Industry News
News headlines from around the bass fishing world.
Versatile Velvick maintains lead
March 19, 2010 – bassmaster.com
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Just as Clear Lake is starting to warm up, so is Byron Velvick. Velvick, a West Coast transplant who now resides in Del Rio, Texas, wasn’t able to land a monster bass, like Thursday, but the two-time BASS winner managed 22 pounds Friday, building his two-day total to 51 pounds.
Golden State Shootout: Day Two Behind The Scenes
Randy Howell of Springville, Ala., upgraded his total to 46-10, enough to keep Velvick honest heading into the weekend.
Velvick has considerable big-fish chops — he established the BASS three-day tournament record here with 83 pounds, 5 ounces, — and is tapping into his extensive knowledge of Clear Lake. Still, Elite events are all about learning and adapting and Velvick says he has been able to accrue new knowledge of the fishery each day. And things are setting up to be a slugfest.
“It’s going to be like an Easter egg hunt on Sunday,” said Velvick of the fish being susceptible to sight fishing. “It is just going to be sick.”
Velvick has been mining areas that have produced for him in the past. In fact, one — his primary — was the area that yielded the three-day record. This week, he hasn’t pigeonholed himself into one technique. Instead, he is changing up his lure presentation between three choices.
Some of his strategy has involved protecting his areas from other anglers — both locals and pros. And with the lake turning on and pleasant conditions in store, the lake could be a madhouse over the weekend.
But Velvick has a sound contingency plan. He has formulated something that he can go to and feel confident in scrounging a solid limit if necessary.
“I’ve learned a lot over the past two days,” said Velvick, 45. “I have a little something figured out where I know what I can do no matter what happens.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Velvick Bops Big’un
March 19, 2010 – bassmaster.com
LAKEPORT, Calif. — Feeling right at home, Byron Velvick toted 29 pounds of Clear Lake bass to the scales Thursday and took the opening-round lead at the Golden State Shootout, the second event of the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series season.
Nearing the 10-year anniversary of when Velvick established the three-day BASS’ record for tournament weight here, Velvick, once a West Coast resident, raided Clear Lake in a similar manner, boating the first double-digit bass of the Elite season, a 10-11 beauty.
Now settled in Del Rio, Texas — on the periphery of another bass-factory Lake Amistad — Velvick is in a different place now.
“Ten years ago, I actually missed some of my bigger bites,” said Velvick, 45. “But not today. I have more knowledge now and the equipment is miles ahead of where it was. I absolutely love this fishery. Maybe I should move to Clear Lake.”
Although prevailing Clear Lake wisdom would assume that Velvick tied on a big swimbait and fired it around the whole day, the two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier said not so. Instead, he is mixing up his lure choice — a swimbait is still a big part of it — and is mining shallow water spots that have consistently produced over the years.
“You have to mix it up,” Velvick said. “It’s just not a good idea to stick with one lure. Variety is the name of the game this week. And I think that was a key to my success today (Thursday). I’m doing something a little bit different, but it’s smart.”
With Clear Lake in a funky way — cold nights and mornings give way to bluebird, warm conditions later in the day — a deep bite has been productive for a bevy of anglers. But Velvick says it is “disintegrating” and will stick with his milk run throughout the rest of the week.
The record, 83 pounds, 5 ounces, would certainly be in jeopardy if the Elites were three-day affairs. But Velvick will have to sustain his performance for four days this week and for that to happen, the two-time BASS winner said he needed boat traffic, from locals and competitors, to be limited.
More than 5 pounds behind Velvick was Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif. Although he faces a sizable deficit, Lintner, who landed 23-4, has a sparkling resume here — he won a 2005 Bassmaster Open on the fishery — and could make up ground quickly with the right bite.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Big-Bag Shootout Again – Or Not
March 17, 2010 – bassfan.com
The Clear Lake Bassmaster Elite Series could be either a slugfest or a grind – it all depends on what the bass in California’s largest natural lake decide to do over the next few days.
One of two scenarios is almost certain to play out. Either a bunch of fish will migrate to the shallows and the Elite anglers will clobber them with swimbaits like they did 3 years ago, or they’ll continue to cruise around at depths of 6 feet or more and play hard to catch. Opinion on whether the former will happen is split – some say the fish are right on the verge of moving up for the spawn, while others think the still-cold nights will keep them out until sometime next week.
