Industry News
News headlines from around the bass fishing world.
Pros in the Hunt for AOY as Bassmaster Elite Series Heads to New York for final Two Events
July 22, 2008 – fishpaa.com
The Bassmaster Elite Series will bring its 10th tournament of the season – the Empire Chase presented by Farmer’s Insurance – to Lake Erie and the Niagara River out of Buffalo as the season winds down to the critical final two events.
Fishing fans can watch the on-the-water action from the July 31-Aug. 3 Empire Chase on The Bassmasters, which airs Saturday, Aug. 9, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Additionally, as always, fans can follow the action on Bassmaster.com with live, streaming video of the weigh-ins, real-time leaderboards, photo galleries and analysis.
While angling for the 2008 Empire Chase’s first-place prize of $100,000, the Elite pros also are down to the wire now in the Trail to the Trophy with only the season finale, the Champion’s Choice on Oneida Lake out of Syracuse, N.Y., remaining after this event. After the Tennessee Triumph on Old Hickory Lake out of Hendersonville, Tenn., Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., leads the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race. His top threat for the title and the $250,000 top prize is Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, just 12 points back, while Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark., (third place, 120 points back) and reigning AOY Skeet Reese (fourth, 142 points back) aren’t too far behind.
In the race to qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La., Davy Hite of Ninety Six, S.C., is on the bubble in 36th place with 1,649 points in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Virginia’s Rick Morris (1,644 points) and South Carolina’s Britt Myers (1,639) are lurking in 37th and 38th, respectively. The top 36 in the AOY standings qualify for the Classic.
With more than 10,000 square miles of water touching Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Canada, Lake Erie has enjoyed a lofty standing as a top fishery for several years. Lake Erie is the eleventh largest lake in the world and the fourth largest of the Great Lakes in surface area. It also is the shallowest of the Great Lakes.
http://www.fishpaa.com/news/article/paa_pr…BASS Announces 2009 & 2010 Elite Schedules
July 16, 2008 – bassfan.com
Celebration, FL – BASS announced today its Bassmaster Elite Series tournament schedule for the next two seasons, 2009 and 2010. In 2009, the most prominent tournament trail in the world will make a stop for the first time in Michigan, home of three-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo. The 2010 schedule kicks off with a West Coast tour as the Elite pros again visit the California Delta and California’s Clear Lake.
“This is the first time BASS has simultaneously released two years of Elite Series schedules. This reaffirms our commitment to the anglers, fans and sponsors,” said Tom Ricks, vice president and general manager, BASS. “We appreciate the support of our outstanding communities to deliver these top-notch schedules.”
In February, BASS also announced the dates for the next three Bassmaster Classics: Feb. 20-22, 2009, on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La.; Feb. 19-21, 2010, out of Birmingham, Ala.; and Feb. 18-20, 2011, out of New Orleans.
As with past years, each Elite-level event will receive one hour of television coverage on ESPN2’s The Bassmasters, which airs Saturdays at 9 a.m. ET. ESPN2 will kick off the Bassmaster Elite Series season with 11 hours of programming through three days devoted to the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.
Along with the schedule, BASS announced today that co-anglers will be removed from Elite Series competitions starting in 2009. Bass fishing fans will continue to have the opportunity to ride along with the pros. This move further elevates the status of the Elite Series events and professional fishing. The program details will be posted on Bassmaster.com at a later date.
2009 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule
March 12-15—Battle on the Border—Lake Amistad—Del Rio, Texas
March 26-29—Diamond Drive—Lake Dardanelle Russellville, Ark.
April 2-5—Dixie Duel—Wheeler Lake—Decatur, Ala.
April 23-26—Blue Ridge Brawl—Smith Mountain Lake—Moneta, Va.
May 7-10—Southern Challenge—Lake Guntersville—Guntersville, Ala.
May 14-17—Alabama Charge Pickwick Lake—Florence, Ala.
*June 3-6—Tennessee Triumph—Kentucky Lake—Paris, Tenn.
June 11-14—River Rumble—Mississippi River—Fort Madison, Iowa
July 23-26—Cold Water Clash—Big Bay de Noc/Little Bay de Noc—Escanaba, Mich.
Aug. 6-9—Empire Chase—Lake Champlain Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Aug. 13-16—Champion’s Choice—Oneida Lake—Syracuse, N.Y.
- Wednesday-Saturday event
2010 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule
March 11-14—Duel in the Delta—California Delta—Stockton, Calif.
