Augusta, GA – Throughout official practice and the first two days of the Bassmaster Elite Series event at Clarks Hill, the majority of pros have talked about running and gunning. Hitting 150 points in one day – making just a few casts only to pull up the trolling motor and head to the next area has been the norm.
The first two days of the tournament have required a rigorous routine of 1500+ cast days with a repeated up-and-down of the trolling motor, along with the mental grind of culling ounces for ounces. The promise of a better bite as a result of a steadier breeze held true for some, but others seemingly faltered in the airier conditions.
The day presented a few scattered clouds with the breeze to go along with fairly heavy local traffic for a Friday – which isn’t nearly as thick as it’s expected to be over the weekend. The best hope many in the field had to fish Saturday was to capitalize on the morning bite in hopes that it would turn on as a result of the slightly warmer overnight temperature. As such, Friday’s take off was moved up 10 minutes in order to allow anglers to take advantage of the early bite.
Day one leader, and home field favorite, Casey Ashley set the pace on day one by busting the day’s big bag of over 22 pounds. He, like many others, predicted that Friday’s winds would stir the bite and that the day’s weigh-in should be stronger as a result. Instead, no angler passed the mark he set Thursday, and there was only one limit that even crossed 20 pounds. Still, those that are on fish credit the wind and clouds for their success.
Florida’s Chris Lane made the most of his day by stealing the lead from Ashley showing that to him the term “home field advantage” isn’t a concern. Lane followed up his 20-6 from day one by toting 17-09 across the stage Friday, giving him a two-day total of 37-15.
Mike McClelland moved up one spot into second place by bringing 17-4 to the scales Friday. The limit, while three-pounds off the mark he’d set Thursday, was good enough to move him within two ounces of the leader boosting his two-day total to 37-13.
Falling to third was day one leader Casey Ashley who is still the clear favorite due to his extensive experience on the lake. Ashley kept himself in the hunt by bringing in a limit weighing 14-8, giving him 36-14 for two days – just over a pound behind Lane.
Quickly becoming the automatic pick to have a solid showing in each tournament that passes through town was Elite Series rookie Derek Remitz who brought the day’s heavyweight to the scales Friday weighing 20-00 to the scales to nap fourth place with a combined weight of 35-9.
Rounding out the top five Saturday was Pete Ponds, fresh off an 11th-place finish at Clear Lake, who is having another great week here in Augusta. Pete ended Thursday in second but slipped slightly Friday with a much lighter limit weighing just 14-6, giving him a total weight of 35-7.
Saturday is moving day for the 50 who remain – either you move up into the top 12, or you move on to Guntersville. Tommy Biffle was the last to sneak into the top 50 with 22-14, edging John Murray out by one ounce.
Lane on Top
Lane lives miles from Clarks Hill, and has limited experience here. Still, when he rolled out of bed this morning that fact was the furthest thing from his mind. The win is the only goal that he has, and it’s the way he’s practiced and prepared for this tournament. “During practice, I saw both spawn and post-spawn fish,” he said.
“I decided then that I would target fish that would bite – regardless of where they’re at in the spawning phase. I just decided to run creeks and feeder creeks and look for active fish that the type of quality the will give me the win.”
Lane has been fishing a pattern and technique that is a bit off the norm with a prototype Meano from Yamamoto. “After I get around 15 pounds in the live well, I am picking up the big bait,” he said. “It gives me a lot of versatility – if I miss one I can follow up real quick with a topwater bait.
As for tomorrow, he’s committed to doing the same things that have brought him this far. “I’ll probably stay in the area until around noon or 1:00,” he said. “If the fish stay in there, it will be interesting.
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“There’s another 20-pound bag in there, and I feel like I’ll need it to distance myself. You just can’t afford to fall off. I don’t have any company – in fact, there hasn’t been a boat in there all week that’s tournament fishing.”
McClelland Practicing Patience
After the first day, it was clear that the Jewel Jig is on the menu this week at Clarks. McClelland, who won at Grand last year with the jig, is down right scary when the fish get hungry for one. Beyond the jig, however, McClelland knows that at Clarks you can’t get impatient – it’s fundamental to relax and read the ever-changing water conditions to be successful.
“It was
a better day that I thought it would
be,” he said. “I caught one off my
first cast – which can sometimes come
back to bite you. I caught three off my
first spot and then went and hour before I
got another bite.
| The
cloud cover Friday made the
run-and-gun McClelland has going
move at a slower pace – he
didn’t have to run as much as he
has been. “I slowed down today
and feel like I may have really
beat up my water today,” he
explained. “There’s a lot of
company in there with me, so I
know that we’ve hurt them pretty
bad.”
