Posted  March 14th, 2008  5:12 pm CST

Swimbaits and Sight Fishing Produce a 25 Pound Limit for BV

Story by Brent Conway - Photos by Mark Jeffreys

Lake Whales, FL – The fishing at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, site of the second stop on the 2008 Elite Series crusade, has been good all week in terms of numbers. Size, at least according to our practice notes, would be the issue. Size does matter, and Thursday’s day one weigh-in served noticed that you’d better bring it if you want to fish Sunday.

Unlike last week’s Sunshine Showdown at the Harris Chain, just a short hour’s drive north, fishing at the Citrus Slam on Kissimmee looks to be on the mend. Of all the pros that The BASS ZONE spoke with Wednesday, after their two-and-a-half day practice period had officially concluded, only one of them was actually fired about his chances. 

However, almost to a man each said that – as long as the weather holds stable – fishing should get stronger with each day. Most were saying then that 12 pounds a day would be pretty strong. The jury will be out until Sunday, but you have to ask yourself what kind of scales would they be using if a 12-pound average holds true?

Understanding of course that bass fishermen are, by their very nature, prone to exaggeration we took the scuttlebutt with a grain of salt. Thursday’s weigh-in was the true measuring stick, and the obvious Florida trend of the “Have’s” vs. the “Have Not’s” was in full swing as better than five anglers crossed the stage with 20 pounds or better.

At the top of the list of “have’s” was Byron Velvick whose five-fish tournament limit tipped the scales at 25-0. In second place Thursday was Terry “Big Show” Scroggins giving a day one weight of 23-2.

Kelly Jordon held down the third-place slot with a bag of Florida bass weighing 22-14. In fourth place was Jeff Reynolds, with 20-12 on the first day.

In fifth after the day-one dust had settled was Scott Rook with a limit weighing 19-14. Rounding out the Super Six was the single-day record holder (established at Toho in 2001), Dean Rojas, who brought 18-13 to the weigh-in stage. 

Here’s how the rest of the top 12 shaped up:

7. Bobby Lane 18-10
8. Kevin VanDam 18-0
9. Brent Chapman 17-12
10. Bryan Hudgins 17-9
11. Steve Kennedy 17-7
12. Ray Sedgwick 17-2

In all, there were over 80 tournament limits brought to the scales to open the contest with no one failing to at least catch a single keeper on the opening day. As evidenced by the wide disparity between the top spot and 12th place, it’s evident that a four-pound fish can go a long, long way this week.

Velvick’s Hunting Easter Eggs
Unless the wheels completely fall of the wagon, Byron Velvick is well on his way to Sunday. Obviously, it’s a tad early for a victory dance, and the seasoned pro knows that he has a long way to go. Still…it’s hard to not share in his excitement. 

“It’s about time I showed up at one of these tournaments,” he exclaimed. “After the Wildcard I just wanted to have a good year, and after the Harris Chain I thought that I was going to leave Florida broken-hearted.”

“It’s the right moon-phase and the right weather. I have a back-up that I can get a limit of keepers, so I might get a limit and then go Easter-egg hunting.”

Big Show Backed Into Second
Arguably, there’s no one better than Terry Scroggins at Toho or Kissimmee. The Lane brothers come to mind, but in recent memory, no one has done more damage than Scroggins has in Central Florida. 

To prove the point, he sight-fished his way into second…after locating the fish in the final two hours of practice. “I didn’t sight-fish a second during practice,” he said. 

“I just found these during the last two hours of practice. I know where some more should be, so I might spend some more time tomorrow checking some water.”

Scroggins will start the day where he left off as he has some unfinished business. “I actually fished for a six pounder for three hours, so there’s still some out there,” he said. “I had her just about ready to go, but didn’t want to burn her up without having any more time in the day. 

“If you get hook in a big one of these fish, and fail to get it up to the boat, you’ve all but ruined your chances. So, the bright side of that is that I have one to get me started tomorrow.”

Since fishing for bedding bass wasn’t the going-in plan, Scroggins isn’t concerned should it evaporate. “I have another deal working that I can get 15 or 16 pounds with,” he said. 

