Industry News
Archive For February 2008
Classic by the Numbers
February 28, 2008 – bassmaster.com
Let’s a take a look at the 2008 Bassmaster Classic by the numbers. It was a great event — well attended, exciting, and a great new champion was crowned, but few records were broken this year. Here’s what happened … by the numbers.
First of all, the fishing was pretty good. Hartwell produced the third heaviest total poundage of bass in Classic history — behind, ironically, the other two February Classics in 2006 and 2007. The move to the early part of the year has paid off if you like bigger catches.
Similarly, Hartwell produced the third best catch per angler day. Over the three day event, the average angler brought 10.91 pounds of bass to the scales each day — again, just behind the 2006 and 2007 Classics on the Kissimmee Chain in Florida and Alabama’s Lay Lake.
Alton Jones is far from the oldest Classic champion, but at 44 years, 7 months and 11 days, he’s closer to the oldest than he is to the youngest. In fact, Alton ranks sixth among the Classic’s oldest winners. Woo Daves still holds the top spot at 54 years, 2 months and 28 days.
With Jones, Texas claims its ninth Classic. Rick Clunn, of course, grabbed 4 of those. The others belonged to Larry Nixon, Tommy Martin, Jay Yelas and Takahiro Omori. The next closest state is Arkansas with 5.
Alton didn’t go wire-to-wire in claiming his championship, but he did take the lead on Day 2 and hold on for the victory, making him the 23rd angler to take the Day 2 lead and never let go.
The Classic is not a tournament of big comebacks, but Alton did come from 10th place on Day 1 to grab the lead. That places him in a big tie for third among Classic champs who moved after the first day. Don Butler (1972) and Rick Clunn (1990) were both in 14th place after Day 1 when they won the event. Jack Hains (1975) and Woo Daves (2000), like Jones, were in 10th after the first day.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/news/story?page=b_classic_08_bythenumbersKVD, Strike King And Sexy Sell
February 26, 2008 – fishpaa.com
No angler brings more value to his sponsors than PAA board member Kevin VanDam. If that was ever in doubt, Strike King’s Chris Brown will set you straight:
Even though KVD didn’t win the 2007 BASS Angler of the Year title, as far as Strike King is concerned his season was all-world. His two key tour wins both came on a new lure, painted a color that Kevin invented himself, the notorious “Sexy Shad.”
“That had a huge value for us,” Brown said. “Not just the two wins, but all the mentions. Sales of the crankbait just skyrocketed. If I get 15 calls in a day, then 10 want to know where they can get the Sexy Shad.”
Even if anglers don’t know what it is, the name sticks in their head and piques their interest. “I get a lot of calls from folks who don’t know what it is,” he added.
It was a perfect storm of events that propelled it to record setting sales numbers. “Kevin’s wins, plus all the press, definitely helped. Then there’s the fact that it works coast to coast.” Unlike some tackle manufacturers, who either intentionally or inadvertently create a situation of scarcity, Strike King was ready to have them on the marking while the iron was hot. “We made them as fast as we could and got them to the market as soon as we could.”
Could another angler generate the same level of sales as KVD?
“Probably not. Kevin is in a class by himself,” Brown said. But the lesson to be learned is that tournament success drives the bass tackle market, and proper branding, personalization and marketing savvy need to be employed to give baits a “character” and “profile” translate the pros’ success to that of the everyday angler.
Even Brown, a seasoned veteran of the tackle wars, admitted that he “learned a whole lot from the past year.”
http://www.fishpaa.com/news/article/kvd_strike_king_and_sexy_sell/No keeping up with this Jones
February 24, 2008 – bassmaster.com
GREENVILLE, S.C. — In the end, no one else’s catches could keep up with Jones’.
In his 11th Classic, the Waco, Texas, pro came back from 10th place on Day One to claim the $500,000 top prize in the biggest event in bass fishing.
