Kevin VanDam

Faircloth Alternated Between Swimbait And Senko

April 15, 2008
(bassfan.com, April 15, 2008)

Todd Faircloth never thought he could win the Amistad Bassmaster Elite Series until he actually won it. He had an uninspiring practice that preceded two productive competition days, but even then, he went into the final day of the weather-shortened event in 9th place, more than 8 1/2 pounds back.

He sacked a massive 29-06 on the last day, though, and then sat back and watched as one angler after another who’d started the day ahead of him failed to eclipse his 76-15, 3-day total. He won by 12-ounces over rookie Clark Reehm.

The 32-year-old Texan has been on fire since the middle of last season, with eight finishes of 23rd or higher in the last nine Elite tournaments. And even that other outing was pretty good – a 41st at Falcon the previous week.

The victory was his second on the Elite Series (he also won at Table Rock to conclude the 2006 campaign) and moved him into 2nd place in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race.

Practice

Nothing that Faircloth did in practice indicated he had any chance of winning this tournament.

“There wasn’t anything special, by any means,” he said. “I caught a lot of small fish. I was getting two or three quality bites a day, but the biggest fish I caught was about 4 1/2 pounds.”

He caught a few swimbait fish during practice and located quite a few with either a Yamamoto or a Sebile Magic Swimmer – a jointed wakebait that he could burn across the flats.

http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=2832

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