could catch two or three to get the day started
at least and I’d be struggling from there on, but this spot seems to be
replenishing itself. It’s a perfect pre-spawn type of deal.
“I’m not going to get my hopes up,” Lefebre added. “I’m real happy to
be leading Beaver Lake. This place has been a thorn in my side for many
years, as anyone would know. I’ve just been getting consistently better
over the past three years here.”
Lefebre left his spot with four fish in the livewell Thursday and said
he would be surprised if his area did not hold fish all four days of
the tournament.
Lucas said he focused on two spots on the first day of competition and
relied heavily on a Lucky Craft jerkbait during the course of the day.
He managed to catch all five of his weigh fish, including a 5-pound,
6-ounce kicker fish, during a one-hour flurry of action from 10:30 to
11:30 a.m. That kicker fish turned out to be the day’s Snickers® Big Bass that earned Lucas $500.
Lucas said he hopes Friday’s forecast for isolated thunderstorms will help him on the second day of competition.
“I have one area that’s key and one other area that I felt like I
could catch them, and I started there,” said Lucas. “I even went back
later in the day and hoped they had turned on, but they hadn’t. I don’t
know if the water’s too clear or what. Maybe this storm will help them
bite a little bit and make them more comfortable.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on Beaver Lake are:
3rd: Justin Kerr, Simi Valley, Calif., five bass, 14-4
4th: Shad Schenk, Waynetown, Ind., five bass, 13-9
5th: Chad Brauer, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 13-4
6th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., five bass, 12-4
7th: Bobby McMullin, Pevely, Mo., five bass, 12-3
8th: Roy Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, five bass, 12-0
9th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 11-6
10th: Matthew Stefan, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 11-5
For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Overall there were 406 bass weighing 845 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 139 pros Thursday. The catch included 33 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus
valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup
presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This
year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake
Ouachitawhere pros are competing for a top prize of $600,000 – the
sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious
2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that
will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour
Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.
Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark., leads the Co-angler Division with
five bass weighing 13-6 followed by Jeffrey Cummins of Marion, Ohio, in
second place with three bass weighing 9-15.
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Van Foster Jr., Dalton, Ga., five bass, 8-1
4th: Tony Nation, Springdale, Ark., two bass, 7-6
5th: Ronnie Lawson, Hollister, Mo., three bass, 7-4
6th: Jacques Fleischmann, Lampe, Mo., three bass, 7-0
7th: Jim Campbell, Maryville, Tenn., four bass, 6-15
8th: Johnny Carr, Loxley, Ala., four bass, 6-13
9th: Maurice Cobb, Kuttawa, Ky., one bass, 6-10
10th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., three bass, 6-8
For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Cobb caught the Snickers® Big Bass weighing 6-10 in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 146 bass weighing 287 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 88
co-anglers Thursday. The catch included two five-bass limits.
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ATX Series Wheels is excited to announce its sponsorship of Elite Series angler Gerald Swindle for the 2011 season. “We knew Gerald had the reputation for being into his vehicles and it seemed like the perfect match for ATX to align itself not only with a top angler and fan favorite but also with someone that was already into our product, say Chris Anderson from ATX”.
Since ATX launched our wheels coated with Teflon® back in 2004 we have been getting an increased amount of interests from outdoor enthusiast that praise the unique appearance of the wheels and the great benefits of having a wheel coated with Teflon®.Wheels coated with Teflon® are exclusive to American Racing’s ATX Series and they are much more resistant to brake dust, dirt, road film and UV degradation.
It was great to be able to have Gerald’s new 2011 Tundra outfitted with the new 20” ATX “Ledge” wheel for the classic, got it done just in time to put a poster together for him to sign at our booth on Sunday. ATX was extremely honored to be associated with Gerald when we were at the weigh-in on Saturday night and he brought up Kevin Oldham who is battling cancer, it put everything into perspective and was a moment that I think people that were there will not soon forget.
Look for Gerald’s ATX outfitted truck and boat at an Elite Series event near you. ATX has a full line of wheels for both your tow vehicle and boat trailer in a variety of finishes and sizes. To check out all the styles that ATX has for you vehicle go to www.atxwheels.com
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Z-Man has joined Wired2Fish as an advertiser for 2011. They are the makers of the Original Chatterbait and the Elaztech Family of plastic products.