“This is the fulfillment of a dream I’ve had since childhood,” he told a packed house at the 15,000-seat Bi-Lo Center. “I learned to fish from my grandfather in East Texas and I wish he were here to see this.”
He survived a late charge by former Classic and Bassmaster Angler of the Year winner Kevin VanDam (third place, 43 pounds, 8 ounces) and Cliff Pace (second, 44-5), who made 10 out of 11 cuts on the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2007.
Jones’ comeback is all the more impressive considering how weights suffered after a big Day One, when he caught his five-fish limit in six casts. Targeting deep fish, he took the lead with an 18-11 Day Two haul that bumped upstart Charlie Hartley out of the catbird seat. Jones then sealed the win with a 13-7 bag on a Day Three when no angler weighed a sack bigger than 15 pounds.
The Classic victory is the fifth BASS tournament win for Jones, whose highest previous Classic finish before this year was 7th place in 2000 and 2003.
Previously in South Carolina, he won the Megabucks Pro on Lake Murray in 2000. In 2006, he sacked a 35-6 limit — at the time, the fifth-largest single-day weight in the history of BASS — including a 10-1 kicker, on Santee-Cooper Reservoir. He and fellow angler Kevin VanDam were subsequently disqualified from that tournament when both were found to have received help scouting the lake with a non-boater — in Jones’ case, his son — during practice.
The $500,000 that comes with the Classic title will boost Jones’ career winning with BASS by 30 percent.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3262744Pros Like Their Boats
February 24, 2008 – fishpaa.com
For the first time in the history of the Bassmaster Classic, in February 2008 each competitor competed out of his own boat. No more matching rigs — instead, to the anglers’ delight, they were fully comfortable and fully identifiable fishing out of their own vessels.
Regardless of the reason for this change by BASS, the anglers were uniformly thrilled by this deviation from past practice. The following is a list of a few representative comments on the topic:
Derek Remitz
“It’s pretty good. It’s set up the way you want it. But it’s also good and bad — it was kind of cool to just show up and there were 50 identical rigs.”
Todd Faircloth
“It means the world to me. I know where everything is after my tackle preparation and it’s a lot easier to get organized. If you fish out of your boat as much as we do, you know where everything is at. If you get in a different boat, you have to look and there’s confusion. I lay my boat out the same every year, so it’s all routine.”
Kevin VanDam
“It’s huge. It’s a monumental day for the sport. There’s an additional level of comfort and familiarity in our own boats, with our own electronics and trolling motors, even if they’re the same brand. Even the way your tackle fits. It’s the way it needed to be from a sheer competitive perspective, and the value to Nitro is much bigger.”
Texas angler moves from 10th to 1st
February 24, 2008 – bassmaster.com
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Brent Chapman succinctly summed up the second day of the Bassmaster Classic for almost every angler in the 50-man field.
“It was a lot warmer than yesterday, but the fishing was a little colder,” Chapman said.
Of the top 12 anglers going into Sunday’s $500,000 first-place final, only three caught a bigger bag Saturday than they did on Friday.
Alton Jones of Waco, Texas, had the second-biggest bag of the day — 18 pounds, 11 ounces — and jumped from 10th place to first with a two-day total of 36-0. Jeff Kriet of Ardmore, Okla., had the biggest five bass limit, 18-12, and lept from 23rd place into fifth with 31-11.
The clear skies and 60-degree temperatures made a striking contrast with the 30-degree rain on Friday. And it left many in the field scratching their heads, searching for answers.
“I thought I had an invincible pattern,” said Scott Rook, who had one of three 20-pound bags Friday, which weighed only 7-12 Saturday — and dropped from second to 12th. “[Friday] the smallest fish I caught weighed 2 pounds. Today, that was the biggest fish I caught. I don’t know what happened.”
Two-time Classic champion Kevin VanDam also had a 20-pound bag Friday, but brought in only 11-14 Saturday.
“I think the weather had more to do with it than anything,” VanDam said. “That was a pretty big front that came through.”
