Since Day 1 at Beaver Lake was kind of a snoozer, no huge bags and not many stars at the top, I thought we could look at the Busch Shootout Contenders.  Jeffrey Thomas leads at Beaver with 16.5lbs., after reading his story, I do not like his chances to hold on.  In Beaver Lake’s defense, its hard to compare to Amistad, Santee Cooper, Lake Murray and the rest of the hawg fests we have had in the last few months.  It is going to take more than a few meanmouth bass to raise eyebrows this year

Place Name                      Body Of Water               Day lbs-Ozs
————————————————————————

     1 Preston Clark             Santee Cooper Reservoir,      1   39-06         
     2 Ishama Monroe             Lake Amistad, Texas           3   34-01         
     3 Aaron Martens             Santee Cooper Reservoir,      4   32-10         
     4 Mike Wurm                 Santee Cooper Reservoir,      3   32-04         
     5 Kevin Wirth               Santee Cooper Reservoir,      2   31-15         
     6 Jimmy Mize                Lake Amistad, Texas           2   31-14         
     7 Ken Cook                  Lake Amistad, Texas           1   31-10         
     8 Fred Roumbanis            Lake Amistad, Texas           4   28-01         
     9 Greg Hackney              Lake Sam Rayburn, Texas       1   22-02         
    10 Mark Tyler                Lake Sam Rayburn, Texas       3   21-13         
    11 Greg Hackney              Lake Sam Rayburn, Texas       4   20-08         
    12 Takahiro Omori            Lake Sam Rayburn, Texas       2   20-06        

I think the guys in 8th place and up are pretty safe bet to plan their fall around the shootout dates, where they will fish for a $100,000.  Its also important to note the Preston Clark has already secured a spot with his first day limit at the Classic at Toho.  I am not sure how that is handled, but I am guessing that will leave another spot for the guy that finished in 13th.  I am guessing 9-12th places will be displaced by the Guntersville & Clark Hills Elite Series stops.

Should be fun to follow throughout the rest of the year,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com

The most recent stop on the Bassmasters Elite Series goes down in the record books and Preston Clark lays claim to the all-time 4 day total for a BASS event, 105-15.  Sounds like he casught almost all his fish on a pumpkinseed Zoom Critter Craw.  That is just plain awesome.  BassFan.com tells us how he did it.  Hopefully it does not get broke at Guntersville at the end of the month.  If not, its probably safe until next spring when the Elite Series swings through these lakes again…

Speaking of wraps….  If you have not had a chance to see Mike Reynolds uniquely wrapped boat yet, here it is.

Mike was not able to land any large sponsorship dollars for his wrap, so he thought he would do something unique.  He used his own money to pay tribute to our armed forces.  He has the seals for the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines displayed behind the text “THESE COLORS DON’T RUN!”  Pretty sweet deal and I think this is really cool.  Well done Mike!  When I was down at Amistad in Del Rio where there is an Air Force base, he was a fan favorite and I am sure this will continue on every stop on the Elite Series.  Mike’s most notable moment before this wrap was his win last year at Clark Hills Reservoir.

Way to go Mike,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com

When the smoked cleared at Santee Cooper this afternoon, Preston Clark had won the the tournament and set a new 4 day record of 115-15lbs.  This eclipse the old record, set by Dean Rojas by 3lbs-3oz.  It turns out that he was the only one that broke the record today, although Aaron Martens made a valiant charge with the heaviest bag of the day, 32-10.  I guess this means Clark’s kids will be going to college  Not sure on the details, I just watched the results of the weigh-in live on Bassmaster.com.

