Posted  April 11th, 2008  8:11pm CST

Virginia Pro Hits 30 and Leads After Day One

Story by Brent Conway - Photos by Mark Jeffreys

Del Rio, TX – With Day One of the Lake Amistad’s “Battle on the Border” cancelled due to forecasted wind advisories, the unplanned day off allowed for the 109 Elite Series pros to catch up on a little much-needed “R&R.” Some pros worked on their tackle, others their boats, and some opted to head to old Mexico and grab a bite to eat.

Regardless of what their activities may have included, fishing most certainly wasn’t one of them. The day off, welcomed by some and questioned by others, at the very least allowed for another day of healing on the battered hands many anglers sport after last week’s pig-fest at Falcon.

With the tournament now shortened by a day, and the entire field sticking around until Saturday’s 12-man cut, strategies may have changed. In fact, prior to the start of the tournament many pros that The BASS ZONE spoke to didn’t believe that bed fishing would be a viable option for all four days. 

At the time, it appeared that the guys who were looking at them would do well the first couple of days, but the tables would turn more to favor a pattern as opposed to a spot. Now, it’s anyone’s guess as to which will dominate, sight or spot, deep or shallow. But one thing is for sure – if you can get yourself a seven-pound kicker or two each day you’ll be in the hunt.

The fish are moving around a lot right now, as pre-tournament reports indicated there are an abundance of small bucks on beds lining the shoreline. The key, as one pro surmised prior Friday’s start, was lucking into either a really good group of fish, or a series of solid spots…but isn’t that always the case?

Be it from a bed, or from 30 feet of water, the much-needed kicker came easily for some, but particularly so for Kurt Dove, who was the only angler in the field to breach the 30-pound barrier after placing 30-8 on the scales Friday taking the lead out of the gate.

In second place was Mike McClelland who brought 29-5 to the weigh-in stage Friday. Elite Series rookie Clark Reehm was less than a pound behind McClelland sitting in third with 28-14.

Sharing the fourth place slot with 27-12 was ‘[06 Border winner Ish Monroe and Jami Fralick. Rounding out the Super Six, with plenty of momentum heading into Saturday’s cut round, was Kevin Wirth who ended his first day with five bass going 27-10.

Dove Upgraded
Kurt Dove is having a first this week – he’s leading an Elite Series event heading into the weekend (yeah, I know…Thursday was canceled), and he was able to do that by not going for numbers. “I didn’t get a whole lot of bites, but the ones that I’m getting are quality,” Dove explained. 

“I feel like I’m fishing at the right depths to be getting the right kinds of bites, so I’m pretty confident about what I’ve got going on.”

Only getting 12 to 13 bites Friday, Dove explained that it was a conscious choice to move away from the bank. “I could have caught 100 fish up shallow, but I feel like I’m in a better position that what I would have otherwise bee,” he said.

He’s on a spot that he found late Wednesday, and Dove explained that it’s still very much a work in progress. “I’m still building on it really,” the Virginia angler commented. “It’s a really particular deal that I’m running, but I was able to expand on it a little more today and find some other areas that should help me.”

Tomorrow, Dove is hoping that he’s able to repeat his first-day performance. “If I can duplicate some fish on what I had working today, and maybe turn some of the other spots that I’ve found into being productive, I should be okay,” he said. “Hopefully, if I can keep after it, we’ll have something to talk about tomorrow.”

McClelland Magic
To say that Mike McClelland is good would be the understatement of the century. The guy can flat out fish, but it’s nice to be a little lucky too. “Today I just had one of those kind of days,” Mike “The Magician” explained. 

“I’d found a spot that I felt like held some halfway decent fish, and wouldn’t you know it, but on my first cast I had one that went about five pounds. I threw back out and caught another one in just a little bit that went about seven. It was just an awesome day.”

Reehm Rebounds from Mistakes
Elite Series rookie Clark Reehm has been waiting for a breakout moment, and Friday just may have been it. “It was a good day,” Reehm said. “I lost a four-pounder today, which was the only time I didn’t execute, and I had a dead-fish penalty that cost me. 

“When you have bookend seven-pounders you can get away with a couple of mistakes.”

Reehm had company in the area he was fishing, and as such felt inclined to stay in there a while longer in order to guard it. He’s certain though that he’s still got plenty of fish left. “I left a lot of fish in there,” Reehm said. 

“I had another angler that was in the area with me today, and I was really worried about having to share the spot. He came to me after the weigh-in and said that he wouldn’t be in there tomorrow. To me, that showed a lot of class.”

