RICHMOND, Va. – Randy Howell presented himself with the sweetest Father’s Day gift of all, albeit a day early. He caught 15 pounds, 4 ounces of bass today to overcome a Day 1 culling error and expand his narrow Day 2 lead from 1-4 to more than 6 pounds to win the 2013 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Virginia’s James River.
 
Along the way, he did his best to keep the local economy rolling. The nearby gas stations were certainly happy, as he drove his boat 40-plus miles to the top of the distant Chickahominy River tributary each day, as did many others. Once there, he caught 80 percent of his bass on a wacky rigged Yamamoto Senko soft stickworm. Unfortunately, he ran out of the lures mid-event and had to spend $100 at a local tackle store to restock.
 
Ultimately, though, it paid off when he weighed in three consecutive limits of more than 15 pounds, totaling 47-11 and beating runner-up Mike Hicks by 6 pounds, 1 ounce. Most significantly, as long as Howell fishes the remaining two Northern Opens scheduled for this year, he will have clinched a spot in next February’s Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville, in his adopted home state of Alabama.
 
Howell also won a prize package that included cash and a Nitro Z9 powered by a Mercury 225 Pro XS outboard, packaged with a tandem axle trailer, Minn Kota Maxxum 80 trolling motor and Lowrance HDS-7 electronics.
 
While Howell receives his mail in Alabama, this week he proved that you can go home again. He won within approximately a hundred miles of where he grew up, fishing familiar waters, in front of many members of his family. Indeed, even though the crowd for the final weigh-in at the Ashland, Va., Bass Pro Shops was large, it seemed that just about every other one of them was somehow related to the champ.
 
He caught most of his bass close to the Walker Dam, separating the upper end of the Chickahominy River from Chickahominy Lake.
 
“That first day, my partner was throwing a Senko wacky style and I was throwing one on a drop shot,” Howell said. “When he caught a nice one behind me, I changed to a wacky rig, and that’s when I started catching better fish. Over the next couple of days, I fine-tuned my presentation, cut my weight down, and when I caught two 5-pounders back to back, I figured out the spot had the potential to win the tournament.”
 
This marks Howell’s first Bassmaster victory since April 2004, when he won a reduced-field Elite 50 tournament on Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas. Since then, there have been several times that he’s led after a day or two of competition, but he’s never been able to close the deal. Last year, he led an Elite Series tournament at New York’s Oneida Lake after two days, but only weighed in four fish the last day and fell to Boyd Duckett by 6 ounces. Today, he had two fish over 4 pounds early in the morning, but when the bite slowed, he trusted his instincts in a way he had not at Oneida and it paid off.

“At Oneida I had a gut feeling at 12 o’clock and I talked myself out of it,” he said. “I finally went there with 45 minutes left to go and caught some fish, but it was too late. I feel like if I had gone there when I first thought about it, I’d have won. Today I felt like I had to run back to a spot within a mile or two of the ramp, so I did it, and I culled two times. In the end, I didn’t need it, but I feel good about it and hope that momentum will stay with me the rest of the year.”
 
After Thursday’s storms and Friday’s windy conditions, today there were bluebird skies and barely a lick of wind. That shut down the fishing for many of the remaining anglers. After multiple 16-pound bags were weighed in on Friday, no one other than Howell had more than 12-9 today.
 
Former tour-level pro Mike Hicks started the day in second place and held that position at the end of the day, although Howell’s big catch widened their gap. He weighed in three limits of Chickahominy River bass that totaled 41-10 to start off the Northern Opens in grand style.
 
He fished several creeks in the middle section of the Chickahominy, primarily with a black-and-blue Lil’ Hustler Swim Jig and a black Lobina Lures Rico. The key was his local understanding of the tides.
 
“This is my old stomping grounds, and I know that the low tide concentrates the fish,” he said. “When the tide would get low, I’d fish up around channel swings up against the bank. The bigger fish were up against wood.”
 
He certainly wanted to qualify for the Classic, as his father did years ago, but claimed he was satisfied with his result.
 
“To get beat by Randy Howell, the most professional pro on the Elite Series circuit, it’s hard to have bad sentiment about that,” he stated.
 
