Kevin VanDam

Anglers expecting to catch them in bunches before Shootout’s first day

March 29, 2007
(espn.com, March 29, 2007)

LAKEPORT, Calif. — With his hands stuffed into his pockets to hold off the 31-degree morning air, angler Lee Bailey stood on his boat minutes before take-off and recalled the rich week of practice he enjoyed on Clear Lake.

“You can catch them doing anything you want,” Bailey said. His co-angler caught his two best fish ever, including one over 8 pounds. “He had over 22 pounds just playing around,” Bailey said.

That productivity is why Bailey predicted that anglers would need to average 25-pound bags to make the final-day cut in the third event in the Bassmaster Elite Series, the Golden State Shootout, which began Thursday morning.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?page=bt_clearlake_launch_day_one