First-day leader Charlie Hartley had 13-12 Saturday, and that was enough to keep him within 1-3 of the lead, after 21-1 on Friday. Hartley admitted being the leader in the Classic caused some concentration problems for him Saturday.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3261337Skeeter team sporting KVD boat tags
February 23, 2008 – bassmaster.com
Three Bassmaster Elite Series pros on the Skeeter Boats team recently received in the mail their new boat trailer license plates. All three of them — Todd Faircloth, Kelly Jordon and Alton Jones — attached the new license plates to their trailers and thought nothing more of it.
“I don’t look at my license plate numbers,” said Jones, who lives in Waco, Texas.
But other people do.
In Jones’ case, it was his son, Alton Jr., who immediately noticed the significance of his dad’s new boat trailer plate. It included the nickname of the most accomplished angler in bass fishing, Kevin VanDam — the three-time BASS Angler of the Year and two-time Basmaster Classic champion, who is fishing in his 18th-straight Classic this week.
“My son said, ‘Dad, your license plate has KVD on it,’” Jones recalled. “He’s the one who told me.”
Faircloth, who is from Jasper, Texas, didn’t notice it until Jones told him this week in Greenville.
“It’s not something you really pay attention to, your license plate,” Faircloth said.
Todd Faircloth’s jokes KVD may expect royalties from the new plates.
Faircloth, who is fishing in his sixth Classic, called a Skeeter representative this week and said, “You better watch out, Kevin might be trying to get a royalty.”
Jordon, a Mineola, Texas, resident, didn’t find out until his girlfriend, Kerri Cole, told him.
“I just screwed it on the trailer,” Jordon said. “I was headed out, and my girlfriend was following me. When we stopped, she said, ‘Did you know your license plate was customized?’ I said, ‘No.’ She said, ‘You didn’t know it says KVD on it?’ I said, ‘No it doesn’t.’”
But yes it does — 89Z-KVD, to be exact. And Jordon is probably having more fun with this than anyone. The talkative Texan loves to rib VanDam any time he can.
James Overstreet
Kelly Jordan shows off his KVD plate
Jordon immediately called his friend VanDam to tell him the news.
“Does this mean I’ve got your number, or you’ve got my number?” Jordon asked him. “I think it means I’ve got yours, since it’s on the back of my boat trailer.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3259041Hart Attack
February 23, 2008 – bassmaster.com
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The leader after the first day of the Bassmaster Classic, only the biggest fishing tournament in the universe, is some dude named Charlie Hartley.
Surely the only angler on the Elite Series who skateboards daily, Hartley sacked 21 pounds, 1 ounce Friday on Lake Hartwell to take a 4-ounce lead over Scott Rook and 14-ounce lead over Kevin VanDam.
That would be 12-time BASS winner Kevin VanDam, who has won two Classics among the 17 he has fished.
The 43-year-old Hartley, by contrast, is fishing his first Classic and has won precisely zero BASS tournaments. The Grove City, Ohio, angler finished 79th in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings and had to qualify for the Classic by winning the points race in the Southern Opens.
A self-described fishing “addict,” Hartley said he would have fished the Opens even if he didn’t need them to qualify for the Classic. “If I’m going to be on the water anyway,” he said, “there might as well be some money on the line.”
Now there’s $500,000 on the line, and on a day when 17 of the 50 anglers weighed in less than 10 pounds of bass — including four anglers with a previous Classic victory or Angler of the Year title — the 20-pound sacks were all the more impressive.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3259665ALTON JONES ROCK SOLID ON DAY TWO
February 23, 2008 – basszone.com
Greenville, SC. – Excited. Jazzed. Pumped. Stoked. Whatever word you want to use to try and describe the feelings of those atop the leader board Saturday morning would be appropriate because at launch, the feeling was purely electric with 2,000 screaming fans greeted the 50-man field at launch.