Mike Iaconelli, who finished in the Top 12 here in 2011, once again demonstrated his exceptional understanding of tidal water, finishing third with 41-4. He claimed that he lost one or two fish each day that would have made a difference.
 
“I fished at 90 percent each day,” he said. “At this level, you can’t do that. That’s the game.”
 
Local Kelly Pratt, who won here in 2011 and finished fourth last year, once again finished fourth. The biggest final day move came from New Jersey’s Pete Gluszek, who jumped from 12th to 6th on the strength of his 12-9 limit.

All time attendance records were set this weekend on Lake Fork, Texas, as Skeeter
Products, Inc., manufacturer of Skeeter brand boats, hosted its largest owner’s
tournament in the company’s history drawing 988 Boats with 1,946 anglers competing.
Donald McCormick of Greenville, Indiana won the event with an 11.19 pound bass,
winning the angler a 2013 Skeeter FX Series bass boat powered by a Yamaha SHO 250 outboard engine, MinnKota 101 Trolling motor, Humminbird Electronics package all on a Skeeter Custom tandem axle trailer valued at $75,000. McCormick caught the fish on a Net Bait 5” Salt Lick soft plastic lure in 10 feet of water during the first hour of the
tournament.

“I basically had a hard time even fishing, or sleeping, the rest of the weekend, anything
can happen on Lake Fork, there are so many big fish here – my fish could be beaten on
any cast,” said McCormick after accepting the keys to his new Skeeter Boat at the
events awards ceremony.

While McCormick’s lead held the entire weekend, one of the big stories of the
tournament was when 14 year old Garrett Reding of Van, Texas weighed in a 2.95 bass
which was the largest bass caught “under” the Lake Fork Slot limit of 16” – 24”. The
bass was caught on the second day of the tournament just prior to the final weigh in of
the day which created a dramatic finish. Garrett was awarded a Skeeter ZX200 bass
boat powered by a Yamaha SH0 200 outboard engine, MinnKota 80 pound trolling
motor, Humminbird Electronics package on a Skeeter custom tandem axle trailer valued
at $45,000.

“I knew it was a good one, but I did not realize that it was going to be that big,”
commented Reding. “When the scales lit up, and I saw that it was almost 3 pounds, I
could not believe my eyes”. Redings fish held throughout the final weigh-in hour and
was declared the winner with his mom and dad alongside him to share in the victory –
and to tow the boat home.

The weekend was filled with many activities and ways to win, including two Yamaha four wheeler giveaways. Everyone that took a Demo Ride in a new Skeeter, as well as for those that participated in the “Boatload of Toys” charity toy drive got their names in the hat to win one of two Yamaha ATV Four wheelers. . Paul Pair won the demo ride draw prize, and Steven Andrews took home the other Yamaha four wheeler for donating to the toy drive.

Skeeter’s Professional Demo Team gave over 800 demo rides, and over 1000 toys were collected which will be distributed to East Texas Charities this fall prior to Christmas.

In addition, 50 “Rubber Ducks” were distributed all over the lake during the event, and
found by anglers competing in the event for additional awards and prizes. Event host
Fish Fishburne, emceed the event and highlighted not only the anglers but all the other
vendors, interactive displays and other features of the event.

Angler Brian Stedman won the “Guide to the Green” event which is an industry exclusive special part of the tournament where anglers that win each hour on Saturday, along with two draw names, are paired with Skeeter/Yamaha Pro Anglers for a two hour fishing event with a drive through weigh in. In front of 2,000+ people, Stedman won the event and earned a VIP trip for 2 to the Bassmasters Classic in 2014, complete with airfare, ground transportation, lodging and $500 cash spending money. Stedman fished with Bassmaster Elite Series Pro’s Grant Goldbeck and Lance Vick. “The ‘Guide to the
Green’ shootout is one of the highlights of the Owners Tournament, and the experience,
to fish on a “team” with Bassmaster Pros and have a chance to go to the Classic with
VIP credentials, is a once in a lifetime experience,” commented Ben Jarrett, Director of
Sales and Marketing for Skeeter.