"We are very excited to be adding Z-Man to the stellar group of advertisers on Wired2Fish.com" said Wired2Fish President Terry Brown. "They are an innovative, technology based company that utilizes their pro staff to design and develop baits to help anglers catch more fish."
"We are incredibly excited about the upcoming year" said Z-Man's Daniel Nussbaum. "Getting to work with Luke Clausen, David Walker and Stephen Browning with our Ten Times Tough Elaztech products is over the top. Our recent showing with the Original Chatterbait at the Bassmaster Classic also shows the staying power of that bait as well."
Be on the look out for new products and contests from Z-Man right here on Wired2Fish.
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Likable pro J Todd Tucker has shifted boat and motor sponsors for the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series. This season he’ll be running a Phoenix 721 and a Mercury 250 XP.
“Sponsor shifts are a never ending process in the world of professional bass fishing,” Tucker said. “I've been very fortunate to have had some awesome sponsors in the few short years I've been fishing at the professional level. Yamaha, Skeeter and Ranger are all great products and have served me well over the years. They all have some great people working with them, especially in regard to the Service Crews. They are truly the unsung heroes that support us all.
“It was simply time to move on and take advantage of the opportunity afforded me by Phoenix Boats and Mercury Marine.”
“We at Phoenix Boats are pleased to have J Todd join our Phoenix Pro Staff for the 2011 tournament season,” said Gary Clouse, President, Phoenix Boats. “His marketing ability and down to earth personality fit in with not only Phoenix Boats but the rest of our pro staff. No doubt his ability to market the Phoenix brand along with himself will be a great combination.”
“Everyone is familiar with Mercury and Motorguide and how dependable they are,” Tucker said. “I'm really excited about running the Mercury line of products this season. The Phoenix 721 matched with the Mercury 250 XP makes for an awesome competitive combination.”
Big Green Egg is once again Tucker's primary sponsor and will serve as his truck and boat wrap for the 2011 season. He also remains aligned with Abu-Garcia, Trilene, Berkley, Optima Batteries, Power Pole, Eco Pro Tungsten, Costa Del Mar, Buf's Place in PCB, Southern Woods Plantation and his “Pit Crew”, which is made up of friends and family.
The newest addition to his boat wrap will be Larry's Bait and Tackle located in Moultrie, Ga.
“They're a family owned and operated tackle and repair shop that has been tremendously supportive of me over the past few years,” said Tucker. “I can't say enough about these folks. I can't tell you how many times Pat and Larry have come through for me when I needed something done quic – a perfect example of home town support. It's what makes it all work. Without all the support, we simply couldn't be out here.”
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On the eve of the Walmart FLW Tour on Beaver Lake presented by Straight Talk, FLW Outdoors has announced the unveiling of its newly redesigned website. Located at the same Internet address, the new FLWOutdoors.com features a cleaner, fresher look while maintaining its user-friendly organization.
The new FLWOutdoors.com home page features 10 of the most compelling and recent articles as they rotate through the lead story slot. Flanked to the right are direct links to tournament results and standings. The latest news button directly below serves as the gateway for all recent articles. FLW Live, Blogs, Membership and more are also available from that main navigation screen.
“We have spent the last several months analyzing our site, researching, exploring technological changes and reviewing input from our readers and fans. We are proud to introduce our most comprehensive redesign of FLWOutdoors.com,” said Trisha Blake, president, FLW Outdoors Marketing Division. “The site features easier navigation, improved aesthetics and many new features that will continue to make FLWOutdoors.com a premier online destination for both tournament and recreation anglers alike.”
As always, FLWOutdoors.com boasts comprehensive news, photos, results, details and videos from each of its tournament trails including up-to-date information on the Walmart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Walmart Bass Fishing League, National Guard FLW Walleye Tour, National Guard FLW College Fishing, The Bass Federation and High School Fishing.
To see more visit, FLWOutdoors.com.
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Bassmaster Elite Series pro Derek Remitz of Alabama re-signed with Omega Custom Tackle for his featured wrap on the Bassmaster Elite Series fishing tournament trail for 2011.
"It's very exciting to have Derek re-sign with Omega Custom Tackle for another year," said Todd Barnes, owner of Omega Custom Tackle. "Derek is a great representative for us and well respected among his peers. He is known for deep water structure fishing with his Omega signature series football head jig."
Remitz who is coming off a third-place finish at the Bassmaster Classic Championship was equally excited.