I really wish they could ad some video or audio to their real-time leaderboard weigh-ins.  You can watch and listen the the weigh-ins for all FLW events.  My Bassin’ Blog hit the 10,000 hit mark today, not too bad, only been up since Jan 4. (3 months)

Congrats Preston,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com

The wind and clouds hampered some anglers, but good weights were still brought in.  Hackney & Wurm had the only two limits over 30lbs today and Preston Clark stayed on pace for the Record.  Clark weighed a respectable 23-15 today, extending his lead to nearly 10lbs over Skeet Reese who moved to 2nd with 23-02.  Clark’s three day total sits at 92-10, which leaves a mere 16lbs from having the all-time 4 day BASS Record.  The top 3 anglers are all still on pace for the record and the entire Top 12 has a legitimate shot at it.  Steve Kennedy sits in 3rd with 83-0 and needs a managable 26lbs to reach Rojas’ record.  I think it is nearly a forgone conclusion that the record will fall on Sunday.  On a side note, Preston Clark plans to prepay his children’s college education if he takes home the first place $100,000 tomorrow.

 Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts    Total $$$

1.  Preston Clark          Palatka, Fla.          15  92-10  315    $1,500.00
  Day 1: 5   39-06    Day 2: 5   29-05    Day 3: 5   23-15  
2.  Skeet Reese            Auburn, Calif.         15  83-01  295
  Day 1: 5   29-12    Day 2: 5   30-03    Day 3: 5   23-02  
3.  Steve Kennedy          Auburn, Ala.           15  83-00  290
  Day 1: 5   23-06    Day 2: 5   31-13    Day 3: 5   27-13  
4.  Kevin Wirth            Crestwood, Ky.         15  80-12  285    $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   27-06    Day 2: 5   31-15    Day 3: 5   21-07  
5.  Terry Scroggins        Palatka, Fla.          15  79-14  280
  Day 1: 5   33-06    Day 2: 5   27-12    Day 3: 5   18-12  
6.  Greg Hackney           Gonzales, La.          15  78-07  276
  Day 1: 5   21-09    Day 2: 5   25-11    Day 3: 5   31-03  
7.  Kelly Jordon           Mineola, Texas         15  78-06  272      $500.00
  Day 1: 5   31-15    Day 2: 5   31-10    Day 3: 5   14-13  
8.  Dean Rojas             Lake Havasu, Ariz.     15  77-11  268
  Day 1: 5   25-09    Day 2: 5   31-11    Day 3: 5   20-07  
9.  John Crews             Salem, Va.             15  76-08  264
  Day 1: 5   29-09    Day 2: 5   29-04    Day 3: 5   17-11  
10. Aaron Martens          Leeds, Ala.            15  75-10  260      $500.00
  Day 1: 5   22-13    Day 2: 5   27-06    Day 3: 5   25-07  
11. Mike Wurm              Hot Springs, Ark.      15  74-05  257    $1,500.00
  Day 1: 5   14-06    Day 2: 5   27-11    Day 3: 5   32-04  
12. Bink Desaro            Boise, Idaho           14  72-04  254
  Day 1: 5   22-08    Day 2: 5   28-15    Day 3: 4   20-13  

Dean Rojas & Greg Hackney are distancing themselves nicely from the pack in the AOY Race, amazingly they have both made the Top 12 in all 3 Elite Series Events.  If this was a normal year with only 6 events, it would be hard for anyone to get back in, but with 11 events there is still a lot of time.

Good Luck Preston,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com

The pros thought it may get better and they were right.  There were 7 anglers topping the 30lb mark and the total field bested Thursday’s total by more than 450 lbs. 

Preston Clark continues to set the pace.  His 5 fish weighed a mortal 29-05, pushing his two day total to 68-11, giving his a 5-02 lead on Kelly Jordan.  Clark only needs about 20lbs per day in the final 2 days to break the record, not out of the question considering his first to limits.  In fact, 8 anglers are more than half way to Rojas’ record, and funny enough, Dean Rojas is one of them.  In fact, if more big fish keep coming to the banks, there is potential for someone outside the Top 10 to surge up and challenge the record.  Below you will see the Top 50 anglers, and “the Bachelor” Byron Velvick was the last guy in the cut.  Notice the cut here is about 5lbs heavier than that of the famed Amistad Tournament.

