Kevin Van Dam

Clarks Hill preview

April 30, 2008 – espnoutdoors.com

Who says familiarity can’t be exciting?

Not Davy Hite, that’s for sure.

All he has to do is cast his memory back to 2006 when the Bassmaster Elite Series made a stop on Clarks Hill Lake — a 71,000 acre plus fishery that straddles the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Hite, who lives in nearby Ninety Six, S.C., won that tournament with a four-day total of 71 pounds, 12 ounces that was caught primarily on a jig.

That wasn’t the unusual part, however, as a lot of the guys were fishing jigs that weekend. What gave Hite an advantage, he said at the time, was his unique knowledge of the fishery. After all, he’d fished the system for decades and wound up employing a winning pattern that he first used at Clarks Hill more than 20 years earlier.

Talk about knowing your way around.

Now, Hite and his fellow Elites return to Clarks Hill beginning Thursday for the Pride of Georgia presented by Evan Williams Bourbon. It’s not surprising that Hite is looking forward to the opportunity.

Low Water, Scattered Fish Dominate Clarks Hill Chatter

April 30, 2008 – bassfan.com

After a two-stop tear through Texas the Bassmaster Elite Series sets up camp this week on the Georgia-South Carolina border with its sights set on Clarks Hill. This visit marks the fourth consecutive year BASS’s best have come to ‘The Hill’, and it seems like every year the lake fishes differently than the last.

In 2005 the circuit showed up in March and the lake’s largemouth population was largely in the pre-spawn mode waiting for warmer weather. A year later they timed it just right and caught Clarks’ bass in their traditional post-spawn blueback herring feast.

Last year the Elites showed up in mid-April. The fish were in post-spawn mode, but not far enough removed from their postpartum doldrums to start grouping up for the Clarks Hill herring buffet. BassFans remember Mike McClelland won that event by tossing a jig in water less than 4-feet deep

Give credit to BASS for trying to hit Clarks Hill at just the right time. This event kicks off 2 weeks later than last year’s derby here, and if this were 2007 the bass would probably be gorging so hard on bluebacks you could scoop them up in a net. But in spite of BASS’s scheduling efforts, Clarks Hill has thrown yet another curveball to the field.

KVD and the Red Eye Shad

April 22, 2008 – bassmaster.com

Developed by Strike King and Elite Series pro Kevin VanDam, the Red Eye Shad has taken the fishing community by storm. Anglers from New England to Florida, and as far west as California, are filling their livewells with bass that have fallen for its alluring action and unusual colors.

But don’t think for a minute this bait was developed by accident, or that it was a lucky stroke of genius. It wasn’t. It’s the product of many months of testing and development across four states, both on and off the water.

“Once we started with the design process, it took us about 30 months before we got it right,” says Phil Marks, New Products Manager for Strike King. “It wasn’t an easy bait to develop. There’s a lot of engineering and testing behind this lure.”

The process started with Kevin VanDam. He wanted a lipless crankbait that was different than any other on the market, a new and improved model. His list of suggested improvements was long.

First on that list was the fall. VanDam was looking for something that held its attitude in the water and then shimmied a bit as it fell after being stopped. He wanted to avoid the “potato chip” look that other lipless crankbaits acquire as they fall.

Basically, Marks and VanDam used three rattles to achieve that result. They employed high weight to create wobble and flash as the lure is being cranked through the water. Belly weight keeps the center of gravity below the midpoint of the lure. This allows it to fall properly.

And finally, the nose weight stabilizes the bait. This forces it to track straight during the retrieve, regardless of speed.

“They all work together to make the Red Eye Shad what it is,” explains Marks. “It took us forever to get everything right. When you change one weight it changes the effect of the others. It was like playing three dimensional checkers. Nothing was simple about it.

“Everything has to work together to give it that unique shimmy as it falls. If anything is wrong, it doesn’t look right. And, if it doesn’t look right to us it won’t look right to the fish.”

Add to those issues the fact that plastic density, air chamber size and the physical shape of the lure body play an important part in this, too. If any of those things change, the effect of the weights change.

“Basically it was a six part deal — three weight locations, plastic density, the size of the air chambers and the physical shape of the body,” Marks summarizes. “This was one of — if not the — toughest and most complex fishing lure projects I’ve ever worked on.”

HOME COOKING: Jordon Leads Team to TTBC Victory

April 21, 2008 – fishpaa.com

LAKE FORK, Tex. – Kelly Jordon, team captain, a former Lake Fork guide, and one of the moving forces behind the organization of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, led his team to a dramatic victory here Sunday with a total winning weight of 228 pounds.

Although Jordon had the largest individual total catch of the tournament, 85 pounds, 8 ounces, as well as the heaviest catch the last afternoon, 22-08, team members Lance Vick, David Smith, and David Walker certainly contributed their share, including a 6-pounder by Vick and a 5-8 by Smith in the last five minutes that sealed the win.