March 18-21—Golden State Shootout—Clear Lake—Lakeport, Calif.
April 15-18—Battle on the Border—Lake Amistad—Del Rio, Texas
April 29-May 2 Alabama Charge Pickwick Lake—Florence, Ala.
May 6-9 Southern Challenge—Lake Guntersville—Guntersville, Ala.
May 20-23—Pride of Georgia—Clarks Hill Lake—Evans, Ga.
*June 9-12—Tennessee Triumph—Kentucky Lake—Paris, Tenn.
June 17-20—Sooner Run—Arkansas River Muskogee, Okla.
*July 21-24—Empire Chase—Lake Champlain Plattsburgh, N.Y.
July 29- Aug. 1 Champion’s Choice—Lake Erie—Buffalo, N.Y.
Aug. 12-15—Blue Ridge Brawl—Smith Mountain Lake—Moneta, Va.
http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=2969Behind VanDam: Inside The Three-Way Cluster
July 8, 2008 – bassfan.com
There’s a saying in fishing that nobody wants to finish 2nd, but when Kevin VanDam’s at the absolute top of his game, which he is right now, that’s about the best any other pro could hope to do in the BassFan World Rankings.
VanDam’s won four times in the past two seasons, has more Top 10s than a watermelon has seeds, and currently enjoys a 40-point lead in the Rankings.
And 40 points is massive, especially when you consider that the 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-ranked anglers are separated by less than 1 1/2 points.
VanDam will fish only two more events this year that affect his rank, so he’s a virtual lock to again end the season ranked No. 1. Which brings us back to that 2nd-place cluster, and the question, Who will end the year ranked 2nd?
Last year it was Skeet Reese, but Reese over the past few weeks has slipped to 4th.
Todd Faircloth is now ranked 2nd, and Andy Morgan – the only FLW Tour pro in the Top 4 – is ranked 3rd.
Below 4th-ranked Reese, there’s a 10-point gap between him and 5th-ranked David Dudley.
Faircloth, Morgan and Reese will each fish two more events that’ll affect the Rankings. In the case of BASS pros Reese and Faircloth, it’s the final two Bassmaster Elite Series events at Lake Erie and Oneida. Morgan will finish out this week at the Detroit River and next month at the Forrest Wood Cup.
Although it’s impossible to predict which angler will end the year ranked 2nd in the world, it’s fruitful to examine how each angler got to his current position. What follows is thus a brief look at the 2-year records of Faircloth, Morgan and Reese.
http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=2956Chillin’ and Grillin’ with KVD
July 2, 2008 – basszone.com
Norman, OK – The Bassmaster Elite Series pros are looking forward to some down time in July. We caught up with current Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points leader Kevin VanDam to gather his perspectives for a little fun in the summer sun.
Your favorite way to spend time with family once school is out for summer?
Take a trip to Traverse City to catch the Smallies and hit the beach there. There’s a lot of good restaurants there too. We have a blast.
Your favorite thing to cook and eat from the backyard grill?
That’s easy. I’m the “grill master”. I get a whole tenderloin and cut it into 2-pound steaks. Okay, maybe not 2-pounders—- but close. They’re big steaks. We do it right.
What will you be doing for the 4th of July?
Most likely, we’ll be at Mark Zona’s house, not far from our house, down at Lake Templene, Michigan.
If you could only have one lure to fish with all summer long, across the USA, what would it be?
A Sexy Shad colored Strike King Series 5 crankbait. It runs as deep as 12 feet, and shad become the primary summer forage for bass most everywhere in the country.
If you were picking a theme song for this summer, what would it be?
I don’t have one. I haven’t listened to the radio in a while. I jumped in my Tundra after the Kentucky Lake event and drove eight hours home, and I never even turned on the radio because I talked on my cell phone the whole time.
If you were to share a summer beach house with four other Elite Series pros, who would they be?
There’s a lot of good dudes on tour, but I would start with Davy Hite, because he’s got a cool beach house at Myrtle Beach. Then I’d invite Scott Rook, Terry Scroggins and Kelly Jordan to join us.
If you could only pick one sporting event to attend anywhere in the world this summer, what would it be?
A Detroit Tigers baseball game with my family.
VanDam maintains lead in AOY points race
June 30, 2008 – bassmaster.com
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — After being in 63rd place Thursday, Kevin VanDam managed to dodge a bullet in the Bassmaster Elite Series Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn.
By making the top 12 cut Sunday, Todd Faircloth had an opportunity to take the lead in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Anglers of the Year race. He had to finish sixth to tie VanDam, and any finish higher would have put Faircloth in the lead.