One thing is certain – they weren’t easy to entice during the 3-day practice session that concluded this afternoon. Tales of woe, of course, must be taken with a grain of salt because nobody wants to divulge anything that’s proven effective under the current conditions, but even some anglers who reported getting a fair of amount of bites lamented that they were scattered and unpredictable.
Even if it stays relatively tough, the Top 2 or 3 finishers will likely weigh bags that average somewhere around 20 pounds – there are just too many big fish here to prevent that from happening. But at the same time, much of the field will struggle, as it did last week at the California Delta.
Before delving further into the bite, here’s the low-down on the lake itself.
BassFan Lake Profile
> Name: Clear Lake
> Type of Water: Natural lake
> Surface Acres: 43,000
> Primary structure/cover: Docks, rocks and tules
> Primary forage: Shad, Clear Lake hitch, crawdads
> Average depth: 30 feet
> Species: Largemouths
> Length limit: 12 inches
> Reputation: A big-fish factory that suffered a decline in the early 1990s, but has made a strong recovery. Huge population of 4- to 6-pound fish
> Weather: A mix of clouds and sun with daytime highs in the 70s, but cool nights in the high 30s to low 40s. A tad cooler for the weekend.
> Water temperature: Low to mid 50s
> Water color/visibility: Very clear in most places
> Water level: About a foot below full pool
> Fish in: 6 to 20 feet
> Fish phase: Pre-spawn
> Primary patterns: Swimbaits, dropshots, jigs, Senkos, maybe some sight-fishing
> Winning weight: 85 pounds (4 days)
> Cut weight (Top 12, 3 days): 48 pounds
> Check weight (Top 47, 2 days): 28 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 2 for Clear Lake, but that could change
> Biggest factor: Water temperature
> Biggest decisions: Which end of the lake to fish
> Wildcard: A big movement of fish toward the banks
A sleeping giant awaits warmer temperatures
March 17, 2010 – bassmaster.com
LAKEPORT, Ca. — The Elite Series is tickling the nose of a sleeping giant.
After two practice sessions Monday and Tuesday that Bassmaster Classic champion Kevin VanDam described as “so brutal I can’t believe it,” most of the 93 anglers leaving the Willow Point Park launch on Clear Lake, Ca., Wednesday for the final day of practice for the 2010 Golden State Shootout sound like they’ve been snake-bitten. It’s been that tough.
“I think most of us would rather be back on the Delta,” Denny Brauer joked Tuesday after practice. “I’ve thrown that swimbait 1,000 miles and don’t have a thing to show for it.”
Or, as VanDam put it: “It can’t get any tougher than this.”
Oh, but how quickly that could change.
This 43,000-acre lake located 160 miles northwest of Sacramento has been locked down in a late-winter funk, thanks to an early-March temperature dip that brought nighttime lows into the high 20s last week. Water temperatures consequently took a plunge, dropping into the high 40s and putting the emergency brake on the pre-spawn schedule of the largemouth population in northern California’s most revered big-bass lake.
Golden State Shootout: Anglers meeting
It’s almost a mirror image of what happened last week on the California Delta, when a series of high-pressure systems and unsettled, cold weather produced a tough, unpredictable bite. And it’s also the polar opposite of 2007, the last time VanDam, Brauer and the Elite pros tangled with Clear Lake’s 5- to 10-pound class of Florida-strain largemouth.
Back then, Steve Kennedy obliterated BASS’ all-time four-day total weight with 122 pounds, 14 ounces of largemouth, a performance that included one day where his fish averaged 8 pounds. Seven anglers broke the 100-pound mark at that event, and 11 caught 90 pounds or more in one of the biggest slugfests in Elite Series history.
Kennedy’s record was subsequently reset at Falcon Lake, but the 2007 Shootout established Clear Lake in most Elite pros’ minds as one of the best largemouth fisheries in the world.
And that’s exactly why frustration has crept in during practice.
“You know they live here,” VanDam said. “The big thing is, when we were here a couple of years ago, it was unreal, and that’s what your expectations are. You know it’s a good lake and that there are some big fish here. It’s just one of those deals: It’s not fishing well, but you know better. You know what it can produce.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Crews to victory
March 14, 2010 – bassmaster.com
STOCKTON, Calif. — For an professional angler, the equivalent to Lebron James pulling up and swishing a last-second three-pointer is to land a 5-pounder on the last cast.
