KVD gives you tips straight from the pro circuit.
May 14, 2011 – bassmaster.com
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fred Roumbanis’ nickname is “Boom-Boom,” which is borderline appropriate for the explosions taking place up and down the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.
We watched yesterday as Alton Jones stumbled and fell out of the top of the standings with an 88th place finish, allowing Steve Kennedy to take over the lead in that prestigious race.
Then the boom started falling all up and down the standings. If Jones stumbled, Kennedy jumped off the cliff. He started the day in fifth place and at the top of the AOY standings by a decent margin. He finished the day in 60th place and fell to sixth on the AOY list.
My, how things can change and shake up in the midst of a “tough” fishing event.
Standing atop that list after Day Two of this event is Terry Scroggins with about 1,500 unofficial points.
Strangely enough, Jones, who finished yesterday in 88th place and fell to fourth overall, stayed in 88thplace, but because of all the stumbling, bumbling going on all around, actually moved up the AOY standings to second place with 1,471 points.
KVD, who did a little stumbling of his own, is third with 1437. And Roumbanis is now fourth with 1,419 (five of those points from leading Day Two).
Dean Rojas has moved into the mix in fifth with 1,393, and then there’s Kennedy one point back in sixth place with 1,392.
In the grand scheme of things, there have been a lot of moves up and down this list, and if Scroggins were to have a bad day on Day Three, Jones could wind up back in the lead, even though he will spend the day on dry ground.
The bottom line is Jones had a big cushion coming into this event. He certainly didn’t want to stumble, but his big lead cushioned the fall, so to speak. After this event, whether or not he leads the race, things will be super tight.
Watching how these things progress is making every fish a critical component to who actually wins the AOY title, which is the way it should be at the end of the day.
As an example: Steve Kennedy weighed only two fish for 2-9 on Day Two. If he could have added a single 12-inch keeper to his creel, he would be one place higher in the overall standings, a second keeper of the same size and he’s back in fourth place.
That’s an easy example that makes some assumptions; all the guys above him could have or might have had the opportunity to make those kind of short moves in tourneys past. But what it serves to show, is just how important every fish is and will be in the next two days of this event and even more so when the Elite anglers get to the Arkansas River, where the toughness factor, following an abnormal flood, will be ratcheted up a bit.
Either way, the moves, or shall we say “bombs” that are dropping daily makes this AOY race not only fun to watch but exciting as well.
May 14, 2011 – bassmaster.com
COLUMBIA, S.C. — It’s a tight tournament on Lake Murray, and Elite anglers say the waning blueback herring spawn and Friday’s sunny conditions are the reason for the lack of separation on the leaderboard.
After Day Two of the Evan Williams Bourbon Carolina Clash, less than 4 pounds separate leader Fred Roumbanis and fifth-place angler Rick Clunn. Jami Fralick, the Day One leader who fell to 10th place Friday, only needs to make up a little more than 4 pounds to catch up to Roumbanis.
“In any tournament, but this one especially, one big fish can carry you a long way,” said Casey Ashley, who sits in second place with 30-1, trailing Roumbanis by half a pound. “The only thing that separated me from some of the others was a couple of quality bites. That’s what you’ve got to contend with here.”
Ashley, who hails from nearby Donalds, S.C., blamed the lack of big bites on the timing of the blueback herring spawn. Herring are an abundant prey fish in Lake Murray, and during the species’ late spring spawn, largemouth bass feed heavily on them. It creates exceptional topwater fishing, especially in the early part of the day.
But there’s one problem this week on Lake Murray.
“Everything’s about the herring spawn, and we’re at the tail end of it,” Ashley said. “The herring are up in the morning, and when they leave, the bass leave. And it’s just real hard to get the bass to bite. The fish are very educated. Everybody’s been fishing for them. They’ve seen it all.”
Davy Hite, who calls Lake Murray his home water, echoed Ashley’s assessment.
“The blueback thing is kind of fading away,” said Hite, who holds down third place with 29-7. “These fish are hook-shy. They’re real cautious when they bite. You don’t get that many opportunities for good, quality fish.”
Sunny conditions and rapidly rising water temperatures didn’t help Friday. After a mix of sun and clouds on Day One, bright blue skies and calm winds reigned over Day Two.
“It was slick, sunny and hot,” Ashley said. “The water temperature is warming up a bunch. Usually you need some sun and wind, but with the water warming up so much, we could use some clouds to keep it from getting so hot so fast.”
