Category Archives: BASS Tour

Time to Get Serious!

With the Super Bowl & the Daytona 500 in our rear view mirror, let us focus on what is really important…
The 2008 Bassmasters Classic!!!!

This really culminates the beginning of major tournament fishing for this year.  Sure we have had a few Triple A events (BASS Opens, FLW Series, PAA Qualifier), but now its time to get into serious major league bass tournament action.
So if you do not have your fantasy fishing line ups in, now is the time to do so.  Set reminders in your office calenders so you can stream live video of the weigh in on Friday afternoon.  Get your DVR’s all set to records the hours & hours of Classic coverage on the ESPN networks.  Vist the Classic Website, check out Charlie Hartley’s Blog….

5 Things to think about as you make your Classic picks:
1. Will another local take home the crown in likeness of Boyd Duckett, did he snap the jinx and now the flood gates will open?  Should you hitch your wagon to Casey Ashley, Todd Auten, or Jeff Coble?

2.  Will the guys that ruled at Clarks Hill with Football jigs reign supreme again at Hartwell? If so, maybe Mike McClelland or Derek Remitz can take the crown…

3.  Is the AllTell car of Ryan Newman winning the Daytona 500 a sign of things to come for Scott Rook?

4. Can Boyd be the first Classic champ to repeat since Rick Clunn?  He supposedly has some history on Hartwell

5.  Do any of the 6 Federation Nation contenders have what it takes to rock the boat in Brian Kerchal like fashion?

Check back soon, I will post my Fantasy & Super 6 picks sometime this week.

Also welcome my newest email subscribers, we are up to 60!!

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

Peter T Wins Again!

PRESS RELEASE
Janruary/21/2008

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Larry Thornhill
Fish Harder Companies

Peter T Wins Again!

Peter T Southern Open Jan 2008

Peter “T” Thliveros, continuing along on the hottest two years of his career, won the Southern Open on the St. John’s River out of Palatka, Fla. on Saturday, February 19th, 2008 with an impressive three day total weight of 55 pounds, 3 ounces. The performance earned him a hefty check for $50, 657. 

“I caught a lot of my fish on a Carolina rig. The key was my use of a black 5/8 ounce Peter “T” Finesse Carolina Weight coupled with a black Peter “T” Force Bead. There are a lot of Carolina weights around but they’re either too light or too heavy. The Tru-Tungsten 5/8 ounce is perfect, just the right weight to keep the rig down and under control,” said the successful BASS Elite Series angler.

What are you doing next week?

Well this is what I will be up to…..  Good Times!!!

Bassmaster Open pros and former Bassmaster Classic competitors are among the 225 anglers headed to Georgia’s Clarks Hill Lake next week to compete for one 2008 Bassmaster Classic berth and a first prize of $100,000. The coveted berth will complete the 50-angler Classic field.

The Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship operated by American Bass Anglers is set for Nov. 14-17 out of Wildwood Park in Appling, Ga., near Augusta. The venue has been the site of two previous Bassmaster Elite Series event and will host one in 2008, set for May 1-4.

The former Classic participants include Lee Byrd of Birmingham, Ala. (1990 Classic); Jeff Coble of Manson, N.C. (2002 and 2006 Classics); and Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas (2000 Classic).

Bassmaster Open pros include Texans Corey Waldrop of Fort Worth and Brian Clark of Haltom City; Kenneth Chapman of Woodlawn, Tenn.; and Craig Nels of Baldwinsville, N.Y.

Contenders had to win the right to compete in the championship by coming out on top in their regional division. The top eight in points within each of 25 divisions, plus one wild-card qualifier from each division, make up the field of 225.

Nels, a 25-year-old Bass Pro Shops retail associate who qualified by finishing fourth in the standings in the Weekend Series’ New York East Division, is focused on winning the Classic berth.

“I’m trying to start a career as a fisherman, and while a big payday early on could be an incredible help, a Classic berth would be fantastic,” Nels said. “It would really be good as a career builder, vs. just having one big payday.”

Like Nels, to Chapman, the Classic berth is a bigger prize than the $100,000.

“The money’s a great thing, and it’s an impressive purse, but a chance to go to the Classic would be the pinnacle for me,” said Chapman, a retired Army master sergeant who has competed in bass tournaments for three years.

Check www.bassmaster.com for daily updates of the Championship.

Still Alive

Just in case some of you worried, I am alive
Sorry, been awhile since I have sat down & blogged.  Since my last tournament, I have been elbow deep in my “honey do” jar, that will happen when you get a new house.  Lots of stuff to do before I leave for the Bassmaster Weekend Series National Championships on Clarks Hill.

Other then that I have been busy sorting tackle and doing other prep work for my upcoming tournament.  Which includes buying some new lures on the internet, as they come in, I will try to get some snapshots up before I leave.

One interesting thing, that I came across while doing research for Clarks Hill.  I was reading how Frank Ippoliti recently won the Southern Open on Lake Wheeler.  Turns out he was stroking a Tru-Tungsten Jig along a bluff-wall and all but one of his fish came on the jig.  I am reading more and more on how people are turning to this jig.
Also, I recently found this cool underwater video of the Tru-Tungsten jig in an aquarium.  You can see how great the HydroSilk skirt looks under water!

About Tru-Tungsten, several people have asked me where the best place to get Tru-Tungsten products around the Minneapolis area.  Here are the top 3 places:
1. Cabela’s – Owatonna: Weights, Force Beads, Flippin’ Weights & Drop Shot Sinkers
2. Dick’s Sporting Goods – Richfield: Weights, Force Beads, Smart Pegs, Ikey Heads
3. Capra’s Sporting Goods – Blaine: Weights, Ikey Heads

I am working hard for someone to carry the jigs locally, it is looking very likely that Cabela’s in Owatonna will have them early Spring 2008   Also, there are some cool Tru-Tungsten products that will be available after the first of the year, I will keep you posted on that.

