Posted  March 15th, 2008  5:23 pm CST

Velvick Slips to Second and KVD Lurking in Third

Story by Dan O'Sullivan - Photo by Mark Jeffreys

Lake Whales, Fla. – Day one of the Bassmaster Elite Series Citrus Slam was dominated by sightfishing. Many of the Super 6 anglers after day one are renowned for their skill at locating and catching big spawning largemouth.

However, bass fishing is a sport that reminds us that the only constant is change, and day two of the Citrus Slam presented the 109 Elite Series pros and their Co-angler partners with changing weather conditions. Those changes led many to believe that the leader’s sightfishing approach would be affected.

As day two progressed, the amount of available bed fish seemed to draw crowds and as the anglers crossed the stage they began to talk of turning to other approaches to entice The Kissimmee Chain’s largemouth into striking.

Florida has a reputation for providing huge bounties for anglers that are really on them, but the Sunshine State can also be incredibly stingy as evidenced by the spread between Byron Velvick’s day one leading weight of 25 pounds, and the 50th place position of Bernie Shultz who weighed 9-pounds, 7 ounces.

As it can be, bass fishing proved to be a cruel mistress on day two as many of the weights seemed to slip for those in the lead. But, as cruel as the sport can be to some, it can be very friendly to others, and Day Two at Kissimmee was no different.

The exception to the rule of watching the leader’s weight fall was Kelly Jordon of Mineola, Tex., who smashed his second consecutive limit that topped 20 pounds. Jordon brought 21 pounds, 5 ounces to the Camp Mack stage to give him the day two lead with a total of 44 pounds, 3 ounces.

Jordon’s fellow Texan, Day One Leader Byron Velvick of Del Rio, saw his day two weight cut by more than 50-percent, but his 11-pound, 6-ounce limit gave him a total of 36 pounds, 6 ounces to land in 2nd place.

Behind Velvick is three-time Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam from Kalamazoo, Mich., who caught 17 pounds, 11 ounces to move into third place with 35 pounds, 11 ounces.

Local favorite, “Big Show” Terry Scroggins of San Mateo, Fla., also saw his day two weight cut by more than half. However, his 11-pound, 11-ounce limit gave him 34 pounds, 13 ounces to land in 4th place.

In 5th place at day’s end was Scott Rook, of Little Rock, Ark. who wrestled a 13-pound, 12-ounce limit of bass from the waters of The Kissimmee Chain to round out the top five with 33 pounds, 10 ounces.

Closing out the Super 6 were Kenyon Hill of Norman, Okla. and Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla. who both weighed in with a total of 33 pounds, 7 ounces.

The rest of the day two top 12:

8th Rick Morris 32-13
9th Bill Lowen 30-15
9th Mark Davis 30-15
11th Zell Rowland 29-14
12th Steve Kennedy 29-11

Jordon: In Plain “Sight”
The four-time BASS winner was the only angler to catch consecutive 20-pound sacks, and the result is that Jordon will carry more than an eight-pound lead into the third day. Jordon told The BASS ZONE that he is primarily sightfishing, but also said that the numbers of big bed fish are reducing, and that he is just fishing as well.

“I am going to go to her first thing in the morning and see if she is still there, and hopefully we won’t get any thunderstorms tomorrow, because that will drive her away,” he concluded. “I have some others to go to, and I can assure you, I won’t be fishing for any small ones.”

Velvick: Still Looking
Known for his ability to sight fish as well as his ability in front of the camera, Velvick finds himself in a contradictory position. He learned that leading an Elite Series event can bring tremendous distraction. “The camera boat and media attention really got to me today,” Velvick told The BASS ZONE. “I found myself worrying about what they were doing more than I should have.”

Despite the extra boats in his area, he said that having the cameraman in his boat with him made it more difficult to maneuver. “I am push poling through my areas, and having three people [his Co-angler and the cameraman] make it harder to move the boat; it’s like pushing a barge around.”

After the attention died down around noon, he said that he was able to focus more on catching fish, and was able to catch the bulk of his limit. “I am mostly sightfishing, although I did catch one fish that I weighed blind casting a drop shot,” he said. “I did lose a good one doing the same thing, but didn’t see her, so I don’t know how much she would have helped me.”

He said he will move to new water to locate more big spawners, and that being the experienced sight fisherman he is, he is leaving some quality males behind in hopes that they will attract bigger females. I am in the same general area as Kelly [Jordon] and Jay Fuller [Elite Series rookie who weighed 22 pounds, 8 ounces to move into 13th place] so I am going to have to find more fish to target.

“I know I am going to have to catch another 20 pounder stringer to keep pace with Kelly,” he said. 

VanDam: Sharing his Area
Being no stranger to winning BASS tournaments, the two time Bassmaster Classic Champion knows he is in an area that can produce the winning stringers, the problem is, he is sharing the area with other competitors [Mark Davis in 9th place and Todd Faircloth in 19th place].