John Crews of Salem, Va., executed that feat on the California Delta in the grandest of fashions Sunday to score the $100,000 victory at the Duel in the Delta, the Bassmaster Elite Series season-opener.
That fish added just enough weight to Crews’ four-day total of 72 pounds, 6 ounces, to best Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., by the slimmest of margins. Reese (72-5) was visibly shaken. Crews wasn’t.
“This is just unbelievable,” said Crews, 31. “When it’s your time, it’s just your time. I knew I was on the fish to win and I never have had that feeling before. I’m almost speechless.”
TroKar Duel in the Delta: Day Four Weigh-in
Crews certainly seemed to have a horseshoe in his back pocket this weekend. But ultimately, Crews identified an area that many of his Elite brethren overlooked. His success can be directly tied to his spot that was immune to the changing conditions that plagued many on the Delta this week.
Case in point: Crews weighed his heaviest limits on Friday and Sunday. The conditions on those days were on total opposite ends of the spectrum with Sunday producing blue-bird skies while Friday rain, wind and frigid conditions prevailed.
The four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier concentrated on a dead-end slough that held deep, thick hydrilla in 4 to 8 feet of water. He worked the flipping stick slowly and methodically. As with most of the competitors this week, patience was a virtue for Crews as keeper bites were few and far between.
But when he got one, he made it count. He primarily used a sweet beaver through the first three rounds of competition but switched to a Gambler BB Cricket on the final day. The move paid off as Crews brought the only 20-plus pound limit — actually 20-8 — to the scales on Sunday.
“I found that area the first day of practice and actually only got one bite in there,” said Crews, who took his first BASS victory Sunday. “But there was something that looked right there. The water was deeper and the fish weren’t moving. And they were kept off the bank because of the boat traffic. The bite wasn’t tide-dependent and I knew it could be a winning area if I executed.”
The victory is sweet redemption after an “atrocious” beginning to the 2009 Elite season. Though he missed out on qualifying for the 2010 Classic, Crews finally felt he was starting to put something together late last year. Mentally, he said, he was in a good place and he was able to extend the good vibes into this week. Now, his confidence is soaring.
“Right now, I’m in such a good place with my fishing,” Crews said. “I don’t know how I will do at Clear Lake (the next Elite event) but I know I have a chance of winning. And that feels good.”
Reese is no stranger to just missing out on victory — he lost the 2007 Classic by mere ounces — but even with his unfavorable luck, the sting of losing by one ounce was evident. Like Crews, Reese was able to piece together solid days throughout the event while other anglers were all over the map.
Reese fished two areas Sunday and switched up his bait choice, a chigger craw, creature bait and chatterbait. He explored new water in the morning that led to little success. But then he moved to his primary area — a long run from the launch location — and was able to put together 18 pounds, 12 ounces, a weight he thought was good enough to claim his fourth BASS victory.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Another sort of California challenge
March 10, 2010 – bassmaster.com
As soon as Bassmaster Elite Series pros compete March 11-14 in the season opener on the California Delta, they’ll hit the road to travel about 175 miles north to Lakeport, Calif., to prep for another northern California tournament, but one of an entirely different nature.
The March 18-21 Golden State Shootout will be on Clear Lake, the largest natural lake to lie entirely within California’s borders. In sharp contrast to the sprawling, shallow system of canals and sloughs that comprise the Delta, Clear Lake is 19 miles long, measures 8 miles wide at its widest point, and has an average depth of 27 feet.
Elite pros will compete on Clear Lake for four days to claim the $100,000 first-place prize. They’ll also be striving to earn points that count toward qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series postseason in July, as well as for next year’s Bassmaster Classic and Elite season.
Bassmaster.com will cover the 2010 Golden State Shootout with daily analysis, photo galleries, standings and a real-time leaderboard. ESPN360.com will offer live, streaming video. ESPN2 will recap the competition on The Bassmasters at 9 a.m. ET, Sunday, April 4, and again at 11 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 17.
The 2010 Shootout will mark the eighth time a BASS tournament has been on Clear Lake. The most recent winners were Elite pros Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande, Calif., in a 2005 Bassmaster Open event; and Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., in 2007, when the Elite Series last stopped at Clear Lake.
