Kevin Van Dam

Klein clobbers ‘em

March 13, 2009 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — Sticking to what he knows best, BASS veteran Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, persevered through windy, rainy conditions on Lake Amistad to vault into the lead at the OPTIMA Batteries Battle on the Border with a two-day total of 54 pounds, 7 ounces.

With his wealth of experience on Amistad, the veteran again threw a jig to deep water and rode an early bite to an advantage of more than 7 pounds over his nearest competitor, 2007 Bassmaster Classic champion Boyd Duckett (46-15) of Demopolis, Ala. Behind Duckett, the leaderboard shakes out like a Who’s Who of Elite Series pros, including eight Angler of the Year trophies and six Classic titles among the top 20.

Early indications were the field would struggle on Amistad. That theory didn’t bear out. Seven anglers weighed in more than 40 pounds over two days and Klein, a two-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, is on pace to weigh in more than 100 pounds and join the BASS Century Club.

Searching for his ninth BASS victory, Klein has been rotating between a few productive spots. The key to his success, he said, has been executing long casts to targeted spots.

“You have to be very stealthy out there,” said Klein, 51. “The fish are smart when you get up close to them, but when you remain far away it becomes almost easy. Still, the lake is very finicky right now and it’s going to be a grind.”

Klein boated a limit in the first 30 minutes of competition on Day Two and accumulated 18 pounds on his first spot. He moved to his secondary spot later in the day and caught two bass weighing more than 7 pounds each on consecutive casts to round out his 29-pound, 3-ounce limit.

IKE GOES GIANT HUNTING

March 13, 2009 – basszone.com

Del Rio, TX – The first time the Elite Series visited Lake Amistad in 2006 – site of this week’s 2009 season opener – the fishing world’s collective eyes were opened at the stringers that were pulled from the depths of the Rio Grand impoundment. Ish Monroe toted over 104 pounds of bass across the stage that week to claim his first Elite Series victory.

The following year, then-rookie Derek Remitz blasted over 111 pounds in four days to claim top honors, forcing the world to proclaim Amistad as potentially the “best bass lake” in America. The title held until the following month when the Elites visited Clear Lake, CA and Steve Kennedy redefined “heavyweight.

In the ’08 event, in which Texas pro Todd Faircloth went on to win by the narrowest of margins against rookie Clark Reehm, weather conditions forced the cancellation of first tournament day. Faircloth went on to mine nearly 77 pounds of bass from Amistad’s gin-clear waters, so it’s safe to assume that – like each two trips preceding 2007 – the century mark would have fallen.

As a result of heavy upstream rains, and a dam break in Mexico, Amistad is a completely different lake this year. The “magic tree,” that Faircloth cited as the reason for his victory, is currently in 50 feet of water, and miles of buck brush that would normally serve as shallow-water guarantees this time of the year, are 20 feet off the bank.

As a result of the near-10 feet of additional water, the bass are scattered. Add to that the fact that the weather is unstable at best. Anglers at launch this morning were greeting with heavy winds, rain, and 40-degree air temperatures – conditions that tested the metal of each contestant.

The long and gusty trail

March 12, 2009 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — In the lightless predawn of Day One of the Battle on the Border, anglers’ boats were visible only as running lights nodding furiously above the waves. High winds out of the north pelted the banks of a brimming Lake Amistad with whitecaps and turned the sub-40-degree air into a shiv.

Things were merely miserable until they got chaotic. Chris Lane launched his boat at the bottom of a steep ramp, only to watch the waves bobblehead it back around and onto his trailer. When a Bassmaster Elite Series angler begins his morning by roostertailing lake water all over his trailer and truck, the weather, it is safe to say, will be a factor.

“The wind doesn’t bother me,” said Bill Lowen, an Ohioan. “But it thumps those fish pretty good. They’re just not used to the weather. Kind of like the people here.”

