Kevin VanDam

Gone With The Wind

March 28, 2009
(bassmaster.com, March 28, 2009)

Pro angler Pat Golden found a 4-pound bass hanging around a stump on Day Two of the Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive. He cast to it, watched as it chased his bait — and then watched it bang its head on a cedar twig. He left the spooked fish for an hour, then cast to it again; the fish hit his bait, but missed the hook.

He told his observer then that he’d be back for her on Day Three. He didn’t know at the time that the third day of the tournament, Saturday, would be scrapped on account of high winds on Lake Dardanelle. Golden finished the tournament in 19th place, 1 pound and 11 ounces outside the cut of the top 12 anglers who will fish Sunday, the new Day Three.

“I wish I’d have stayed and caught that fish, because I’d have made the cut if I would have caught her,” Golden said. “I felt like I had a shot. The main reason was, I was all alone. I knew where a lot of the other guys were fishing, and they’d taken a lot of weight out of there.

“I figured out exactly where they were,” he continued. “I had a lot of confidence.” Then he laughed. “That’s how it goes, tournament fishing.”

The all-day wind advisory that prompted BASS officials to cancel Saturday’s fishing came during a rough week of weather in central Arkansas. After a fog delay crimped three hours off of Day One of the Diamond Drive, the 100 Bassmaster Elite Series pros wanted every moment of fishing they could get.

Naturally, with an extra three hours on the water on Day Two, several made substantial moves. Greg Vinson vaulted improved from a 9 pound, 1 ounce bag to a 21-14 limit on Day Two, pushing himself to ninth overall. Bradley Hallman also snuck into the top 12, with an 18-4 encore to a mere 10-10 on Day One.

Then you have guys like Tim Horton, who corrected his single-fish 2-6 sack of Day One with a 20-3 sequel. He was still only in 40th place — but ahead of him, Golden, Mike McClelland, Randy Howell, Guy Eaker, Kevin Short, Terry Scroggins and Casey Ashley all improved by more than 5 pounds apiece over their Day One showings. They were on the move.

Then came Saturday morning, and suddenly the 50-cut after Day Two had become a 12-cut.

Naturally, those outside the top 12 would have preferred to wet a line. Instead, they were left to contemplate next week’s event, on Alabama’s Lake Wheeler.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=4023577

---