Additionally, the Skeeter Cooking Team held a Texas-sized BBQ on Saturday evening,
preparing more than 2,000 plates for Skeeter owners, their family and locals. “The BBQ
is prepared, cooked and served by Skeeter Employees as a way to show gratitude to our loyal customers friends and families. As with every year, there is no charge for the
dinner for contestants or their families.

“The Skeeter Owners Tournament has become the largest of its kind and remains the
premier event for Skeeter Owners” commented Jarrett.

For complete photos and coverage of the event, please go
to www.facebook.com/skeeterteam

Skeeter Products, Inc., the Official Boat Sponsor of BASS, makes fishing and boating
fun and rewarding with an owner’s tournament, its “Real Money” tournament incentive
program, and a topnotch dealer network. Skeeter is the recipient of 11 consecutive
NMMA® C.S.I. Customer Satisfaction Index awards, and its boats are certified to meet
strict U.S. Coast Guard and American Boat & Yacht Council standards.

For a catalog
call (800) SKEETER, or for more information visit www.skeeterboats.com. For a catalog
call (800) SKEETER, or for more information visit www.skeeterboats.com.

Keep-up with Skeeter news, happenings, anglers and events by following us online at
www.facebook.com/skeeterteam
www.twitter.com/skeeterteam
www.youtube.com/skeeterteam

BENTON, Ky. – Two former Board members and one newcomer have been elected to serve on the Professional Anglers Association (PAA) Board of Directors.

Returning to the Board are veteran anglers Matt Reed of Texas and Timmy Horton of Alabama. Horton had previously served as President of PAA and Reed had previously served as Treasurer. Both members will bring a great deal of knowledge and experience to the Board.

Also elected to the Board of Directors is 2011 PAA Angler of the Year and veteran FLW angler, Todd Auten of South Carolina. Having competed at the top levels of FLW and B.A.S.S., Auten brings many years of experience and some new insight to the Board of Directors.

Nominees were presented in May to the PAA Tour- and Legends- level members for voting. Nominees from the PAA Tour and Legends membership were solicited from PAA members.

Other current board members include Scott Burns of Texas, John Crews of Virginia, Kurt Dove of Texas, Johnny Grice of Texas, Charlie Ingram of Tennessee, Kelly Power of Missouri and Brian Snowden of Missouri.
 
In 2013 the PAA is experiencing new growth and great numbers at the Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series events. The new Board of Directors will be at the forefront of the decision making process that allows the PAA to continue this positive trend.  The new Board will be face with many decisions.
 
One such decision will be whether to allow or disallow the use of umbrella style rigs in PAA Tournament Series events in the future. This year’s voting ballot also included a membership survey of all Tour- and Legends- level members as to their thoughts on the use of the rigs in PAA events. The result of the survey was overwhelmingly against the use of umbrella style rigs. Of the 147 members participating in the survey, 96 were against the use of umbrella rigs and 51 were for the use of the umbrella rigs.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two leaders of B.A.S.S.’s grass-roots membership and conservation programs today announced plans to retire from their positions.
 
Noreen Clough of Clermont, Fla., a former Southeast regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will retire from her position as B.A.S.S. national conservation director on Aug. 9. She has held the post for seven years.
 
Don Corkran, a 20-year employee of B.A.S.S. who served most of that time as national director of the B.A.S.S. Nation, will retire July 8.
 
Corkran will be replaced by Jon Stewart, currently senior manager of the B.A.S.S. Nation. Stewart, who oversees tournament operations for the B.A.S.S. Nation team, is a past president of the Kansas B.A.S.S. Nation. A search is under way for Clough’s successor.

Clough has spent more than 36 years in natural resource conservation, including chief of natural resources for the National Wildlife Refuge System and deputy assistant director for fisheries in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as well as that agency’s southeast regional director.
 
“My best years have been those at B.A.S.S. as conservation director,” she said in a statement. “It’s been rewarding to see the B.A.S.S. Nation Conservation program grow and deliver amazing on-the-ground conservation and angler benefits.” In addition to coordinating the efforts of B.A.S.S. Nation conservation volunteers in 47 states, Clough has served on numerous national boards involved in fisheries conservation. She will remain a board member of Friends of Fisheries, a volunteer organization supporting the USFWS Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation program.
 