That puts a premium on the first part of the day. Anglers have to capitalize on the diminishing herring pattern within the first hour of the day.
“Then you have to figure out what they do after they feed in the morning,” Roumbanis said.
Despite catching 18-4, the tournament’s heaviest stringer yet, Roumbanis struggled early, too.
“I was real slow to start,” he said. “I caught several striped bass but no largemouth for about an hour. It was one of those mornings.”
Though Roumbanis holds the lead, the buzz behind the scenes focuses on Hite. He’s intimately familiar with Lake Murray, and he’s been consistently catching fish over the first two days.
Hite isn’t shirking the favorite’s role or downplaying his local knowledge.
“With the blueback spawn fading, I think that’ll be good for me,” Hite said. “I know a lot of places on this lake that I haven’t even thought about fishing yet. When you have a lot of knowledge of a place, it can actually hurt you because you don’t fish patterns, you fish memories. But I think I’ve done a good job this week.”
Hite said he’ll be “swinging for the fences in a serious way the next couple of days.
“I have a couple of places that are either home run or none,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
May 12, 2011 – bassmaster.com
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nine anglers have already qualified for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic. Five of them qualified through the Elite Series by virtue of a win. Kevin VanDam — the reigning Classic champ — is also in. The remaining three earned their spot by winning a Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open.
For the Elite field, at least 28 anglers will receive a Classic berth by virtue of their finish in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. For most of the field, however, a win — Elite or Open — is their only real shot.
Boyd Duckett hasn’t missed a Classic since his first qualification in 2007, which he happened to win. As of now, Duckett is 63rd in AOY points. Though he’s a long shot to get in, he’s undeterred.
“The Florida tournaments got me way behind to start the season,” he said. “I thought I had it together last week at West Point, but things just came undone.”
Duckett knows he needs to do his best to put pressure on the field and maybe take risks he wouldn’t otherwise.
“If I have any kind of a chance to win one, I’m going to really turn it up,” he said. But, he recognizes the need to put fish in the boat rather than gamble on an all-or-nothing event. “I haven’t been fishing for little ones, but you’ve got to make the first cut before you can make the second one. Before you can swing for the fences you have to have something to swing.”
If he doesn’t grab a win and automatic entry, Duckett will look north to gain a Classic berth. “I was planning on fishing the Northern Opens, anyway,” he said.
Tommy Biffle has qualified for 17 Classics. However, it’s not looking like 2012 will be his 18th. He currently sits in 92nd in the AOY standings and is definitely on the outside looking in. For the remainder of the season, he’s changed his tune — and fishing style.
“I’m fishing to win,” he said. “I’d like to get a check, but that’s kind of irrelevant. I’m fishing my strengths, and hopefully somewhere along the road it’ll happen."
He says that sometimes fishing for a check and fishing for a win are totally different. Like Duckett, Biffle is looking to take a gamble or two in hopes he can sneak in. He cites errors on his part as the reason for his lack of success this year.
“I’ve had ‘em on in every tournament, but things just happened,” he said. “I’ve lost ‘em, they get off, or I shoot myself in the foot and come in late. Something’s happened every time. I’m just beside myself. I’ve thought about fishing those Opens, but I might just cut my losses now.”
Mike McClelland is also on the outside looking in. He’s made eight Classics, including the past six. He says that so far none of the Elite events — possibly including this week's Carolina Clash — have played in his favor.
“The fish haven’t come off the bank yet,” the deep water specialist said. “Every year we run into a tournament or two where they're on the bank, and I have to adjust to survive, but this year we haven't had a tournament yet where I could fish my strengths. They’ve either been spawning or on the bank.”
He’s tried to make the season fit his style and has caught some fish, but they’ve not been the “right” ones. Still, McClelland has a positive attitude and a plan.
“We’ve got a few events left, and I plan on winning one,” he said. “Plus, there’s the possibility of fishing the Opens. When you put yourself in this position, you have to fish to win. There's a difference between that and fishing to be competitive in an event. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll go north (to the Opens), I guess.”
McClelland’s fishing isn’t the only thing that’s changed; he’s adopted a new attitude for the rest of the season.
“My new quote is, ‘It is what it is,’” he said. “I’m just going with the flow.”
May 11, 2011 – bassmaster.com
It's definitely good to be Alton ... Jones, that is, the guy in the driver’s seat of the 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. He hasn’t got it quite sewn up — not just yet — but he’s going to be very, very difficult to catch.