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The agenda for tomorrow is to milk his run for all it’s worth. “Depending on the wind does will be how my day will go tomorrow,” he said. “If it switches and blows back from the south it will push some bait up on it. If now, it’s up for grabs….we’ll just see what happens.”
Ashley Biding His Time
Spectator traffic is a fact of life, and Ashley – being the hometown hero – has more than his share; however, he’s not affected by the pressure of being the local favorite and isn’t swayed by looky-loos either. “I had a pretty good day,” he said. “I actually got more bites today that I did yesterday. They’re coming though.”
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Simply put, timing is everything for Ashley – if he’s on time he catches fish, if not he doesn’t. “I sort of missed a shot at a good fish today,” he said. “I had one that came unbuttoned that would’ve helped, but that’s how it goes.
“The timing that I’m needing right now is for the nights to stay warm to get the bait on up. The fish are there waiting, it’s just a matter of timing.”
Tomorrow for Ashley is, like most, the same as it has been all along. “You know, if I get the same kind of bites that I had Thursday I’ll have another great day,” he said. “They’re in the areas that I’m running, it’s just a matter of getting them to eat.
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“I’m really praying for sunshine and no wind tomorrow – the tougher it is, the better I’ll do.”
Remitz Wants a Win
Rookie sensation Derek Remitz came into this tournament as an obvious pick – that’s how it goes when you’re tearing up the scene. The way he’s fishing this week, it’s clear that it was a spot-on in prediction as he caught the day’s heavyweight limit and stormed inside the top five. “The thing is, I just can’t judge the fish so I didn’t expect to weigh what I did today,” he said. “I’m very, very glad that I did, but I was shocked at the same time.”
Remitz has knew that the conditions would set up perfectly for the pattern he’d established in practice – but ultimately, it just comes down to the right bites. “You have to run probably 100 different spots to get your weight,” he said. “You eventually just run across one here and one there and cull up.
“I’m running the same pattern lake wide that I found during practice. Today they were grouped up a little bit better for me on the points that I’m hitting.”
In what has become his all-or-nothing approach to tournament fishing, Remitz is putting all his eggs into the areas that he’s been fishing since practice. “We’ll just try and do 20 again tomorrow,” he said. “I ran into a couple of new areas today, but for the most part I’ll be running the same water.”
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Ponds Hanging On
Pete Ponds mentioned Thursday that were it not for a single bait that his friend from Jackson, MS had given him prior to the Amistad event, he wouldn’t be a factor in this tournament. However, the second day, another special bait was tied to the end of Ponds’ line. “I probably caught 20 to 25 keepers today,” he said, “but they didn’t school as good as what they have been.
“I actually caught most of my fish on a topwater bait that my dad made – which I’ll tell you more about later.”
