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Maneta, VA – The sixth stop on the Elite Series, The Blue Ridge Brawl, found 107 of the world’s best bass fishermen on one of the nation’s prettiest mountain impoundments – Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia. In what was supposed to be the first of the summertime tournaments, the Elite anglers were surprised to find that fish were still spawning – though not in the kind of numbers to make bed fishing a true threat all four days.
Light line all but dominated the first two days, but the lake’s incredible recreational traffic made the deep bite difficult-to-impossible for all but a few. The other pattern that dominated the week really couldn’t be called much of a pattern at all. Junk fishing everything that looked inviting was strong for some all week long.
The experts said that there wouldn’t be an 18-pound bag weighed this week, but there were several. The Berkley Heavyweight was the 22-pound stringer that rookie pro Casey Ashley brought to the scales Friday. It’s that limit, followed by the 14-9 that he followed it with Saturday that put him in the driver’s seat Sunday morning.
Boyd Duckett was so in control of the tournament the first day of the event with his deep-water bite, it appeared as though he could do no wrong. Friday though, he commented that he struggled deep and was forced to scramble. By Saturday, the door that he’d left ajar swung wide and he
fell to third place on the heels of a light four-fish bad.
Young Casey Ashley walked though the door and appeared to have all but slammed it shut, but this is big time tournament fishing and anything is possible. Skeet Reese, who fished new waters every day throwing everything but the cameraman at them, showed signs Saturday night of having the right stuff to pull one out of his very deep hat.
In an event where a six-pound bite could change the face of the tournament, Dean Rojas – former
four-day record holder for the heaviest limit(s) weighed in competition – headed to the backs of creeks and pockets away from the crowds searching out said six pounder.
It all came down to Sunday. When Casey Ashley crossed the stage, he had just one man to beat – Terry “Big Show” Scroggins. Ashley laid the four-fish bag that he’d worked all day to accumulate, which
weighed 9-10 passing the eight-pound mark he needed to pass Scroggins. Ashely’s four-day weight climbed to 57-3 – giving him the win by two pounds. |
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Scroggins was forced to settle for second with 55-3. Scroggins saved his best for the weekend, as his five-bass weighing 15-5 was only four ounces shy of Saturday’s limit – his best of the week. 2004 Classic Champion Takahiro Omori brought 13-14 to the scales Sunday, ending the tournament in third with a total combined weight of 53-15.
In fourth place at the end of it all was Skeet Reese with a combined weight of 53-3. Skeet had junk-fished his way into contention, but ultimately the 11-10 that he brought the scales Sunday wasn’t enough to close the four-pound gap he needed to pass Ashley for his long-desired Elite Series win.
Morizo Shimizu put five bass weighing 14-4 on the scales Sunday, moving his total weight to 52-12, and putting him in fifth place when everything was said and done. Days one and two leader, and defending Classic Champion Boyd Duckett ended his tournament in sixth place with a total weight of 52-7 by bringing in five bass weighing 10-14 Sunday.
Here’s how the remainder of the field finished:
7. Dean Rojas 18 51-5
8. John Crews 19 50-11
9. Mike Wurm 20 49-5
10. Matthew Sphar 19 48-12
11. John Murray 20 48-11
12. Dave Wolak 20 47-14
1st Place: Casey
Ashley
This is indeed the year of the rookie. It all started when Boyd Duckett won the Classic in Birmingham, followed by Remitz’s win at Amistad. From there, in nearly each of the following four events, a rookie stood a realistic chance to vie for the end prize. This week, the sixth regular season Elite Series event, was no different.
Rookie Casey Ashley – the youngest angler on the Elite Series tour at 23 – had a shot at Clark’s Hill, and this week, he came to the stage Sunday needing 7-11 to take the lead from Scroggins but had only four fish. “I really didn’t think that I would have enough to keep the lead because I know how good these guys are,” he said. “That’s what kept going through my mind all day.”