Also, welcome to email subscriber #51!!

Tight Lines,
Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Mississippi River – Bassmasters Weekend Series Tournament #4 – Sept 9th, 2007 and some other stuff

Hey all,

Been crazy busy, time to get caught up a little.  So I drove home all night from Leech to Lakeville thanks to some energy drinks.  Slept in, did some stuff around the house and got out on Pool 5 for about 2 hours before the registration meeting, nothing too ground breaking there.

I made the decision to run to Pool 5 and try to hit a home run in some pads.  It was a tough call, because I had some other good fish and areas as well.  I kind of talked myself into because I was kind of tired of consistent high finishes in money tournaments, but no big wins to show for it.  I attributed it to fishing to conservatively.  So I talked myself to going for a big bag. 

Long story short, made the run, locked through to Pool 5 and fished those pads for a long time and only managed one 2.5lb+ fish on a 1/2oz Fall Craw Tru-Tungsten jig.  My partner did manage to get one fish there as well.  We started to run some other areas, but I could not get any keepers, my partner got one more small keeper on a popper, we finally decided we needed to lock back up, we lost about 30 minutes waiting on a barge.

We got to one of my good areas on Pool 4, my partner caught a good one on a carolina rig and I had a good one on that came unbuttoned.  We fished a bit longer and I got one over 3lbs on a Fork Craw.  Caught a few more short fish, then deiced to fish a wing dam up by Wabasha.  About my 5th cast, I had a nice smallie suck down my Yellow Magic popper and it broke me off on the rocks.  Man just one of those days, made bad decisions and had a few key bites that I did not convert.

I weighed 2 fish for 6lbs, that put me in a 25th place, not very good.  So much for carrying momentum from Leech in to this tournament. On the bright side, other people behind me in points struggled as well and I only slipped once spot to 6th in the points, but my cushion over 9th was sliced dramatically.  Oh well, I still control my own destiny for Nationals with one two day tourney to go.  Also, my dad won his 2nd event of the year as non-boater and also got big fish.

Congrats to Skeet Reese on his AOY title and Derek Remitz on the ROY!  I think he proved that Amistad was no fluke and he belongs at the highest levels of bass fishing.  Thing should slow down a little bit, so I hope to get a few more entries on the Blog.  I practiced on the river last weekend, look for posts on that.  I also have one last club tournament on Coon Lake this Sunday, then its back to the river for more practice and tournament the following two weeks.

Also of great importance, I finished $5 up on Mr. Veech in Super 6 pick’em this year!!!!!  Also, thanks to email subscribers #44 & 45 that recently joined, I am sure you are glad to see a post, probably wondering why you signed up.

Tight Lines,

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Lake Marion Evening Outing #2 & more….

A little late, but I have been really busy.  Ryan & I got out a bit earlier on Thursday night last week.  We started out by poking around on a hard bottom spot with a Fantasy Football jig, no takers.  We then moved in and found some nice 3lb fish on an adjacent inside turn.  Ryan caught his on a Sweet Beaver on a Title Shot jig and I got mine on a Yum Craw Papi rigged on a straight shank tied with a snell knot and a  3/8oz Denny Brauer Flippin’ Weight.

We hopped around trying some different things the rest of the night, caught 8 or 9 fish, but nothing over about 2.5lbs.

Hats off to KVD as the only angler to win two Elite Series events in a single season so far.  Sounds like he pretty much cranked his way to the victory on Grand with a Strike King Series 5 & 6 Crankbaits in a new color called “Sexy Shad” that should be available for the masses very soon.  I like the sounds of it

Also, it was another Jekyll & Hyde weekend in my club tournaments on Clearwater & Chisago.  I should have posts on those in the next few days.  And thanks to Davey Hite, I got $5 back from Mr. Veech on our usual Super 6 fantasy bet.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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2008 Bassmaster Classic has Carolina on it’s Mind

A recent announcement from BASS…..  The Super Bowl of bass fishing will be held in February of 2008 on Lake Hartwell near Greenville, SC.  I had my bets on Georgia, but I guess I was wrong….

See full release below:

CELEBRATION, Fla. — Recently named as one of Southern Living‘s three favorite cities, Greenville, S.C., will host the 2008 Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 22-24, in its downtown region.

This marks the second time that bass fishing’s premier event will be staged in South Carolina, with the first held in 1973 in McCormick on Clarks Hill Lake, site of a 2007 Bassmaster Elite Series event.

In February, Classic competitors will fish on 56,000-acre Lake Hartwell, site of three previous BASS tournaments. The fishery, which features 962 miles of shoreline, gave up a winning three-day tournament weight of 42 pounds, 13 ounces to Georgia’s Tony Couch in a 1998 Bassmaster Invitational. Bassmaster Elite Series angler Gerald Swindle of Alabama finished second in that event by 6 ounces.

“The City of Greenville is excited to be chosen as the official host city for the 2008 Bassmaster Classic,” said Knox White, mayor of Greenville. “We look forward to kicking off the festivities and welcoming professional anglers, industry leaders and bass fishing enthusiasts to Greenville’s vibrant community. This unique tournament is the first of its kind for Greenville and will draw considerable attendance and publicity for our beautiful region.”