For starters, the next stop on the Bassmaster Elite Series trail is South Carolina’s Lake Murray, site of his Megabucks win in 2000. He hasn’t always excelled on Murray, but he’s never bombed there, and he’s fishing so well this season that a collapse seems unthinkable.
Alton has a lead of 107 points in this year’s AOY race. It’s the second largest lead at this point of the season in Elite history. Only Skeet Reese set a faster pace; in 2010 he led by 258 after five tournaments.
We all know what happened to Reese last season. After a stellar regular season, he stumbled in the postseason, opening the door for Kevin VanDam to take home his sixth AOY trophy.
Of course, this year there’s no postseason — no chance to undo the work of a regular season. That works to Jones’ advantage and cuts into the chances of anyone making a comeback.
Here are a couple of other things that make it look like the year of Alton Jones:
(1) In the five previous Elite seasons, every eventual AOY leader after eight tournaments (the full regular season this year) was also leading after five events with a single exception. In 2009, Skeet Reese trailed the leader (KVD) by five points.
(2) Five points is the biggest deficit any angler has made up with three events to go in the season. Terry Scroggins (2nd), Kevin VanDam (3rd) and Steve Kennedy (4th) have a lot farther to go than that.
It's not easy to say that Scroggins, VanDam and Kennedy are out of it, so I won't, but the odds against them are longer than you might think. If Jones were being chased by lesser anglers — maybe some rookies or guys who had never challenged for AOY this late in a season — I'd call this race and congratulate Alton. Instead, he's being by pursued by three talented veterans. Everyone else — all 95 of them — are finished as far as the AOY race is concerned.
Put a fork in 'em.
The race for All Star Week is different. Eight anglers will qualify for that, and it's a pretty safe bet that five or six guys currently in the top eight will be among them. The rest could be a little surprising. Every year at this stage someone starts to mount a big comeback and jumps into the top eight from much lower in the standings.
Last year it was none other than KVD. He was 21st after five events — 88 points out of the top eight — but got hot and slipped into the postseason where he made the most of the opportunity and earned his sixth AOY title.
All Star week won't decide the AOY race, but it will put a lot of cash into the pockets of the qualifiers, so the struggle to get there will be hard-fought. Then, of course, there's the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.
To earn a spot in the Classic, an Elite angler will likely need to finish in the top 35 of the AOY standings. That covers the top 28 finishers (who are guaranteed berths in the championship) plus the winners of the eight regular season events (also guaranteed berths), almost all of whom will double-qualify by virtue of finishing in the top 28 in the AOY standings.
While you can just about guarantee that someone will mount a big comeback and move into the top 35 from the 50s, it's also safe to say that it won't be more than one angler.
That means Tim Horton (50th), Cliff Pace (52nd), Gary Klein (53rd) and Skeet Reese (58th) are in big trouble. One of them might sneak in with a Herculean finish, but not more than one.
It also means that perennial Classic qualifiers like Boyd Duckett (63rd), Mike McClelland (76th) and Tommy Biffle (92nd) are definitely out unless they can win one of the final three tournaments. These guys need to pull out all the stops and go for broke. Win and they're in. Anything else and they work the show floor at the Expo.
And what's happened to Derek Remitz (97th), Terry Butcher (82nd) and Russ Lane (70th)? A year ago they were fighting for the AOY title in the postseason. This year they're fighting to keep their Elite status. If things don't improve for them, they don't have the exemptions necessary to guarantee a return to the trail. It's past time to worry for these three.
Stick around. The season's just getting interesting.
May 11, 2011 – bassmaster.com
LA GRANGE, Ga. – After dropping over 23 pounds on the scales on Day Two, Kevin VanDam looked poised to make another late-season run to win the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race, but the only thing on his mind was winning the Pride of Georgia.
“I wanted to win,” VanDam said. “If I was totally focused on Angler of the Year, I would have gone and caught a couple of small keepers to move up a few places. When you make it to the final day, the worst you can finish is 12th.”
VanDam didn’t fall that far, but he didn’t have to. The man he was chasing in the season-long race, Alton Jones, was also fishing on Sunday. With 12 pounds, 12 ounces, Jones jumped into sixth place while VanDam fell five places to seventh when his topwater bite failed to materialize on Day Four.