"I have been with Omega Custom Tackle since the beginning and thrilled to be continuing as part of their pro staff," said Remitz. "I just went and picked up my new boat with the new Omega Custom Tackle wrap and I can't wait to get this season started."
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 B.A.S.S. Photo
Longtime Elite Series pro Mark Tucker just got his first B.A.S.S win at Lake Lewisville in Texas. He "Weighs In" today about bait selection, rigging and what this means to him on Weighing In Radio with Terry Brown. He even tells a squirrel story. Stick to fishing Tuck!
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Castrol, widely acknowledged as the world’s leading provider of motor oils and lubricants, will continue its long-standing partnership entering its 10th season with FLW Outdoors, the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization.
Trisha Blake, president, FLW Outdoor Marketing Division, stated: “We are proud to continue our affiliation with Castrol. Our long-term relationship has been extremely beneficial to both of our organizations and we look forward to another successful season.”
"Castrol is pleased to announce our continuing sponsorship with FLW Outdoors for the 2011 season,” said Bob Aenchbacher, Castrol Sales Director. “Being a sponsor of FLW Outdoors for the last nine years has been a great fit for our Castrol brands (GTX, GTX High Mileage, Syntec and Edge) and the anglers and fans of FLW Outdoors. FLW Outdoors has given us the ability to reach more of our consumers and has been an important driver of our success. We are excited about our on-going relationship and look forward to a great year in 2011."
Fans will also have the opportunity to interact with three legends of the sport who will serve as brand ambassadors: David Dudley, Darrel Robertson and Mike Surman will sport the Castrol colors.
Dudley, a Lynchburg, Va., native, won the Forrest Wood Cup in 2003 and is FLW Outdoors’ all-time money winner with more than $2.5 million to his credit. His stellar career spans 15 years, and he was named the Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year in 2008.
Robertson has achieved about every award available on the Walmart FLW Tour. The Jay, Okla., resident won the Forrest Wood Cup and the Ranger M1 Millennium in 1999, the latter offering $600,000 – the richest purse in the sport at the time. Surman, who resides in Boca Raton, Fla., has fished the FLW Tour for 15 years, qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup five times and earned 18 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors competition.
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Ranger Boats blog page just put up a new video of Ranger pro Denny Brauer giving an overview of the Ranger Trail Trailer. There is also an update from Randy Tharp after the Classic and a nice article on Forrest L Wood. To take a look at the blog click here. |
 One great benefit of being a member of the
Professional Anglers Association is the Affinity Program that provides
discounts on a wide range of fishing, boating and vehicle accessories,
hotel rates and tackle.
Gaining
access to the program is easier now with the new Affinity Level
membership. For just $20 a year, Affinity Level members receive a
membership card, PAA decals for your truck or boat and access to a
growing list of 50 partners in the Affinity Program.
“There’s no better way to support the PAA and also enjoy the great
benefits provided by these Affinity Program partners,” said Danny
Blandford, PAA Program Director. “Members can save thousands of dollars
each year through the discounts offered for fishing rods, reels, line,
lures, hotel stays, clothing, boat and vehicle products and other great
things anglers use every day. We just added our 50th partner and have
more to come this year, so it’s a great deal that just keeps getting
better.”
The popular PayDay Bonus Program will
remain as a part of the General or Advantage Memberships only. Those who
want to take advantage of this lucrative program will need to join or
maintain their status as General or Advantage Members. Since starting in
2009, the PAA has awarded more than $22,000 to members throughout the
country who are winning bonuses in their local and regional events.
PAA members also have the opportunity to win a free U.S. Reel
baitcasting or spinning reel during the “Reel in a Member” promotion
through the end of March.
The promotion will award a new U.S. Reel SuperCaster spinning reel each
business day in March, beginning Wednesday, March 2. One winner will be
chosen via random drawing each business day for the SuperCaster SX
spinning reel (MSRP, $119). Anyone who joins or renews their current PAA
membership at any
level in March will be registered for the daily prize. Daily winners
will be notified by the PAA and winners will be announced each Monday on
FishPAA.com.
In addition, all new or renewed memberships will go into a Grand Prize
drawing for a SuperCaster 1000 baitcasting reel (MSRP, $179). One Grand
Prize winner will be chosen at random from all those who join or renew
in March.
For more information on membership levels or to join the PAA, visit fishpaa.com/membership/
For questions about membership or the PAA PayDay program, or to join via credit card, contact the PAA at (270) 527-2030.