But when Faircloth moved up only one spot — from 11th to 10th Sunday — it assured VanDam of remaining No. 1, if only by 16 points.
However, Faircloth wouldn’t even have had to make the top 12 to take the points lead if VanDam hadn’t rescued himself from near disaster on both Friday and Saturday. The Kalamazoo, Mich., native made the top 50 cut by only three ounces Friday. Then he caught his biggest bag of the tournament Saturday — 10 pounds, 13 ounces — to move from 49th place to 32nd.
The 2008 AOY race wasn’t going to be won or lost this week. But VanDam appeared to be separating himself from the contenders after finishing in the top 10 in the last three tournanments.
There are only two tournaments left in the 11-event Elite Series season. Now with Faircloth close and both Mike McClelland and defending champion Skeet Reese within 150 points of VanDam, this race probably won’t be decided until August 10 — the last day of the final 2008 tournament — on New York’s Oneida Lake.
“That was my goal, to make up as many points as I could today,” said Faircloth, who held the TTBAOY lead before VanDam scored a wire-to-wire win at Kentucky Lake two weeks ago. “I just never had any good bites today.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Wirth the wait
June 30, 2008 – bassmaster.com
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Wirth wins one, wire-to-wire.
After a 14-year drought without a win, nine-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Kevin Wirth finally pulled out his first Elite Series victory — in the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn — by holding off a late-charging Bill Lowen on a cloudy, windy day on Old Hickory Lake.
“It’s been long, and it’s been hard,” the former Kentucky Derby jockey said as he stood at his livewell, the last man to weigh his fish. “Fourteen years. Let’s put ‘em on the scale.”
The weight of 26 other top-10 and five runner-up finishes lifted from the slender 45-year-old’s shoulders when his fish registered. His 10-pound limit, anchored by the first two fish he caught on a buzzbait after a week of flipping shallow, pushed him to 55-10, well past Lowen’s 50-5 — and to the $100,000 first prize.
“Yeah!” Wirth screamed. He thrust his fist in the air and gave Lowen a hug. When that excitement ebbed, he was left wiping his eyes behind his sunglasses.
“I can’t hardly hold my emotions here,” Wirth told the weigh-in crowd at Sanders Ferry Park. “There’s been many a day you think this isn’t the right thing to be doing. This makes it all worthwhile.
“Dreams do come true.”
So accustomed to heartbreak is Wirth that he began the day almost consoling himself this would still be a successful tournament by counting the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points he would earn, even if he were to zero on Day Four. That didn’t happen, obviously, but Wirth, who began the week in 51st in the points, immensely helped his odds of qualifying for the 2009 Classic.
Lowen, who began the day in fourth, leaped to second place on the strength of the day’s biggest bag, 14-9. He was doing well enough by 11 a.m. that thoughts of winning the tournament had crept into his head, giving him trouble tying on baits.
The impounded river reminded him plenty of growing up fishing the Ohio River, and he would have been a stronger threat to win this event had he not bottomed out with an 8-9 bag on Day Three, when he left his dominant spot and cruised to another — where Wirth happened to be.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Clunn contending again
June 29, 2008 – bassmaster.com
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Just two weeks ago, four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Rick Clunn hadn’t made a Bassmaster Elite Series top 12-cut since its inception in 2006. Now he’s made two in a row.
And for the second straight tournament, the 61-year-old Clunn is in second place going into Sunday’s finale.
Kevin Wirth maintained the lead for the third day in row in the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn. The Crestwood, Ky., native has a total of 44 pounds, 13 ounces and leads Clunn by 3 pounds, 3 ounces.
“I thought I’d make a pretty good charge on (Wirth) today, and I gained two ounces,” Clunn said. “But today was the day I was kind of worried about.
“I’m going to open up tomorrow and not play so much defense.”
Wirth, who hasn’t won a BASS tournament since 1994, didn’t seem too worried that Clunn — or anyone else — might catch him in the 12-angler final Sunday, when the winner will earn $100,000.
The 45-year-old former jockey has stayed in shallow water about 2 miles back in a creek off the Cumberland River channel of Old Hickory. And during this tournament, he’s defied conventional wisdom that a shallow-water bite couldn’t hold for more than two days.
“It’s got me this far,” Wirth said. “I’ve gotten a lot accomplished. I needed the points for the (Bassmaster) Classic bad. That’s the main goal. Anything else is good.”