Jones had two big days in the tournament, both of which he attributed to a key on-the-water decision in practice. Looking at satellite maps, he found three backwater areas that looked to be well-suited to his style of fishing. The first two turned out to be shallow and impossible to access, but the third looked promising.
“It took me a lot of time to find that spot,” Jones said. “I decided to take the risk and run back there. I knew I could get over the sand bar, but I wasn’t sure how deep it was and there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to get out. I made it and found that magic tree where I got 14 bites (Sunday).”
Those are the kind of risks that make or break a Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year run. The reward for Jones was putting more distance between himself and the rest of his competitors with only three events left to fish. Terry Scroggins now sits 107 points back, while VanDam trails Jones by 118.
Edwin Evers also reaped the rewards of a great finish in Georgia. The 2010 TTBAOY runner-up finished second on West Point and moved into fifth place in the year-long race, continuing to fish well since his return from an elbow injury.
“I’m making good decisions and fishing like I’m capable of,” Evers said. “The first day of the tournament, I picked up my flipping stick, which I didn’t event retie from Pickwick, flipped into a tree and caught a 4-pounder. That really clued me into what I did all week.”
From all the whining in practice for the West Point event, the fishing turned out better than imagined and the stumble many predicted at the top of the standings never materialized. The real shake-up, VanDam predicts, will come in June on the Arkansas River.
“The real wildcard event is going to be on the Arkansas River,” VanDam said. “On the river, you have locks and it’s flooded out there right now. But it’s going to come down to the final event this year and when we go to Wheeler, I expect everyone to catch them.”
Like VanDam, Jones anticipates good fishing on Wheeler, finishing 14ththere the last time the Elite Series visited. His focus now is on the next event on Murray, where Jones has fished many a tournament, including winning a Megabucks there in 2000.
In the end, the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race may come down to a single tournament, a single day or even a single fish. Jones can look back on many good finishes in 2011, but his performance on West Point Lake was an important one.
“It doesn’t mean a whole lot until it’s over, but every point I get now is one less I need to get later,” Jones said. “Every fish is important, every ounce. There was one key fish I caught on Day Two at 2:30, a 6-1 I caught flipping. A fish like that is a gift from the Lord.”
May 8, 2011 – bassmaster.com
LAGRANGE, Ga. — Securing his second Bassmaster Elite Series top-12 cut in a row, and this time with the lead, Ish Monroe was a happy man Saturday. He has, in fact, been feeling great about his fishing in general
“I’m going out there fishing, and having fun, there’s nothing special about what I’m doing,” Monroe said. “I don’t get mad. I don’t get frustrated. I’m chattin’ it up with the crowd back there near me, and enjoying the day. That’s what it’s all about.”
The Hughson, Calif., pro said his buoyant mood was a case of success breeds success: A great second day — a single sack of 21 pounds — acted as a confidence boost, in turn a springboard to a Day Three catch of 14-0.
Not a 21-pound bag, but still better than almost all other anglers could show after a slow day, and enough to push Monroe up and over Edwin Evers and Kevin VanDam in the Pride of Georgia.
Monroe’s three-day total was 47 pounds, 11 ounces, besting VanDam by 1 pound, 3 ounces. VanDam managed just 9-5 on Saturday to hold at second place. It’s his launching pad for a run at his 21st Bassmaster tournament title, not to mention more points toward a fifth Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.
Evers, the leader the first two days, had a rough day and took a back seat to both Monroe and VanDam with a three-day total of 46-7. In fourth place was Steve Kennedy with 46-3. In fifth was rookie Nate Wellman, who had 45-8.
The field was cut to 12 for Sunday’s competition, when the winner will claim $100,000 and an instant entry into the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.
Monroe said that where he’s catching his fish is probably shallower and contains “different” water than what other anglers are working.
“I’ve been catching fish on ‘nothing’ banks,” he said. He’s also on the lookout for bedding bass, rare in this tournament, but perhaps, Monroe speculated, a new wave will appear Sunday, the tournament’s final day.
The water level is rising, a fact that is changing the direction of his fish, he said. “I’d rather they pulled water, because it will suck all the fish into right where I know how to catch them.”
VanDam said Saturday, like Friday, was “just a grind” for him. He brought 9-5 to the scales.
“I never got any big bites, not where they’d eat it,” he said. “I had two or three come up and nip the bait.”
No water movement, rising water levels, and slick and sunny conditions hurt him, he said.
“I couldn’t get the fish to react, to eat anything. I caught a small limit, but not what you want. I got on the wrong rhythm in the morning and never got a good bite,” he said.
