Industry News
Archive For June 2009
Biffle Still Burning Over 1-Hour Penalty
June 16, 2009 – bassfan.com
Tommy Biffle had to sit out the first hour of fishing on the final day of the Mississippi Bassmaster Elite Series, and he thinks that penalty – which he deemed unjustified – might have prevented him from winning the tournament.
The sanction stemmed from a protest filed the previous day by Marty Stone, who contended that neither Biffle nor Alton Jones stopped to render assistance when Stone’s marshal was thrown from the boat. Biffle said he saw the marshal swimming, at least one other boat (Skeet Reese’s) was already on the scene, and he decided that stopping and turning around posed more of a safety risk than continuing on.
“It was just a ridiculous call on (BASS tournament director Trip Weldon’s) part and it probably cost me the tournament,” said Biffle, who ended up finishing 4th. “I get an hour penalty for something that Marty Stone did. I told Trip that if he didn’t do something to Marty for his careless, reckless boat driving, then that one’s on him.
“I told him I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I asked him did he really think I’d leave a guy out there in the water swimming? Marty was there and Skeet was there, and if I’d stopped that would’ve been more things for them to dodge.”
“Marty makes a big deal out of it, but he had no reason to protest me,” he continued. “If you hit a stump or a log or something, then that’s an accident. But if you lose control of the boat while you’re driving by yourself up the river, then that’s pilot error.”
Phone messages left for Stone were not immediately returned.
A BASS communications official told BassFan that Biffle and Jones were penalized because they “acted unsportsmanlike on the water. All the anglers were running to similar spots and were around for the incident. All but Biffle and Jones stopped to help (or) see if the marshal was okay.”
Jones Disagrees, Too
Biffle and Jones both said they did not see Stone’s marshal get ejected from the boat. Biffle, who was closer to Stone than Jones, said he saw Stone’s boat veer off course in an S-pattern, so he swerved to his left. He first saw a hat in the water, and then saw the marshal bob to the surface and begin swimming.
Jones was farther back in the line of boats headed out of the lock to Pool 18 and said that by the time he arrived, there were at least a half-dozen boats already on the scene.
“I made a judgment call not to add to the congestion,” he said. “There was no aid I could possibly render and I’d make the same call again tomorrow. I don’t understand why I was penalized.
“I think the punishment fit the crime, but I just didn’t think I was guilty of the crime.”
He said he intends to file an appeal, but it’s basically a symbolic gesture because there’s no way to get that hour of fishing time back.
“My main hope out of all of this is that BASS will revisit its appeals process. If you win one now, all you get is a ‘You were right and we were wrong,’ and there’s no way to rectify the situation.”
He said he asked Weldon if he could fish the entire day and tag any fish he caught during the first hour and keep them segregated in his livewell, and have them weighed separately at the end of the day. That way, if his penalty was overturned on appeal, he wouldn’t have lost the crucial first hour.
Alton Jones will appeal his suspension, but it’s mostly a symbolic gesture because he can’t get back the hour of fishing time he lost.
It would also force him to make a major decision if he got into a culling situation and his best fish had come in the initial 60 minutes – keep the first-hour fish while knowing they might be disallowed, or release them and weigh a smaller bag. The ESPN cameraman who rode with him could provide testimony as to whether he followed that procedure.
That was denied, as was Biffle’s request to serve his hour at the end of the day instead of the beginning.
“I respect BASS, I respect Trip Weldon and I respect the decision,” Jones said. “I just don’t think it was the right decision.”
Critical Time Lost
Biffle, who began the final day in 2nd place, said the early-morning bite was critical to his chances for his second victory of the season.
“The bank I was catching them on was being fished by another angler (Scott Campbell, who started day 4 in 3rd place), and I didn’t get there until 9:00. I knew if there were any fish left to be caught, he was going to catch them.”
Jones is chasing Kevin VanDam and Reese in the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year (AOY) race. He led the tournament after day 2, but dropped to 5th on day 3.
He said the penalty caused him to opt to fish in Pool 19 (the launch pool) on the final day rather than lock upstream and fish the area he’d shared with eventual runner-up Kelly Jordon. The latter caught a day-best 12-05 bag there on Sunday.
