Posted  May 17th, 2008  4:25 pm CST

20 Pound Limit Pushes Roumbains to the Top 

Story by Brent Conway - Photos by Mark Jeffreys

Columbia, SC – Until this week’s Carolina Clash at Lake Murray, the sixth stop of the 2008 Elite Series regular season, the biggest roller coaster in the palmetto state was The Hurricane at Myrtle Beach. There have certainly been more highs and lows in this tournament than any of the best coasters the state offers.

Just as some started to figure out a few things, others seemingly lost the advantage they had. However, as evidenced time and again this year, if you can get to the Top 12 anything is possible. 

Most assumed that Murray would be the perfect opportunity where post-spawn specialists and hometown heroes would shine. Assumptions proved largely inaccurate though as Mark Davis, arguably the best post-spawn fisherman in the game, caught only two bass Saturday and there wasn’t but one homer in the Top 12 at the end of the day. 

The wind and clouds on Friday changed things up allowing the deep bite to be more productive, but Saturday there were few clouds and little wind – forcing some to go to their back-up plans. Some of them thrived as Saturday saw the biggest limits of the week, but some of the leaders stubbed their two in a big way.

For the first time this week anglers vying for the lead came in short of a five-fish tournament limit. The opposite was true of Fred Roumbanis as he stormed from the 15th slot to take the lead with a five fish went 20-9, giving him a three-day total of 48-15.

Ending the third quarter in second place was Steve Kennedy who, like Roumbanis before him, came charging into the Top 12 from 31st by weighing 22-4 in Saturday’s third period giving him a three-day combined weight of 48-8. 

Aaron Martens, in keeping with the trend, started his day in 15th place but ended it in third with 47-2 overall, thanks in large part to the statement-making stringer weighing 18-12 he brought to the scales.

Brian Snowden, who broke with the pack by starting his day in the Top 12, weighed 13-13 Saturday and will start Sunday in fourth place with a three-day total combined weight of 46-5. Edwin Evers started the day in fourth place, and after weighing 11-10 Saturday to boost his total weight to 45-9, ended it in fifth.

Rounding out the Super Six was the hometown hero Davy Hite, from nearby Ninety Six, SC, who weighed 19-4, and Norman, OK angler Brad Hallman, who crossed the scales with 14-1, giving them each 45-1 on the third day.

Roumbanis Away from the Pack
Fred Roumbanis just has a knack for catching the Berkley Big Bass and padding the precious college fund for son Jackson. While that honor may have escaped him, his Herculean day three effort gave him the ability to try again Sunday. “I caught a limit real quick this morning and just culled all day,” he explained.

But back to the “knack” thing for a minute. “I lost one first thing this morning that was eight or better,” he said. “That’s all part of fishing and actually gives me maybe a little more confidence because I know the kind of fish that I’m around.”

With confidence that he’s found an emerging pattern that has nothing to do with blueback, he likes his chances despite yet another change in weather for Sunday. “I feel really good about my bite right now,” he said. “I’m not catching a bunch of fish, but they’re all quality. If I can just keep my nose down and fish, I should do okay.”

Kennedy Finally Fished First
Speaking about the knack for going big, Steve Kennedy knows as well as anyone just how to do it. In what has been an unusually quiet year for the Alabama angler, Kennedy’s big bag of the day brought back to where he’s most comfortable – at the top. 

“I had an awesome day,” he said. “I’ve been around the fish all week, but I’ve had trouble getting on my best spots in the morning. Most of what I’ve been catching has been after 11:00. Today was the first time that I’d been able to get to my best spot and they were there.”

With four solid keepers off his prime water before 8:00 this morning, Kennedy was able to speculate a little. “I ran around looking a little bit and wound up catching another four-pounder,” he revealed. “I only caught two more fish after 8:00, so you can see how critical the early morning is for me.”

Not wanting to tip his hand just yet, Kennedy did say that his five-fish limit came off of four different baits – including a hand painted Seibel swimbait that he finished Friday night. “One of the places that I found today and I saw 10 or 15 fish swim off,” he said. 

“When the breeze kicked up, I rigged up (an unnamed Kinami prototype) and started fishing and caught that four. That’s pretty much how it was this morning too.”

For tomorrow, Kennedy explained that it’s all about getting to his spot. “Half of the field will pass me because I’m the slowest guy on the water,” he said. “Fortunately though, I’m the only guy who’d fished this spot to make the cut so I should be okay. The truth of it is that I could have 10 pounds just as easily as 20 pounds, so we’ll see.”