Corkran, a Vietnam War veteran with 22 years of service as a Command Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army, joined the B.A.S.S. tournament staff shortly after retiring from active duty. He served more than 17 years as B.A.S.S. Nation director. During that time, he led the grass-roots organization in its largest growth cycle, when it nearly doubled in size. He has also been involved in the expansion of competitive fishing programs for high school students and other youngsters as well as the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series.
 
“I’m proud to have served as director during these efforts,” Corkran said, “and I’m confident that the B.A.S.S. Nation — although not as large as it was a decade ago — is stronger now than at any time in its history.”
 
“Our organization and the sport of bass fishing will miss the leadership of Noreen and Don,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “We are grateful not only for their innumerable accomplishments on behalf of bass fishing, but also for their service to our nation during their previous careers. We wish them well in their retirement.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tackle storage giant Plano Molding Co. has obtained the title sponsorship to the final event of the 2013 Bassmaster Elite Series season.
 
The Plano Championship Chase on Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River will take place Aug. 22-25 out of Detroit, Mich.
 
“We are proud that Plano decided to play a central role in our Elite Series season finale,” said Bruce Akin, CEO of B.A.S.S., which owns and produces the Elite Series. “The B.A.S.S.-Plano relationship goes back many years. This, our newest endeavor together, enriches that valued partnership.”
 
Plano, based in Plano, Ill., wanted to partner with B.A.S.S. to be the title sponsor for several very good reasons, said Jesse Simpkins, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing for Plano. One reason: The Plano Championship Chase will feature the crowning of the 2013 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
 
“Top pros, including our own Kevin VanDam, will be driving toward the goal of being the Angler of the Year, a title that rivals the Bassmaster Classic as the most coveted title in all of bass fishing,” Simpkins said.
 
VanDam, the famed seven-time Angler of the Year and a member of Plano’s pro team, is in contention for an eighth title this year. After five of eight Elite events, VanDam is in third place. Ahead of him in the race are two more of the sport’s greats, Edwin Evers and Skeet Reese, a setup that strongly hints at a fierce fight for the title at the Plano Championship Chase.

Florence, Alabama -

The duo did it by plying deep shell beds of Lake Pickwick with Strike King swimbaits.  According to Zack, the key to success was their research with electronics.  "We spent nearly all of our practice idling and scanning structure.  When we did find a school, we'd just make enough casts and catches to figure out the size of fish that were holding there."  Apparently the strategy was very successful.  Partner Matthew Roberts added, "We ended up with about four or five different schools and we just kept rotating through them.  We felt like they were always biting somewhere, so we'd hit a spot for 15 or 20 minutes.  If they weren't firing at that time, we'd move on to the next one until we hit on the right fish at the right time."

Their timing and persistence was good enough for the tournament's largest bag of fish and the day's largest bass at 7.87 pounds, both of which were also ACA records.  Their haul netted them a $5,000 first place prize, a new Hydrowave, the Daily Berkley/Abu Garcia Big Bass Award, as well as the Costa Overall Big Bass Award.

For the second year in a row, Joe Slagle of Tennessee Tech University was the second place boater.  This year he did it with a new partner, Cliff Dye.  The two were able to top last year's performance by over three pounds, weighing in a total of 44.27 pounds.  When asked about finishing as the runner-up two consecutive years, Joe said, "It stings a bit, but I'm pumped.  We locked up to Wilson and fished the Wheeler tailraces again and had a great event.  Really everything worked out perfect.  We executed well and didn't lose anything that would have made a difference, so I'm satisfied.  We just needed one more big bite and it just didn't come for us."  Cliff echoed Joe's sentiment, "We really wanted to win, especially for Joe after he was so close last year.  In the end we made the right decisions and fished really well together, it just didn't work out quite right."

Despite finishing second, the teammates netted more than first place money.  Thanks to the ACA and their sponsors, Slagle and Dye loaded up on contingency prizes and bonuses.  They took home $2,500 in second place prize money, a $500 ACA contingency bonus, a $1,000 BoatUS Weigh to Win bonus, a $1,000 Cabela's Angler Cash gift card bonus, a $1,000 Yamaha bonus, a $1,000 Ranger Cup University bonus, a $250 Berkley bonus, as well as a new Hydrowave.  Collectively their catch was worth over $7,500 in cash and prizes.

