FORT MADISON, Iowa – Tapping into his extensive knowledge of rivers, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark., mastered the mighty Mississippi River at the Genuity™ River Rumble, posting a four-day total of 43 pounds, 3 ounces, which was enough to edge out hard-charging Kelly Jordon of Mineola, Texas, by 10 ounces.
While Short’s execution was nearly flawless through the weekend, his preparation and homework before to the tournament helped him claim his third BASS career victory, his first Elite Series win. For 15 years, Short has sharpened his fishing chops on the Arkansas River, a fishery he believes translates well to fishing the Mississippi. Furthermore, Short took a scouting trip last September to the Mississippi and scoured the fishery for two days.
“This week was like going back in time to when I first started tournament fishing,†said Short, 47. “I just feel comfortable on river systems. There are certain anglers who know and understand rivers and will always be able to perform well there, and I consider myself one of those people.â€
Fishing fans can catch all of the on-the-water action from the River Rumble on The Bassmasters, Saturday, June 20, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN2. The daily weigh-ins for all regular-season Elite events and the two postseason events will air live on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s broadband sports network, while a wealth of unique content will also be available at Bassmaster.com.
Heading into Sunday, Short was in a distant sixth and needed to make up a deficit of almost 5 pounds. Early, things didn’t look good. By 1 p.m. and with little time left in his competition day, Short had only landed three keepers. But he stuck to his guns, knowing the area would get hot.
His faith paid off. For nearly one hour late in the day, Short landed the majority of his weighed fish, primarily throwing a Zoom WEC E-1 crankbait in chartreuse classic color. That lure, he said, was the most important in his arsenal, which also included a Zoom speed craw and a ¼-ounce spinnerbait.
Rotating between two areas – what he called backwater slews – Short targeted laydowns. He would run his pattern on his primary area for about three hours, then move to a secondary area for a few hours before finally returning to the primary area. He duplicated this through all four days for a five-fish limit each day.
The victory, worth $100,000 to Short, also put him in an enviable position in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. With one event remaining in the Elite Series regular season, he is 10th, which virtually assures a qualifying berth into the 2010 Bassmaster Classic set for Feb. 19-21 on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala.
If Short holds his position, he would also earn a berth into the inaugural Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, the Toyota Trucks Championship Week. The postseason, set for Sept. 10-18, will be played out on two productive Alabama fisheries. The first of the two postseason tournaments will take place on Lake Jordan out of Wetumpka; the finale, the Evan Williams Bourbon Trophy Triumph, is slated for the Alabama River from Montgomery. Only the top 12 anglers in the AOY standings will qualify.
Jordon also made an impressive charge – from eighth to second. Ultimately he couldn’t catch Short, but he said he did have a fish on that could have made the difference.
“I lost a 3-pounder yesterday that just killed me,†said Jordon, 38. “That would have made the difference.â€
Like Short, Jordon is always a factor on river systems, having previously scored an Elite victory on the Potomac River in 2006. Also costly to Jordon on Sunday was his bait selection. Through the week, Jordon had primarily flipped a craw tube to cover. He continued to do so Sunday.
After a slow morning, he decided to switch things up and fired a crankbait to an area where the water depth significantly changed. He caught four bass on three casts and though it was a nice adjustment, and lamented that he didn’t make the switch sooner.
While he was disappointed, Jordon took solace that he is seventh in the AOY standings and like Short is in good position to advance to the inaugural postseason.
A serious stumble by Day 3 leader and Elite Series rookie Billy McCaghren, also of Mayflower, Ark., opened the door for Short and Jordon. After a strong first three days, McCaghren brought just 6-3 to the scales Sunday. The water depth had dropped in his primary area, he said, and it was enough that he felt the bite was significantly altered. McCaghren landed only three keeper bites and failed to boat a few others that he felt would have won the tournament for him.
This was the first Elite event in which McCaghren was in contention, and it was a learning experience for the 35-year-old.
“I learned a ton this week,†he said. “And I don’t think I could have fished any better than I did. But it hurts so bad to be this close and come up empty.â€
Finishing fourth was Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., with 40-0, and Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., rounded out the top five with 39-10.
In contrast to the past two Elite events – staged on big-bass factories Lake Guntersville and Kentucky Lake — the tough, grind-it-out affair on the Mississippi registered the lowest winning weight to date for an Elite Series event.
During the 2008 season, the Elite Series had to cancel the River Rumble in Fort Madison because of flooding along the river that affected nearly a dozen states. This was the first top-tier BASS tournament on the river since 2006.
With its sponsorship of the event, Genuity donated $1,506 to the Community Services Food Pantry of Fort Madison. Elite anglers reeled in 1,506 pounds of bass this week and Genuity matched each pound with $1 for the sponsor’s generous donation.