Friday had cold air, rain, and clouds all day – but the fish responded and three anglers crossed the stage with 20-pound sacks of bass. Classic rookie Charlie Hartley rocked the crowd at the Bi-Lo center with a five-fish bag that tipped the scales at just over 21 pounds.
Close behind him was Arkansas pro, and veteran angler, Scott Rook with 20-13. Rook, who’s fishing his sixth Classic, went to the back of pockets and threw a Shad Rap to put together his best five. He wasn’t able to match his opening day pace, and slid down the pile weighing only 7-12 Saturday. He’ll head into Sunday still fishing with hope of a win in his sights.
KVD ended the opening day in third – just under a pound back from Hartley – putting the most dangerous man in bass fishing just where he wanted to be to start the second day of competition. The obvious question remained though: Would his cranking pattern hold up once the promised sun peaked out from under the blanket of clouds?
http://www.basszone.com/2008classic/saturday/story1.htmCLASSIC ROOKIE HEATS UP THE FIELD
February 22, 2008 – basszone.com
Greenville, SC. – In a field that boasts some of the biggest names in the sport it would be easy to understand if a rookie would crumble under the pressure. However, Charlie Hartley absorbed the pressure of the sports biggest stage and came out on top.
Hartley, the 43–year-old Elite Series pro, is exactly the type of angler to be in this type of position. Hartley is the owner of a sign manufacturing company in his home city of Grove City, Ohio, and is one of the more affable personalities on tour.
Despite the drastic weather that brought cold temperatures, rain and periodic sleet to the surface of Lake Hartwell, Hartley was able to stick with the pattern he discovered in practice. His confidence in his pattern allowed him to put together his 21-pound, 1-ounce limit, and grab the title of ‘King for a Day.’
Hot on the heels of the Ohio sign man is a list of anglers that reads something like a future Bass Fishing Hall of Fame ballot.
Little Rock, Ark. pro Scott Rook, who won the 2006 Bassmaster Legends on the Arkansas River, employed a shallow water pattern to post a 20-pound, 13-ounce limit to finish day one in the runner up position.
In third place after the day one weigh-in at Greenville’s Bi-Lo Center is two time Bassmaster Classic Champion Kevin VanDam. Van Dam brought in a five fish limit of 20 pounds, 3 ounces to put him in third position, in striking distance of his third Classic victory.
http://www.basszone.com/2008classic/friday/story1.htmWorst weather ever won’t hinder bass fishing
February 22, 2008 – bassmaster.com
ANDERSON, S.C. — As two-time Bassmaster Classic champion Kevin VanDam puts it, “The fish are already wet.” VanDam, competing in his 18th consecutive Classic, said Thursday’s weather is undoubtedly the worst in the 38-year history of the event. But it is more apt to make the fishing better rather than put a damper on opening day.
“Today is going to be game day,” said the two-time Classic champion. “We should smash them today.”
As proof of that, Bobby Lane had a five-bass limit in his boat in the first 45 minutes Thursday morning.
“Fish bite on days like today,” VanDam said. “In low-light conditions bass have an advantage over their prey species. They’re going to feed today. Low pressure triggers bass activity.”
Although he’s fishing in his first Bassmaster Classic, and at age 24 he’s the youngest competitor in the 50-angler field, Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., has the most experience fishing on Lake Hartwell.
And he’s experienced worse days weather-wise on Lake Hartwell than Thursday.
“I’ve been here before when it was snowing in December,” Ashley said.
What was the temperature that day?
“Eighteen degrees,” Ashley said so quickly that it was obvious the day was fresh in his memory, even though it happened when he was 15 years old. “We caught ‘em good.
“It’s prime today, if a guy gets in the right spot at the right time.”
This is only the third Classic held in February. From the first Classic in 1971 until the 36th in 2005, the events were held in the months of July, August, September, October and November. Even on those November Classic days, the coldest temperatures were in the 70s.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3258285