The rest of the Top 5 included:
3rd Place: Bethel University - Cody Ross and Dewey Swims - 43.85 lbs.
4th Place: Tennessee Chattanooga - Trent Huie and Cody Frazier - 42.90 lbs.
5th Place: North Carolina State - Paul Owens and Tyler Faggart - 41.19 lbs.

Full results can be found at www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com

In one of the first columns I wrote this year, I mentioned that when I rate each competitive performance this season (which I’m doing with the Saturday Scorecard), two things will no doubt happen. There will be weeks when I fish as well as I can fish, but my tournament finish won’t be good.

For example, I might finish 50th in an event, but in my heart I believe I did everything the right way. As a result, my Saturday Scorecard ranking will be good in spite of a not-so-great finish. There is also the flipside. I might finish high but be real disappointed in how I fished. And that is precisely what happened at the Alabama River.

Let me tell you how the tournament went, and you will understand why I wasn’t pleased with my 14th place finish. And by the way, 14th is my best finish of the season, and it moved me up to 23rd in Angler of the Year points. Not bad for a guy still on the comeback trail.

In a nutshell, though, the Alabama River was my worst performance of the year in a lot of respects. I made a bad decision early, and that can kill you in a tournament. I knew going in that there were two really good areas. The best was below Jordan Dam, and that’s where the tournament was won. But there was a second good place. That was at the other end of the Alabama River. The Jordan Dam was east of Prattville, the second place was around Jones Bluff, which was west – a long way west. I didn’t go to the Jordan Dam because I wasn’t sure the water was going to be open or fishable.

So three of us headed west: Alton Jones, J.Todd Tucker and me. We all knew this could be a good area, but it was a gamble. Alton and Todd were in position where they could wait on big fish. A. high finish would be good for both of them. I was in a little different spot. I needed to make the cut. And with a few breaks, I might finish high. But at the same time, if I didn’t get a bite, I had a few other options.

So on the first day, after making the hour trip west, I fished until 10:30 and I hadn’t had a bite. So I left. I went to a place where I thought I could get a limit, and that’s what I did. I got a little more than 12 pounds the first day and 13 the second. That put me in 42nd place.

I figured on the third day that I had nothing to lose, so I headed back west. And on Saturday, I had a big bag that put me in 14th place. Just think, if I had had enough patience on the first day to stick it out, I might have finished with Alton, near the top. So the bottom line is that I finished in 14th place, but the tournament sucked. It should have been better and it was my fault. I chose to leave on the first day because I’m fishing conservatively. I’m trying to be smart, but I’m also not taking as many chances as I normally would. I stayed with the conservative sure thing on the second day because I I thought it gave me the surest way to stay within the cutline. 

Fishing conservatively is one thing. Fishing TOO conservatively is another. I did that, and as a result, this scorecard won’t be great.

(Just for review, in the Saturday Scorecard, I rate the critical phases of my performance in tournaments on a 1-10 scale.)
 
SATURDAY SCORECARD FOR THE ALABAMA RIVER
FINISH POSITION (14th) – Scorecard Rating: 8
The system is: If I win, I get 10 points. If I finish in the top 10 percent of the field, I’ll get 9 points, the top 20 percent equals 8 points, etc. My 14th-place finish equals 8. Not bad.

DECISION-MAKING – Scorecard Rating: 3
Again, this was simply the worst one I’ve fished all year in terms of decisions. Alton told me later that as good as his tournament was, he didn’t catch his first fish on Thursday or Friday until 11 o’clock. By 11 o’clock on the first day,  I had given up on the area. And that was no small choice, because it took more than an hour to get down there. I wasn’t patient enough.

Then on Day 2 I was in that odd position of needing to make sure I got a limit to keep myself within the cut. So I went out to my safe and got the 13 pounds that was good enough to move me from 48th to 42nd.