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Preston Clark          Palatka, Fla.          10  68-11  310    $1,500.00
  Day 1: 5   39-06    Day 2: 5   29-05  
2.  Kelly Jordon           Mineola, Texas         10  63-09  295      $500.00
  Day 1: 5   31-15    Day 2: 5   31-10  
3.  Terry Scroggins        Palatka, Fla.          10  61-02  290
  Day 1: 5   33-06    Day 2: 5   27-12  
4.  Skeet Reese            Auburn, Calif.         10  59-15  285
  Day 1: 5   29-12    Day 2: 5   30-03  
5.  Kevin Wirth            Crestwood, Ky.         10  59-05  280    $1,000.00
  Day 1: 5   27-06    Day 2: 5   31-15  
6.  John Crews             Salem, Va.             10  58-13  276
  Day 1: 5   29-09    Day 2: 5   29-04  
7.  Dean Rojas             Lake Havasu, Ariz.     10  57-04  272
  Day 1: 5   25-09    Day 2: 5   31-11  
8.  Steve Kennedy          Auburn, Ala.           10  55-03  268
  Day 1: 5   23-06    Day 2: 5   31-13  
9.  Jimmy Mize             Ben Lomond, Ark.       10  52-10  264
  Day 1: 5   27-08    Day 2: 5   25-02  
10. Bink Desaro            Boise, Idaho           10  51-07  260
  Day 1: 5   22-08    Day 2: 5   28-15  
11. Mark Menendez          Paducah, Ky.           10  50-11  257
  Day 1: 5   20-08    Day 2: 5   30-03  
12. Jeff Reynolds          Idabel, Okla.          10  50-08  254
  Day 1: 5   21-08    Day 2: 5   29-00  
13. Aaron Martens          Leeds, Ala.            10  50-03  251
  Day 1: 5   22-13    Day 2: 5   27-06  
14. Timmy Horton           Muscle Shoals, Ala.    10  49-07  246
  Day 1: 5   18-09    Day 2: 5   30-14  
14. Jason Quinn            York, S.C.             10  49-07  246
  Day 1: 5   23-08    Day 2: 5   25-15  
16. Todd Faircloth         Jasper, Texas          10  49-05  243
  Day 1: 5   24-10    Day 2: 5   24-11  
17. Takahiro Omori         Emory, Texas           10  49-02  241
  Day 1: 5   21-07    Day 2: 5   27-11  
18. Russ Lane              Prattville, Ala.       10  48-07  239
  Day 1: 5   23-00    Day 2: 5   25-07  
19. Michael Iaconelli      Runnemede, N.J.        10  48-04  237
  Day 1: 5   20-06    Day 2: 5   27-14  
20. Bradley Hallman        Norman, Okla.          10  47-04  234
  Day 1: 5   32-05    Day 2: 5   14-15  
20. Greg Hackney           Gonzales, La.          10  47-04  234
  Day 1: 5   21-09    Day 2: 5   25-11  
22. Zell Rowland           Montgomery, Texas      10  46-11  231
  Day 1: 5   22-12    Day 2: 5   23-15  
23. Randy Howell           Springville, Ala.      10  46-08  229
  Day 1: 5   19-09    Day 2: 5   26-15  
24. John Murray            Phoenix, Ariz.         10  46-05  227
  Day 1: 5   26-02    Day 2: 5   20-03  
25. Mark Rogers            Naples, Fla.           10  46-00  225
  Day 1: 5   20-11    Day 2: 5   25-05  
26. Denny Brauer           Camdenton, Mo.         10  43-13  223
  Day 1: 5   26-06    Day 2: 5   17-07  
27. William Smith, Jr      Somerset, Ky.          10  43-12  221
  Day 1: 5   22-02    Day 2: 5   21-10  
28. Bernie Schultz         Gainesville, Fla.      10  43-02  219
  Day 1: 5   21-01    Day 2: 5   22-01  
29. Lee Bailey             Boaz, Ala.             10  42-09  217
  Day 1: 5   17-02    Day 2: 5   25-07  
30. Ishama Monroe          Hughson, Calif.        10  42-06  215
  Day 1: 5   16-10    Day 2: 5   25-12  