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“I have some company in there with me,” Ponds said of the area he’s been hanging in. “I hadn’t really seen anyone in there during practice, and I’m not really sure who it was, but I saw someone come in near one of the spots that I’d been on. I think there’s plenty of fish to go around though.”
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Ponds is undaunted by his weight drop Friday and intends to, once again, just go fishing. “I’m not worried at all about getting a limit,” he said. “It the big fish that I need to bite that worry me a little bit. I think if the sun would stay out all day they’ll show up. I’m going to hit it pretty hard tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Day Two
Standings
| Place |
Pro
Angler |
Hometown,
State |
Total |
Total |
|
|
|
# |
Wt. |
| 1 |
Chris
Lane |
Winter
Haven, Fla. |
10 |
37-15 |
|
Day
1: 5
20-06 |
Day
2: 5
17-09 |
|
|
| 2 |
Mike
McClelland |
Bella
Vista, Ark. |
10 |
37-13 |
|
Day
1: 5
20-09 |
Day
2: 5
17-04 |
|
|
| 3 |
Casey
Ashley |
Donalds,
S.C. |
10 |
36-14 |
|
Day
1: 5
22-06 |
Day
2: 5
14-08 |
|
|
| 4 |
Derek
Remitz |
Hemphill,
Texas |
10 |
35-09 |
|
Day
1: 5
15-09 |
Day
2: 5
20-00 |
|
|
| 5 |
Pete
Ponds |
Madison,
Miss. |
10 |
35-07 |
|
Day
1: 5
21-01 |
Day
2: 5
14-06 |
|
|
| 6 |
Bryan
Hudgins |
Orange
Park, Fla. |
10 |
34-11 |
|
Day
1: 5
19-11 |
Day
2: 5
15-00 |
|
|
| 7 |
Jason
Quinn |
Lake
Wylie, S.C. |
10 |
33-12 |
|
Day
1: 5
16-00 |
Day
2: 5
17-12 |
|
|
| 8 |
Jon
Bondy |
Windsor,
Canada |
10 |
33-02 |
|
Day
1: 5
15-11 |
Day
2: 5
17-07 |
|
|
| 9 |
Kevin
Short |
Mayflower,
Ark. |
10 |
31-13 |
|
Day
1: 5
15-06 |
Day
2: 5
16-07 |
|
|
| 10 |
Rick
Morris |
Virginia
Beach, Va. |
10 |
31-00 |
|
Day
1: 5
13-07 |
Day
2: 5
17-09 |
|
|
| 11 |
Jeff
Reynolds |
Idabel,
Okla. |
10 |
30-11 |
|
Day
1: 5
17-08 |
Day
2: 5
13-03 |
|
|
| 12 |
Randy
Howell |
Springville,
Ala. |
10 |
30-02 |
|
Day
1: 5
16-14 |
Day
2: 5
13-04 |
|
|
| 13 |
John
Crews |
Salem,
Va. |
10 |
29-09 |
|
Day
1: 5
16-09 |
Day
2: 5
13-00 |
|
|
| 14 |
Edwin
Evers |
Talala,
Okla. |
10 |
29-04 |
|
Day
1: 5
18-11 |
Day
2: 5
10-09 |
|
|
| 15 |
Aaron
Martens |
Leeds,
Ala. |
10 |
29-03 |
|
Day
1: 5
16-07 |
Day
2: 5
12-12 |
|
|
| 16 |
Fred
Roumbanis |
Auburn,
Calif. |
10 |
29-02 |
|
Day
1: 5
11-07 |
Day
2: 5
17-11 |
|
|
| 17 |
Peter
E Thliveros |
Jacksonville,
Fla. |
10 |
28-07 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-09 |
Day
2: 5
15-14 |
|
|
| 18 |
Jared
Lintner |
Arroyo
Grande, Calif. |
10 |
27-11 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-12 |
Day
2: 5
12-15 |
|
|
| 19 |
Skeet
Reese |
Auburn,
Calif. |
10 |
27-10 |
|
Day
1: 5
10-06 |
Day
2: 5
17-04 |
|
|
| 20 |
Dave
Wolak |
Wake
Forest, N.C. |
10 |
27-09 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-03 |
Day
2: 5
15-06 |
|
|
| 21 |
Timmy
Horton |
Muscle
Shoals, Ala. |
10 |
27-02 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-02 |
Day
2: 5
13-00 |
|
|
| 21 |
Gerald
Swindle |
Warrior,
Ala. |
10 |
27-02 |
|
Day
1: 5
13-09 |
Day
2: 5
13-09 |
|
|
| 23 |
William
Smith |
Somerset,
Ky. |
10 |
27-00 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-00 |
Day
2: 5
15-00 |
|
|
| 24 |
Shaw
E Grigsby, Jr |
Gainesville,
Fla. |
10 |
26-15 |
|
Day
1: 5
13-02 |
Day
2: 5
13-13 |
|
|
| 25 |
Lee
Bailey |
Boaz,
Ala. |
10 |
26-12 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-09 |
Day
2: 5
17-03 |
|
|
| 25 |
Russ
Lane |
Prattville,
Ala. |
8 |
26-12 |
|
Day
1: 3
5-00 |
Day
2: 5
21-12 |
|
|
| 27 |
Cliff
Pace |
Petal,