ESPN2 will devote 13 hours of programming to the Classic through the three-day event, including morning shows on the weekend and same-day coverage of the entire tournament. Additionally, www.espnoutdoors.com will provide live, streaming video of the daily weigh-ins along with analysis and image galleries.

Fans will be treated to additional Classic coverage in anticipation of the 2008 Classic, with 4 1/2 hours of Bassmaster Classic yearbook shows airing Feb. 18-22 on ESPN2.

“We are excited to bring the most prestigious event in bass fishing to South Carolina for a second time,” said Tom Ricks, general manager of BASS. “The location allows us to cater to our tremendous membership base in the area, and those who can’t attend the event will be treated to abundant coverage on ESPN2.”

Ricks said BASS has more than 11,000 members in South Carolina. There are nearly 210,000 members within a 500-mile radius of Greenville, including those involved in South Carolina’s growing BASS Federation Nation.

The Bassmaster Classic’s field of 50 anglers will compete for a total prize purse of nearly $1.2 million, including a top prize of $500,000. Anglers have the opportunity to practice Feb. 12-14, 2008, but the tournament waters will be off-limits to them at all other times beginning Dec. 15. The final practice is scheduled for Feb. 20. While all anglers will fish on Days 1 and 2, only the Top 25 will fish on the final day.

Weigh-ins of the event will be held at the Bi-Lo Arena in the heart of Greenville, which features a one-of-a-kind, award-winning suspension bridge and two waterfalls. Daily launches will be held at Portman Marina.

The ESPN Outdoors Classic Expo, a fan favorite of Classic week, will be held Friday through Sunday of Classic week at the Carolina First Center and admission to the expo and weigh-in is free. The Expo is three miles from the weigh-in venue.

Festivities also include the second annual Women’s Bassmaster Tour Championship featuring the Top 12 anglers from the 2007 Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. The tournament will be held on nearby Lake Keowee, an 18,500-acre reservoir that boasts 300 miles of shoreline. Keowee also will serve as the home of the Junior Bassmaster World Championship, which pits the top youth anglers against each other during Classic week.

The following anglers will qualify for the Bassmaster Classic: The top 37 in Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings; the top three anglers in the standings from the Bassmaster Central and Southern Opens; the top six anglers in their respective divisions from the BASS Federation Nation National Championship; and the winner of the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship Operated by the American Bass Anglers.

“This is a tremendous opportunity that promotes our destination and showcases our extraordinary upstate region,” said Chris Stone, president of the Greenville Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are pleased that BASS and ESPN have chosen Greenville to host their ‘Super Bowl of bass fishing’ and look forward to a remarkable event.”

Sponsors of the event include Toyota Tundra, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Purolator, Berkley, Advance Auto Parts, Lowrance Electronics and MotorGuide.

Anyone interested in volunteering at the Bassmaster Classic should call BASS at 877-BASS-USA.

For more information, contact BASS Communications at 407-566-2208 or visit Bassmaster.com. Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN’s latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.

BASS is the worldwide authority on bass fishing, sanctioning more than 20,000 events through the BASS Federation Nation annually. Guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans, BASS sets the standard for credibility, professionalism, sportsmanship and conservation, as it has for nearly 40 years.

BASS stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the Bassmaster Classic. Through its clubs, youth programs, aquatic resource advocacy, magazine publishing and multimedia platforms, BASS offers the industry’s widest array of services and support to its nearly 530,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.

The local organizers of the event include Greenville, S.C., and the Upstate region. A partnership between Southern Hospitality Group Event Management (SHGEM), the Greenville Convention & Visitors Bureau (GCV and the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) has made this possible. The host venues for the event will be the Carolina First Center, the BI-LO Center, Lake Hartwell and Lake Keowee.

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Focus on the Winners

First an Apology for no entries of late, I could give you lots of good excuses but I will not bore you.

Clarks Hills a.k.a J. Strom Thurmond Lake
Winner – Mike McClelland
Here is how he did it:

McClelland said he fished “extremely shallow” water. “I never caught a good fish in water deeper than 4 feet. They were all very shallow places, but they did have deep water close to them. They were all clay points with scattered rock mixed in. That was the key.”

He added that “99% of them were post-spawn fish, but they weren’t in an area they should be in. The points they were on were very susceptible to wind and weather. They were waiting on the blueback to show up. “I think that’s the reason the jig worked so well. They weren’t schooling yet on the blueback. They were up there trying to find something to eat, and that 1/2-ounce football jig was the perfect morsel.”

Technique Notes
A football-head jig, by design, is meant to catch on rocks. About how he worked his jig, McClelland said: “I did it a number of different ways, but probably the most consistent bite was dragging the jig on bottom until it hit a rock. Then I’d almost try to shake it in place. I’d just raise my rod up high, shake it as much in one place as I could, then snap it off the rock.”  Most of his bites came on the shake, but plenty also came as he snapped it off the rock.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors

One part of McClelland’s success was he let his fish rest and reposition.

Winning Gear Notes
He used two different rods – a 7′ heavy-action Falcon Expert and a 7’3″ medium-heavy Falcon Mike McClelland signature series. “You had to have that long rod to make a pretty aggressive hookset,” he said. “Typically, when you’re fishing deeper and dragging the jig more, you can get away with a more sweeping hookset. But these fish weren’t eating the jig good. They’d suck it in quick, and if you didn’t hit them then, you’d miss them. When they’re shallow, they do that.”

 He used a Quantum Tour Edition casting reel with a 6.3:1 gear ratio. He noted that the 7:1 Quantum “Burner” would have probably been better, but he hadn’t fished with it yet and was more comfortable with the 6.3:1. The high gear speed was important, he added, because a lot of times the fish ate the jig and swam toward him, and he needed to take up line quickly before the hookset.  He spooled up with 15-pound Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon.