Kennedy’s winning weight of 122 pounds, 14 ounces, stood as the BASS four-day catch record for more than a year. It slid to seventh place only when the Elite Series visited another lunker haven, Texas’ Falcon Lake, in 2008.
One reason Clear Lake harbors such a robust bass population is that the state Department of Fish and Game plants Florida-strain largemouth. The lake is healthy and has been for some time; the lake record largemouth of 17.5 pounds was set in 1990.
Elite pro Fred Roumbanis grew up fishing Clear Lake. He now lives in Bixby, Okla., but he will tap into his California roots for the Golden State Shootout — as he is dong this week on the California Delta.
“I believe Clear Lake is going to be a phenomenal tournament,” Roumbanis said. “What’s really nice about it right now is that California’s had a lot of rain, so the lake will fish a lot bigger, the fish will be spread out. Although a lot of the guys will go with a swimbait bite, there will be a lot of other ways to catch them.”
At the 2007 Shootout — when not only Kennedy bagged 122-14 over four days, but also when fellow pro Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., brought in 117-06 — the water was lower, so the fish were more concentrated, Roumbanis said.
“It’s going to be hard to match 2007,” he said. “There’s going to be some giant bags caught over the four days, but doing it four days in a row will be hard because the water’s up so high.”
Conditions are prespawn, he said.
“The fish want to come up,” he said. “We could hit it just right — or it could be a tough bite. It really will depend on the weather leading up to it. If the weather warms, then 20 pounds a day will be only a top 40. If it’s tough, 20 pounds a day will make the Top 12 on the final day.”
The full Elite field will compete Thursday and Friday, with the top 47 advancing to Saturday’s competition. Only the Top 12 will still be in the game the final day, Sunday, for the $100,000 top prize.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…VanDam Stuns Birmingham, Sacks Shocking 19 1/2
February 22, 2010 – bassfan.com
The outcome seemed almost a given. Even as Kevin VanDam made his way from the stage to his boat, some reserved shouts and cheers went up from the Birmingham, Ala. crowd. There was an icy air – a palpable electric current that seemed to signal the best who’s ever been was about achieve the inevitable.
There wasn’t the tension then emotional outpour like when Takahiro Omori won and feel to his knees in a heap of emotion. There wasn’t an NBA-height leap like when VanDam edged out Martens at Pittsburgh.
VanDam simply weighed the biggest bag of the tournament and won by a mile.
Maybe that’s more what it’s like when a champion achieves such a level of dominance in a sport that a win is expected before he even enters the arena. Maybe it’s more a function of technology – readers watching BASS’s Internet coverage on cell phones pretty much knew VanDam had it locked up.
But if one thing was certain, this Bassmaster Classic at Lay Lake – or more specifically, the final moments of today’s weigh-in at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Convention Complex – scribed a new page in sports history.
VanDam’s victory – secured by an unthinkable 19 1/2-pound bag from beat-up, used-up water – cemented him as perhaps the most dominating pro athlete in sports history.
It marked his third Bassmaster Classic title – only Rick Clunn, at four, has more. He begins the Elite Series season as the reigning Angler of the Year (AOY) for the second consecutive time (he’s won five BASS AOY titles). He surpassed the previously unimaginable mark of over $4 million in career BASS earnings, and $4.5 million in combined BASS and FLW Tour winnings. And he’s been the No. 1-ranked angler in the world for most of the past decade.
He clinched the win fishing close to the launch in crowded Beeswax Creek. As the first boat out on day 1, he had his choice of spots to fish. He didn’t head for what others in the field felt would be the best spot in Beeswax – that’s where runner-up Jeff Kriet fished all 3 days.
Instead, VanDam made an abrupt left turn from the launch, went under the nearby bridge, put down his trolling motor and moved little for 3 days. As he predicted in practice, that specific area had the right combination of elements to not only hold up for 3 days, but actually improve as the expected warm weather arrived.
Kriet’s spot, on the other hand, petered out and he weighed a respectable but ultimately insufficient 14-05 today. Kriet started the day 2 ounces ahead of VanDam, but finished 2nd by a massive 5-pound margin.
Todd Faircloth, who also fished Beeswax in the vicinity of VanDam and Kriet, faded hard today when he brought 12-05 to the scales to end the Classic more than 7 pounds behind VanDam.
Local favorite Russ Lane finally got his bite to turn on in Spring Creek. He bailed on Beeswax and weighed 18-01 out of Spring – a bag second only to VanDam’s – and improved two spots to finish 4th.
