Kevin VanDam

Dove Flies to the Top

April 12, 2008
(bassmaster.com, April 12, 2008)

DEL RIO, Texas — For all the talk about Lake Amistad possibly being down from the past two years, the results from Day One of the Bassmaster Elite Series Battle on the Border presented by Mahindra Tractors looked remarkably like they have before.

Kurt Dove topped the leaderboard with a five-bass limit weighing 30 pounds, 8 ounces. Three-time Elite Series champion Mike McClelland is second with 29-5.

“Obviously, Falcon (Lake) set a new standard (last week),” said four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Rick Clunn. “But this lake is still one of the top three in the country as far as I’m concerned.”

Amistad produced four bags over 30 pounds last year. But the rest of the numbers from Day One were similar: Twelfth place was 26-12 last year and 25-12 this year; 50th place was 18-2 last year and 17-1 this year; 95 limits were caught last year and 107 this year.

Day One of this year’s event was originally scheduled for Thursday, but it was canceled because of expected winds of 35 to 40 miles per hour. This is now a three-day tournament. Saturday’s results will determine who gets in the top 12 for Sunday’s final and a shot at the $100,000 first prize.

“I think there’s more big fish here than in Falcon,” Fred Roumbanis said. “I saw probably 10 fish over 8 pounds today.”

But catching them was definitely more difficult than in last week’s event at Falcon Lake, where Paul Elias set the new four-day total-weight record of 132-8.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=3342615

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