> His primary jig was the same one he used to win at Grand – a 1/2-ounce Jewel Heavy Cover Finesse football jig in peanut butter and jelly, tipped with a green-pumpkin/purple Zoom Super Chunk.

 He also threw a 3/8 oz. Jewel finesse jig on occasion.

 He used the stock finesse-style skirt that comes with the 1/2-ounce football, but often removed it and went with a bulkier skirt. Notable is that Hite won last year with an oversized skirt on a Mop jig.

 About the bigger skirt, McClelland said: “The gentleman I fished with the first day was a local, and he got the first bite on a jig. He was using the Mop jig. And I actually caught my first 6-pounder on the finesse skirt, but he was getting a few more bites than I was, so I bulked up and it made a difference. I caught fish on the finesse-style skirt all week – probably five or six that I weighed – but the bigger, bulkier jig was the key to getting quality bites.”
For Video  CLICK HERE

Lake Norman – FLW Tour
Winner – Larry Nixon
Here is how he did it:

Everybody knew the Norman FLW Tour would be an event predicated on razor-thin margins & just about everybody fishes docks. They’re everywhere on Norman’s highly developed shoreline, and fish in all stages of the spawn utilize them at this time of year.

It took an angler with the savvy of Arkansas legend Larry Nixon to come up with something a little bit different. He primarily stayed away from the docks – and the crowds of anglers that gathered around them – and caught quality fish off isolated pieces of structure.

Nixon went to Norman with an idea to target spawning bass, but not the ones that could easily be seen by other competitors.

He looked for isolated stumps and made long casts to them with light line, a 1/16oz. jighead and a Berkley PowerBait Wacky Crawler. If he got closer than 20 feet, the spooky fish would usually swim away, and would in all cases refuse to bite.  Accuracy was paramount, and the pattern was much more effective if the sun was shining and he could clearly see his targets.

All 4 tournament days unfolded pretty much the same way for Nixon. He fished a swimbait in the mornings until the sun got on the stumps, and then he went about culling everything he’d caught to that point.

“I went to the same area and did the same thing every day,” he said. “I never really changed up anything.  He was in 32nd place after day 1, and then jumped 22 spots on day 2 despite catching just one more ounce. He got into the cut with 3 ounces to spare.

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Rob Newell

A 4 1/2-pounder he caught on the final day was Nixon’s biggest fish of the tournament.

He vaulted to the top of the leaderboard on day 3, and then formulated a specific strategy for the final day – he wouldn’t go near his best stuff until about 10:00, when the sun was high enough for him to see beneath the surface.

“I tried everything I knew to keep from going in there early. I knew I’d get discouraged if I didn’t get a bite for a couple hours, and I didn’t want to do that. I just stayed away and fished some other areas until the time was right.”

His stumps weren’t productive on that last day, so he caught his fish from adjacent logs and pieces of brush. A 4 1/2-pounder – his biggest fish of the tournament – was his fifth keeper, and he improved his bag with a couple of afternoon culls.

Pattern Notes 
 He prefers a straight-tailed worm for fishing beds due to its vertical fall.   He caught a few key fish on a Texas-rigged worm, but has more confidence in one rigged on a jighead when targeting spawners. “They’re notorious for missing baits, and you get a higher percentage of hookups on a jighead.”

Winning Gear Notes 
 Jighead worm gear: 6’6″ medium-fast Fenwick Techna AV Spinning rod, Abu Garcia Cardinal 804 spinning reel, 8-pound prototype Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line, 1/16- or 1/32-ounce Japanese-made jighead, Berkley PowerBait Wacky Crawler (green-pumpkin).

 Texas-rigged worm gear: Same rod, Abu Garcia Revo casting reel, 14-pound prototype Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon, 1/8 oz Tru-Tungsten colored sinker (green-pumpkin), 2/0 Gamakatsu worm hook, 7-inch Berkley PowerBait Shaky Worm (green-pumpkin).

 He threw a 6″ Basstrix Fat Minnow swimbait (blueback herring) in the mornings.

Main factor in his success – “Spotting some things that maybe other people missed, and staying far enough away to where I could catch those fish.”

Performance edge – “My Solar Bat sunglasses. If I couldn’t see what I was throwing at, I wouldn’t have been able to catch them.”

Guntersville a.k.a “Big G”
Winner – KVD – Kevin VanDam
Here is how he did it:

VanDam started day 2 with a spinnerbait on the shad-spawn bite, but there were a number of boats on his starting area.   

He said: “It just wasn’t happening, so I just kept moving. After a little while, I hit a spot and was able to catch three or four decent ones on a spinnerbait, and ended up with a limit.”
After that, it was upgrade time. He visited a few of his crankbait spots (but not the one he was saving). One that he “sort of snuck into” produced seven fish in seven casts. He then exited quickly and quietly.  

VanDam started day 3 with a spinnerbait again, out on a ledge, and never got a bite. Then he moved to another piece of structure and didn’t get bit where he expected to.

“They’d moved a couple hundred yards,” he said. After he contacted them again, he and his partner caught a “handful, and lost a few, and moved around to a couple of other places and just kind of scrounged them out.”

He noted: “One of the things that I think really helped me was my Biosonix. I was running it with an active shad pattern up into the day, and it seemed I could keep them on my spinnerbait all day long. The other guys said their shad were done at 10:00 or whatever, so I think the Biosonix was a big plus here.”

That was pretty much his day 3. He caught 19-10 – which put him 4th again, but just 1-11 behind Butcher – and his co-angler, Bryan Talmadge, won the amateur division.