FINAL STANDINGS GENUITY RIVER RUMBLE
2009 Genuity River Rumble 6/11-6/14
Mississippi River, Fort Madison IA.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 20 43-03 305 $100,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-10 Day 2: 5 11-04 Day 3: 5 09-08 Day 4: 5 11-13
2. Kelly Jordon Mineola, TX 19 42-09 295 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-01 Day 2: 5 11-01 Day 3: 4 07-02 Day 4: 5 12-05
3. Billy Mccaghren Mayflower, AR 17 42-08 295 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 10-10 Day 3: 5 12-10 Day 4: 2 06-03
4. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, OK 17 40-00 285 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 4 06-12 Day 3: 5 13-13 Day 4: 3 06-06
5. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 20 39-10 280 $14,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 10-12 Day 3: 5 08-01 Day 4: 5 08-10
6. Shaw E Grigsby Gainesville, FL 17 38-12 276 $13,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 10-00 Day 3: 4 10-04 Day 4: 3 06-00
7. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 19 38-02 272 $13,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-07 Day 2: 5 10-04 Day 3: 5 08-14 Day 4: 4 08-09
8. Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 15 36-12 268 $13,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 3 06-00 Day 3: 4 08-07 Day 4: 3 07-11
9. Scott Campbell Springfield, MO 17 36-04 264 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 12-00 Day 3: 5 09-12 Day 4: 2 03-00
10. Alton Jones Waco, TX 15 33-08 265 $11,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 12-01 Day 3: 4 07-08 Day 4: 1 01-15
11. Gerald Swindle Warrior, AL 16 31-13 257 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-05 Day 2: 5 09-11 Day 3: 5 08-14 Day 4: 1 01-15
12. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 13 29-05 254 $10,500.00
Day 1: 4 08-05 Day 2: 3 07-07 Day 3: 5 11-02 Day 4: 1 02-07
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BIG BASS
Day
1 Randy Howell Springville, AL 04-05 $0.00
1 John Murray Phoenix, AZ 04-05 $0.00
2 Cliff Pace Petal, MS 04-04 $0.00
3 Zell Rowland Montgomery, TX 04-08 $0.00
4 Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 04-09 $0.00
BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT
Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 04-09 $1,000.00
———————————————————————–
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 28 280 620-04
2 22 256 506-15
3 12 150 302-04
4 3 35 76-14
———————————-
65 721 1506-05
TOYOTA TUNDRA BASSMASTER ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
2009 Genuity River Rumble – Genuity River Rumble Pro Points After Mississippi River, Fort Madison, Iowa Ending 06-14-2009, Day 4
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Place Name St Pts
——————————————-
1 Kevin VanDam Mich. 1812
2 Skeet Reese Calif. 1795
3 Alton Jones Texas 1742
4 Gary Klein Texas 1618
5 Aaron Martens Ala. 1590
6 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 1587
7 Kelly Jordon Texas 1576
8 Todd Faircloth Texas 1570
9 Randy Howell Ala. 1568
10 Kevin Short Ark. 1554
11 Mark Menendez Ky. 1534
12 Cliff Pace Miss. 1526
13 Tommy Biffle Okla. 1510
14 Brent Chapman Kan. 1504
15 Shaw Grigsby Fla. 1482
16 Kevin Wirth Ky. 1478
17 Gerald Swindle Ala. 1476
18 Byron Velvick Texas 1473
19 Casey Ashley S.C. 1469
20 Steve Kennedy Ala. 1441
21 Russ Lane Ala. 1438
22 Bobby Lane Fla. 1432
23 Matt Herren Ala. 1430
24 John Murray Ariz. 1423
25 Takahiro Omori Texas 1419
26 Greg Hackney La. 1417
27 Jeff Kriet Okla. 1397
28 Mike McClelland Ark. 1384
29 Mark Tucker Mo. 1374
30 Fred Roumbanis Okla. 1363
31 James Niggemeyer Texas 1362
32 Boyd Duckett Ala. 1360
33 Bradley Hallman Okla. 1359
34 Jami Fralick S.D. 1354
35 Stephen Browning Ark. 1353
36 Davy Hite S.C. 1352
37 Matt Reed Texas 1346
38 Billy Mccaghren Ark. 1336
39 Timmy Horton Ala. 1333
40 Denny Brauer Mo. 1324
41 Terry Scroggins Fla. 1301
42 Bill Lowen Ohio 1291
43 Brian Snowden Mo. 1287
44 Dean Rojas Ariz. 1281
45 Marty Stone N.C. 1280
46 Greg Vinson Ala. 1267
47 Jason Williamson S.C. 1261
48 Rick Morris Va. 1247
49 Todd Auten S.C. 1241
50 Terry Butcher Okla. 1231
51 Edwin Evers Okla. 1227
52 Rick Clunn Mo. 1217
53 Dave Wolak N.C. 1215
54 Pat Golden N.C. 1213
55 Jason Quinn S.C. 1211
56 Bernie Schultz Fla. 1197
57 J Todd Tucker Ga. 1195
57 Mark Tyler Okla. 1195
59 Mark Davis Ark. 1169
59 Dustin Wilks N.C. 1169
61 Jared Lintner Calif. 1166
62 Jeff Connella La. 1152
63 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 1151
64 Britt Myers S.C. 1150
64 Brian Clark Texas 1150
66 Chad Griffin Texas 1149
67 Morizo Shimizu Japan 1145