“It certainly changed my gameplan for the entire day,” he said.
http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3329Short sighted
June 15, 2009 – bassmaster.com
FORT MADISON, Iowa — Tapping into his extensive knowledge of river fishing, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark., mastered the mighty Mississippi River at the Genuity River Rumble, posting a four-day total of 43 pounds, 3 ounces, which was enough to edge out hard-charging Kelly Jordon of Mineola, Texas, by 10 ounces.
While Short’s execution was nearly flawless through the weekend, his preparation and homework before to the tournament helped him claim his third BASS career victory, his first Elite Series win.
For 15 years, Short has sharpened his fishing chops on the Arkansas River, a fishery he believes translates well to fishing the Mississippi. Furthermore, Short took a scouting trip last September to the Mississippi and scoured the fishery for two days.
“This week was like going back in time to when I first started tournament fishing,” said Short, 47. “I just feel comfortable on river systems. There are certain anglers who know and understand rivers and will always be able to perform well there, and I consider myself one of those people.”
Heading into Sunday, Short was in a distant sixth and needed to make up a deficit of almost 5 pounds. Early, things didn’t look good. By 1 p.m. and with little time left in his competition day, Short had only landed three keepers. But he stuck to his guns, knowing the area would get hot.
His faith paid off. For nearly one hour late in the day, Short landed the majority of his weighed fish, primarily throwing a Zoom WEC E-1 crankbait in chartreuse classic color. That lure, he said, was the most important in his arsenal, which also included a Zoom speed craw and a ¼-ounce spinnerbait.
Rotating between two areas — what he called backwater slews — Short targeted laydowns. He would run his pattern on his primary area for about three hours, then move to a secondary area for a few hours before finally returning to the primary area. He duplicated this through all four days for a five-fish limit each day.
The victory, worth $100,000 to Short, also put him in an enviable position in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. With one event remaining in the Elite Series regular season, he is 10th, which virtually assures a qualifying berth into the 2010 Bassmaster Classic set for Feb. 19-21 on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala.
If Short holds his position, he would also earn a berth into the inaugural Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, the Toyota Trucks Championship Week. The postseason, set for Sept. 10-18, will be played out on two productive Alabama fisheries.
The first of the two postseason tournaments will take place on Lake Jordan out of Wetumpka; the finale, the Evan Williams Bourbon Trophy Triumph, is slated for the Alabama River from Montgomery. Only the top 12 anglers in the AOY standings will qualify.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Rookie Rocking River
June 13, 2009 – bassmaster.com
FORT MADISON, Iowa — As expected in a tough, grind-it-out Bassmaster Elite Series tournament, the top of the leaderboard is rife with BASS veterans with sterling credentials. Save for one.
Elite rookie Billy McCaghren of Mayflower, Ark., has capitalized on an area he has largely to himself to cobble together a three-day total of 36 pounds, 5 ounces, at the Genuity” River Rumble on the Mississippi River and holds a near 3-pound advantage over four-time BASS winner Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., heading into the final day of competition.
Filled with shad and cover, McCaghren’s area has remained productive through the tournament and showed little sign of stopping. Thursday, he landed 13 pounds, 1 ounce, but Friday he stumbled a bit with 10-10. He said feared his area might have succumbed to the pressure and began to think about backup plans, but rebounded Saturday with a 12-10 limit.
A key to McCaghren’s success has been fish management. In a somewhat similar scenario to Bobby Lane’s victory on Kentucky Lake last week, McCaghren has not fully exploited his area. Instead, he has worked it to land a five-fish limit and then defended the spot from other competitors.
Last week, the strategy worked to perfection for Lane.
“I feel better now about what I’ve been doing and the area than I did yesterday,” said McCaghren, 35. “I’m really trying to soak it for all it’s worth. I just have to lay off after I get to a point to where I’m comfortable. But that won’t be an issue on Sunday. I just don’t think my area is replenishing, but I’m confident that it is still holding fish.”
While others in the field have struggled this week, McCaghren has used his extensive knowledge of river systems to his advantage on the Mighty Mississippi. At home in Arkansas, he frequently fishes the Arkansas River. He scored his lone BASS victory on the Red River in Louisiana.
A newcomer to the Elite Series, McCaghren earned his berth via his strong performance on the Bassmaster Central Open circuit, which included his Red River victory. So far, he has made the top-50 Elite cut four times.