Day 4 delivered a drastic change in conditions. Gone were the clouds and wind, and most of the field struggled with the morning bite. The sun and dead-still conditions ended the shad-spawn party almost before it started.

VanDam started slow too. He didn’t get bit on his first stop, then lost a few on his second stop. “They weren’t biting the bait real good,” he noted.  That’s when he picked up and headed to his cranking spot that he’d been saving.

Pattern Notes
VanDam caught all his fish on two baits – a 1/2-ounce 1/2-ounce Strike King Kevin VanDam Tournament Series spinnerbait, and a Series 5 Pro Model crankbait.

About his areas, he said: “I was fishing main-river ledges, main-lake points, and humps near the main lake. A lot of the water I was in was on the main river channel. The fish had spawned and pulled out to there. The areas had a mix of hydrilla and milfoil – the two together.

“I also fished some at the mouths of creeks. One of my best places was at the mouth of a creek where the fish were coming out to after spawning. That’s where the shad are, and that’s where the bass want to be – closer to the current.”

Technique Notes
About how he worked the spinnerbait, VanDam said: “I’d pretty much throw it up top (on the hump, ledge or point) and slow-roll it off the edge. When it got caught in the grass, I’d kind of rip it free. And I’d kind of have to shake the spinnerbait a little to get them to eat it. The main thing was to get it (ticking) the tops of the grass.”

With the crank, he took more of a quartering approach to the grass, meaning, if his boat was parallel to the grass, he’d cast ahead of the boat (toward the grass) at a 45-degree angle.

Photo: Strike King/Bass Pro Shops

VanDam’s crankbait was the Strike King Series 5 Tour Grade, which is a regular Series 5 with a high-test paint job (color not shown).

“I’d try to get it just in the (deep) edge of the grass and rip it free,” he said. “The Series 5 really runs about 10 to 12 feet (deep), but I was throwing it on 17-pound fluorocarbon to help rip it out of the grass, and make it run a little shallower.”

He added that most of his crankbait bites came in the 5- to 12-foot zone, and that the bite got a lot better when it was flat-calm and bright. Still, he switched between the two baits all 3 days.

“You could get them to react to that better (in those conditions), but I alternated both baits. I’d come across a school with a spinnerbait and throw it until I got no more bites, then I’d throw the crank and catch a few more.”

Winning Gear Notes 
 Spinnerbait gear: 6’10” medium-heavy Quantum Kevin VanDam spinnerbait rod, Quantum PT Tour Edition 1160 casting reel (6.2:1), 20-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS monofilament, 1/2-ounce Strike King Kevin VanDam Tournament Series spinnerbait (blue shad, double willow-leafs in various combinations of gold and silver).

 The spinnerbait is made by Strike King, but is available exclusively through Basspro.com. It comes with a Perfect Skirt and pre-rigged Mustad trailer hook – upgrades not found on the traditional KVD Pro Model spinnerbait.

This is a picture of the actual 1/2 ounce spinnerbait that KVD used during the final day of his victory.

 On why he threw the spinnerbait on mono, he said: “With fluorocarbon, there’s too much sensitivity for me, and the rod is so sensitive, that I end up not letting the fish get the bait as well. Mono also has a little more give, and I like a little bit of stretch there.”

 Crankbait gear: 7′ medium-heavy Quantum Tour Edition fiberglass cranking rod, Quantum Energy PT 750 casting reel (5.1:1), 17-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon, Strike King Series 5 crankbait (shad color).

 He swapped out the stock hooks on the crank for No. 2 Mustad Extra Strong Ultra Point trebles.

 Performance edge – “It would be between my Biosonix unit and having a GPS that’s accurate. The Biosonix unit was a big key in keeping the shad active to where I could catch them all day long. I just have a lot of confidence in it. And the places they were on were so precise – to be able to go back to an area after you fish it, without a doubt, that was (critical). I’m not sponsored by Lowrance, but those units are very good. Pair that with a Biosonix and a good spinnerbait, and it’s pretty hard to beat.” 

For Video CLICK HERE

Felt good to do a little blogging, thanks for the recent subscribers (up to 32), they had not got much for their subscription to this point, but that should end because I intend to get on the water this weekend

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Monday Bass Fishing Randomness April 23rd, 2007

I think Monday Bass Fishing Randomness could be a regular feature….

Let’s start by congratulating Mike McClelland on running down Chris Lane on the final day at Clarks Hills Reservoir.  Sounds like Mike’s Jewel jig strikes again, to give him his second win in as many years.  Also, of note Derek Remitz aka the Wolverine or Next Big Thing turns in another solid Top 5 and anchors my fantasy team when the likes of Steve Kennedy & KVD let me down a little this week.  On the flip side, consistency of Skeet Reese and the late addition of Casey Ashley helped me maintain a 13th best overall in the nation, as well as close the point margin to #1

I have decided to leave my roster as is for Guntersville, my top 4 guys are & have been studs and I do not see any better options then Mr. Ashley for his $ value, plus he is supposed to be a damn good singer.

Team   Totals   Value
ANGLER HOMETOWN   RANK POINTS   MARKET LOCKED
VanDam, Kevin Kalamazoo, MI   4 398   16.6 15.7
Remitz, Derek Hemphill, TX   2 493   5.3 4.4
Kennedy, Steve Auburn, AL   3 425   9.6 10.0
Reese, Skeet Auburn, CA   1 575   16.5 15.3
Ashley, Casey Donalds, SC   30 195   4.8 4.4
Total Rating   52.8 49.8

On the flip, side my Super 6 has not been stellar this year, so here is my guys for Guntersville….