VanDam said he got caught in the situation of running the same water as other pros, and that the spectator boats — about 30 of them at one time — churned the water.
“With Mother’s Day tomorrow, I think a lot of people will stay home and we’ll get a chance to really show off on this lake. I know some areas where there are some big ones swimming”
Like VanDam, Evers could not break 10 pounds Saturday although he both broke a sweat trying. Evers and VanDam are only 1 ounce apart on the leaderboard.
“It will make it interesting for TV tomorrow,” Evers said.
He said he’s focusing on points with trees on them, “trying to hit as many as I can throughout the day.”
Other than that, it’s “junk fishing 101,” the Oklahoma pro said. “I’ve caught some cranking, some topwater, a bunch of different ways. Tomorrow I need five big bites — I’d like to win this thing.”
Monroe plans to give him a run for the money.
“I’ve got a spot that’s got a shad spawn going on first thing in the morning,” Monroe said. “There are shad everywhere, and I know there’s got to be more big fish in there, so I’ll start tomorrow back there again and work the shad spawn.”
The day’s largest bass brought to the scales was a 6-8 by Keith Combs, matching the Day Two big bass by Scott Rook. Neither challenges the largest yet, a 7-8 produced by Dustin Wilks on the first day.
May 7, 2011 – bassmaster.com
LAGRANGE, Ga. -- Fishing on West Point Lake turned tougher for many of the Bassmaster Elite Series pros, even some of those who claimed top leaderboard spots in the Pride of Georgia.
That included first-day leader Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., who stayed in the top spot with 37 pounds, 7 ounces, over two days despite a so-so second-day bag of 15-3.
Evers, who led local favorite Steve Kennedy by 1 ounce on Thursday, found himself Friday with a 4-ounce lead on yet another formidable challenger, Kevin VanDam. The four-time Bassmaster Classic champ and six-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year smashed 23-10 Friday to jump from 26th place into second.
Friday saw other wild shifts in the leaderboard. Ish Monroe made a leap Friday, from 33rd to third, after slapping 21 pounds on the scales. That gave him 33-11 over two days.
Andy Montgomery ended the day in fourth place, up from 11th, with 33-6. Kennedy slipped to fifth after a 10-14 day. Other big movers included Gerald Swindle, up from 67th into 19th place, and Alton Jones, from 24th to hold down eighth place.
Evers said he culled his smallest fish, a spotted bass, only an hour before he had to call it a day and run to the check-in point. Those few extra ounces kept him in front, and Evers was ecstatic about that.
“I feel great, I’m still in the lead so I can’t complain,” Evers said. “I had six keeper bites and I was fortunate to get them all in the boat.”
He said the bass seemed even more finicky and unpredictable than on the first day, when he bagged 22-4.
“It was a lot harder to get bites today, and there were a lot more boats running the same kind of stuff I was running,” he added . “I didn’t catch a bass in the same spot two days in a row. Tomorrow I’ll just keep plugging away, find five good bites, not get in too big a hurry, and I hope I can stay up there.”
Evers won the Elite season’s second tournament by flying under the radar, then popping up the final day. This tournament, he’s in the catbird seat, a position he said he loves, because, win or lose this one, he still will garner extra AOY points awarded to a daily leader. His goal is to be in contention for the AOY award.
And that’s what VanDam, reigning AOY, is aiming for too. But first things first, and that’s the West Point Lake competition. He said he made a few key adjustments Friday, and that made all the difference.
“I was able to get some of those better bites,” he said. “You have these windows, times when you see you can capitalize on a pattern, and that’s what happened today for me. I saw a pattern developing, and the wind and clouds came in to help me. But earlier I needed the sun, and that’s what we had the first half of the day. I caught a good limit doing that, but when conditions changed, I adjusted — same pattern, but blind fishing.”
VanDam declined to describe in detail the adjustments he made.
“I’m looking for certain things out there, certain objects, covering a lot of water,” he said.
Monroe said he tried to force a pattern Thursday, but took a step back, relaxed, and “just went fishing” Friday.
“But it’s not about patterning them,” he said. “Today I threw everything in the box.”
He started the day by losing a fish on a frog, but then rallied. A big contributor to his sack was a 6-pound bed fish that he caught on the first flip.
“That’s how things started to roll when you just go out and go fishing like I did today. I’m just going to go out and have fun with it. I think that’s what I’ve been missing in my fishing.”