“If the sight-bite dies, I have something else that’s working – and 16 pounds without sight fishing is a pretty strong back right now.”

Jordon’s Still Swinging
Kelly Jordon swung his axe hard at Harris hoping to get on the big bite that eluded him. This week at Kissimmee, he’s found what he was looking for, but questions it if will hold up. “It was a pretty good day,” he said. “It went about like I hoped that it would. 

“I’m actually really looking forward to fishing tomorrow, “ he added. “I just hope I can do better than seven pounds tomorrow.”

Reynolds Fished to Fourth 
Jeff Reynolds, like Kelly Jordon, finished about as low as you could at Harris. Also like Jordon, Reynolds has bounced back big this week – to do it, he had to adjust what he’d been doing all week long. 

“I was catching a lot of little fishing in practice,” he said. “I moved out a little from where I’d been and just got into a wad of them.”

“We caught a limit of fish in 30 minutes,” he added. “I think it’s really just a feeding thing, so I’m hoping to have it timed right. If not, I don’t really know what it is that holds them, so if I get in there tomorrow and they aren’t firing, I’ll be in scramble mode.”

Reynolds isn’t too optimistic that he defined anything more that hitting the right spot at the right time. As such, he isn’t confident that he’ll post a repeat from the same water; however, he is confident that if he’s got a solid idea of what his next step will be. 

“The spot might not be very good anymore any how,” he said. “If it’s not, I’m just going to go and do what I did today – go fishing and try to do the best I can.”

Rook Rebounds from Practice
Scott Rook was able to make the most of a bad situation on Thursday. After a tough practice, the Arkansas pro put it together out of the shoots. “I had a really bad practice, but I had found some good water I guess,” he said. 

“I figured out a little area in there that just had some good ones.”

Rook explained that by taking a page out of his Harris Chain book, he geared down and fished all day. “I just slowed way, way down,” he said. “I did catch a couple sight fishing, but really all that I did today was fish. It’s that simple.”

Rook isn’t fishing solo, and is sure that the area was battered. As a result, his game plan for Friday is open. “I’m going fishing,” he said. “I’ll obviously go back in there in the morning and check it out, but I’m not afraid to just pick out a shell bed and sit on it either.”

Rojas off to the Races
What more can you say about Dean Rojas and Toho that hasn’t already been said. Scroggins might be the local hotshot, but Dean has the record. While the first day out was nowhere near a record, it was good enough. “It was a good start,” he said. 

“I knew that with the lake being slick and calm, today was the day to sight fish.”

Dean is pretty sure that with the limited number of fish that are in the shallows, those left Friday will be skittish at best. That in mind, he has a few more corned that he has to himself. “I don’t know about the size, and that’s critical,” he said. “You have to come across a big one every day if you want to do well. It’s tough because it’s not like they’re everywhere.”

Ultimately, it all comes down to numbers, and Dean thinks he has it to go the distance. “I think I have enough fish for tomorrow for sure, and think I can survive till Sunday,” he said. “I’m excited about fishing tomorrow, but at the same time I’m really curious to see what they come in with tomorrow. That’s going to be the real test.”

Notes & Quotes

Bobby Lane: “My goal was to just not get off to a horrible start like I did at Harris. Mission accomplished, and I’m excited about fishing tomorrow. If it stays warm and the wind stays down, I think I’ll do pretty well. Now, if the fish start moving up at Toho, I might lose ground because I won’t be going over there to fish in the crowds.”

Bryan Hudgins: “I switched plans about midway through the day. Fortunately I caught both of my big fish after I did that. Hopefully I can do the same thing tomorrow – particularly since there’s some more fish moving up.”

KVD: “It was really a struggle today because I didn’t have a very good practice at all. I really forced myself to just grind it out today, and that is so hard for me to do. I concentrated the majority of my afternoon towards looking for areas that I thought I could win in. I’m going to swing hard tomorrow and hope for the best.”

DAY ONE STANDINGS

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT ON THIS STORY