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Lake
Fork, TX. – In 2007 the Professional Anglers Association (PAA) introduced a unique, first of its kind bass tournament pitting teams of professional anglers against each other on a slot limit lake. The Toyota Texas Bass Classic brought together 104 of the best anglers from the BASS Elite Series and FLW tour and created 26 four man teams to compete on legendary Lake Fork for a stunning $250,000 first place prize. Based on the success of the inaugural event the PAA brought the tournament back in 2008 for a repeat performance.
The first two days of the event the anglers are split into two, four hour flights. Two members of each team fish together for the morning flight. After a mid-day strategy session, the second half of the team fish the remaining four hours completing the day.
On the final day, the top five teams send out all four members for both flights while still maintaining the mid-day strategy session. In order to observe the slot limit and maximize the anglers weight capabilities each boat was assigned an observer with a tool kit including a scale, a measuring board, a hand held radio, and other accessories.
Each angler is allowed to count their best five fish. The angler and the observer agree on the weight, the weight is recorded, and the fish is immediately released back into the lake. The only exception is that each competitor is allowed to carry one fish that exceeds the slot limit of 24 inches back to the stage for weigh-in.
The first day of the tournament was preceded by a late spring cold front blowing through in the middle of the night sending the temperatures into the lower 40s and brought bellowing winds out of the northeast. What was a sure thing merely hours ago had turned into true test of the anglers ability to overcome and adapt.
Jasper Engine & Transmissions pro Chad Morgenthaler explained how to make the best of the conditions, “You just have to make the right adjustments and it’s on!” Yum pro Matt Reed jokingly added, “We’re on Optima plan C” today.
Stiff north winds and post frontal conditions did not stop these anglers from dominating the lake and proving their ability. The team captained by Dave Wolak ended their day in first place with 72 pounds, 4 ounces. Their position was anchored by Mike McClelland and Dave Wolak’s morning swim bait bite. In four hours of fishing time McClelland’s best five fish weighed a rock solid 29 pounds while Wolak, weighed a hefty 30-pound, 4-ounce limit of bass.
Following close behind in second place was the team led by the reigning champion team’s captain, Toyota pro Terry Scroggins. Their first total of 70 pounds, 4 ounces put them in contention for a repeat. Topping off the first day was the BASS Elite Series rookie Bobby Lane with his giant 11-pound, 12-ounce Lake Fork largemouth.
Day two greeted the morning flight of anglers with not only 45 degree temperatures, but a shift in the wind that changed everything. To top off the changing conditions, the pros were faced with a local tournament series hosting a field of 96 boats adding yet more traffic to the already heavily pressured fish of Lake Fork.
The winds blew strong out of the south and water which was accessible on day one was no longer fishable. The leader board experienced a shake up and the team captained by Skeeter pro Kelly Jordon leapfrogged the pack jumping from 11th place to secure the number one position with a two day total of 122 pounds, 12 ounces. Jordon’s team, loaded with Lake Fork guide Lance Vick, BP pro David Walker, and Elite Series angler David Smith, focused on offshore structure.
They capitalized on their in-depth knowledge of the lake and posted a hefty 76 pounds, 8 ounces fishing deep diving crankbaits over specific structure they have learned over the years. Team Scroggins maintained their second place position with a two day total of 115 pounds while Morgenthaler’s team moved up from 6th place to 3rd with 101 pounds, 4 ounces. Finishing out the top five and filling the cut for the final day was Bobby Lane’s team with 97 pounds, 12 ounces and team Iaconelli with 92 pounds, 8 ounces.
The final day of the tournament was still anyone’s game. A 30 pound separation between first and fifth is not a deficit to large to overcome when fishing a lake like Fork. A mere eight pounds holding team Scroggins from the first place position could be made up with just one cast, and that had Jordon and his team nervous. “We have our work cut out for us today” claimed Jordon.