With a big week already in hand here, McCaghren will improve on his Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year ranking and should be very close to the qualifying cutline for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic (Feb. 19-21; Lay Lake; Birmingham, Ala.). The top 36 in the AOY standings will advance to the Classic.
“I’m excited,” McCaghren said. “I’m just going to go out and compete Sunday and let the chips fall where they may. I know I’ve done my best and that’s all I can ask for.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Alton Jones masters Mississippi for Elite lead
June 12, 2009 – bassmaster.com
FORT MADISON, Iowa — Perhaps it was too soon to declare the battle for the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year a two-horse race.
Alton Jones, in a distant third in the AOY standings heading into this week’s Elite event, reminded fishing fans of his versatility by grabbing the lead with a two-day total of 24 pounds, 1 ounce, at the Genuity River Rumble on the Mississippi River.
In what has turned into a grind-it-out event, Jones, of Waco, Texas, has been the model of consistency, weighing 12-1 Friday after posting 12-0 on Thursday. With tough conditions on the mighty Mississippi, many anglers have been forced into wholesale adjustments, causing dramatic changes in the leaderboard from the first to the second day.
“I’m running a long way so I’m pretty much committed to this area at this point and don’t have many alternatives,” said Jones, who is closing in on $2 million in BASS career earnings. “I think it has the potential to replenish but it’s hard to say what is going to happen. If it doesn’t carry over into tomorrow, I’ll be prepared with an excuse.”
A victory for Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion, would be worth $100,000, but perhaps of most importance would be the points he would gain in the AOY standings. Heading into the Mississippi event, AOY leader Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., were scorching hot and each had 100-point advantages over Jones.
But both have cooled off a bit here — after two days, VanDam was 10th and Reese was 30th — while Jones moved into the lead from 11th place.
The three have virtually locked up spots in the inaugural Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, the Toyota Trucks Championship Week. The postseason, set for Sept. 10-18, will be played out on two productive Alabama fisheries. The first of the two postseason tournaments will take place on Lake Jordan out of Wetumpka; the finale, the Evan Williams Bourbon Trophy Triumph, is slated for the Alabama River from Montgomery. Only the top 12 anglers in the AOY standings will advance to the postseason.
Buoyed by a quick start — Jones landed two 3-pounders within 30 minutes of his first cast — the five-time BASS winner was then able to survive a long period of inactivity, rounding out his five-fish limit late in the day. He is in an area filled with a number of Elite competitors but has etched out a small stretch he and fellow Texan Kelly Jordon (fourth place with 23-2) are sharing.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Howell grinds out lead
June 11, 2009 – bassmaster.com
FORT MADISON, Iowa — It has never been more apparent that the Bassmaster Elite Series is a game of adjustments than it was Thursday at the Genuity River Rumble.
Spoiled by the big-bass factories of Lake Guntersville and Kentucky Lake in the previous two tournaments, Elite anglers were hit with a dose of reality Thursday on the Mississippi River as many were forced to dig deep in their tackle boxes to grind out a limit. And many were unable to manage a limit on Day One.
James Overstreet
Randy Howell (1st, 16-4)
Nonetheless, the mighty Mississippi holds a good population of bass, and those who made the right choices were able to capitalize. Turning around a practice that was alarmingly unproductive, Randy Howell laid claim to the lead with a 16-pound, 9-ounce limit, enough for an advantage of nearly 2 pounds over Takahiro Omori (14-9) of Emory, Texas.
Elite rookie Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala. (14-9) was third, with fellow rookie Billy McCaghren of Mayflower, Ark., and Elite veteran Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., tied for fourth with 13-1.
Howell, who said he landed zero keepers during a deflating three-day practice, keyed in on a small patch of 10 bushes, which yielded all of his weighed fish. His limit included a 4-pound, 5-ounce bass, which was tied for the largest of the day. Like most in the field, Howell was flipping into shallow pockets of water.
“I don’t consider this type of fishing to be a strength, so taking the lead is a big confidence boost,” said Howell, 35. “I don’t think I have ever caught fish this shallow. It’s just mind-blowing.”
Howell said he caught fish in water as skinny as 6 inches. While his area proved productive, several other competitors were near or on his money spot and boat traffic remains an issue on the Mississippi with just a few, concentrated productive areas.