Wirth weighed his smallest five-bass limit of the tournament. In fact, his weights have gone down each day since he caught 17-2 Thursday, which continues to be the Berkley Big Bag of this event. Wirth had 15-10 Friday and 12-1 Saturday.
“It was a little bit slower than yesterday,” he said. “But it’s the weirdest thing: You can go by a place and not get a bite, then come back 30 minutes later and get one or two.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Traffic on Old Hickory Lake may help critical shallow bite Day 3
June 28, 2008 – bassmaster.com
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Rick Clunn isn’t just old-school — the guy’s practically Oxford. For him, a Saturday jostling against the heavy boat traffic expected to flood onto Old Hickory Lake isn’t his ideal day of fishing.
“I still look for the quietness and solitude and birds chirping — not policing 30 boats,” said Clunn, currently second (29 pounds, 7 ounces) among the 50 Bassmaster Elite Series anglers remaining in the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn. “I don’t have the right to (direct traffic), but I have to, in the framework of what I do.”
More than the nuisance of trying to fish in the wake of yachts or going elbow-to-elbow with a weekend tournament angler in a johnboat, Clunn and other anglers have to worry about how their fish — especially those on banks and flats — will respond to the changing conditions.
Some anglers would tell you adjusting is all they ever do.
“I like it tough,” said Terry Scroggins (t-30th, 20-4). “It brings out the best in you, if you’re good. Or it brings out the bad, if you’re bad.”
But on a relatively small, skinny lake next to a metropolitan area with 1.5 million residents, both anglers and fish stand to take a pounding. Still, anglers interviewed before take-off at Sanders Ferry Park on the morning of Day Three said more boats on the water may actually enhance the shallow fishing that many anglers have so far relied upon.
“Boat traffic may stir the water, help make it muddier,” said Alton Jones (25th place, 20-12). “It might make the fish more approachable.”
While some anglers — including Days One and Two leader Kevin Wirth (32-12) — have been targeting small structure and objects in shallow water, others, Jones said, will be able to find unpressured water in creek channels. On the banks, though, he added, “there’s a lot of guys round-robining through some spots.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Just catch a limit
June 27, 2008 – bassmaster.com
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — It’s easy to catch bass on Old Hickory Lake. It’s difficult to catch five largemouth bass that meet the 14-inch minimum length limit. It’s more difficult to do that here than anywhere else the Bassmaster Elite Series has been this season.
Larry Towell
Marty Stone fields questions from the media as he starts Day Two in second place with a first day weight of 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
So there wasn’t much confidence in the air when the Elite Series pros launched on Day Two of the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn.
“I’m as subject to go out and not catch one today as I am to go out and catch another 17-pound bag,” said Kevin Wirth, the Day One leader with 17 pounds, 2 ounces.
“Yesterday I would have been tickled to death with 7 to 9 pounds,” said Marty Stone, who is second with 16-5. “That’s the goal again today: 7 to 9 pounds. If anything happens above and beyond that — great. This is Hickory.”
“It’s kind of scary out there,” said Todd Faircloth, who unofficially moved back into the lead in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race with his 22nd-place bag of 11-3. “You don’t really know what’s going to happen.”
Nothing is official in that TTBAOY points race until the standings become final on Sunday. But leader Kevin VanDam left the door open to his nearest competitors Thursday with his 63rd-place bag of 7-5.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Wirth hanging tough
June 27, 2008 – bassmaster.com
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Kevin Wirth mentioned that he was “not comfortable” with the water depth where he was catching fish Thursday, after he took the lead on the first day of the Bassmaster Elite Series Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn.
But that shallow water in Old Hickory Lake must be starting to feel like home. The Crestwood, Ky., pro stayed in the top spot for the second straight day by adding 15 pounds, 10 ounces to his 17-2 on Day One for a total of 32-12. It also marked the second time Wirth had the Berkley Big Bag of the day.
And for the second straight day, Wirth quit fishing his area long before his check-in time at Sanders Ferry Park.
“I lost a couple, broke a couple off, but I still had a limit by 8:30,” said the 45-year-old former jockey. “I know there are limited numbers (of bass) in the area. I kind of put it in shutdown mode then. I eased around a little and tried to see what was really there.”
Wirth said around 11 o’clock he made one pitch to an area he’d already fished that morning and caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces. He was able to cull a 2-pounder from the five-bass limit in his livewell.
“Once I did that, I totally left everything,” Wirth said.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…
© 2008 Kevin VanDam. All Rights Reserved.