By all accounts, this reservoir straddling the Texas-Mexico border west of San Antonio isn’t producing the quantities of bass that made it one of the most renown fishing destinations in the country over the past few years. Anglers are finding plenty of fish, but they’re smallish, 2- and 3-pounders instead of 4s and 5s, with almost none in the 6- to 7-pound class, even if they’re still spotting the occasional 8-to-9-pound lunker.

Some anglers insisted that the wind and cold and spitting rain would actually benefit them — Kevin Langill, for one, said, “It’ll play more in my favor,” while Jami Fralick, the South Dakotan who was shivering on the deck of his see-sawing boat, said, “They should bite a jerkbait and a swimbait better.”

Though he has a Plan A for the day, Brent Chapman said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to do Plan B. They’re deep fish, and I don’t think they’ll be easy to fish for today.”

Anglers trying to hold their position in the main lake will expose themselves to the full brunt of winds expected to blow 15-25 mph much of the day. Many of the deep fish will be unreachable, for practical purposes, but anglers won’t automatically find back-up fish in the clear water of the banks. Look for anglers instead to seek shelter in the backs of creeks and against the bluffs that line areas of the lake.

Ike No. 1 after Day One

March 12, 2009 – bassmaster.com

Mike Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., was able to shake off a “terrible practice” and catch the biggest fish he has ever boated in competition.

He landed a 12-pound, 13-ounce behemoth on his way to the top position with a 27-pound, 9-ounce total at the 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series season-opener, the OPTIMA Batteries Battle on the Border on Lake Amistad.

Ike lands his biggest competition fish ever.

Battling cold and windy conditions, the field of 100 anglers eventually figured out spacious Amistad on Day One as eight anglers weighed more than 20 pounds. Iaconelli carried the day, however, by capitalizing on some opportune bites.

Behind Iaconelli was two-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, with 25 pounds, 4 ounces.

“I was so excited when I hooked up with that fish,” Iaconelli said of the 12-13. “It was a long fight, about six or seven minutes, and I could feel my heart beating through my chest. I was so exhausted when I finally got it in the boat, I actually threw up.

“It was absolutely crazy. We fish our whole lives just to catch a fish like that. I will treasure this memory.”

Iaconelli, who revealed no details of his productive pattern, has accumulated plenty of positive memories on Amistad. He has finished in the top 20 in each of the three Elite Series events on the big-bass factory, highlighted by a second-place showing in 2007. Furthermore, Iaconelli caught the biggest fish of his life on Amistad, a 14-1 brute.

He also has momentum on his side this week as the 2003 Classic champion has been on a roll of late. In his last three BASS events he has scored top-five finishes, including a near miss at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic in February, when he was bested by Skeet Reese by less than 1 pound.

“My mind-set coming in was just to make a check and accumulate some Angler of the Year points,” said Iaconelli, 36. “Sometimes, you can throw everything out the window and just follow your gut. I did that today and fished the moment. What a day!”

AMISTAD LOOKING A LITTLE DIFFERENT

March 10, 2009 – basszone.com

Del Rio, TX . – The past two seasons on the Bassmaster Elite Series seasons, there have been some slugfests which seem to be continually brought up over and over throughout bass fishing circles. In 2007, it was Steve Kennedy’s record breaking performance on Clear Lake, and in 2008, it was Paul Elias’ unfathomable weight on Falcon.

Somehow, Lake Amistad, which took over 15 pounds a day just to cash a check in 2008 and 111 pounds to take home the hardware in 2007, has been overshadowed. 2009 is supposed to be Amistad’s year to shine.

However, many of the anglers that spoke with The BASS ZONE on-location in Del Rio, had one recurring question after two full days of practice – where are the big ones?

While numbers don’t seem to be a problem, size does. While giants still lurk in the gin clear waters of Amistad, when it comes to catching them, they are few and far between. Throw on top that the fact that a cold weather system with rain is predicted to move in – and stay- camped over the area for the better part of the week, and it’s anybody’s guess as to what the winning tally will be.