Kevin Van Dam

Bassmaster Classic Sets Records

February 25, 2009 – bassmaster.com

A record number of fans consumed exclusive 2009 Bassmaster Classic content featured across BASS and ESPN’s vast multimedia vehicles. The multimedia blitz was supplemented by a record on-site crowd of 137,700 fans at daily tournament weigh-ins and surrounding festivities, obliterating the previous record set in New Orleans by more than 55,000.

“By all metrics, including the compelling content that was delivered to fans worldwide, the Bassmaster Classic was an absolute success,” said Tom Ricks, vice president and general manager, BASS. “The continued growth of the Classic is a testament to the personalities and story lines associated with our athletes.”

The event, held on the Red River, was won by Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., who collected the $500,000 top prize from the $1.2 million purse. The Classic was hosted by Shreveport-Bossier City. The events’ successes this year included:

Reese’s Hole Holds, edges Ike By Ounces

February 22, 2009 – bassfan.com

The Bassmaster Classic at the Red River near Shreveport, La. could have gone any number of different ways today, but it went just one way – Skeet Reese’s way. The 40-year-old native Californian rode his outside hole in Bobo’s to a 16-12 limit.

Day-2 leader Jami Fralick’s jig-swimming pattern faded, which opened the door for Reese.

The only man who stood in Reese’s way was Mike Iaconelli, who began the day way back in a tie for 9th. Ike walloped a 20-03 limit, which included a 5-pounder he caught with 1 minute of fishing time left, but it was too little too late.

Reese, on the strength of that single stretch of water toward the outside of Bobo’s, edged Ike by 11 ounces and achieved what so few anglers can claim – the title of Bassmaster Classic champion.

Notably, Reese and Ike fished similar patterns, except Reese worked his in a community hole in pool 5, whereas Ike worked in isolation in Pool 4. But that doesn’t mean Reese had company. Plenty of anglers were packed in the back of Bobo’s, but Reese fished the outside where the fish were more in a true pre-spawn pattern.

That meant the fish weren’t knocked back by the successive cold fronts that moved through. In fact, as often happens with deeper pre-spawn fish, the cold seemed to improve the bite.

Reese came within a hair of breaking the all-time Classic weight record for the five-fish era, set by Luke Clausen at Toho in 2006, but his 54-13, 3-day total fell 1-05 short.

Brain Snowden suffered an engine malfunction this morning and lost 3 hours of fishing time. With a replacement boat, he returned to the area he’d worked the past 2 days alongside Fralick. Snowden sacked 18-01 and moved up three spots to finish 3rd with 52-13.

Fralick didn’t catch them, however. His 10-09 limit dropped him to 8th.

Mike McClelland continued his climb. He was 21st after day 1, 15th after day 2, and caught 21-11 today to finish 4th.

Edwin Evers caught a relatively strong 15-02 today, but fell two spots to finish 5th.

Federation Nation qualifier Bryan Schmidt caught 22-01 and improved 12 spots to finish 6th.

Kenyon Hill caught the day’s heaviest limit (24-02) and that pushed him up 15 spots to finish 7th.

As it turned out, this Classic was won on a spot, which many predicted it would be, but it wasn’t quite that simple. Reese put very little time into research and practice. He didn’t fish the river before the cutoff, ended his 3-day pre-practice early, and took a matter-of-fact approach to the final practice day and again quit early.

He developed his strategy, instead, through an hour or two of Internet study, and a map inspection that made it “obvious” Bobo’s was the place to fish.

How Skeet it is

February 22, 2009 – bassmaster.com

BOSSIER CITY, La. — For Skeet, this one was sweet.

Two years after losing the Bassmaster Classic by 6 ounces on a last-hour big fish, Skeet Reese outslugged 2003 Classic champion Mike Iaconelli by 11 ounces to fill the only glaring hole in his bass fishing resume.

“To be able to do it — I didn’t know if it was going to be possible,” Reese told a capacity crowd of 9,300 at the CenturyTel Center.

With the win, he will reap a $500,000 payday (less, of course, the 6 percent tax the state of Louisiana will immediately impose). And he cast himself as only the 11th BASS angler ever to earn both the Classic and a Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title in a career.

The 39-year-old Auburn, Calif., pro knew it would go down to the wire. Iaconelli whacked 20 pounds, 3 ounces to rise from 10th on the final morning to first, with 54-2 over the three-day tournament.

Needing 16-2, Reese figured his bag was perhaps 16 pounds. When the scale read 16-12, he leapt in the air, pumped his fists and hugged Iaconelli.

“It’s hard to be that far back in the standings and win the Classic,” Iaconelli said. “It’s almost impossible. I knew the potential was there but these guys are too good. They’re not going to slip up.”