1 Kevin VanDam (edit) 1
2 Gerald Swindle (edit) 2
3 Steve Kennedy (edit) 3
4 Michael Iaconelli (edit) 4
5 Timmy Horton (edit) 5
6 Alton Jones (edit) 6

Hopefully these guys will help me run down Mr. Veech!

Let’s talk about some cool bass websites that I have found of late:
ToyotaFishing.com – follows the Toyota Tundra team on the tour, they have web video episodes that are pretty cool.  Scroggins, Hack, Wolak, Ike, KVD & More
BassZone.com – This site is top notch, live chat, blog & video updates during competition days at Elite Series events, plus video wraps ups with the winners and more!

Also, thanks to those that made my seminar on Saturday, many of you were very interested in the flipping snell knot, see this post!  Also, two more subscribers hopped on board over the weekend, thank you #26 & #27!

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog

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Breaking Down Clear Lake Elite Series

Huddleston Swimbait in Rainbow TroutSwimbaits were a bigh part for almost all of the Top 12, much of that is probably due to the large bass and the hitch, which is a minnow that’s endemic to central California and looks similar to a golden shiner. It can reach a length of 14 inches.
Show available picture(s) for Lavinia exilicauda
There was a point during the first day of practice for the Clear Lake Bassmaster Elite Series when Steve Kennedy was convinced that California’s largest natural body of water harbored no bass under 4 pounds. He started out throwing a swimbait, and it took him awhile to catch anything that didn’t meet that standard.  He eventually discovered that 3s – and even 2s – did swim there, and he was forced to bring a couple in that class to the scales on day 1. But over the final 3 days, his average weigh-in fish went nearly 7 pounds.

The Alabamian caught 122-14 to set a new BASS total-weight record en route to his first Elite Series victory. He overtook 3-day leader Greg Gutierrez of California with a 32-10 stringer on the final day.  His total over the last 3 days was a preposterous 102-14. Had he skipped day 1 entirely, he still would have finished in 6th place in the greatest slugfest in tour-level tournament history.   Click here to view and awesome video compilation from BassZone.com

Below you will find a compilation of reports from BassZone.com, BassFan.com, Bassmaster.com and what I witnessed on the web & TV coverage.

Practice
The first day of practice was overcast with intermittent rain, and Kennedy had no trouble getting quality bites on a swimbait – a lure he used for the first time at the season opener at Amistad. He went through the Narrows, which divides the upper and lower portions of the lake, and quickly caught five that he estimated would weigh about 23 pounds.

In hindsight, he thinks that stringer probably went 28 to 30 pounds. His initial guesses were based more on length than girth, and just about every Clear Lake bass would be deemed obese by the people who put together those body-mass index charts. Their weight-to-length ratio might be higher than anywhere in the world.

He continued to get bites that day, and bent down his hook at 11:30 so he wouldn’t put anymore fish through the stress of being boated.  Wind that topped 30 mph at times showed up on the second practice day, so he stayed in the northern part of the lake near the launch at Lakeport and fished shallow tules and willows with a football-head jig.  Steve caught plenty of fish, but the north end’s quality did not match that of Day 1’s practice on the South end.

The wind laid down for the final practice day, and he went south again and ran all new water. He didn’t get a single bite on the 6-inch Basstrix swimbait that had been so productive 2 days before.  With similar conditions in the forecast, he determined that the jig would be his best bait for the first day of competition.

Days 1 and 2
> Day 1: 5, 20-00
> Day 2: 5, 29-13

Kennedy said the jig-in-vegetation pattern produced 60 or 70 bites on day 1, but the best five averaged just 4 pounds each. Again, he couldn’t get bitten on the swimbait.  He admitted, in the wake of a 61st-place finish at the California Delta, that he began to think he might be in a slump.  Kennedy was afraid that some might view last year was a fluke of sorts.

He caught another 20 pounds on the jig on day 2, then had a joyous reunion with his swimbait fish from the first practice day. He culled up to 29-13 and climbed 39 places to a tie for 12th with a 49-13 total.  Late in the day, he pulled up on a rocky point in the Narrows that dropped into 50 feet of water. It was flat on one side and steep on the other, and on the flat side he could see 15 fish that ranged from 5 to 10 pounds.

“I already had almost 30 pounds, so I didn’t want to catch a 5- or 6-pounder – that wouldn’t help me. I wanted one of the big ones.”  He’d been buying swimbaits, both large and small, throughout the western swing, and he began experimenting with some of the bigger models on that pod of huge fish. He tried an Osprey in two different colors, and a couple of brutes bumped it, but wouldn’t commit.

“I finally tied on the big Huddleston rainbow trout. I had a 9 swim up behind it and suck it down, but I missed her.” That was a bit of a downer, but the foundation was in place for a glorious day 3.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors

Steve Kennedy got help from BASS tournament director Trip Weldon (left) and emcee Keith Alan in holding up his tournament-best 40-07 limit on day 3.

Days 3 and 4
> Day 3: 5, 40-07
> Day 4: 32-10
> Total = 20, 122-14

Kennedy went straight to the rocky point to begin day 3, and those giants were still right where he’d left them the previous afternoon.  

He caught a 9-08 and an 8 on back-to-back casts. On his first seven heaves with the 5-ounce Huddleston, he boated seven fish that combined to weigh an estimated 35 pounds.

“Once I had (five of those) in the boat, I went out looking for more big fish. I put the trolling motor on high and covered tons of new water.”

He hit a few more points, then switched his focus to docks once the sun got high. He culled a 6-03 with a 6-06, and culled the 6-06 with another 8-pounder.