The final day was a grind with a mix of cloud cover and steadily increasing winds. Some patterns fell apart while others prevailed. The shallow bite was inconsistent and the deep bite was off too. “The fish were not out like we thought they would be” stated Jordon.
With only one team left to weigh in and Jordon’s team sitting in the hot-seat, a nervous Jordon instructed the tournament director, “I can hardly breathe, let’s get this thing over.” The weights were revealed and team with the local favorites of Kelly Jordon and Lance Vick had cranked their way to victory earning the $250,000 prize with their 228-pound total for the weekend.
Lane’s team finished second with a solid 219 pounds, 12 ounces, followed by Morgenthaler and his team who rallied from behind and improved their position to third place with 183 pounds. Team Scroggins’ bite fell off and they slipped to fourth with 180 pounds, 3 ounces. Mike Iaconelli’s team earned the fifth place position with 146 pounds, capping off another successful event for the PAA.
First Place: Kelly Jordon, Lance Vick, David Walker, David Smith
“Everyone was on the same page and wanted to do the same thing” stated team member David Walker while explaining one of the keys to their success. The team focused their efforts on long casts with the deep diving crankbaits and really keyed in on areas that both Jordon and Vick knew well. The team would run to a spot, crank it over a few times then move on to the next. They would revisit these holes throughout the day and sponge every last fish they could off of it. “We knew little places the fish tend to congregate. Sometimes we would catch them, sometimes not” stated Walker.
Jordon and Walker went shallow when the sun broke through the clouds and put four fish in the boat before heading back to their deep water pattern. “We went sight fishing for numbers” expressed Jordon. David Smith hauled in 62-04 pounds throughout the weekend and enjoyed his time on the water. “I’ve known these guys for a long time and they are great team mates” stated Smith. According to Vick, the key to their success was teamwork, a good strategy, good leadership, and sticking with their plan.
Second Place: Bobby Lane, Chad Brauer, Ben Matsubu, Byron Velvick
Lane’s 11-pound, 12-ounce big fish aided them in their quest for the victory but it was not quite enough. They too targeted deep water structure throwing deep running cranks as well. Bobby explained, “We made long casts, then stuck our rod tips as far down into the water as we could.”
One thing that helped the team was that Matsubu was a part of Jordon’s 2007 team and he believes that gave him a good knowledge base to start from. It’s said that a decision can come back to haunt you and Velvick found that to be very true today when he only put 20 gallons of gas in the boat. “I was trying to keep the boat light for sight fishing” he explained. Unfortunately, on their way to their last stop before weigh in they ran out of gas and we not able to make that last stop.
Third Place: Chad Morgenthaler, Stacey King, Brian Penso, Matt Reed
Penso commented about the several fish this week that he could not move, “I just could not turn them.” Reed admitted they struggled a little bit, “Stacey and Brian bailed us out.” The team was able to maximize everything they had in practice and King excitingly expressed, “there is no way to measure how much fun this tournament is.” King was fishing a BPS Sticko on a jig head while Morgenthaler targeted post spawn fish on the first break line.
Fourth Place: Terry Scroggins, Shaw Grigsby, Craig Dowling, Russ Lane
The spot where Russ Lane racked up so many fish last year during the event was not holding the fish again this year. Lane commented, “I tried that spot yesterday and nothing but today we caught some fish off of it.” Scroggins too had a honey hole last year but the fish just were not there like last year “We caught fish there again but it just ran out” he stated.
Fifth Place: Team 17 – Mike Iaconelli, Danny Correia, Randy Howell, Cliff Pace
“I’ve caught more big fish here than I ever have at any other lake” exclaimed Correia. The team targeted pre and post spawn fish focusing their efforts in 15 foot of water. Iaconelli explained that they had to make an adjustment, “we tried shallow first but switched to deep water; we swung for the fences and missed.” Randy Howell commented, “I had a good jig bite but the wind made it hard to fish the spots I wanted to.” Howell also added that he felt the local tournament Saturday affected his fishing because of the pressure on the fish up shallow.
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