Though he didn’t have a limit on Sunday, weighing only four fish, he did have enough to close the deal – though he was never really sure and kept pressing all day. Were it not for a fortunate stop at 2:00, it wouldn’t have mattered. “I only had three fish at 2:00,” he explained. “I pulled up on a point that I had caught a fish on every day thinking that I would stop here and go to the weigh-in with whatever I had.
“I was getting beat to death out with all the boat wake, and fortunately had two bites – bam, bam – and that’s what I brought in. I had the fifth fish on but couldn’t get her to the boat.”
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Casey’s home lake is Clark’s Hill, but here at Smith Mountain he struggled to come up with a commonality between the mountain fisheries. “I can get a top water bite at Clark’s Hill – I was never able to really do that here,” he said. “I never could really find anything that reminded me of home here – which was good in a way I suppose.” |
Every morning this week, Ashley has had a limit by 9:30, with quality coming later in the day. He struggled early and was wondering what kind of day he would have as both his top water area and main lake fish had totally shut down. “Today was totally backwards for me,” he stressed. “I started out the day on my limit fish and only caught two, and really started struggling there.
“Usually, I catch my better fish on the jig, but the two fish that I caught from my limit area were the two best fish that I weighed in.”
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Casey made it to day four thanks to a Jewell 7/16-ounce Peanut Butter & Jelly jig, although the Zoom Watermelon Candy finesse worm, tied to eight-pound Berkley Triline Fluorocarbon got the limit. Ashley settled in to focus his efforts around docks. “I was throwing my little worm around docks – not under them,” he said. “The shad are spawning on the rip-rap, so all that I would do is just wait for a big bass to swim by.”
(To
the left are the actual lures used
by Ashley, on his way to victory) |
With just four fish in the box, Ashley explained that he had a tremendously long ride to weigh-in thinking he’d blown his chance. “I didn’t feel good about my chances all day long to tell you the truth,” he said. “Nothing was working the way that it had been, and the day had just been a complete struggle. I really thought that I would have to have five – thinking that I’d need 12 pounds to be safe.”
With the trophy securely in hand, Ashley now knows that he is good enough to be out here with some of the best fishermen in the world. “I knew that I could compete with these guys,” he expressed. “My goal was really just to make the Classic this year – a win was really just a dream. I just wanted to be competitive out here.”
Key to the Week: “The point where I caught the two clutch fish at the end of the day (Sunday). I’d fished it all week long – really just because it was close. It gave up a fish every day, and it was really just a do-nothing little red-clay point.”
2nd Place: Terry Scroggins
Scroggins came to the stage the final day of the tournament having scratched and clawed his way into the top 12 cut. He took the lead away from Morizo Shimizu, and as another three anglers crossed the stage in front of him.
Since 2001 Terry has racked up 5 BASS wins, but so far an Elite Series win has eluded him. “All week long, I’ve had a good top water bite going on but today it was just nothing,” he told The BASS ZONE. “I started off with the XCalibur Zell Pop that I’d be throwing all week, but that didn’t work out.
“I had to switch to a YUM Houdini worm on a shaky head and really just struggled all day long until about the last hour of the day.”
It was during that last hour that he accumulated much of his 15-pound bag. “I basically caught everything that I weighed in the last hour of the day,” he said. “I lost two three-pound fish that would’ve helped me a bunch, but I can’t complain too much.” |
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Through the week, Terry had two primary patterns that he employed exclusively. “Every day this week I started out throwing top water,” he said. “From there, it was a hodge-podge of point type stuff – either with a channel break nearby or a long tapering point.”
“I caught a lot of fish off docks too,” he added. “The dock fish were good for a quick limit, but I usually wound up throwing every single one of them back.”
Week in Perspective: “I’m tickled to death with where I finished at. I came in thinking that I would have a good tournament if I could catch 12 pounds a day because it’s a kind of strange lake and I’d never been here before.”
3rd Place: Takahiro Omori
Since the 2004 Classic where T.O. won it with some last-minute heroics, and it’s the Classic that he credits for changing his life. He came to Smith Mountain sitting 49th in points and desperately needing a solid finish to keep his Classic contention alive. “Making the Classic is really important to me,” he said.