A solid tournament here would be doubly rewarding for Howell. He is chasing a $100,000 top prize, and, perhaps most importantly, he and all other Elite Series pros have their eye on positioning in the 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…rain continues to fall, anglers left wondering what Day One will bring
June 11, 2009 – bassmaster.com
FORT MADISON, Iowa — Anglers sitting at the docks prior to the launch of Day One of the Genuity River Rumble out of Fort Madison, Iowa, knew the last thing the muddy Mississippi needed was more rain.
Elite Series pros and their Day One Marshals stand for the national anthem.
“Today is going to be one of those rainy, dreary days,” Edwin Evers said. “It’s one of those tournaments where you need to make the most of every bite. If you miss a fish, you are falling in the standings.”
Fred Roumbanis, currently sitting in 20th place in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race, agreed with Evers as he sat and waited for the day’s launch to begin. Roumbanis is normally comfortable fishing shallow-water, especially on rivers, but said that he has had one of the worst practices ever.
“This is not the Mississippi River I expected,” Roumbanis said. “It’s amazing what a flood will do. I didn’t even catch a keeper in practice. This is a tournament where I could not catch a fish and fall from 20th, out of the Classic, or if I do well, move up to the top 12.”
The biggest decision for Roumbanis on Day One was whether or not he should lock twice to get to less pressured water. His plan before leaving the dock, was to hit his first spots that he thinks hold fish one lock away, but if the boat traffic gets bad, to make the next lock.
Having grown up fishing Mississippi River pools just south of Fort Madison, Missouri’s Mark Tucker could be considered one of the few local favorites in the field of 98 Elite Series anglers.
Another angler struggling with the decision of where to fish was Kenyon Hill. Knowing that the field will likely be stacked up in small fishing holes, Hill considered locking, but found the barge traffic to be a big wildcard.
“The barge traffic is such that realistically, the scheduled locks are the only times you can go,” Hill said. “If you should try to make it to one of the farther pools, it’s not even a coin toss that you will make it back.”
With unfavorable odds facing anglers who choose to run far, Hill plans to start the day closer and take his chances on boat traffic.
“There’s about three to four spots that are bad crowded,” Hill said. “One spot I have, I won’t even go to because I am boat 83. By the time I get there, I don’t even know that you could get me in with a shoehorn. In times like this more than any other, your confidence is your best lure in the box.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Kentucky Lake Patterns
June 9, 2009 – bassfan.com
Bobby Lane won the Kentucky Lake Bassmaster Elite Series off of a single honey hole that kicked out massive sacks in the first hour of each of the first 3 days. Those who finished closest to him in the standings, however, spent a considerable amount of time on the move.
As usual at Kentucky, the tournament was all about the ledge-bite. But if there was another bar on the entire reservoir (or on adjacent Lake Barkley, too boot) that was loaded up like Lane’s, nobody found it.
Timing was the key for those who did a lot of hopping around – the windows when the biggest fish fed were usually pretty narrow. Current was also a big factor, as the Tennessee Valley Authority pulled a lot of at the tail end of the week. That was a switch from the 3-day practice period, when the water was stagnant for the most part.
2nd: Kevin VanDam
> Day 1: 5, 28-11
> Day 2: 5, 21-09
> Day 3: 5, 21-03
> Day 4: 5, 20-10
> Total = 20, 92-01
Kevin VanDam won at Kentucky in 2008 and would’ve done so again had Lane not discovered the mother of all hot spots. He caught a giant stringer on day 1 and followed it up with three solid sacks.
While most of the field was focused on the 6- to 12-foot depth-range, he went considerably deeper.
“My practice was pretty bad, really,” he said. “What I was finding were lots of schools of small fish. Then on the third day I started fishing a little deeper than I had been and found a good school at about 18 feet, so I started looking for other places like that.
“I found most of them with the depthfinder – you could see the fish down there. I didn’t know how big they were, but I knew they were there. Every ledge I fished had (mussel) shells and most were on the main-river channel, but not all of them.”
He caught most of his fish on a prototype Strike King crankbait that members of the company’s pro staff received just before the tournament – the Series 6 XD.
“It looks like a regular Series 6, but with the new weight chamber, it really runs deep. But more important than how deep it runs is what it does when it gets down there. It took a long time to perfect the action.”