Day Two leader Jami Fralick’s weigh-in was almost a formality. Needing 16-5 to complete his Cinderella run, he brought a 10-9 limit across the stage, falling to eighth.

“It just wasn’t my time, I guess,” said Fralick, the 33-year-old from Martin, S.D., whose bite abandoned him on a stretch of water that he shared with third-place Brian Snowden.

The Classic win caps a stellar run since Reese lost that 2007 Classic to Boyd Duckett, who finished 12th in this Classic after leading on Day One. Reese won his first Elite Series event that summer on the way to his first AOY title, and in 2008 finished fourth in the points.

Fralick paces Classic

February 22, 2009 – bassmaster.com

BOSSIER CITY, La. — As Jami Fralick was entertaining his umpteenth interview of the evening  a pitfall, alas, of leading the Bassmaster Classic after Day Two  he stood against a wall in CenturyTel Center with his back to Ray Scott, who fairly blindsided the angler.

“All right, good luck to you, baby,” the founder of BASS told Fralick, shaking his hand and gripping his shoulder.

As Scott continued down the hall, Fralick reflected on how quickly he had blossomed from a Classic afterthought to its frontrunner.

“Yesterday,” Fralick said, “he was like, ‘Who are you, again?’”

Usually Fralick’s the guy behind the guy who gets the trophy. He has yet to win a BASS event but has made an art of finishing second. Runner-up is his top finish at the state, division and national level of Federation Nation tournaments, and his top finish in an Open. In his two years on the Elite Series, he has yet to notch a top 10.

But he made the move from second to first on Day Two  by not moving at all.

He and Brian Snowden (sixth place, 34-13) are sharing a 200-some-yard stretch of bank in Pool 4 that Fralick said was plagued with hyacinths until recently. Finding it has afforded both of them the luxury of sticking with what works.

“From the history I have on the Red River, fishing tournaments, there are key places where those fish will home in on,” he said. “And scattered everywhere there are places where the fish want to be in, and they keep replenishing. That’s what’s been happening on that spot. Every day new fish are coming up.”

If Fralick is feeling the pressure, he’s not showing it. For the record, there’s a murder’s row of hungry bass fishing pros behind him.

Duckett Leads Day 1, But Weights Tightly Packed

February 21, 2009 – bassfan.com

There was plenty of shock and surprise on day 1 of the Bassmaster Classic at the Red River in Shreveport, La.

The cold front that landed yesterday affected the fish much more than anticipated – it dropped the water temperature as much as 6 degrees, knocked the bedders way back and seemed to stun the staging females. Some patterns absolutely vanished. And it could get worse, because another cold front’s due to hit tonight.

It didn’t destroy everything, though, and several competitors stuck solid sacks, like leader Boyd Duckett. He amassed a 20-03 limit fishing an area with several others, including Aaron Martens (4th), Randy Howell (9th), Kelly Jordon (11th), and Brent Chapman (23rd). The area’s obviously loaded with good fish. What isn’t clear is whether it can handle the pressure.

Duckett, the 2007 Classic champ, noted he’s cranking with a LaserLure and pitching. Also interesting is he’s wearing a lucky charm on his belt that his mother overnighted to him yesterday. It’s a four-leaf clover.

Jami Fralick, fishing in just his second Classic, is a pound behind Duckett at 19-03. Fralick’s also sharing water – in his case, it’s with 12th-place Brian Snowden.

Fred “Boom Boom” Roumbanis, also fishing his second Classic, sits 1-15 in back of Duckett at 18-04. He’s looking forward to the colder weather, figuring that’ll help the reaction-bait bite. He’s fishing a bait “you can’t fish fast enough,” he noted.

Martens, who seems to always be near the top of the Classic standings, is currently 4th with 18-01, and Federation Nation qualifier Terry Fitzpatrick (Waukon, Iowa) is 5th with 18-00.

Duckett still charmed

February 20, 2009 – bassmaster.com

BOSSIER CITY, La. — Boyd, oh, Boyd. Again.

Boyd Duckett, the Elite Series angler who won the Bassmaster Classic in his first appearance two years ago, weighed in the only 20-plus-pound stringer on Day One of this, the 39th Classic.

Immediately behind him in the standings is the unlikely Jami Fralick, a fellow Elite Series pro who had to fish the Opens in order to qualify for this, his second Classic. Fralick, whose 19 pounds, 3 ounces is, in his words, “one 5-pound bite” behind Duckett’s 20-3, has never won a BASS tournament but milked an old favorite Red River fishing hole for all five of his fish.

In close pursuit behind Fralick is Fred Roumbanis, with 18-4, and Aaron Martens, with 18-1.