The 40-07 bag was easily the biggest of his career, and it cut the nearly 17-pound margin between him and 3-day leader Greg Gutierrez to just 1-10.

Naturally, he went back to the point in the Narrows to start day 4, but it had lost its magic. Between the boats that followed him, the helicopters circling overhead and the fact that he’d put a big whacking on the fish the previous day, it was all but barren. He caught a 3 1/2-pounder but, in accordance with California state regulations, had to release it because it was hooked outside the mouth.

He moved south to the next point and caught a 5-plus, but it was foul-hooked too. He didn’t put a fish in his livewell until his fourth stop, which was another point.  He switched to a the jig for a while and caught a few 2 1/2- to 3-pounders that left him one fish shy of a limit. He arrived on a dock in the south end, where he’d seen three fish of 5 pounds or better the day before, at about 10:30.

He threw the Huddleston down the deep-water face of the dock and caught a 9-pounder on his first cast, which ended up being his 5th fish and gave him the confidence to stick with the huge swimbait on the final day.

The next cast produced a bite that he said was considerably bigger than the 9. That fish pulled the split-ring off the hook that held it and was gone. He’d obtained larger split-rings from Bill Smith the night before and put them on most of his big swimbaits, but for some reason had neglected to make the switch on that one.

After another missed bite followed by a lull in the action, he moved to another spot where he’d found fish and caught some on the Basstrix that improved his bag. He then went back to the dock at 1:00 and caught a 5 and an 8 on his first two casts with the Huddleston.

“At that point I knew I’d broken the (4-day weight) record and I was pretty excited about that, but I didn’t think I’d won. Then a couple minutes later, I hooked a 10-pounder.”

But like his first fish of the day, that one was hooked on the outside of the head and had to be thrown back. With just a few minutes left to fish, he caught a 5-pounder to complete his 32 1/2-pound bag.  “What a roller-coaster that day was. I had the biggest fish I’d ever caught in my hands (the 10-pounder) and had to let it go, and I had one that was even bigger pull the split-ring off.

Gear Notes
1 – A Huddleston Swimbait in Rainbow Trout
Huddleston Swimbait in Rainbow Trout
Most of the big fish came on this lure. This was also the lure that Steve recovered from the bottom of Clear Lake after breaking off a 10 pounder.

2 – A BassTrix 6″ Fat Minnow in the Hitch Color
This lure was used when the bass did not respond to the BIG swimbait.

3 – A 3/4 Ounce PJ’s of Arkansas Football Jig with a Kinami Double Tail Grub
All 20 pounds the Steve brought to the stage on day one, were caught on the football jig.

> Big swimbait gear: 7’11” heavy-action Kistler Helium 2 LTX rod, Shimano Curado casting reel, 30-pound P-Line Fluoroclear line, 8″ Huddleston Deluxe swimbait (rainbow trout).

> Small swimbait gear: 7′ heavy-action Kistler Helium 2 LTA rod, same reel, 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon, 6″ Basstrix Paddle Tail swimbait (hitch).

> Jig gear: Same rod, reel and line as small swimbait, 3/4oz PJ’s Finesse Baits football jig (green-pumpkin), Kinami Double-Tail grub trailer (green-pumpkin).

While the other top finishers relied on swimbaits for their primary pattern, their back-up patterns varied greatly, though. While Kennedy relied on a football-head jig, his closest pursuers used everything from a small finesse worm to a big topwater bait.

2nd: Skeet Reese has fished well everywhere he’s gone over the past 6 months – he now has five consecutive Top 10s on his ledger, including three runner-up finishes. He has more than two decades worth of experience at Clear Lake, and he was a popular pick to win this event.

He would have won, too, had Kennedy not gone bonkers and weighed in more than 72 pounds over the last 2 days. Reese was the most consistent angler in the field over the tournament’s entirety. He was the only one who never weighed a bag under 25 pounds.

He employed a combination of a swimbait, a jerkbait and a shaky-head worm.

> Swimbait gear: 7’6″ medium-heavy Lamiglas XFT764 rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 20-pound prototype Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line, 8″ Osprey swimbait (hitch).

> Jerkbait gear: 7′ medium-action Lamiglas SR705R Skeet Reese signature series rod, same reel, 15-pound prototype Trilene fluorocarbon, Lucky Craft Jerkbait (ghost minnow).

> Worm gear: 7’3″ medium-action Lamiglas Skeet Reese signature series dropshot rod, Mitchell 308Xe spinning reel, 1/4oz unnamed darthead jig, 7″ Berkley Power Shaky Worm (watermelon-red).

3rd: Greg Gutierrez, another Californian, had originally planned to fish shaky-heads around docks to catch 15 to 17 pounds, and then go try to flip up a couple of kickers.  “Then I saw where some giants had moved into a creek,” he said. “I thought if I could get in there early, I could catch those fish.”

Those fish (which he caught on a swimbait), some other big ones that were hanging around rockpiles and the ones that fell to the flipping stick later in the day allowed him to weigh the biggest bags on days 1 and 2. He had an 11-pound lead at the midway point.

He couldn’t sustain the momentum, though. He caught just 41-07 over the final 2 days, which was just a pound more than the charging Kennedy weighed on day 3 alone.  His swimbait fish had completely run out by the end of day 3, so he resorted to a Zara Spook to get his initial limit on the final day.

“My pre-spawn fish had morphed into spawners, and I wasn’t prepared for that. I was so locked into fishing offshore structure, and I just couldn’t make the changes I needed to in the time frame I had.”