Martens Overcomes Adversity
Climbing from the 15th spot on the leader board, Aaron Martens is once again heading to the final day with a legitimate shot at earning another Elite Series crown. “Well, really I’ve battled my way here,” he said. “I’ve lost giants and had mechanical problems, but I was finally able to just fish for the first time all week.”

Though his battery problems were resolved, Martens said that his run-and-gun from the first day might have been overkill. “I realized yesterday that there are fish all over this lake,” he explained. “I decided to just pick a couple of areas and just work them.”

What convinced him to stay put was what he was seeing while trying to conserve battery juice. “It was getting to the point where I was having problems cranking my big motor so I was trying to stay put a little more,” he explained. “I started to realize that where there would be five fish schooling on the point at first, if you wait 20 minutes, there might be 50.”

As much as anything though, Martens explained that a change in line size on his drop shot has proven key. “I started out with eight-pound line,” he said. “I switched to six-pounds yesterday and it really made a lot of difference. You definitely have to chase (the fish) down with that light line, but it pays off.”

With a much-thinned field Martens plans to run his gravy and hope for the best. “Today I really had to camp out a little bit more than I might have like to,” he said. “But I will start at my best spot tomorrow since the field is so small now. There’s a local tournament that’s on the water, so I’ll have to content with the club guys too.”

Snowden Making Every Cast Count
Sunday marks the second time this season where Missouri angler Brian Snowden starts the day with a shot at his first Elite Series win. Less than two pounds out of the lead, he’s got to make everything count – something he’s struggled with until Saturday. “Today I got real fortunate and caught the two biggest fish that came up,” he said.

“Fishing the way that I am, particularly around schooling fish, every cast has to count.”

Snowden remarked that he and his partner boated over 20 bass each Saturday. “You can catch fish in all of the same areas, but the big bite is hit and miss,” he said. “We just wore them out today on a little drop shot, but the bigger fish are coming on the Seibel – and that can be a gamble.”

Wind his friend right now, Snowden explained, and he’s hoping a breeze blows much of Sunday. “If it slicks off like it did today, the first two hours are your best shot,” he said. “After that it’s really tough so I’ll take all the wind I can get tomorrow.”

Evers Wants to Close One
Sunday marks the third straight final-day appearance for Edwin Evers. While Clarks Hill is still a bittersweet pill, he learned a valuable lesson about fishing blueback lakes. “I can’t let that bug me,” he said. 

Hite Hopeful on His Homefield
Davy Hite has said multiple times that winning at Murray is a career-long goal. He’s battled his way into contention, but explained that things had to go right to get there. “I had 19 pounds today which is what I hoped to have everyday,” he said. 

“I’ve been losing some fish everyday, but today I only lost one. When you can improve your batting average like that, it carries you a long way.”

While he’s not buying into the home field advantage completely, Hite does believe that with the pressure Murray has received this week his vast knowledge and experience has been critical. “I caught a good amount of fish today on a real subtle place,” he said. “Unless you had a great deal of experience on this lake you wouldn’t know that it’s there. 

“But with the herring in here, I wouldn’t say that it gives me a big advantage, but it does allow me to maybe fish places that aren’t as pressured and are a little more out of the way.”

Hite has stayed shallow all week, and won’t change a thing for Sunday’s final round. “I know what it takes to win on this lake, and I know that you won’t be able to do it out deep,” he said. “You can catch a lot of keepers out shallow, but nothing over three or four pounds.

“About the only way that I would go out deep tomorrow is if I am just totally struggling and need to finish my limit.”

Hallman Hoping for Consistency to Close
Brad Hallman started the week inside the Top 12, and, since Thursday, he’s chipped his way into the Super Six – and he’s done it by being incredibly consistent. “I’ve moved up a little every day this week by just being consistent,” he said. “I know that there were some guys that blasted them today, but I feel really good about what I’m doing right now.”

While Hallman is confident that his consistency can pay off, he wants to hedge his bets by keeping any bad luck at bay. “It just keeps shutting off at noon,” he said, and jokingly suggested that The On The Water crew was buggering his bite. “I think it’s because everyday this week the Legend and Mark have shown up around that time. So, tomorrow, no Legend, just kidding!  The Legend is great.”

Lost fish are a fact of life when fishing top water or a swimbait. Hallman explained that were it not for that, the leader board would look a lot different. “I’m losing fish just like everyone else is, so I really think that it all comes down to whoever can boat the most fish. We’re all seeing the size out there, and if each of us boated everything that slapped our bait we’d each have better than 20 pounds a day.

Tomorrow, Hallman explained that he’s not changing anything. “I like what I’m doing, which isn’t anything special,” he said. “If I can keep them all hooked up, it could really get interesting.”

DAY THREE STANDINGS

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT ON THIS STORY