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“When I won it in 2004, it changed my life so getting back there is always my number one goal.”
On the day, Omori explained that – just like all week – constant adjustments were required. “I went to a different part of the lake today all together,” he said. “I was sight fishing all week and just ran out of fish.
“I had found them in practice, and each day I would usually find some more. I just ran out of them Saturday afternoon so had to fall back on a pattern that I’d developed in practice.”
Tak fished three different patterns over the course of the week. “I would start off throwing top waters in the morning, and then go to my sight fish for the rest of the day,” he explained. “Sunday, all that I did was throw a drop shot and shaky head all day.” |
Week in Perspective: ”I’m really impressed with this lake – it’s really special. I had a great tournament and made good decisions all week long. I’m happy with it.”
4th Place: Skeet Reese
Skeet Reese told The BASS ZONE that coming in there was but one goal: Putting distance between himself and Kevin Van Dam in the Toyota Angler of the Year race. At the start of the tournament there were only 25 points separating the two, and a solid finish here was mandatory if he wanted to extend his lead beyond arm’s reach.
Skeet had a limit by 10:30 on the final day, and said that the day was actually his best yet in terms of his catch rate. “I had a good day and caught a lot of fish today,” he said. “I probably caught more keepers today than I have all week.”
On the final day, Reese zeroed in on one pattern – methodically dragging a six-inch Red Crawler Berkley hand-poured worm in route to catching 12 keepers on the day. “I was a mess this week,” he said. “I caught fish doing about everything you can do to catch a bass. |
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“I finally zeroed in on this pattern today but learned quickly that, in order to get bit, you had to be moving it really slow though. It seemed like every time I would come to a stump or piece of rock there would be a fish there that was wanting to eat.”
Reese was one of three anglers who had been in the top 10 all week long, and he did that by being conservative and simply fishing what he knew. “I did what I came here to do,” he said. “I had a solid finish, and tacked on some more Angler of the Year points.
Week in Perspective: “I know that I can go out and catch them anywhere against anyone, and this tournament just solidifies that. I had a great time. It makes it fun when we get the type of support that we’ve had here at Smith Mountain this week.”
5th Place: Morizo Shimizu
Shimizu is no stranger to the Elite Series winner’s circle. He won this tournament last year (in Kentucky) and was in contention all week to make it back-to-back. However, he pointed out through an interpreter that, while the fishing had been consistent for him all week, Sunday he had to gamble making the day a long grind.
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“It was really tough today,” he said. “I was going for the bigger bit today. All that I could do was look for bigger fish.”
Shimizu stole the lead away from John Crews, though it was short lived. He credits a shaky head and football-head jig for his success this week. “I was fishing both deep and shallow,” he said. “I also had some top water action in the morning, but it didn’t last very long and the fish weren’t very big.”
Week in Perspective: “I had a really good tournament. I am very happy with how I fished and the decisions that I made.” |
6th Place: Duckett
After leading for the first two days of the event, Duckett struggled Saturday, which ultimately cost him the win. However, he went out on the final day knowing that he’d have to have 20 pounds in order to win. “I fished well today,” he said. “I got a lot of bites, and only lost one big bite – which will happen. It never jumped – it just pulled off.
“I knew that I would have to have a miraculous day in order to win, so short of that, I just wanted to have a solid day on the water, which I did.”
Hindsight is always 20/20. Duckett explained that his day on the water Saturday is one that he’d very much like to have back. “I would like to have caught 10 or 11 pounds yesterday, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “I made bad decisions all day, and just never really felt comfortable. If
I look back on one thing that turned the tournament for me, it was yesterday."
Duckett started the week off throwing a six-inch Red Crawler Berkley hand-poured worm he would either rig on a drop shot or shaky head that accounted for 90% of the fish he weighed over the course of the week. That bite eluded him Saturday, but he was able to go back to in Sunday for success. |
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“I got back on the same deal that worked so well for me Thursday, but the big fish didn’t show up like they did then,” he said. “The only big bite that I got pulled off and I never got to put a hand on her.”