With two days left to fish, the leaderboard is far from set. The most certain surprise to come out of Day One: Kevin VanDam, the two-time Classic champ and the reigning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, took himself out of contention with a 4-4 four-fish stringer that left him in a dismal 45th place, one slot ahead of Kim Bain-Moore, the first woman to fish in a Classic.

“You’ve got to catch them every single day,” said VanDam, the first angler to weigh fish in the CenturyTel Arena. “I love to fish fast. I have to slow down.”

Anglers had predicted as much. The snakey, timber-infested, stump-lined, oxbowed Red River defies speedy browsing. Terry Fitzpatrick, the Federation Nation Northern Division champion whose 18-0 bag vaulted him to a surprising fifth place, called the tournament “the toughest I’ve fished, physically,” wrought with poling, pushing, yanking and cajoling their boats through obstacles and shallows to reach the backwaters that so many anglers targeted.

Other big names faltered for one reason or another. Greg Hackney, the only angler fishing his homestate Louisiana, pulled up with 12-9, good for 25th place. Gary Klein, in his 27th Classic, weighed in two fish that went 2-13.

Other notable results include river expert Scott Rook (6th, 17-11) and Red River fan Kelly Jordon (11th, 15-10). In all, 16 anglers sit within 5 pounds of the lead.

Pros defuse Classic tension before launch

February 20, 2009 – bassmaster.com

BOSSIER CITY, La. — Maybe you can tell the newbies from the vets in the boatyard before launch on Day One of the Bassmaster Classic, and maybe you can’t. But to see what a relaxed angler looks like on this 30-degree morning, glimpse returning champion Alton Jones on the deck of his boats, joking about the 12 pounds he gained in the off-season.

“I wanted to fatten myself before the Classic,” Jones told fellow competitor Dean Rojas. “I knew it was going to be a cold-weather deal. Everyone else had to put on long underwear this morning. I get to stay agile. It’s a physical edge.”

The Elite Series vets know to stay loose, to stick to their routine. Shaw Grigsby, who’s fishing his 11th Classic but his first since 2003, fastidiously went through his morning rituals on the parked boat, checking his oil, packing his lunch away, fastening his electronics to the deck, and picking around the smoked sausage on his breakfast sandwich.

He finds a peace in the old habits. “What really gets you,” Grigsby said, “is when you get rushed.

“Anybody — anybody — has a shot of winning the Bassmaster Classic,” Grigsby continued. “If you’re here, you can win it.”

As he prepared, first-time Classic competitor Ken Baumgardner approached angler Kota Kiriyama, whose boat was parked next to Grigsby’s.

Baumgardner, an amateur qualifier through the Federation Nation, reached up and shook Kiriyama’s hand. “Good luck, man,” he said. “Get ‘em. One at a time.”

A moment later he stood near his boat, shifting back and forth, left foot, right foot. Maybe it was the cold, but the cold is nothing new to an angler from Pittsburgh. Maybe, too, it was nerves. The Classic, the most prestigious tournament in the sport, bestows $500,000 on its winner.

“Just one at a time until there’s five,” Baumgardner said. “I’m fishing against the fish today, not against the guys. If the good Lord give me some shine, I’ll take it.”

If the anglers were to be believed in the week before the Classic — and that’s always a big if — this tournament on the Red River will require a measure of fishing against the guys. Also beside them, around them, on top of them, over them. Anglers will be jostling in backwaters, and trying to overcome spectator boats clattering against submerged stumps.

Hail to the king

February 19, 2009 – bassmaster.com

SHREVEPORT, La. — In the old Municipal Auditorium, the venerable venue with the rocking Elvis Presley statue out front, bass fishing’s best came to honor the sport’s own king.

That would be Kevin VanDam, the now four-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year. No one fishing the Elite Series has more, nor has any angler in the history of BASS earned more money.

Two days before the 39th Bassmaster Classic — and VanDam’s 18th — the two-time Classic champ told his peers: “After 18 years, I still love this sport more than anything. It’s in my blood.”

VanDam’s brief address capped an Elite Night that began with anglers and their significant others ascending actual red carpet into the lobby of the old auditorium to the sounds of a four-piece zydeco band called the Red River Playboys.

Larry Towell

Kevin address’ the Elite anglers and
talks about winning AOY

A hall full of pro bass fishermen in formalwear is like catching a busload of teenagers just walking into a school dance. The ties may be tied, but a sense of reluctance pervades. If there was any doubt that most of them would just as soon be outside on the water, the ballcap tan lines (dark red faces, wintery-white foreheads) erased them.