The day’s biggest bass was brought in by Scott Rook, a 6-8. It didn’t beat the 7-8 from Day One caught by Dustin Wilks and still the front runner for the Pride of Georgia’s competition for Berkley Big Bass of Tournament honors , worth a $500 bonus.
The Elite field was cut to the top 50 for Saturday’s round. Sunday, only the top 12 will compete for a first-place prize that includes $100,000 and an instant entry in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic. Anglers are also trying to earn points that count toward three coveted prizes: the 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year crown, 2011 postseason berths, and 2012 Classic qualifications.
May 6, 2011 – bassmaster.com
LAGRANGE, Ga. -- Steve Kennedy’s deep and wide West Point Lake history stood him well Thursday, but Edwin Evers went 1 ounce better to take the lead on the first day of the Pride of Georgia.
Evers, of Talala, Okla., weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces to Kennedy’s 22-3. They have more than a few ounces as a cushion over David Walker, in third with 21-3; Dustin Wilks in fourth with 20-3; and Bobby Lane with 18-4 claiming fifth place.
Ninety-nine Bassmaster Elite Series pros are competing on West Point Lake for a first-place prize that includes $100,000 and an instant entry in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.
Anglers are also trying to earn points that count toward three coveted prizes: the 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year crown, 2011 postseason berths, and 2012 Classic qualifications.
Evers already has a Classic berth in hand. He came from behind in March to win the season’s second event, the Power-Pole Citrus Slam on the St. Johns River.
Evers played it close to the vest Thursday, giving nothing away in hopes he can keep an advantage and score win No. 2 for the year.
“You have to keep it to yourself -- these guys are too good,” he said.
He did reveal that his day started so slowly, he scrapped his initial game plan and “went fishing.”
“Man, that worked out really good,” he said, adding that he was covering “a bunch of water,” and burned 26 to 27 gallons of gas, jumping from spot to spot and blowing through his arsenal to try to isolate a bait, technique or a pattern that worked.
“I think I caught all five of my bass on five different baits,” he said, his largest of the day going 5-15.
He said that contrary to what he expected, the early spawning- shad bite didn’t happen for him.
Evers smashed the buzz from scouting reports and practice sessions that bag weights would be low in this tournament.
“I thought the fish were in this lake,” he said.
Kennedy knew it as well. A Georgia native, he and his father often traveled to West Point Lake for fishing trips. Now living in Auburn, Ala., Kennedy is even closer to the lake and has been a regular, if not frequent, visitor over the years.
That experience helped Kennedy Thursday as he fished through water others had hit before him. Like Evers, he worked a long string of stops, staying on the move. He said he aimed solely for the bigger largemouth bass, quick-firing casts at targets he said that perhaps only he was trying.
“Some were just little, bitty isolated pieces of wood,” he said. “Some was rock, some was little points.
The strategy resulted in his boating only seven keepers all day, but it was enough -- or, rather, just 1 ounce shy of enough.
Ending the day in third place, Walker credited a fast start and no-error day.
“Everywhere I went, worked; everything I tried, worked,” he said. “You can catch them 2 foot to 20 foot. I came in 20 minutes early because what else was I going to do?”
He said he culled up frequently, building his bag of five largemouth.
The presence of shad is crucial, he said. “You have to see them on your locator -- there has to be shad to make the area work.”
Wilks claimed fourth place with the day’s biggest catch, a 7-8 largemouth that fell for an Assassinator buzzbait.
“That same exact fish bit in practice,” he said, “and in the same spot. I had my hook protected (during practice) and I went back and got her.”
The 7-8 sets the pace for the Pride of Georgia’s competition for Berkley Big Bass of Tournament honors , worth a $500 bonus.
All 99 Elite anglers will compete Friday. After Friday’s weigh-in, the field will cut to the top 50 for Saturday’s competition. Only the top 12 will be in Sunday’s finale.
May 4, 2011 – bassmaster.com
LA GRANGE, Ga. -- West Point Lake might well reshape the look of the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. Of the top pros, only one is optimistic about this week’s event: leader Alton Jones.
“I think that I need to put the fact that I’m leading the race out of my mind and focus on the job at hand: catching as many fish as possible this week,” Jones said. “I’ve always liked tough tournaments; it makes it a thinking man’s game. The thing that will make a big difference here is getting that one extra quality fish a day.”
