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Greensboro, N.C - This week’s Bassmaster American started with a bang at storied High Rock Lake. After two day’s fishing, the top 12 angers were loaded up and moved to Lake Townsend – an unseen 1,500-acre mystery lake to all he were head there Saturday.
For those 12 anglers who were fortunate enough to make it to the municipal goose pond called Lake Townsend, everything that they’d learned at High Rock went straight out the window. Along with any prevailing patterns they had developed went the total weight they had accrued. Saturday was a clean slate for each man in the field – it all boiled down to which man could develop a pattern the fastest…or at least managed to catch the most however they came about.
Unlike a regular season event where the top 12 battle it out Sunday, in The American (like all other Majors), only six advance to fish the hole course on the final day. Once again, as it was a High Rock each day, it was a catch all you can catch styled day of fishing – saving fish for Sunday would do you no good at all.
It would seem that the jig bite Mike McClelland and Brian Snowden had developed on High Rock, amid a typical post-spawn scenario, would be applicable at Townsend as well. Too, the possibility of a junk-fishing foray could develop; after all, Gerald Swindle had junked his way into the top five at the conclusion of Friday’s weigh-in. Then, of course, there was the possibility for anything…or nothing…to work well.
As it always goes though, someone figures out a way to catch them, and on Saturday it was none other than California pro Fred Roumbanis. Fred crossed the stage Saturday with three fish – anchored by the day’s big bass at 6-3 - weighing 14-10 giving him the lead for Sunday’s final round.
In second place was Brian Snowden – the leader at the end of the High Rock portion of the event – with the day’s only limit, which weighed 9-0. In third place was jig fishing guru Mike McClelland with a four-fish bag weighing 5-14.
Fourth place belonged to Mark Tucker, who only managed to catch three keepers weighing 5-9. In fifth place was Ish Monroe, who’s fishing at the top of his game this year, bringing in just two fish that totaled 4-15.
The last man standing, so to speak, was John Murray who snuck into the top 12 when no one was looking Friday. John’s two fish totaled 2-13, but was enough to fish Sunday at the chance for
$250,000
Roumbanis
Roumbanis wasn’t expecting to be fishing this weekend; however, he was able to sneak into the cut with some last-minute heroics Friday. That said, he’s on a mission to get back to Oklahoma as soon as possible. “I actually had all my stuff packed after Thursday because I was planning on leaving Friday afternoon,” he said.
(Historically speaking, whenever an angler has a baby on the way – or has a baby born during the week of the tournament – they go on to win the event.)
“I have a new baby that’s supposed to be here Monday, so I’m going to have to literally leave straight from the weigh-in Sunday and get back to Oklahoma.”
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Oh my gosh – I don’t even know where to start,” he exclaimed. “I think I can catch two fish tomorrow, I’ll be okay. I have one around 10 pounds that I saw cruising around…if I can catch her it’s over.”
Roumbanis used a four-inch worm on a drop shot rig as his primary weapon of choice through much of the day, but also added that he was able to snatch one from a bed. “I wasn’t expected to do any bed fishing,” he said. “I learned today that a lot of these fish are still waiting to lock on to a bed.”
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Knowing that, Roumbanis intends to reload his tackle overnight with a fresh supply of swimbaits to lure the bass cruising the shallows. “I found some fish that I thought were carp,” he said. “Looking back now, I think they were bass and I believe they’re trying to lock onto a bed.”
For Fred, the key Sunday will be the early morning bite. “I actually caught a good number of fish on the drop shot throughout the day today, but they were all 10-inch fish,” he said. “With the exception of the six pounder that I caught in the last hole at the end of the day, my keeper bites all came in the morning.”
Snowden
When The BASS ZONE found Brian Snowden late in the day Saturday, he was tucked back into a small pocket with only three small fish to show for his efforts. Not surprising, he didn’t look at all happy to be there. “I wasn’t happy at that time,” he said. “I went shallow and was able to figure out the fish are still spawning.”
Armed
with that critical piece of
information, Snowden began
targeting isolated stumps in on
flats in an attempt to pick up a
last-minute spawner. “Once I
realized that they are still
spawning, I backed off the bank
and started fan-casting to
targets,” he said. “I saw a
few real good fish up shallow that
should be catchable tomorrow
too.”
Snowden started out early with a
Pop-R, but quickly realized that
the topwater bite wasn’t a
factor. “I don’t know why that
was either,” he said. “The
water color is real good for a
topwater bite, but it didn’t
take long into the first hole
before I started flipping
again.”
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Tomorrow,
Snowden is going to fall back on the
shallow-water spawn bite in an attempt to
make up the gap between himself and
Roumbanis. “I told myself coming in that
I wasn’t going to live or die off of one
pattern,” he said. “I’ve got a few
things working that should pan out for me.
If I’m in okay shape by the time I get
to the happy hour, I should be okay.”
McClelland
As we pointed out in our On the Water Blog, McClelland had the opportunity to have a much stronger bag. However, he wasn’t able to tie up two key fish – something he was still upset about after the weigh in. “The thing that I’m disappointed about is the lost fish,” he said.
“It’s
frustrating when you don’t execute.