> Cranking gear: 7’10” Quantum Tour Edition KVD signature series cranking rod, Quantum Energy PT Series casting reel (5:1 ratio), 12-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon line, Strike King Series 6 XD (sexy shad).
> He changed out the stock hooks and installed Mustad 1X strong, wide-gap size 2s (model No. 36300).
> Spoon gear: 7’2” heavy-action Quantum PT rod, Quantum PT “Burner” casing reel (7:1 ratio), 17-pound XPS fluorocarbon, 4” Strike King Sexy Spoon (sexy shad).
> He caught lots of fish on both a jig and a 10-inch worm, but none went to the scale.
Main factor in his success – “The biggest challenge for me was figuring out the fish from day to day. There were lots of different scenarios – a little current, a lot of current, no current. The fish moved around more than I’d ever seen in previous times. I was fishing fairly fast, but I had to be very methodical working those ledges.”
Performance edge – “The Biosonix unit was a key factor in activating the shad – lots of times I was able to get them to school around me. Also the cranking rod, and the lure for sure.”
http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3316Lane Hits the spot
June 6, 2009 – bassmaster.com
PARIS, Tenn. — For three days, Bobby Lane seemed destined to take his first BASS victory. The Lakeland, Fla., Bassmaster Elite Series pro opened up a nearly 9-pound advantage, barely scratching the surface of a foolproof spot on massive Kentucky Lake.
The second-year Elite pro and two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier had it so good he was able to take a nap on the water Friday while defending his area. But on Saturday, the final day of competition at the SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph, things took an unexpected turn.
Bobby Lane (First, 97-9)
First, a nerve-wracking fog delay of more than 2 hours demolished Lane’s productive early bite. Then, Lane had to contend with an armada of spectator boats — nearly 120 by some counts — that were parked near his money spot.
But Lane, a veteran tournament angler, stuck to his guns and held on to accumulate 16 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday for a four-day total of 97 pounds, 9 ounces, which was enough to hold off four-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam (92-1) of Kalamazoo, Mich.
With the victory, Lane earned $100,000 and moved up to 11th in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. That position puts the 35-year-old in fantastic shape to qualify for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 19-21 on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala., and advance to the inaugural Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, the Toyota Trucks Championship Week, which will play out Sept. 10-18 on Alabama’s Lake Jordan and Alabama River featuring the top 12 anglers in the AOY standings.
“Early this morning, all I wanted to do was get on that spot,” said Lane, whose brother younger brother Chris also fishes in the Elite Series. “That was one of the most stressful moments of my life sitting there waiting and was probably about the worst thing that could have happened to me. But I was able to fish clean the whole day and it was my time.”
On Saturday, Lane’s primary spot — an area filled with heavy shell that generated high numbers of baitfish that bass were feeding on — proved nowhere near as fruitful as it had in the first three days. While he was able to land four keepers in the area during the first hours of competition, the size of the fish couldn’t compare to those on Days One through Three. So, Lane made a decision to run elsewhere — a last resort — and was able to fill out his limit with a fifth keeper.
Still, he wasn’t satisfied. In the back of his mind, he said he was calculating over and over again to determine if he had blown what was his best chance at a victory. With a little more than two hours remaining in his competition day, he returned to the primary spot he had nicknamed the “promised land” and boated his biggest bass of the day, a 5-9 brute.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Making a move
June 6, 2009 – bassmaster.com
PARIS LANDING, Tenn. — The question here Saturday is not whether Bobby Lane can hold on to his lead in the SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph on Kentucky Lake, but whether he will pass 100 pounds in total catch en route to collecting his first $100,000 paycheck.
Lane’s three-day total stands at 80 pounds, 10 ounces, and all were caught from one spot that Lane has barely touched. The Florida fisherman knew from the get-go that he was sitting on a gold mine, and pressured the bass only long enough to amass daily stringers that nobody could touch. For three days, Lane has been wondering what kind of bag he could catch if he really tried, and he plans to find out in the final round.
Though there’s not much doubt about who is going to win this, the sixth event in the 200 Bassmaster Elite Series, there are some interesting back stories playing out among the Top 12.