The Kalamazoo, Mich. Pro said that he knows there are a ton of good fish in the area, and it is a matter of who makes the right presentation to get the right bites. “These fish are keying on small spots within the grass, and the wind and current keeps repositioning them,” said KVD. “Yesterday I made the right moves [18 pounds] and today Mark (Davis) did [20 pounds, 3 ounces].”

He said that he is fishing for both pre and post spawn fish that are migrating through the area chasing shad and needlefish. “I can see them because the water is so clear, and I know that the calm conditions have made it more difficult,” he said. “I was real lucky to catch the big one I caught today.”

The noted reaction bait fisherman is looking forward to the forecasted winds tomorrow because he feels it will give him a decided advantage over the fish. “The wind will make them move around and reposition them some more, and makes it easier to throw crankbaits and spinnerbaits,” he concluded. “I think it is going to get tougher on the sightfishing and I know what I will be doing tomorrow.”

Big Show: Burned Big Oil
Having as much experience on the Kissimmee Chain as he does, one would think that Scroggins would avoid taking a tour of the lake during an Elite Series event; but he did exactly that today. “I’m really disappointed with myself for having run so much,” Scroggins told The BASS ZONE. “You can’t catch fish when your baits not in the water.”

He said that he burned much of the morning running through to Toho to go after a six to eight pound fish he left on day one. When she wasn’t there he looked some more, then locked out of Toho at 11:30 Am without any fish. After leaving Toho, he ran nearly 50 miles to the bottom of Lake Kissimmee where he caught a few fish, then to Tiger before ending his day in Cypress where he caught eight to ten fish in the afternoon. 

All told, Big Show could easily have run more than 120 miles today “I’m not planning on doing a lot of running tomorrow; especially with the forecasted winds,” he said. “I will probably focus on fishing some of the outside hydrilla in the winds, but if I have to, I’ll run around again.”

Rook: Not Going to Get Cheated
Scott Rook said that his results thus far have far exceeded his expectations. “I started this event hoping to get six or seven pounds a day, so this is turning out better than I had hoped.”

The Little Rock, Ark. pro said that he is sharing the area with Jason Quinn [18th place] and that the two anglers are keyed in to the same basic approach. “The slick conditions have been difficult, but when we get a little clouds or wind they bite pretty good,” said Rook. “There was a two hour stretch today where we caught them pretty good, but my best fish came at 9:30 this morning and 2:00 this afternoon; so I will have to keep moving.”

Rook revealed that the fish are moving around, and that both he and Quinn had to move more than 100 yards further than they did on day one to catch their fish. However, he also said he is not leaving.

“It’s all I have; all of my eggs are in this one basket,” he concluded. “I am going to go back and chunk and wind some more and hope that the winds don’t mess up the area too much.”

Hill: Second Fish Made the Difference
The second fish of Kenyon Hill’s day was the difference maker. The 10-pound, 3-ounce Purolator Big Bass was a bedding fish he found on the first day of the tournament. “I almost had her going on the first day, but she ended up swimming away,” the Norman, Okla. pro said.

He made a beeline to her on Friday morning and she again spooked, but this time didn’t leave the area. “I made a little loop around to give her time to cool off, and caught a two pounder on a topwater bait,” he said thirty minutes later he caught her. “She bit a Picasso Ish Tube on a 12/0 Picasso Ish ProX Hook (both designed by fellow Elite Pro Ish Monroe) and I landed her very quickly.”

Hill said that he is planning on staying in the general area for most of the day tomorrow, “there are more bedding fish around,” he said. “I will fish them when I see them, but will focus on the topwater.”

Lane: Looking Forward to Day 3
In His rookie Elite Series season, Bobby Lane has proven to be a contender. A fourth at the Bassmaster Classic, followed by a 3rd place showing last week at the Harris Chain have made him the odds on favorite for Rookie of the Year; if not The Angler of the Year. A third high finish at The Kissimmee Chain will bring the talk to the forefront, and he wants to make it happen.

“I definitely want to be in position to have another top 5 or maybe even a win this week,” Lane said. “I know I am on the fish to keep me in the race, but winning fish is another matter.”

Lane said that he is doing several things to catch his fish, using everything from sightfishing to flipping to topwater, and he will do more of the same tomorrow. “I think the wind is going to make the sightfishing hard, but most of my sight fish are gone anyway,” he said. “I am using a Gulp Sinking Minnow, a prop bait, a Horny Toad and will flip a worm around isolated pads if I come to them.”

He will wait to see what the wind will do to the water and make his decisions then, but feels that he should be able to pull enough weight to be around for the last day. “Where I go will depend on the wind and the direction that it blows, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.”
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DAY TWO STANDINGS