K-Pink wins 2009 Mississippi River Elite Series

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 Genuityâ„¢ 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    

———————————————————————–

 

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

——————————————-

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