And Brent Chapman rode Beeswax to a 16-12 sack today and a 5th-place finish.
Rattlebaits with some cranks mixed in were the ticket in Beeswax, but 6th-place finisher Mike Iaconelli threw a grub in there too. For Ike, today marked his third consecutive championship Top 10. He finished 2nd in both the 2009 Classic and Forrest Wood Cup.
In the end, this Classic didn’t come down to which pattern prevailed. It was determined by choice of starting spot – a choice that was complicated by arctic-like weather and muddy water during practice. Water temperatures in the low-40s seemed to shock the fish (and the anglers).
But Beeswax, which dominated the tournament, was the warmest of the creeks. It also had some of the only coontail in the fishery, and is a popular release site for local events.
http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3530Kevin VanDam wins 2010 Bassmaster Classic
February 22, 2010 – bassmaster.com
The 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., added another accolade to his career Sunday, winning the 40th Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake.
After a banner final day with a haul of 19 pounds, 7 ounces, VanDam will take home the $500,000 first-place prize from the total Classic payout of $1.2 million, along with bass fishing’s most coveted trophy. With the win, his career BASS earnings topped $4 million, making him the first BASS pro to hit that mark.
With a three-day total of 51 pounds, 6 ounces, of Lay Lake bass, KVD held off a determined and confident Jeff Kriet of Ardmore, Okla., who finished second with 46 pounds, 6 ounces, and third-place finisher Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, who had 44-3.
Alabama’s Russ Lane, from Prattville, made a charge Sunday with an 18-1 haul, ending up fourth. Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan., was fifth with 37-14, and Mike Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, N.J., the 2004 Classic champ, finished sixth with 37-5.
A majority of the top finishers, including the top five, fished all three days in Beeswax Creek, not far from the Classic’s daily launch site at Beeswax Creek Park. All fished roughly 2 to 10 feet of water, relying on a plentiful crop of submerged coontail in the creek, where bass were bunched up in the cold weather.
VanDam had an area to himself, save for a short visit to the spot by Takahiro Omori, who told VanDam once he realized the bounty of fish VanDam was focusing on that he would back off the area.
“That’s the class of anglers that we have on the Elite Series, and that’s one of things that makes it special to compete with these guys,” VanDam said. “It’s an honor for me to get to fish with them through the year. I love the competition; it’s how we measure ourselves… they’re the best in the world. You don’t see that in other sports.”
VanDam knows Beeswax Creek well, having fished it during the 2007 Bassmaster Classic. The only major Lay Lake creek with grass in it, the area holds a lot of food, along with two feeder creeks with channels, stumps, coontail grass, slime and shellbed points, all good habitat for bass. With water temps in the low 40s as the Classic started Friday, VanDam had success with a lipless crankbait. He said that the shad kill wasn’t as bad in Beeswax, and the bass were a little more active than they were elsewhere. As the weather warmed, more fish moved into Beeswax.
VanDam caught every bass he weighed on a ½ounce Strike King Red Eye Shad in plain gold along with a new color, gold Sexy Shad. He used Quantum Signature cranking gear: a 7-foot, medium-action KVD Tour cranking rod with a Signature KVD Tour reel and 17 and 20-pound-test fluorocarbon, a larger size that helped slow down the bait, important in the shallow water.
Kriet, who went into Sunday with a 2-ounce lead over VanDam, has battled and lost to VanDam before in a high-stakes competition, and was clearly disappointed with Sunday’s outcome.
“What do you do?” he said. “I figured I had to have my best day today. None of these guys are really fun to have behind you. I respect him (Kevin), he’s great — obviously. But I guess I shouldn’t want him there… that’s two big tournaments I would’ve won if he hadn’t been there. That’s twice I’ve been leading and he’s been in second and he’s beaten me. This one hurts a little more than the first time.”
Faircloth, who lost the 2008 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race to VanDam by a few pounds on the last day of competition, also felt the sting of going home without the trophy.
“It’s a good finish, but not where I wanted to be,” he said. “Third place. People say that’s great but that’s not what I came here for.”
Pam Martin-Wells of Bainbridge, Ga., the 2009 Toyota Tundra Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year, made history Saturday as the first woman to make the cut into the Top 25. Martin-Wells weighed in a third five-fish limit Sunday for 25-0 overall and a 22nd place finish.
