Kevin VanDam

Duckett still charmed

February 20, 2009
(bassmaster.com, February 20, 2009)

BOSSIER CITY, La. — Boyd, oh, Boyd. Again.

Boyd Duckett, the Elite Series angler who won the Bassmaster Classic in his first appearance two years ago, weighed in the only 20-plus-pound stringer on Day One of this, the 39th Classic.

Immediately behind him in the standings is the unlikely Jami Fralick, a fellow Elite Series pro who had to fish the Opens in order to qualify for this, his second Classic. Fralick, whose 19 pounds, 3 ounces is, in his words, “one 5-pound bite” behind Duckett’s 20-3, has never won a BASS tournament but milked an old favorite Red River fishing hole for all five of his fish.

In close pursuit behind Fralick is Fred Roumbanis, with 18-4, and Aaron Martens, with 18-1.

With two days left to fish, the leaderboard is far from set. The most certain surprise to come out of Day One: Kevin VanDam, the two-time Classic champ and the reigning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, took himself out of contention with a 4-4 four-fish stringer that left him in a dismal 45th place, one slot ahead of Kim Bain-Moore, the first woman to fish in a Classic.

“You’ve got to catch them every single day,” said VanDam, the first angler to weigh fish in the CenturyTel Arena. “I love to fish fast. I have to slow down.”

Anglers had predicted as much. The snakey, timber-infested, stump-lined, oxbowed Red River defies speedy browsing. Terry Fitzpatrick, the Federation Nation Northern Division champion whose 18-0 bag vaulted him to a surprising fifth place, called the tournament “the toughest I’ve fished, physically,” wrought with poling, pushing, yanking and cajoling their boats through obstacles and shallows to reach the backwaters that so many anglers targeted.

Other big names faltered for one reason or another. Greg Hackney, the only angler fishing his homestate Louisiana, pulled up with 12-9, good for 25th place. Gary Klein, in his 27th Classic, weighed in two fish that went 2-13.

Other notable results include river expert Scott Rook (6th, 17-11) and Red River fan Kelly Jordon (11th, 15-10). In all, 16 anglers sit within 5 pounds of the lead.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3922889

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