Besides, it’s a jocular bunch. Take for instance Greg Hackney’s line as he weaved through the crowd and noticed Aaron Martens holding a plastic cup of something pink. “Oh, a Shirley Temple! That’s nice,” Hackney said, without breaking stride.

Those two will be fishing this Classic. Two-thirds of the Elite field won’t be, including former Classic qualifiers such as Jason Quinn (“Happy face, happy face all week,” Quinn said, with a pained grin) and Jeff Kriet, who vowed he’d “never miss another Classic.”

Legendary rock guitarist James Burton, a favorite son of Louisiana, welcomed the anglers with a speech in which he told one of the cleaner fishing jokes in history and wished the competitors luck. “May the best man or best lady win,” he said.

BASS founder Ray Scott followed by recounting for the crowd the curious origins of the Classic, the first of which was fished at an undisclosed location that the anglers learned en route was Lake Mead.

Tom Ricks, the Vice President and General Manager of BASS, in a speech assured the audience that the pinch of the contracting economy wouldn’t threaten the existence of the sport. “I have no doubt in my mind,” he said, “that we will emerge stronger.”

To that end, in his remarks VanDam made a blanket appeal to sponsor companies. “Dollar for dollar, it’s hard to beat bass fishing,” he said.

The irony shouldn’t be lost that he has won well north of $2 million in BASS tournaments and has a roster of sponsors that would humble a NASCAR driver.

Growing up, VanDam said, all he wanted to do was compete against the best in the sport. “I never dreamed,” he said, “I could make a living bass fishing.”

Rush hours

February 19, 2009 – bassmaster.com

BOSSIER CITY, La. — Greg Pugh was casting in a backwater, shaking off every bite he hooked. But he was having trouble concentrating, because a few yards away were a pair of recreational fishermen sacking bass after bass.

The last straw was a 5½-pounder that they caught and released. Pugh, one of the 51 anglers practicing for the last time before the Bassmaster Classic begins Friday, turned to his observer and said, loudly enough for the other anglers to hear: “I just can’t take it.”

As he readied to leave, they politely wished him good luck. “I told them, ‘I need all the luck I can get — I just wish the fish weren’t sore-mouthed,’” Pugh recalled later.

Translation: If you really want me to be lucky, stop whackin’ all the dang fish.

A quick survey of the anglers after practice turned up several answers to the question, What’s your biggest obstacle to winning this Classic? Pugh’s quick reply — “Locals.” — while not the only response, was echoed by several others.

“Any time you find fish, and you watch locals catch them, it weighs on your mind,” Pugh said. But there’s not much to be done. “Any time you go to a lake,” he continued, “it’s everybody’s lake.”

The difference between the Red River and most lakes is you can’t always see where you’re going — or get to where you want to. Anglers will be slithering into backwaters that may, for all they know, be packed with other competitors or recreational anglers.

“There are plenty of fish in the areas where the boats are,” 2007 Classic champ Boyd Duckett said. “But people won’t have as many (fish) as they think they do once they share it with six other boats.”

Said Elite Series pro Kevin Wirth: “The river is so low right now, there are very few areas to fish. It tends to bunch us up. I know there are two or three places where I could win the tournament if I had them to myself. But that’s not going to happen.”

Classic Scouting Report

February 19, 2009 – bassfan.com

The winter of 1939–40 was called the “Phony War.” Europe was in a state of war, but each power stared the other in the eye – unwilling to make the first move.

Today at the Bassmaster Classic in Shreveport, La. could be called the “Phony Practice.” Near the eve of competition, the Classic powers had one final chance to hone their bite. But nearly everyone avoided fishing anything they want to use in battle this Friday.

Instead, they motored around checking out other water, locked down to rule out other pools, and in nearly every instance, encountered boats at every turn.

The simple fact is the Red River’s fishing smaller than ever. The water’s exceptionally clear, and because the water temperature has pushed to 60 and even above, the fish are on the bank in predictable, traditional areas.

One oxbow today had eight boats in it for a single hour this afternoon. Another smaller oxbow had three. And the fish are only using certain sections of those oxbows.

Sure, some fish are sure to be out in the stumpfields, either staging or preparing to spawn on the wood, but that’s needle-in-the-haystack fishing that eats up tons of time. It’s a chore just moving 100 yards or so in those stumpfields.

That’s why most pros are simply working down the bank, where there’s usually a channel through which to work the boat.

Things will likely change though. Whereas daytime highs today reached about 70 degrees, a cold front is due sometime late Friday or early Saturday, which is expected to drop temperatures an overall 20 degrees and push nighttime lows to below freezing.

That could very well knock the fish off the bank – either to slightly deeper water immediately adjacent, or into the stumps.