The team of Bobby Lane, Byron Velvick, Ben Matsubu, and Chad Brauer finished second with 219-12, while Team 16, consisting of Chad Morgenthaler, Stacey King, Brian Penso, and Matt Reed grabbed third with 183-0. Last year’s Classic winner, Terry Scroggins and his team of Shaw Grigsby, Russ Lane, and Craig Downing dropped to fourth with 180-04; and Mike Iaconelli’s team, with Cliff Pace, Randy Howell, and Danny Correia finished fifth with 146-0.

“It wasn’t easy,” emphasized Jordon, whose team brought in 54-4 for the afternoon. “I only caught seven or eight keepers while David had just three. I caught three bass off beds, and David caught one. The rest were caught on a Lucky Craft D-20 (splatterback color) in deep water.”

Vick and Smith’s two last-minute fish came from a spot Vick, a guide on Fork, fishes often and from which he had lost his biggest bass of the tournament on the first day of competition.

“Deep water bass are what got us to the finals,” added Walker, “but we had to keep checking the shallow fish, as well, because they want to come shallow. As it turned out today, I’m sure glad we kept checking.”

Lane’s second place team may forever wonder if victory escaped them because Lane and Velvick ran out of gas while heading one last spot that had produced well throughout the tournament. Thinking they would spend their day fishing shallow, Velvick had only put 20 gallons of gas into his boat to keep it lighter.

Faircloth Alternated Between Swimbait And Senko

April 15, 2008 – bassfan.com

Todd Faircloth never thought he could win the Amistad Bassmaster Elite Series until he actually won it. He had an uninspiring practice that preceded two productive competition days, but even then, he went into the final day of the weather-shortened event in 9th place, more than 8 1/2 pounds back.

He sacked a massive 29-06 on the last day, though, and then sat back and watched as one angler after another who’d started the day ahead of him failed to eclipse his 76-15, 3-day total. He won by 12-ounces over rookie Clark Reehm.

The 32-year-old Texan has been on fire since the middle of last season, with eight finishes of 23rd or higher in the last nine Elite tournaments. And even that other outing was pretty good – a 41st at Falcon the previous week.

The victory was his second on the Elite Series (he also won at Table Rock to conclude the 2006 campaign) and moved him into 2nd place in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race.

Practice

Nothing that Faircloth did in practice indicated he had any chance of winning this tournament.

“There wasn’t anything special, by any means,” he said. “I caught a lot of small fish. I was getting two or three quality bites a day, but the biggest fish I caught was about 4 1/2 pounds.”

He caught a few swimbait fish during practice and located quite a few with either a Yamamoto or a Sebile Magic Swimmer – a jointed wakebait that he could burn across the flats.

Faircloth mines Amistad tree for second straight year

April 14, 2008 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — In placing fourth last year at Lake Amistad, Todd Faircloth found what he calls “a magic tree.” It did him one better Sunday in the Bassmaster Elite Series Battle on the Border presented by Mahindra Tractors.

The 32-year-old Jasper, Texas, pro landed a five-bass limit weighing 29 pounds, 14 ounces, jumping all the way from eighth place to the $100,000 first-place check at Lake Amistad. In the three-day event, shortened by one day due to a high wind forecast, Faircloth totaled 76-15.

“I can’t believe it,” Faircloth said. “Even after I caught what I caught, I didn’t expect to win this event.”

Rookie Clark Reehm of Russellville, Ark., entered the day in second place and finished there with a total weight of 76-3.

Faircloth was 8-11 behind leader Jason Williamson going into Sunday’s 12-angler finale. His 29-14 not only took Berkley Heavyweight Bag honors for the day, it easily outdistanced what any of the other 11 contenders could produce. Kevin Short’s 22-7 allowed him to end in third place, exactly where he has started the day.

There were only two other bags over 20 pounds after a calm, sunny day made fishing tougher than it had been all week.

Faircloth’s fourth-place finish at Lake Amistad last year included a day in which he caught 36-7 from one tree, isolated just off a point. He caught a 5 1/2-pounder there Friday, but went back to it several times Saturday and didn’t get a bite.

Faircloth Stages Final-Day Rally To Claim Win At Amistad

April 12, 2008 – bassmaster.com

Lone Star State? From a professional bass-fishing perspective, maybe Texas should be called the Comeback State.

Pulling a page from the book that Paul Elias wrote a week earlier at Falcon Lake, native Texan Todd Faircloth caught 29-06 on the final day of the weather-shortened Amistad Bassmaster Elite Series and rallied all the way from 9th place to his second career Elite win. His 3-day total of 76-15 gave him a 12-ounce margin of victory.

Louisiana rookie Clark Reehm held onto his 2nd-place position with 21-09 today for a 76-03 total. Two Arkansans who began the day tied for 3rd were next: Kevin Short caught 22-07 today (a bag that was exceeded only by Faircloth’s) and ended up 3rd with 75-10, and Mike McClelland caught 17-14 to land in 4th with 71-10.