Finally, on Saturday, I fished the way I should have for two days. I caught 16 and a half pounds. If I’d done that for three days I would have ended up in something like third place.
 
FOCUS AND COMPOSURE – Scorecard Rating: 6
I was frustrated the first two days and comfortable the third. I’m pleased about one thing. Even thought I made a terrible decision to leave a good area too early, at least I fished through it and caught enough to keep me in the hunt.

PREPARATION – Scorecard Rating: 8
Preparation was ok.

PRACTICE – Scorecard Rating: 4
I was really disappointed in practice. As I said, the tournament was won below Jordan Dam, and I didn’t go there. I should have.

ALABAMA RIVER SATURDAY SCORECARD RATING – 29
                                      *

Nashua N.H. - Raymarine Inc., a world leader in marine electronics, is pleased to announce new additions to its team of Pro Ambassadors for 2013. With the release of Raymarine’s Dragonfly Sonar/GPS for fresh water anglers, Raymarine has joined forces with some of the most respected anglers in the sport of professional bass fishing.

Raymarine’s Pro Ambassadors include legendary veterans and up-and-coming hard chargers eager to make their mark on the professional bass tournament scene. Raymarine’s new elite professional anglers include:

Zell Rowland, of Montgomery, Texas has earned 4 BASS tour event titles and qualified for 13 Bassmaster Classics. Named one of the 35 Top Anglers of All Time by the BASS. Known as “The Topwater King”, this charismatic angler has earned over $1 million in tournament winnings over his career.

Bernie Schultz, of Gainesville, Florida is a seasoned veteran of BASS and FLW pro tours. His achievements include two Canadian titles and two US titles, while qualifying for eight Bassmaster Classics and five FLW Championships. Bernie is also a freelance illustrator whose works appear regularly in numerous fishing-related magazines, books and publications.

David Fritts of Lexington, North Carolina is one of the most successful veterans in all of bass fishing, and has been professionally fishing for over 20 years. Fritts is known as the crank bait master and he has used this bait almost exclusively to notch his numerous victories and top-10 finishes with both FLW and BASS tournament circuits.

James Niggemeyer, of Van, Texas is a Bassmaster Elite angler and 16-year tournament veteran. James’ accomplishments include 1 FLW series win, as well as 3 wins and 9-Top-10’s in BASS events. James is widely respected by his friends and peers for his incredible combination of character, perseverance and faith that have brought him much success as a professional angler.

“We are very excited to be aligned with some of the most respected pros in bass fishing,” said Larry Rencken VP of Sales for Raymarine. “As Raymarine continues to develop leading edge technology like Dragonfly with CHIRP DownVision™ we are confident our new partnership will be a win-win scenario for both Raymarine and the pros”

In addition to elite pro bass veterans Raymarine is also proud to announce the addition of two new up and coming competitive anglers:

Trait Crist, of Fort Worth, Texas is an up-and-coming angler fishing the 2013 Bassmaster Opens, and working towards qualifying for the 2014 Bassmaster Elite Series. Realizing that her love of fishing was far stronger than her passion for Wall Street, Trait left her career in investment management to become a full-time professional angler.

Steven Wisdom, from Alabama, fishes the BASS Open Tours and the Professional Anglers Association Tournament Series. An avid outdoorsman, Steven is also the president of FoodSource Lure Corportation. Wisdom’s professional fishing career started as a dream at age 6, and the pursuit of that dream has been a lifelong passion for him. A highly competitive angler, Wisdom is on the verge of breaking out and is destined to become one of the all-time greats.

About Raymarine
Raymarine, a world leader in marine electronics, develops and manufactures the most comprehensive range of electronic equipment for the recreational boating and light commercial marine markets. Designed for high performance and ease of use, the award-winning products are available through a global network of dealers and distributors. The Raymarine product lines include radar, autopilots, thermal night vision, GPS, instruments, fish finders, communications, and integrated systems. Raymarine is a division of FLIR Systems, a world leader in thermal imaging. For more information about Raymarine in the USA visit www.raymarine.com.

PELL City, Ala., — Thunder, lightning and a deluge of rain last night muddied Logan Martin Lake’s already stained water. The water level rose at least two feet and turned the tributaries feeding the lake into coffee-colored torrents.
 