While he may be the only one of the top four optimistic about West Point, Jones and the other AOY hopefuls see eye-to-eye about the fact that the fishery on the Georgia-Alabama border will be very different from the first four events of the season.
“I don’t care who thinks they’re on ‘em, this lake is a hard lake, and it’s not going to take a lot of weight to do well,” said Kevin VanDam, who sits in third place. “The thing that won’t happen is the winner will get all of his fish from one spot. It’s hero or zero stuff out there.
“I had one really good day of practice, and one really bad day. I didn’t do anything different between the two, either. I’m just looking for a few areas each day. It’d be really easy to go out there and not catch anything at all.”
Reports that VanDam is struggling isn’t unusual. That’s the common trend from most of the field after practice. The tough environment, however, is a scenario that VanDam thrives in.
“I like tough events where you’ve got to struggle mentally,” he said. “A good bite here or there makes all the difference in the world. We’ve been so spoiled in the Elite Series the last few years by going to a bunch of good lakes. This isn’t a horrible lake; the timing is tough. These next two tournaments are going to be critical for Angler of the Year.”
Scroggins, second to Jones, echoed the sentiment that a tough-fishing West Point can shake up the AOY race.
“I’m more worried about this event than any other,” Scroggins said. “These tough tournaments are the easiest to win, but you can also fall on your face really easily. I’m going to take these last few events one at a time, and hope to survive this one especially.”
Chris Lane, taking the advice of his brother Bobby, is trying to take a laid-back approach to the Pride of Georgia.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to catch a fish,” Lane said with Bobby eying him from across the table. “West Point can be fun, but it can also be tough. Being in fourth in the points puts a little pressure on me, but I’m going to try and stay focused, go out and get paid. That’s what got me here.”
Lane is taking some advice from current events, as well.
“I heard on the news last night that the guy who shot Osama bin Laden had to have a positive attitude,” he said, “so that’s what I’m going to do; get out there and have a positive attitude.”
April 20, 2011 – bassmaster.com
Gerald Swindle may have missed the win by 1 ounce Sunday in the TroKar Battle on the Bayou, but he was one of the biggest winners of Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points.
Swindle's second-place finish in the Toledo Bend event jumped him from 34th into 12th place in the 2011 points race, now at the halfway mark.
The race will determine three prizes at the end of the season: the TTBAOY award, worth $100,000; eight spots in the postseason, another $100,000 contest; and 28 qualifications for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic.
Swindle already owns a Classic berth. He earned it when he won the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open early in the season. Having the Classic in the bag has helped him relax as he competes in the Bassmaster Elite Series, he said. And, ironically, not obsessing over points has helped him win more points. "I'm learning now: Don't worry about points," Swindle said. "If there's any way, keep it out of your mind; fish each day to win."
Last Sunday's winner, Dean Rojas, advanced even more places in the points standings than Swindle did. Rojas improved by 23 spots, from 31st into that magic eighth place, the cut line for an automatic berth into the July 23-31 Toyota Trucks All-Star Week postseason.
"I've got to keep up the momentum from here on out and fish well and make it to the postseason. That's my next goal," Rojas said. "My first was to make it to the Classic, and now I've done that."
He was referring to the Bassmaster Classic seat he was awarded by winning at Toledo Bend. At the same time, Rojas pushed aside the suggestion that the Angler of the Year prize was on his radar.
"Now, I'm looking at the postseason," he insisted.
Rojas may be feeling the caution of the slow starter. After the season's first event, he was 51st in points. His gains have been steady: 44th after the second event; 31st after the third; and now eighth after four tournaments.
If Rojas and Swindle are the hares, points leader Alton Jones is the tortoise. This season, he's traveled only forward, nose up and trained on the finish line. After his 16th-place finish on Toledo Bend, Jones not only maintained at No. 1, he put 26 more points between himself and No. 2, Terry Scroggins.
Jones, now with a total of 1,096 AOY points, has held the lead for three tournaments running. Ditto for Scroggins in second, Kevin VanDam in third and Jeff Kriet in fifth. The only change Sunday in the Top 5, in fact, was Chris Lane moving into fourth, a spot relinquished by Sunshine Showdown winner Shaw Grigsby, who slipped to 10th.
Besides Rojas and Lane, new to the Top 8 were Fred Roumbanis (seventh, up from 19th) and Steve Kennedy (in sixth from 13th).
Others to watch include Davy Hite, who has been up and down but claimed 13th place Sunday.