Onstage, Martin-Wells told the crowd of 58,478 fans at BJCC that her Classic experience has been indescribable.
“I tried to prepare myself coming into this so that I wouldn’t be overwhelmed, so I could come and fish,” Martin-Wells said. “Now probably tonight, tomorrow or the next day, I might fall to pieces — or tonight, when I watch it on TV, because every time I see it I get goose bumps. It has been incredible; the guys have been wonderful. There are really no words to describe this whole feeling.”
Martin-Wells will continue to compete with the guys as she participates in the 2010 Bassmaster Southern Open and Central Open circuits. Up next is the April 8-10 Central Open on Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas.
VanDam said that the physical demands of his style of fishing — fast and constant casting — took its toll by Sunday, but it didn’t lessen his intense satisfaction of winning his third Bassmaster Classic.
“I’m worn out right now, but this means everything,” VanDam said. “It’s what I dreamed about as a kid, it’s very special. I’m going to really enjoy it. Everybody that’s ever fished a bass tournament dreams of being on that stage. I’m as motivated as ever. I love the competition; I love the people that I get to be around.
“There’s a bunch of dang good people in our sport. Outdoorsmen, fishermen are good people — we’re passionate about what we do. Any of these guys, you ask them to do something and they’re willing to do it. They give their time freely because they care so much about the bass that we fish for and the water we get to do it on.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Top three after Day Two tightens to three ounces
February 20, 2010 – bassmaster.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Jeff Kriet of Ardmore, Okla., is sitting atop the field in the Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake with a two-day limit of 32-1. Fishing in Beeswax Creek, Kriet caught most of his fish on lipless crankbaits.
Coming into the event trailing Day One leader Kevin VanDam by 3 pounds, 1 ounce, Kriet surged ahead with the day’s heaviest limit — a 15-10 sack of largemouth. Kriet focused most of his effort on a 200-yard stretch of the creek in about 5 ½ feet. He said the sweet spots had a grassy bottom and stumps near a slight roll-off.
“I caught 11 keepers, but it’s slow,” Kriet said. “It’s cold and there’s a lot of pressure. I watched (Todd) Faircloth catch a couple and I watched VanDam catch a couple of his. I know that if any one of us had it to ourselves, it would be a blow-out.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll just grind it out until I can’t grind anymore. I know a lot of other guys would like to be where I’m sitting and I appreciate those guys — and they know who they are — who stayed off of me.”
Kriet acknowledged a tight race, but said he has confidence in what Sunday holds for him.
“I think I have a chance,” he said. “It’s about time I won one of these.”
In second place, VanDam trails Kriet by 2 ounces with 31-15. VanDam began his day power fishing the sunny cove off Beeswax Creek where he did his Day One damage. He tried other spots, but finished his day back in Beeswax. VanDam’s limit weighed 12-7.
“The lake changed a lot,” VanDam said, noting a depth drop of about a foot. “It got tougher today with those high, bright skies.
“I’m not going to die in one place tomorrow. I have other places to look at.”
Sitting just an ounce behind KVD, Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, dropped a notch to third place with a 13-12 limit that gave him a 31-14 total. Also working in Beeswax, Faircloth caught most of his fish on a Sebile Flats Shad in hollow green color.
“It’s a grind out there — we’re all fishing the same area,” Faircloth said. “I feel like if you could let something rest for 30 minutes to an hour and come back to it, you could catch one or two. But it’s just not getting much of a rest.”
Improving from seventh place, Michael Iaconelli is in fourth with 26-12. Ike caught two largemouths on a vibrating Lazer Lure in spicy shad and a pair of spots on Berkley Shaky Worm rigged on a 3/16-ounce Tru-Tungsten Iky Head.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Not enough room in the beehive
February 20, 2010 – bassmaster.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It was a Chamber of Commerce type day on Lay Lake Saturday — clear skies, light winds and a mild breeze — but it’s unlikely that all members of the Chamber were ecstatic.
Sure, the nearby hotels are full, the restaurants are doing a steady business and the vendors at the Bassmaster Classic Expo are going gangbusters but the proprietors of the local gas stations have largely been left out of the windfall.
With a big bass tournament loaded with 225 and 250 horsepower outboards in town and the many turns of Lay Lake’s channel and coves at the competitors’ disposal, surely you’d expect some gas to be burned. Some of the anglers have done them proud, but others have decided to tread a little lighter on our precious fossil fuels.