> Swimbait gear: 7’11” heavy-action and medium-heavy Okuma Guide Select rods, unnamed casting reels, 20-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid fluorocarbon/copolymer line, 8″ Osprey and 5 1/2″ California Swimbabes Baby “E” swimbaits.

> Jig gear: 7′ heavy-action Okuma Solaris rod, Okuma IDX 150 casting reel, 15-pound Yo-Zuri H2O fluorocarbon line, 3/4oz homemade football-head jig (black/brown), unnamed twin-tail trailer (purple/blue flake).

> Flipping gear: 7’6″ heavy-action Okuma EVX flipping stick, Okuma IDX 150 casting reel, 20-pound H2O fluorocarbon, 3/4oz Tru-Tungsten weight, 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, Zoom Brush Hog (black/red).

> Spook gear: 7′ medium-heavy Okuma Solaris rod, Okuma VS casting reel, 15-pound Yo-Zuri Hybrid line, Zara Super Spook (clear with blue head).

Photo: ESPN Outdoors

A tip from Scott Rook put Gerald Swindle on his way to a Top-5 finish.

4th: Gerald Swindle caught a mediocre bag on day 1, but was solid as a rock the rest of the way. The key to his improvement was a bit of advice from 10th-place finisher Scott Rook.

“I was fishing swimbaits in the morning and then switching to a shaky-head, but Rook came by and tipped me off,” he said. “He told me the fish were suspended, and I should keep throwing (the swimbait) and not let up.

“After that, I put the worm up. I was done with him.”

> Swimbait gear: 7’4″ Quantum Finesse Flipping Gerald Swindle signature series rod, Quantum PT casting reel, 20-pound Spiderwire G-String line, 6″ Basstrix swimbait (hitch).

> Worm gear: 6’6″ Quantum spinning rod, Quantum GT 30 spinning reel, 10-pound G-String, 1/4oz unnamed jighead, 5-inch Zoom Finesse Worm (green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – “Persistence in staying on the dock pattern with the swimbait. It might take you all day to catch a big bag on it. If you get 30 to follow it and one to eat it, that’s fine.”

Performance edge – “The swimbait, absolutely.”


5th: John Murray spent the vast majority of his time on a spot that had been productive for him over the years. It’s a stretch of docks in the southern end that has a major breakline, and fish stage there in preparation for the spawn.

“It’s a place I’ve always fished over the years, and I fished it in the (Bassmaster Open) 2 years ago and caught them really good,” he said. “I was excited when I got there and nobody else was there.  He alternated between a swimbait and a finesse worm. One or the other was highly productive each day, but usually not both.

> Swimbait gear: 7’6″ medium-action Powell 765CB rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel, 17-pound prototype Berkley Trilene fluorocarbon line, 1/2oz jighead, 6″ Basstrix swimbait (rainbow trout).

> Worm gear: 7’3″ medium-action Powell 733 spinning rod, Daiwa Sol spinning reel, 3/32oz jighead, 5-inch Yamamoto Slim Senko (green-pumpkin).

Main factor in his success – “Really working over that one area that I had all to myself.”

And a quick summary of 6th through 12
Kelly Jordan (6th place, 102-10, Mineola, Texas)
Lures and patterns? “Pattern was fishing staging fish, trying to find the areas where they do their last little feed before they spawn. I’ve been throwing a swimbait and just hope to find an area where they are smoking.”

Biggest factor? “The swimbait is my predominant deal. Every fish I’ve weighed in but one was caught of a swimbait, a Basstrix.”

Paul Elias (7th place, 101-15, Laurel, Miss.)
Lures and patterns? “I’m fishing different than anybody else in the tournament. I’m crawling a lipless crankbait slow, slow, slow. “

Biggest factor? “Slow. And having patience.”

Peter Thliveros (8th, 99-4, Jacksonville, Fla.)
Lures and patterns? “I threw a Storm swimbait most of the week early. After that I slowed down and was throwing a Zoom super fluke. I was working it slow around boat docks, rocky banks.”

Biggest factor? “Slow. I was fishing leftovers, I think, fish that other people weren’t able to catch. All these prespawn fish that were getting ready to move up. That was the only way I could get any bites.”

Jared Lintner (9th place, 97-4, Arroyo Grande, Calif.)
Lures and patterns? “A shad rap to start off the morning, a Basstrix swimbait and an Osprey swim bait. I’ve got like four or five areas. This afternoon when the winds picked up a little bit, they started just biting them.”

Biggest factor? “As soon as we get this afternoon wind, they bite. If I don’t get wind, as soon as that surface clarity gets broken up, they bite.”

Scott Rook (10th place, 97-1, Little Rock, Ark.)
Lures and patterns? “I started out fishing on the banks. Swimbaits in between docks. They started piling up underneath the docks.”

Biggest factor? “If you hit the right (dock), you catch 20 pounds.”

Pete Ponds (11th place, 96-7, Madison, Miss.)
Lures and patterns? “I’m throwing an Osprey. The color meant a lot. A clear one or clear chartreuse. I’m sitting in one area that’s flowing into a little pocket and the fish are chasing the little hitch, the baitfish.”

Biggest factor? “Line size.”
Glenn Delong II (12th place, 80-9, Bellville, Ohio)
Lures and patterns? “I’m fishing a jig and a jerkbait. I’m actually fishing the Clear Lake Oaks, canal systems.”

Biggest factor? “Working the jig out all the way to the boat, instead of everybody else just throwing to the bank and not getting bit. All the bigger fish are out in deeper water.”

Rich
RichLindgren.com 
Rich’s Bassin’ Forum
Bass Fishing Tackle Blog