31. Dave Wolak             Warrior Run, Pa.       10  42-04  213
  Day 1: 5   19-06    Day 2: 5   22-14  
32. Mike Wurm              Hot Springs, Ark.      10  42-01  210
  Day 1: 5   14-06    Day 2: 5   27-11  
32. Kevin Langill          Terrell, N.C.          10  42-01  210
  Day 1: 5   21-06    Day 2: 5   20-11  
34. Brent Chapman          Lake Quivira, Kan.     10  42-00  207
  Day 1: 5   18-09    Day 2: 5   23-07  
35. Vince Hurtado          Waterford, Calif.      10  41-15  205
  Day 1: 5   16-14    Day 2: 5   25-01  
36. Robert Hamilton Jr     Nashville, Tenn.       10  41-05  203
  Day 1: 5   21-07    Day 2: 5   19-14  
37. Gary Klein             Weatherford, Texas     10  41-04  201
  Day 1: 5   21-08    Day 2: 5   19-12  
38. Paul Elias             Laurel, Miss.          10  41-03  199
  Day 1: 5   22-09    Day 2: 5   18-10  
39. Bradley Stringer       Huntington, Texas      10  40-14  195
  Day 1: 5   27-11    Day 2: 5   13-03  
39. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr     Gainesville, Fla.      10  40-14  195
  Day 1: 5   16-10    Day 2: 5   24-04  
39. Jarrett Edwards        Page, Ariz.            10  40-14  195
  Day 1: 5   17-15    Day 2: 5   22-15  
42. Bill Lowen             North Bend, Ohio       10  40-11  191
  Day 1: 5   23-09    Day 2: 5   17-02  
43. Scott Rook             Little Rock, Ark.      10  40-04  189
  Day 1: 5   26-05    Day 2: 5   13-15  
44. Mark Tyler             Scottsdale, Ariz.      10  40-03  187
  Day 1: 5   23-03    Day 2: 5   17-00  
45. Peter E Thliveros      Jacksonville, Fla.     10  40-00  185
  Day 1: 5   27-01    Day 2: 5   12-15  
46. Gerald Swindle         Hayden, Ala.           10  39-15  183
  Day 1: 5   23-15    Day 2: 5   16-00  
47. Darrin Schwenkbeck     Silver Spring, Md.     10  39-14  181
  Day 1: 5   21-11    Day 2: 5   18-03  
48. Kurt Dove              Warrenton, Va.         10  39-10  179
  Day 1: 5   17-07    Day 2: 5   22-03  
49. Kotaro Kiriyama        Moody, Ala.            10  39-07  176
  Day 1: 5   20-12    Day 2: 5   18-11  
49. Byron Velvick          Boulder City, Nev.     10  39-07  176
  Day 1: 5   19-14    Day 2: 5   19-09  

Makes me excited for BassCenter,
Rich
www.richlindgren.com
basstournament.blogspot.com

Just when you think, the Elite Series cannot get any better…..

Preston Clark blows up for almost 40lbs on Day 1 of the competition.  He even reports passing on 7-8lb fish on beds because he did not think they would help him much and he wanted to save them.  He even came to the dock 45 minutes early, to ensure the safety of his fish.  Preston Clark would only need to average about 23 and a half pounds per day to catch Rojas’ mark of 108-12.

Amazing as the 39-06 that Clark brought to the scales, is that two anglers zeroed.  How is that possible?  If you ask me; that is just plain stubbornness when there are that many fish weighed and you take a zero.

Alton Jones DQ’d as well.  Not a lot of detail at this point, but it seems to be a similar violation to that of KVD.  The difference being that he had his son on the front deck looking for fish while he drove the boat.  Alton’s Statement.

It is quite amazing how BASS has been able to line up these lakes and hit them so well.  Good planning and a little good fortune go along way.  Most of the pro’s do not think it will