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The
nation’s most time-honored military branch, the National Guard, has
extended its partnership with FLW Outdoors, the world’s largest
tournament-fishing organization. This union is more than a sponsorship:
it is an avenue to spread awareness of the national commitment of our
servicemen and women to outdoor enthusiasts throughout the world, giving
back to our soldiers and veterans through an opportunity to engage in
fishing events, and encourage people to explore the opportunity of
serving their country.
SOLDIER APPRECIATION
Trisha Blake, president, FLW Outdoors Marketing Division,
stated: “We are both honored and proud to have the opportunity to
continue our long-standing partnership with the National Guard. The
impact they have had on the growth of our sport has been remarkable.
What the National Guard men and women do each day to serve and protect
our communities, country and the world is something we should all be
thankful for. We look forward to further building upon our unique
partnership as we continue to educate our constituents about the
opportunities that serving in the National Guard present as well as
honoring those that have served with our soldier appreciation
tournaments.”
The National Guard will continue to serve as the title sponsor
of National Guard FLW College Fishing, solidifying its commitment to
bringing high-end tournament fishing to campuses across the country. It
will also be the title sponsor of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour,
the world’s premier walleye tournament circuit. The Guard will continue
to sponsor The Bass Federation (TBF) Junior World Championship and the
TBF National Championship while serving as the presenting sponsor for
the Walmart FLW Tour events on Lake Chickamauga and the Potomac River
during the 2011 season.
FLW Outdoors and The Bass Federation launched a new national
program in 2011, High School Fishing, the largest student-angler
initiative in history. The National Guard will serve as the title
sponsor for the High School Fishing Regional Championships and the High
School Fishing National Championship. These championship events will be
held in conjunction with the regional and national championship events
for College Fishing.
The National Guard is also a vital component of the newly
launched FLW Outdoors Wounded Heroes Fishing program. The program
connects FLW Outdoors member volunteers with wounded veterans for a day
of fishing. The program was launched earlier in 2011 and has seen
incredible participation throughout the country. To take a veteran
fishing for a day, sign up at FLWOutdoors.com/community/wounded-heroes/.
The National Guard FLW Soldier Appreciation Tournaments began in
2010, and they will continue to be operated by FLW Outdoors in
conjunction with the Guard at select FLW Outdoors events in 2011. These
tournaments are designed to reward service and excellence among
deserving soldiers.
"The National Guard is proud to continue our partnership with FLW Outdoors,” said 1st
Lt. Benjamin Bullington. “We look forward to another year of telling
the National Guard’s story and representing all of the soldiers who have
served or are currently serving both at home and overseas. Our soldiers
are doing great things every day all over the world, and our
partnership presents a great vehicle in order to honor their service."
NATIONAL GUARD PRO STAFF
Representing Team National Guard in 2011 will be some of the
best anglers in the sport of bass fishing. The pro team will consist of
Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif.; Jonathan Newton of Rogersville, Ala.;
Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala.; and Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla.;
as well as newcomers Brett Hite of Phoenix and Mark Rose of Marion,
Ark., who will all compete on the FLW Tour.
Serving as co-anglers on the FLW Tour will be Sgt. 1st
Class Reginald Falls of Howard, Pa.; Sgt. Adam Lock of Metropolis,
Ill.; Command Sgt. Maj. Michael “Doc” McGhee of Blackstone, Va.; Capt.
Curtis Persinger of New Albany, Ind.; and Sgt. 1st Class Mark
Wojciechowski of Smyrna, Tenn. McGhee will also fish as a pro in FLW
Tour Open events, and Capt. Jonathan Walker of Tacoma, Wash., will fish
as a pro in the EverStart Series Western Division.
Pro Mark Courts of Harris, Minn., will continue to represent the
National Guard in walleye competition, but will be joined by Lonsdale,
Minn., resident Bill Shimota for 2011. The Guard will also have two
co-angler representatives from the host state in each Walleye Tour
tournament.
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 McGuckin photo
Gary Klein just competed in his 29th Bassmaster Classic spanning 5 decades and finished 10th. He is a pros pro and lives fishing. Today on Weighing In Radio with Terry Brown he discusses his 220 mile trip to Venice, his use of Lowrance HDS10 and Radar to navigate the Mississippi River Delta and the importance of being efficient and detail oriented when he fishes against the best anglers in the world. He also talks about the upcoming Florida swing on the Elite Series. To listen to this program click here. |
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