If, for some reason, Reehm’s best spot runs out has backup water. Still, he’d like to win it right here. “I have some other water, but I was hoping that this area would work for me,” he said. “It’s pretty close, and I’m going to be back in there hoping that they’re working again tomorrow. If they’re eating it’s a pretty quick bite.”

Monroe Swims All Day
Ish Monroe won the first event at Amistad back in ’06, and he did it by sight-fishing. Not that it should come as a surprise, but he’s not sight-fishing this week…he’s throwing a swimbait. Predictable? Perhaps. Effective? Quite. “I picked up a jerkbait and a Senko for about 10 casts each, but never got a bite with either of them,” the California angler said. 

“I was winging the big swimbait all day long. It turned out to be a pretty good day.”

Catching 10 to 11 keepers over the course of the day, Ish was pleasantly surprised with his production Friday. “Practice was up and down, but I was getting bit,” he said. “Byron (Velvick) figured something out on the swimbait, and keyed me into it and that’s made all the difference.” 

Unlike Falcon, Ish isn’t concerned about having to compete for water. “My program is so specific that you can just go down the lake and find the sort of stuff that you need to fish,” he said. “I have plenty of stuff to fish, it’s just going to be a matter of getting the bait in front of them, and then getting them to the boat.”

Fralick’s Fish Grew
Tied for fourth place, Jami Fralick is content to do it all over again; however, in the repeat he’d rather not lose a fish and would prefer it if his fish kept growing. “I had a fish die this morning, and it wound up costing me a pound-and-a-half,” he North Dakota pro explained. 

“It was a really fun day despite that tough. Everywhere I went to from practice just had big fish in it. It was great!”

Like most pros we’ve spoken to, Fralick didn’t think that he’d reach the 20-pound marked based on his practice results. “I really felt sure that I could catch 16 to 17 pounds pretty easy,” he explained. “I was getting one six-pound bite each day, so I like what I had going on. I

“t was just one of those days where I was able to just slow down and they bit…and they were all better fish.”

Now that day one is done, Fralick feels like he’s on target to be in good shape Sunday. “I feel like I can catch another 25 pounds tomorrow for sure,” he said. “I need a little bit of wind because it helps turn them on, but we’ll just have to see.” 

Wirth Limits in 30
Kevin Wirth could do no wrong in the opening round, or so it would seem. It must be the shirt. “It was just one of those kinds of days that went from good to better as the day wore on,” he said. “I had a limit in about 30 minutes, and was just able to peg around and happened onto some better fish.”

Wirth revealed that he has a 75-yard stretch of bank that he’s keying on; however, he wouldn’t give a specific depth – or even range – other than to say that he’s fishing “out a little deeper than practice.” 

While he was able to upgrade throughout the day, Wirth is convinced that he’s either run through the quality of the school or he’s on the tip of the iceberg. “I don’t really know if we just wore the school out, of if there’s more coming to the bank,” he said. “I actually quit fishing the area during the last hour and tried to figure out where they’re going to.”

Wirth said that he was able to locate some more fish in the area, and he hopes they’re heading in his direction. “I think they will replenish, but if I’m able to get set up on the right kind of stuff it the question,” he said. “If it does, I’m pretty strong. If it doesn’t, I might come in with 12 pounds. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
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BZ on XM Satellite Radio Goes On Location The Week

Starting this upcoming Sunday, April 13, 2008, The BASS ZONE will once again break new ground through a call-in radio show broadcast from on location at the site of the Bassmaster Elite Series, Battle on the Border in Del Rio, Texas. The show will be broadcast LIVE from 6am until 7am eastern time on XM Sports Nation, Channel 144, then again at 8:00am until 9:00am

"This is pretty cool stuff we are doing with XM Satellite Radio," said BZ's Mark Jeffreys. "We were the first independent news resource to provide interactive coverage of the BASS events through our live chats from the water, and now we'll take it one step further with the call-in portion of our XM show. We want the BZ viewers to call in and talk about our insane Texas tour of Falcon Lake and Lake Amistad"

BZ Staff Writer Pete Robbins will join Mark and the Legend, Harold Allen, from the XM studios in Washington, DC this weekend, and on several other Sundays over the course of the Elite Series season. 

Be sure to tune in to XM Channel 144 this Sunday and call in with your questions or comments at 866.XMSN-144 (866.967.6144). For those of you who will be on the water without access to their XM receivers, the shows will be recorded and rebroadcast on The BASS ZONE April 14th

It really is all about being there…..and now you too can be there with Mark and the Legend.

DAY ONE STANDINGS

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