Miss. |
10 |
26-06 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-04 |
Day
2: 5
17-02 |
|
|
| 28 |
Brent
Chapman |
Moneta,
Va. |
10 |
26-05 |
|
Day
1: 5
11-05 |
Day
2: 5
15-00 |
|
|
| 29 |
Dean
Rojas |
Grand
Saline, Texas |
10 |
26-01 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-08 |
Day
2: 5
11-09 |
|
|
| 30 |
Gary
Klein |
Weatherford,
Texas |
10 |
25-14 |
|
Day
1: 5
7-15 |
Day
2: 5
17-15 |
|
|
| 31 |
James
Niggemeyer |
Van,
Texas |
10 |
25-13 |
|
Day
1: 5
10-13 |
Day
2: 5
15-00 |
|
|
| 32 |
Guy
Eaker |
Cherryville,
N.C. |
10 |
25-05 |
|
Day
1: 5
7-04 |
Day
2: 5
18-01 |
|
|
| 33 |
Scott
Campbell |
Springfield,
Mo. |
10 |
24-15 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-11 |
Day
2: 5
12-04 |
|
|
| 34 |
Paul
Hirosky |
Guys
Mills, Pa. |
10 |
24-06 |
|
Day
1: 5
10-04 |
Day
2: 5
14-02 |
|
|
| 34 |
Jason
Williamson |
Aiken,
S.C. |
9 |
24-06 |
|
Day
1: 4
10-06 |
Day
2: 5
14-00 |
|
|
| 36 |
Matthew
Sphar |
Pavilion,
N.Y. |
10 |
24-05 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-01 |
Day
2: 5
10-04 |
|
|
| 37 |
Ishama
Monroe |
Hughson,
Calif. |
10 |
24-03 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-14 |
Day
2: 5
14-05 |
|
|
| 38 |
Jimmy
Mize |
Ben
Lomond, Ark. |
10 |
24-01 |
|
Day
1: 5
11-10 |
Day
2: 5
12-07 |
|
|
| 39 |
Ken
Brodeur |
Niantic,
Conn. |
10 |
23-14 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-02 |
Day
2: 5
9-12 |
|
|
| 39 |
Jeff
Kriet |
Ardmore,
Okla. |
10 |
23-14 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-15 |
Day
2: 5
13-15 |
|
|
| 41 |
Mark
Menendez |
Paducah,
Ky. |
10 |
23-13 |
|
Day
1: 5
15-02 |
Day
2: 5
8-11 |
|
|
| 41 |
Jeff
Connella |
Bentley,
La. |
10 |
23-13 |
|
Day
1: 5
13-01 |
Day
2: 5
10-12 |
|
|
| 43 |
Kevin
Wirth |
Crestwood,
Ky. |
10 |
23-12 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-01 |
Day
2: 5
9-11 |
|
|
| 43 |
Bernie
Schultz |
Gainesville,
Fla. |
10 |
23-12 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-14 |
Day
2: 5
10-14 |
|
|
| 45 |
Eric
Nethery |
Acworth,
Ga. |
10 |
23-10 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-11 |
Day
2: 5
13-15 |
|
|
| 46 |
Matt
Amedeo |
Clinton,
Ohio |
10 |
23-09 |
|
Day
1: 5
11-09 |
Day
2: 5
12-00 |
|
|
| 47 |
Kelly
Jordon |
Mineola,
Texas |
10 |
23-08 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-10 |
Day
2: 5
13-14 |
|
|
| 48 |
Paul
Elias |
Laurel,
Miss. |
10 |
23-05 |
|
Day
1: 5
6-13 |
Day
2: 5
16-08 |
|
|
| 49 |
Jim
Murray |
Arabi,
Ga. |
9 |
22-15 |
|
Day
1: 4
8-07 |
Day
2: 5
14-08 |
|
|
| 50 |
Tommy
Biffle |
Wagoner,
Okla. |
10 |
22-14 |
|
Day
1: 5
11-15 |
Day
2: 5
10-15 |
|
|
| 51 |
John
Murray |
Phoenix,
Ariz. |
10 |
22-13 |
|
Day
1: 5
10-01 |
Day
2: 5
12-12 |
|
|
| 52 |
Marty
Robinson |
Landrum,
S.C. |
10 |
22-10 |
|
Day
1: 5
14-01 |
Day
2: 5
8-09 |
|
|
| 52 |
Scott
Rook |
Little
Rock, Ark. |
10 |
22-10 |
|
Day
1: 5
9-08 |
Day
2: 5
13-02 |
|
|
| 54 |
Alton
Jones |
Waco,
Texas |
10 |
22-09 |
|
Day
1: 5
8-00 |
Day
2: 5
14-09 |
|
|
| 55 |
Kevin
VanDam |
Kalamazoo,
Mich. |
9 |
22-07 |
|
Day
1: 4
7-11 |
Day
2: 5
14-12 |
|
|
| 56 |
Keith
Phillips |
Calera,
Ala. |
10 |
22-06 |
|
Day
1: 5
10-07 |
Day
2: 5
11-15 |
|
|
| 57 |
Dave
Smith |
Del
City, Okla. |
10 |
22-05 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-11 |
Day
2: 5
9-10 |
|
|
| 58 |
Terry
Scroggins |
San
Mateo, Fla. |
10 |
22-03 |
|
Day
1: 5
12-03 |
Day
2: 5
10-00 |
|
|
| 58 |
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