It’s going to sneak up on you –
especially when you’re trying to cover a
lot of water, but when you’re fishing
for this much money you want to get
everything that bites into the boat.”
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McClelland pointed out that the fish are positioning close to submerged structure –shade is a bonus for him. “This afternoon when the wind laid down, I was able to see some fish up shallow,” he said. “I saw some huge bass up shallow, and that really keyed me in to what’s going on.
“I realized early that I wasn’t going to be able to take anything I’d learned at High Rock to this lake.”
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Still chocking on the two fish he lost, McClelland is confident that if he’s able to get everything in the boat, he’ll be in contention. “Tomorrow, the real key is going to be boating everything that bites,” he explained. “I have a pretty strong pattern working, but it’s on me to execute.”
Tucker
When we left Mark Tucker around 10:00 this morning, he only had two fish. He was able to add another fish to his final weight over the day, which kept him in the hunt. “It’s just tough here, there’s no denying that,” he explained. “When there’s no and current and the lake just stays the same it makes the fish really spooky.”
Tucker admitted that he did have two bright spots in the day that gave him some all-important clues for Sunday. “I had a seven pounder follow my bait up to the boat,” he said. “I kept waiting for her to suck it in, but she never did. I know where she lives.
“I also had one that would’ve gone better than four pounds get all over my bait, but just wouldn’t eat it. There’s so much cover in the water, that they can hide real good.”
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Armed with a day’s worth of fish-finding information, Tucker explained that Sunday’s weights will be corrected. “The key is being able to stay back off of them,” he said. “The weights tomorrow will be a lot better because we were all just pushing through the areas trying to figure out what to do. Catching 25 pounds here won’t be hard now that the field is going to be cut in half again.”
Ish
Monroe has kept himself in contention by his finger tips, and thought that he may have finally figured something out late in the day Friday. Unfortunately, it would do him no good at Townsend. Still, he was intent on trying the same pattern at Townsend. “It was tough today – I mean, it’s a whole new lake,” he said. “I was trying to fish it like I was still at High Rock, and that was a mistake.”
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Monroe started his day in hole number four, and struggled through half the day without a bite. “I had gone two more holes (to hole number two) before I figured out what to do,” he said. “The biggest fish I caught was off a bed – and I didn’t figure that out until the afternoon. I just ran out of time.”
From the second hole, Ish spent the day looking for bedding fish and, of course, catching them where possible. Tomorrow’s game plan is simple – start over with a whole new strategy. “I will start looking for beds a whole lot earlier,” he explained.
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“Hopefully I can pull five together that will eat. It’s going to be critical to have a spawner locked up in each hole pretty quick. If not, you’ll be setting them up for the next guy because everyone’s figured out that they’re still spawning.”
Swindle
Though the G-Man didn’t make the final cut, it seems fitting that we caught up with the person who provided us with most of the day’s entertainment while on the water. “It’s brutal…I mean it’s brutal,” he said.
“I found one big one, but I just didn’t have time to catch it. I was the saddest thing in the world to have a fish that’s ready to go and have only four minutes to catch her.”
| “I found another one and fished her for most of two hours,” Swindle explained. “I’m set up on this fish trying to get her interested and must’ve dodged about 45 golf balls. It’s bad enough that the fishing’s so tough, but then you have to dodge Scud missiles the entire time you’re out here. I felt like I was driving a golf cart on the driving range or something. I needed a helmet”
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For tomorrow, Swindle has a word of advice for the six that will go out. “Every fish that’s in this lake lives in the marina,” he explained. “Other than that, you’re just going to be out for a boat ride until it’s your turn to get in there and fish. You might as well have a good book to read or something until then.”
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Day
Three Standings
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Place
|
Pro
Angler |
Hometown,
State |
#
Wt |
Earnings |
| 1 |
FRED
ROUMBANIS |
AUBURN,
CA |
3 14-10 |
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| 2 |
BRIAN
SNOWDEN |
REEDS
SPRING, MO |
5 9-0 |
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| 3 |
MIKE
MCCLELLAND |
BELLA
VISTA, AR |
4 5-14 |
|
| 4 |
MARK
TUCKER |
SAINT
LOUIS, MO |
3 5-9 |
|
| 5 |
ISHAMA
MONROE |
HUGHSON,
CA |
2 4-15 |
|
| 6 |
JOHN
MURRAY |
PHOENIX,
AZ |
2 2-13 |
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| 7 |
LEE
BAILEY |
BOAZ,
AL |
2 2-12 |
$16,250.00 |
| 7 |
EDWIN
EVERS |
TALALA,
OK |
2 2-12 |
$17,250.00 |
| 9 |
RAY
SEDGWICK |
CROSS,
SC |
2 2-4 |
$15,500.00 |
| 10 |
GERALD
SWINDLE |
WARRIOR,
AL |
1 2-1 |
$15,000.00 |
| 11 |
RUSSELL
LANE |
PRATTVILLE,
AL |
1 1-3 |
$13,100.00 |
| 12 |
DEAN
ROJAS |
GRAND
SALINE, TX |
0 0-0 |
$13,500.00 |
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