Day-2 leader Jason Williamson managed just 14-00 today and dropped four places to 5th with 69-12.

Faircloth began the day 8-11 behind Williamson. Weight-wise, his rally wasn’t as dramatic as Elias’ last week but he had to leapfrog for more anglers than the Mississippian did.

He’s become one of the most consistent anglers on the planet, with 15 finishes in the Top 30 in his last 20 outings. This was his third Elite Series Top 12 since he closed out the 2006 season with a win at Table Rock.

Today’s bright, dead-calm conditions rendered swimbaits less effective, and those who caught the biggest bags relied on slower presentations for at least part of the day.

Then There Were 12

April 12, 2008 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — Jason Williamson, Kevin Short and Greg Hackney proved the Battle on the Border presented by Mahindra Tractors is wide open going into the final day of the weather-shortened, three-day Bassmaster Elite Series tournament at Lake Amistad.

Only 11 pounds, 2 ounces separates first and 12th place going into Sunday’s finale. Williamson jumped from 10th to first Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 29-13.

Short leaped from 18th to third with the Berkley Heavyweight Bag of the tournament so far, at 31-6. Hackney moved even further, going from 32nd to seventh with 28-13, which included the Purolator Big Bass weighing 11-11.

“It feels pretty good,” said Hackney, who has gotten off to a horrible start on the 2008 season and ranked 96th in Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points entering this event. “I’ve been looking for that fish for about a month.”

Saturday also brought some revenge for Short. The Mayflower, Ark., pro was leading at Amistad after Day One last year with 33-6, then fell all the way to 59th place and missed the cut when he zeroed on Day Two. He said he caught everything Saturday on a Jewel football jig.

“I was fishing slow,” Short said. “This afternoon I slowed down even more. And it was like a totally different fishery. I had a 6-pounder I never culled, but I culled everything else after 3:30.”

Dove Flies to the Top

April 12, 2008 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — For all the talk about Lake Amistad possibly being down from the past two years, the results from Day One of the Bassmaster Elite Series Battle on the Border presented by Mahindra Tractors looked remarkably like they have before.

Kurt Dove topped the leaderboard with a five-bass limit weighing 30 pounds, 8 ounces. Three-time Elite Series champion Mike McClelland is second with 29-5.

“Obviously, Falcon (Lake) set a new standard (last week),” said four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Rick Clunn. “But this lake is still one of the top three in the country as far as I’m concerned.”

Amistad produced four bags over 30 pounds last year. But the rest of the numbers from Day One were similar: Twelfth place was 26-12 last year and 25-12 this year; 50th place was 18-2 last year and 17-1 this year; 95 limits were caught last year and 107 this year.

Day One of this year’s event was originally scheduled for Thursday, but it was canceled because of expected winds of 35 to 40 miles per hour. This is now a three-day tournament. Saturday’s results will determine who gets in the top 12 for Sunday’s final and a shot at the $100,000 first prize.

“I think there’s more big fish here than in Falcon,” Fred Roumbanis said. “I saw probably 10 fish over 8 pounds today.”

But catching them was definitely more difficult than in last week’s event at Falcon Lake, where Paul Elias set the new four-day total-weight record of 132-8.

Day off proves painful for Elite Series pro

April 10, 2008 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — Britt Myers would rather have been bass fishing. Instead, he got bit hard by the idle time created Thursday when BASS officials cancelled the first day of the Bassmaster Elites Series Battle on the Border, presented by Mahindra Tractors. That’s “bit” as in “snake bit.”

Larry Towell

Grant Goldbeck (left) and Billy Brewer had placed a snake in Britt Myers’ boat tackle storage compartment at the Amistad Resort.
The old adage states: An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. If that’s so, and Thursday would prove there’s every reason to believe it is, Byron Velvick’s Lake Amistad Resort is the devil’s factory. Velvick’s place has 40 rooms, and 30 of them were filled with Elite Series pros’ idle minds.

It was in this atmosphere that an elaborate snake bite was set up for Myers, a 33-year-old angler from Lake Wylie, S.C. Myers is known as the electronics and auto accessory specialist on the tour. Whether it’s boat sonar equipment or stereo systems or auto suspensions and wheels, Myers is the man. He owns CS Motorsports and Audio Excellence located 15 miles south of Charlotte, N.C

He was minding his own business Thursday, helping Kevin VanDam accessorize his truck, when he got a cell phone call from fellow pro Grant Goldbeck, inquiring about when he was coming back to Lake Amistad Resort. Goldbeck told Myers that the ESPNOutdoors.com staff was at the resort, interviewing anglers. He said that since Myers was in 24th place in the Toyota Tundra Anger of the Year standings, the news crew wanted to talk to him. Plus, Goldbeck told him, it would be a great opportunity to take care of his sponsors, getting them some publicity on ESPNOutdoors.com.

Goldbeck hung up his cell phone and flashed a smile to the news crew.

“He said he’d be here in 20 minutes,” he laughed.