Duckett is rooming with Casey Ashley, and had a plan to sabotage the rookie’s morning . “I was sort of hoping that Casey would get up late so that I could just turn off his alarm clock,” he jokingly told The BASS ZONE. “I actually don’t think he slept at all and I’m so happy for him.”
Week in Perspective: “I caught ‘em really well today, so I’m not second-guessing myself. Saturday was the only bad day that I had, and it wasn’t because I missed a lot fish or broke some off – I just didn’t get on them like I had been.”
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7th Place: Dean Rojas
Final-Day Thoughts: “I really thought that I was going to catch a lot more than what I did. I caught what I weighed in the first hour and was just sure that it was on. It was just a constant struggle all day long. Looking back on it, I made the choices that I made to go for the win. I have no regrets about it.”
Bait of Choice: “I stuck with the frog all week long on 65-pound Izor line because that’s the best way that I know of to get the bites that I needed to win. It just didn’t work out the way that I’d hoped it would.” |
Biggest Challenge: “I don’t know why the fish didn’t bite for me today. The longer I do this, the more I realize that the weekend bite is really tough, and I don’t know if it’s because the fish are conditioned for that or not.”
Key to the Week: “I had to have depth next to the channel swing.”
Week in Review: “Satisfying in a lot of ways. Getting back into the Angler of the Year was is really satisfying. I feel good about going to Grand Lake too. We’ll just get after it again. I know what I can do, and I’m confident in it.”
8th Place: John Crews
Final-Day Thoughts: “Today was like every other day. I did catch one keeper in the morning which was a first. About 11:30 I caught a decent fish, and caught two more decent fish in that hour. I just never really got a big bite.”
Bait of Choice: “There was really no such thing this week. I fished a lot of worms around places that look ‘fishy.’ That’s pretty much what I did all week long.”
Biggest Challenge: “The first day was frustrating because I knew where they lived, but I couldn’t trigger them. I just kept switching baits trying to find what it would take to make them bite.”
Key to the Week: “My big fish today came on an area that I hadn’t fished in years, That’s kind of what I did all week though – I would introduce some new water every day hoping they’d be there.” |
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Week in Review: “I didn’t ever get locked into anything all week after the first day when I just over committed to what I thought should work. It was nice to make a comeback, but I would’ve preferred a win. I’m a little disappointed about the first day – there are things that I should’ve done differently.”
9th Place: Mike Wurm
Final-Day Thoughts: “I caught fish all day long, but it was slow. I slowed down a little bit, but I still managed to catch six keepers a day. That’s about the most I could expect.”
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Bait
of Choice: “Without a doubt it was
the shaky head on a 7” StrikeKing
finesse rigged on my Quantum
Signature Series rod. That’s a
deadly combination right
there.”
Biggest Challenge: “I never was
able to really get a big bite. I
could count on getting five or six
bites a day, but none of them were
really too big.”
Key to the Week: “Rocky points
adjacent to deep water.”
Week in Review: “This was my first
visit here, and it won’t be my
last. Smith Mountain is full of bass
– it’s as pretty as Hot Springs,
Arkansas. This was a really
gratifying tournament, and it put me
back in contention.” |
10th Place: Matthew Sphar
Final-Day Thoughts: “I had a hard time getting bit today really. I lost a big one today that was the difference maker for me. I would’ve really had a nice bag today if I would’ve been able to get that one in the boat.”
Bait of Choice: “I was using a Robo worm in green pumpkin for mostly all of my better fish.”
Biggest Challenge: “I thought I had a cove that would produce some quality fish, so I stayed in there a while. I also had some docks Sunday that I thought would work out, but they didn’t really produce either. I just didn’t get the bites that I needed today.”
Key to the Week: “Points with stumps on them in about seven feet of water was the key.”
Week in Review: “I did halfway decent here last year on the Tour, so this wasn’t the first time that I’d seen it. I really like this lake – it’s always been pretty good to me. I’m worn out because I’m not used to fishing the final day, but this was an awesome experience for me.” |
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11th Place: John Murray
Final-Day Thoughts: “The fishing was good today – I caught quite a few fish, but the size was smaller.”
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Bait of Choice: “I was drop-shotting Robo worms or Senkos in Ox Blood and a little bit of top water.”
Biggest Challenge: “I never could get the big fish to cooperate today. Sometimes when a lot fish start biting the big ones can’t get in there.”
Key to the Week: “Looking for outside stuff in five- to 15-feet of water. Everyone else was looking inside.”
Week in Review: “It was a great week. I really didn’t have very high expectations of what I’d be able to do this week, so I’m tickled to death with how I finished.” |
12th Place: Dave Wolak
Final-Day Thoughts: “I ran new water today and fished stuff that I hadn’t fished in four years. I had one quality bite, but I could’ve used about four more <laughs>.”
Bait of Choice: “YUM worm with an 1/8-ounce to 1/16-ounce weight dependant on current. YUM Craw Pappie produced the big bites.”
Biggest Challenge: “I ran around a lot, and finesse fished Sunday. Patience was huge because I fished with light line the last day. It’s like a heart attack every time you get a quality fish on because the line is so light.”
Key to the Week: “I had so many spots marked that I never got to them all the first day. The big fish just showed up. That’s what I wound up doing the rest of the week – fishing new water.”
Week in Review: “It was a good week. I got in the top 12 and I don’t have any problems with that. I haven’t had a top 12 since Oneida.” |
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FINAL
STANDINGS
| Pl. |
Pro
Angler |
DAY
1 |
DAY
2 |
DAY
3 |
DAY
4 |
TOTAL |
| Fish |
Weight |
Fish |
Weight |
Fish |
Weight |
Fish |
Weight |
Fish |
Weight |
| 1 |
Casey
Ashley |
5 |
11-
1 |
5 |
22-
0 |
5 |
14-
8 |
4 |
9-10 |
19 |
57-
3 |
| 2 |
Terry
Scroggins |
5 |
12-
8 |
5 |
11-13 |
5 |
15-
9 |
5 |
15-
5 |
20 |
55-
3 |
| 3 |
Takahiro
Omori |
5 |
12-
1 |
5 |
13-
7 |
5 |
14-
9 |
5 |
13-14 |
20 |
53-15 |
| 4 |
Skeet
Reese |
5 |
13-
1 |
5 |
17-
9 |
5 |
10-15 |
5 |
11-10 |
20 |
53-
3 |
| 5 |
Morizo
Shimizu |
5 |
15-
3 |
5 |
11-
4 |
5 |
12-
1 |
5 |
14-
4 |
20 |
52-12 |
| 6 |
Boyd
Duckett |
5 |
19-
5 |
5 |
14-
9 |
4 |
7-11 |
5 |
10-14 |
19 |
52-
7 |
| 7 |
Dean
Rojas |
5 |
13-
2 |
5 |
18-
5 |
5 |
11-
8 |
3 |
8-
6 |
18 |
51-
5 |
| 8 |
John
Crews |
4 |
7-11 |
5 |
14-
8 |
5 |
15-14 |
5 |
12-10 |
19 |
50-11 |
| 9 |
Mike
Wurm |
5 |
12-
4 |
5 |
13-14 |
5 |
11-
8 |
5 |
11-11 |
20 |
49-
5 |
| 10 |
Matthew
Sphar |
5 |
13-10 |
5 |
14-
5 |
5 |
11-
8 |
4 |
9-
5 |
19 |
48-12 |
| 11 |
John
Murray |
5 |
12-10 |
5 |
15-14 |
5 |
11-
2 |
5 |
9-
1 |
20 |
48-11 |
| 12 |
Dave
Wolak |
5 |
11-
8 |
5 |
16-
5 |
5 |
10-
1 |
5 |
10-
0 |
20 |
47-14 |
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