“Today I didn’t burn an ounce,” Florida pro Shaw Grigsby said. “I cranked it up, idled over, fished, then cranked it up and idled back.”
Grigsby is currently 19th with 17-9. He might’ve had more had he not had to split his key area with Brent Chapman, who is ninth with 21-2. In the style of King Solomon, they “split the baby,” and it may have cost one or both of them a shot at their first Classic title.
This is a tournament where the kindergarten aphorisms that it’s important to “play well with others” and “share and share alike” have taken on new meaning. Beeswax Creek, a fairly small tributary, is the primary focus and fishing grounds of the top five anglers: Jeff Kriet, Kevin VanDam, Todd Faircloth, Mike Iaconelli and Russ Lane.
Some remaining anglers, like Grigsby, Chapman and Kriet were just a long cast from the boat ramp all day on Saturday. Others, like Lane, Faircloth and Iaconelli, have been within sight of the launch most of the first two days.
Kevin VanDam would have been able to see the launch from the spot where he started both of the first two days were it not for a small bridge and an armada of spectator boats blocking his sight lines.
What makes this small creek so good?
“It’s two things,” Russ Lane said. “First, it has a lot of offshore grass to go with the bank grass. Second, it’s the No. 1 release spot on the whole lake.”
Lane caught all four fish he weighed in on Saturday out of Beeswax, but he vowed to run mostly new water on Saturday.
“I’m going to pull out my flipping stick and go fish places I’ve got history with,” he said. “I’m going to go on my gut instincts.”
Anglers including Kriet have said that the comparatively clean water in Beeswax is making it so productive right now, but Lane disagreed.
“Muddy water is what makes the Coosa River lakes so good in my opinion,” he said. “Clearer water is not what you want.”
The first two days have allowed the leaders to establish proprietary banks and milk runs, and with the field halved Sunday, there’s even less likelihood that their division of territory will be violated.
Grigsby said that he’s confident that he, Chapman and Lane have developed a mutually-agreeable arrangement, but he might cede some of his key water on the basis of the standings.
“It’s the top three or four you don’t want to mess with,” he said. “I can’t win, so what are you going to do except catch fish and have fun. If one of the top guys come in, I might give it up. I’ve got a couple of other creeks.”
Chapman echoed Grigsby’s thoughts. He said that he and his bank-mate haven’t discussed the division of property since the first morning, “but I treat people the way I like to be treated.”
Even if the anglers don’t herd each other out of the way, the fish may be too beaten up at this point for Beeswax to produce the winner. Additionally, with the location of the top anglers already a matter of public record, the dozens of spectator boats who camped in Beeswax on the first two days might grow substantially, if not exponentially.
That presents a question of who has the upper hand, Kriet or VanDam.
On the one hand, VanDam’s starting spot the first two days is largely protected from boat traffic and he has done a good job of controlling his spectators. On the other hand, any fish heading into the creek to replenish the diminished population have to pass through Kriet’s area to get to VanDam. The Oklahoman will therefore have first shot at them.
Tommy Biffle, in sixth, is the first angler on the standings sheet who has not made a cast in Beeswax during the tournament.
“I’m not a retread fisherman,” he said.
Even if he catches a big limit Sunday, he may be too far behind the leaders to claim his first Classic title.
“One of them will catch them in there or maybe all of them will catch them,” he said.
Kriet left no doubt as to his Sunday game plan.
“I’m going to grind it in that one area until I can’t grind no more,” he said.
Others were less resolute in their convictions.
“I’m saying that I’m not going to fish in there, but I may not be able to stand it,” Lane said.
He’s 6-6 out of the lead and plans to go for broke, even though he believes the odds right now favor Kriet over all comers.
“If another area of the lake does not turn on, Jeff will win it,” Lane said. “What he has is an area. Everyone else has a couple of sweet spots and an area beats a sweet spot every time.”
For Grigsby, 14-9 out of first, it would take a perfect storm of events to vault him to the top, and while he won’t sit the day out, he took a laid back approach to the competition hours.
“We could send up the hill for some barbecue,” he said, referring to his fellow competitors.
If the spectators show up as expected, they might not even have to go to the bank to get it — they can just pass it from boat to boat until it gets to its intended recipients.