Britt Meyers, currently in sixth place, has been waiting all year to put together a tournament that plays up to his structure-oriented, post-spawn strengths, and Kentucky Lake hasn’t disappointed. After languishing back in the pack all season, the South Carolina angler is driving toward a coveted spot in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic. Where he finishes Saturday will help determine how close he gets.
With two tournaments to go, the race between Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese for the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year has tightened as well.
Californian Reese was his customary laid-back self at the dock Saturday morning, secure in his fishing approach and water. VanDam, too, felt that he could at least bring in a stringer of five bass averaging more than 4 pounds, and he said that he had been saving a spot for the last day.
“I was worried about it Thursday because I saw another boat fishing it, but it wasn’t a tournament boat,” said VanDam Saturday morning. “Since then I haven’t seen anybody around it. I’ve caught big fish off it in the past, so I’m hoping it will produce another good keeper or two today.”
The Michigan pro, now in third place, trails Reese in the Tennessee Triumph standings by just 7 ounces. Unofficially, until the dust settles after this tournament, both men are deadlocked in the Angler-of-the-Year standings with 1588 points.
VanDam and Reese have been models of consistency in 2009 and, save for a couple of slip-ups, so have a few other anglers left to mull on what might have been. Among them is Byron Velvick, who’s come on strongly in the last few events and is gaining confidence with every cast.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…Bobby Lane on verge of first BASS win
June 5, 2009 – bassmaster.com
PARIS, Tenn. — Inching closer to the biggest win of his career, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Bobby Lane was so excited he fell asleep on the water Friday. Twice.
For the third consecutive day, the Lakeland, Fla., pro relied on a unique approach at the SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph on Kentucky Lake, capitalizing on a productive morning bite and then spending the majority of his competition day defending his spot.
Bobby Lane (1st, 80-10)
It’s an interesting scenario indeed, and one that has played out perfectly for the 35-year-old pro to the tune of 80 pounds, 10 ounces, good enough for a near 9-pound advantage over 2009 Bassmaster Classic champion Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., heading into the final day of competition.
“I took two naps for about an hour total. I was so bored playing the waiting game I couldn’t stay awake,” said Lane, who has been preserving the spot in hopes of making it a factor throughout the competition. “If I heard another engine coming close by I figured that would serve as my alarm clock.”
Finally, Lane will have the opportunity to fully exploit his special spot Saturday. For the past three days, he fished his area for just more than an hour each morning and left more than 20 hours of competition time on the table. He has known all along that he is running the risk of other anglers finding the area and cashing in on it. But there will be no need to manage his fish Saturday, the final day of the event.
Friday played out much like the previous two days. Lane accumulated all of his weight — a 26-pound, 3-ounce limit — before 8 a.m. He spent the rest of the day protecting the location. He said he was so anxious at 1 p.m. that he went against his better judgment and threw three casts, landing three fish: a 2-, 3- and 5-pounder.
“Everything has been going my way this week,” said Lane, who was an accomplished soccer player in high school. “As long as I can make a clean shot to my area Saturday, I should be able to catch what I need. I just can’t wait to get out there tomorrow.”
For Lane, a two-time Classic qualifier, it would be validation for a career that has produced a lot of top-notch finishes but few victories.
Skeet Reese signed autographs on the dock before bagging his fish.
Furthermore, the win would be the result of a fishing style that isn’t one of Lane’s strengths: targeting ledges. A shallow-water specialist, Lane would score his first BASS victory and put himself in prime position to qualify for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 19-21 on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala.
Heading into Kentucky Lake, Lane was 31st in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. A top finish here should propel him into the top 15, a position that would put him in serious contention for the Bassmaster Elite Series inaugural postseason, the Toyota Trucks Championship Week, which will play out Sept. 10-18 on Alabama’s Lake Jordan and Alabama River featuring the top 12 anglers in the AOY standings.
Although Lane is feeling a certain degree of comfort, he knows that closing the victory will be tough, especially considering Reese and four-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., are his closest competitors.
Reese, who jumped over VanDam into second place Friday, continued his impressive run with a three-day total of 71-14. He’s looking at a similar situation to what occurred at the last Elite event, on Lake Guntersville. There, Reese was trailing by a wide margin going into the final day and was able to make a charge, but eventual champion Aaron Martens managed to narrowly escape with victory.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournam…