Stockton, CA – After Friday’s cut only 50 anglers remained in the Duel on the Delta presented by Mahindra Tractors. Even with the improved conditions, the Delta bass proved they would not go quietly into the night. Prior to day one and before Wednesday’s wind storm, the experts predicted huge weights would cross the scales. The pre-tournament predictions didn’t hold up as the anglers have faced tougher-than-expected conditions throughout the week.
As the scales opened on Saturday, it quickly became apparent the fishing got even tougher. Local anglers, pleasure boaters and the typical weekend conditions hurt the bite on Saturday. Also, the tidal conditions have played an important part all week and Friday’s tide remained high most of the day making the already difficult fishing even tougher. The result was a skinny bite for most everyone in the 50-man field.
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On Friday, Aaron Martens brought in the biggest limit of tournament. His five fish bag totaled 30-14 and was bolstered by an 11-2 behemoth. The California native, who now calls Alabama home, jumped to the second spot headed into the weekend. Of course, looking at the history books, it stands to reason that nearly each time an angler has had a pending birth (or a birth during the practice week, or shortly before) they subsequently made a hard-charge to the top.
But fishing is a humbling sport, as anyone who has ever held a rod and reel can surely attest, and the big bass of the Delta have the power to make or break an angler with one swing of the rod. New baby at home or not, The BASS ZONE witnessed Aaron Martens lose a big fish early Saturday morning, but in true California style Aaron dismissed the lost opportunity and went on to catch a limit that totaled 19-2. His three-day total of almost 70 pounds (69-13) put Aaron in the top spot with one day left. |
However, A-Mart has his work cut out for him the remainder of the event because he has the “Next
Big Thing” on his tail. Just as it was at the Lake Amistad event, phenom rookie Derek Remitz continues to amaze the fishing world. Derek brought 27-9 to the scales on Friday and held the top spot with just two days left to go.
Whether it is a wave of momentum or being in the zone, Derek Remitz continues to impress his fans and peers alike. The day two leader brought 15-13 to the scales on Saturday and will fish from the second position on the final day, with a total combined weight of 66-11.
Rookies continue to be the talk of the town on the 2007 Elite Series, and rookie James Niggemeyer, who crossed the scales with 17-10, is another that will leave everyone talking when the season’s over. James rebounded from a disappointing performance at Lake Amistad to post a three-day total of 56-2. James will fish on Sunday after qualifying in the third spot.
Jeff Reynolds came to the scale, minus his trademark cowboy hat, with a limit of bass that totaled 18-11. His three day combined weight of 55-0 put him on top for a few moments, but he would eventually fall to 4th. Rounding out the top five Saturday was Brent Chapman, who brought a respectable 14-5 to the scales on the toughest fishing day of the event, giving him 52-14 for three days of fishing.
As the weights continued to cross the stage it became evident that only a few anglers deciphered the tough conditions and put good fish in the boat. Local favorite, Jared Lintner “junk” fished all week. The first two days he put 42 pounds in the boat, but Saturday the Skeeter pro only produced a little over 9 pounds. He eventually fell to 9th but will still be around to compete on Sunday.
The Hack-Attack, Greg Hackney brought the biggest limit to the scales on Saturday. Greg weighed 22-4 to jump all the way into 7th. Chris Lane brought the Purolator Big bass to the scales, weighing 8-13, which boosted his five-fish limit to 18-10. Lanes’ three-day weight of 50-15 put him in the 12th and final spot.
Day one leader, and current BASS heavyweight record holder, Mark Tyler was unable to seal the deal. Tyler bagged only 9-13 on Saturday, giving him 50-5 over three days – just 10 ounces out of the 12th-place cut.
When the weigh-in ended only 12 anglers remained with a shot at winning the $100,000.00 and taking home the title of Champion.
A-Mart: “This one’s for Spencer”
The BASS ZONE followed Martens for about four hours Saturday morning. During that time, he never moved more than 20 yards, and we saw him hook up with only five fish – three of which made the ride back to weigh-in. That said, he’s tuned in to when the fish activate, so for him it’s merely a waiting game – and one that he’s playing flawlessly at this point.
“The day was a real grind,” A-Mart expressed. “All day, you know, I just worked over the same tiny area. I know when these fish feed, but you still have to grind it out.”
| Spending as much time as he has, over the course of the last three days, the question of burning his fish up quickly arises. Martens doesn’t bat an eye with the counter to that question. “The place that I’m in has the right fish to win it, no doubt,” he said. “The real question is getting them to cooperate and work in the time that I need them to.”
When The BASS ZONE caught up with Aaron before 8:00 this morning, he didn’t have a fish in the box. However, it wasn’t but a few minutes until the water exploded with the thrashing of a giant bass. Unfortunately, it didn’t make it to the boat. “That fish schooled me – it really taught me how it works,” A-Mart said. “I couldn’t slow it down when it went through the reeds. It was terrible too, because it was the first bite that I had this morning.” |
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Obviously from there, Martens was able to put the big fish behind him. Still, when we left the pro he’d managed only four more bites – and all of them were two pounders. We did the near 20-pound stringer come from? “ I moved maybe 50 yards all day,” he said. “You can go maybe 100 to 300 yards and find the same thing. It’s just one of those places where fish continually pass through over the day. This place is really just amazing.”
Martens and his wife were blessed with an early arrival of a new baby boy (Spencer) Tuesday of this week. Aaron has expressed continually that Spencer is his motivation this week. “There’s a lot riding on this tournament right now,” he said. “I’m fishing for Spencer right now.
“My wife told me Tuesday that I’d better do good this week, so winning right now is the only thing I’m focusing on.”
No changes for A-Mart Sunday – it’s back to the grind. “Tomorrow will be a carbon copy of my day today,” he said. “I’m working this area over really slow, and the way that I’m fishing you really have to be almost painfully slow.”
Remitz: Fishing Local
Young Derek “The Next Big Thing” Remetz seems to have the Midas touch, and can do no wrong. He loses his tide chart – not to worry, he’ll just go fishing. But where? Why not pick the most popular community hold for starters and see how it works out from there? “I just picked the most popular place that everyone’s always talked about, and just went in and learned it,” he said.
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“I’ve been able to expand on that a little bit during the week, but that was my basic game plan coming in.”
While Remitz’s weight seemed to struggle, the cool-as-a-cucumber rookie says that it was actually a better day. “Really, the quality of my fish went up,” he said. “I never got the big bite that I’ve had each day so far is the only difference. I’d have two or three big bites every day, but today I didn’t. Instead, I just had a sack of three
pounders.”
The key difference according to
Remitz, and most everyone else, was the boat traffic Saturday. “There were just boats everywhere today,” he said. “The high skies didn’t really help too much either, but I have to think that when there’s that many boats running around it can’t be good for the fishing.” |
Remitz has his target set on two primary areas. As to which he will start in Sunday, he said he’ll sleep on it. “I really haven’t decided yet,” he said. “I have another little pond that I fished in practice, and it’s a coin flip as to whether or not I’ll go in there Sunday.
“There’s just so many fish where I’m at right now, it’s just a matter of time before a big one cruises in. The plus with the other area is that I don’t think there’ll be as much traffic. I didn’t ever see anyone there in practice, so we’ll see.”
Niggemeyer: Feeling Good
Rookie James Niggemeyer knows that Amistad didn’t see the best of him. He’s come to The Delta in an attempt to even the score, and based on his position after three days of fishing, the ship seems to be righted – even despite the fact that he’s short when it comes to gauging his weight. “I feel real good right now,” he said. “I didn’t realize that I had as much weight as I did because these fish are so thick.
“It’s really hard to gauge the weight of these fish because they have shoulders like a middle linebacker. I’m just stoked to be where I’m at right now on the
leaderboard.”
The day started off slow for the Texas pro, but thanks to a keen eye and some mid-morning scrambles, he was able to salvage the day into a third place finish. “I went to my best stretch and the fish just weren’t there,” he said. “There was just so much boat traffic that I had to hop around trying to find the same stuff that I’d been fishing.
“I just kept adjusting and looking, and fortunately found a little stretch of bank that I caught the bulk of my weight from.” |
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The area that Niggemeyer bounced into was right around the corner from he’d been at all week, and was one that he saw on Friday. It’s just a short 75-yard stretch of bank, but it’s holding tons of fish in three feet of water. “I stayed with the same pattern that I’d been on primarily,” he explained. “I just made a change in the water that I’m fishing.”
James explained that while he’s confident in the pattern he’s been running all week, he was able to expand on it late in the day. “I did find something a little bit different, and I managed to catch one of the five that I weighed in on it,” he said. “Tomorrow, I’m going to see if it holds up.”
Reynolds
Back to the Final Day
Jeff Reynolds is no stranger to the up echelons of a tournament’s leader board. He’s been here before, and he likes the scenery – particularly when he’s able to do it fishing to his strengths. “I flipped up everything I weighed today,” he said. “When you’re able to fish the way that you want, and everything works out how it should, it’s been a good day.”
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Reynolds flipped up a strong limit, but he burned gas doing it. Midway through the day, the traffic in his primary area forced him to make a move to an untested spot from years ago. “It’s a spot that I found in practice – I actually found it four years ago when we were here – but I ran across it again in practice,” he said. “It’s holding some pretty good fish, but the wind had it so muddied up that I haven’t fished it until today.
“I fished it really slow, but it’s the kind of place that should get even better the clearer that it gets.”
At about 1:00, Reynolds was looking for the escape hatch and was in full-tilt scramble mode. It was then that he ran into a five-pound reminder that settled him down – and it couldn’t have come too soon. “It was my fourth fish, and I’d kind of already hit the panic button and was fishing too fast,” he explained. “That proved to me that they’re in there, but you have to be fishing really slow.” |
Reynolds if fishing with tons of company, but said that he’s so far back in the weeds that they’re almost out of mind. “There’s boats all over the place – just all around me,” he said. “The locals didn’t really bother me at all because I was so far back in the weeds, and I think that tomorrow will be about the same.”
Chapman
Brent Chapman was another among the leaders who had hit the panic button at the midway point in the day. Boat traffic forced him to abandon his water 12:30 in search for new water. “There were just a lot of locals where I was at, and the tides just not right,” he said. “These fish are a lot more sensitive to it than I would’ve ever thought they were.”
The scramble paid off as Chapman was able to junk his way into a solid limit that slid him into fifth place. “I caught my best three fish looking for new water,” he explained. “The day was really just a scramble for me…I didn’t catch my fifth fish until about 1:30 or so.
“I caught my best fish with about two minutes to go, and that save the day for me in a lot of ways.”
With nerves singing at 1:00, Chapman’s kicker settled him down. “Yeah, I was a little bit nervous before I put the fifth fish in the boat,” he said. “You don’t want to come in here with only four keepers. The kicker today for me was a bonus.” |
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Chapman doesn’t have a plan beyond putting the boat in the water and doing what paid off for him Saturday. “I don’t know what I’ll do actually,” he said. “Really, my plan at this point is to just go fishing.”
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Day
Three Standings - The Top 12
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Total |
Total |
| Place |
Pro
Angler |
Hometown,
State |
# |
Weight |
| 1 |
Aaron
Martens |
Leeds,
Ala. |
15 |
69-13 |
| 2 |
Derek
Remitz |
Hemphill,
Texas |
15 |
66-11 |
| 3 |
James
Niggemeyer |
Van,
Texas |
15 |
56-02 |
| 4 |
Jeff
Reynolds |
Idabel,
Okla. |
15 |
55-00 |
| 5 |
Brent
Chapman |
Lake
Quivira, Kan. |
15 |
52-14 |
| 6 |
James
Charlesworth |
Saint
Cloud, Fla. |
15 |
52-09 |
| 7 |
Greg
Hackney |
Gonzales,
La. |
15 |
52-05 |
| 8 |
Kevin
VanDam |
Kalamazoo,
Mich. |
15 |
51-14 |
| 9 |
Jared
Lintner |
Arroyo
Grande, Calif. |
15 |
51-13 |
| 10 |
Stephen
Browning |
Hot
Springs, Ark. |
15 |
51-04 |
| 11 |
Skeet
Reese |
Auburn,
Calif. |
15 |
51-02 |
| 12 |
Chris
Lane |
Winter
Haven, Fla. |
15 |
50-15 |
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Remainder
of the Field
|
Total |
Total |
| Place |
Pro
Angler |
Hometown,
State |
# |
Weight |
| 13 |
Mark
Tyler |
Vian,
Okla. |
15 |
50-05 |
| 14 |
Morizo
Shimizu |
Murrieta,
Calif. |
15 |
50-05 |
| 15 |
Marty
Robinson |
Landrum,
S.C. |
15 |
49-14 |
| 16 |
Mike
McClelland |
Bella
Vista, Ark. |
15 |
49-02 |
| 17 |
Jeff
Kriet |
Ardmore,
Okla. |
15 |
48-06 |
| 18 |
Bernie
Schultz |
Gainesville,
Fla. |
15 |
48-05 |
| 19 |
Tommy
Biffle |
Wagoner,
Okla. |
15 |
47-11 |
| 20 |
Rick
Morris |
Virginia
Beach, Va. |
15 |
47-07 |
| 21 |
Fred
Roumbanis |
Auburn,
Calif. |
15 |
47-06 |
| 22 |
Bill
Lowen |
North
Bend, Ohio |
15 |
47-02 |
| 23 |
Denny
Brauer |
Camdenton,
Mo. |
15 |
46-13 |
| 24 |
Casey
Ashley |
Donalds,
S.C. |
15 |
46-00 |
| 25 |
Kenyon
Hill |
Norman,
Okla. |
15 |
45-11 |
| 26 |
John
Crews |
Salem,
Va. |
15 |
45-05 |
| 27 |
Alton
Jones |
Waco,
Texas |
15 |
45-01 |
| 28 |
Ben
Matsubu |
Hemphill,
Texas |
15 |
45-01 |
| 29 |
Bradley
Hallman |
Norman,
Okla. |
15 |
43-15 |
| 30 |
Takahiro
Omori |
Emory,
Texas |
15 |
43-11 |
| 31 |
Scott
Rook |
Little
Rock, Ark. |
15 |
43-06 |
| 32 |
Matt
Amedeo |
Clinton,
Ohio |
15 |
43-04 |
| 32 |
Dave
Wolak |
Wake
Forest, N.C. |
15 |
43-01 |
| 34 |
Yusuke
Miyazaki |
Mineola,
Texas |
15 |
42-11 |
| 35 |
Mark
Tucker |
Saint
Louis, Mo. |
15 |
42-10 |
| 36 |
Bryan
Hudgins |
Orange
Park, Fla. |
15 |
41-04 |
| 36 |
Zell
Rowland |
Montgomery,
Texas |
15 |
41-00 |
| 38 |
Glenn
Delong |
Bellville,
Ohio |
15 |
40-12 |
| 39 |
Lee
Bailey |
Boaz,
Ala. |
15 |
40-11 |
| 40 |
Greg
Gutierrez |
Red
Bluff, Calif. |
15 |
40-10 |
| 41 |
Russ
Lane |
Prattville,
Ala. |
15 |
40-10 |
| 41 |
Mike
Wurm |
Hot
Springs, Ark. |
15 |
40-09 |
| 43 |
Kevin
Short |
Mayflower,
Ark. |
15 |
40-04 |
| 44 |
Kevin
Wirth |
Crestwood,
Ky. |
15 |
39-10 |
| 44 |
Matthew
Sphar |
Pavilion,
N.Y. |
15 |
39-10 |
| 46 |
Preston
Clark |
Palatka,
Fla. |
15 |
39-02 |
| 47 |
James
Kennedy |
Lacombe,
La. |
15 |
37-13 |
| 48 |
Jeremy
Starks |
Charleston,
W.Va. |
15 |
37-10 |
| 49 |
Cliff
Pace |
Petal,
Miss. |
14 |
34-05 |
| 50 |
Jeff
Connella |
Bentley,
La. |
12 |
33-03 |
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