The drastic change in conditions sent most of the pros that qualified for the Top 12 finale scrambling to find new water and fishing patterns. The anglers who claimed the Top 2 spots were able to catch bass using the same tactics that produced for them prior to Friday night’s monsoon.
 
David Kilgore of Jasper, Ala., sacked four solid bass today that brought his total to 46 pounds, 8 ounces. It was enough to snatch victory from Bassmaster Elite Series pro Greg Vinson of Alabama who finished second with 40 pounds, 15 ounces.
 
Kilgore’s winning lure was a white 1/2-ounce Strike King Pure Poison chattering jig dressed with a white Strike King Rage Tail Craw.
 
“I fished docks over 10 to 15 feet of water where the shad were spawning,” Kilgore said.
 
All but one of the bass that Kilgore brought to the scales during the three-day tournament were fat Coosa River spots. He caught 12 to 14 keepers a day the first two days. In Saturday’s final round, only one area of the lake was clear enough for his pattern to hold up.
 
The win earned Kilgore $10,000, a Nitro Z-9 powered by a Mercury 225 Pro XS outboard and a berth in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Guntersville. Kilgore knows Guntersville well and is ready to compete in the world championship of bass fishing.
 
Vinson keyed on spawning bluegills in shallow water around flooded shoreline grass. The bream beds were too deep to see, but he caught largemouth bass wherever bluegills nipped at his Texas rigged NetBait Mini Kickin’ B craw matched with a 1/4-ounce tungsten bullet weight. This bait and a Lobina Rico popper produced all of Vinson’s bass.
 
“I fished different areas every day,” Vinson said. “Today I was lucky enough to find a place that didn’t get extremely muddy.”
 
Tennessee Elite Series pro David Walker started the day in third place, which is where he ended up with a total of 40 pounds, 11 ounces. He struggled Saturday to bag a 9-pound, 12-ounce total, due to the challenging water conditions.
          
“Several people asked me if the water came up today,” Walker said. “It was like a Biblical flood out there.”
 
Walker caught largemouth and spotted bass over the course of the tournament. His primary lures included a Koppers Frog, a Z-Man ChatterBait and a spinnerbait. As the highest finishing owner of a Toyota truck, Walker pocketed a $1,500 bonus.

CLICK HERE for final standings.

PART 1: Saturday Scorecard for West Point was not impressive

The past two weeks we fished Elite Series events at West Point Lake and the Alabama River. After these two events, I stand in 23rd place in Angler of the Year points, and I have to admit that I’m right on track for the goals I set at the beginning of the year.

That’s good and it’s bad. The good part, obviously, is that it’s nice to reach most of your goals. The bad part is that I freely admit I’m fishing conservatively. We’ll talk about that more in some future columns, and I promise it’s not the way it’s always going to be.

But I set out this year to take the second step in what I called my personal “Comeback Tour.” I have to do things way differently than I did in 2011 when I bottomed out. Last year I had a decent year that ended with a victory at Oneida. That was Step 1 in the comeback.

This year, consistency was the goal. I set out to fish on Saturday every week, which meant making every cut. Only a handful of anglers do that. But in trying to make every cut (and in so doing make sure that I make the Classic field for 2014), sometimes you have to sacrifice the “going for broke” mentality that it takes to win a tournament.

So I’ve almost made my goal. In fact, I’m one fish short of making every cut so far. And that one slipup happened at West Point, when I couldn’t catch the fifth fish on Friday. It cost me a cut.

Here’s how the Scorecard read for West Point.

(Just for review, in the Saturday Scorecard, I rate the critical phases of my performance in tournaments on a 1-10 scale.)

SATURDAY SCORECARD FOR WEST POINT
FINISH POSITION (58th) – Scorecard Rating: 3

The system is: If I win, I get 10 points. If I finish in the top 10 percent of the field, I’ll get 9 points, the top 20 percent equals 8 points, etc. My 58th-place finish equals 3.

DECISION-MAKING – Scorecard Rating: 3
West Point was a tough event. Not many people had good practices. In fact, the only place on the lake where the fish were biting was around Highlands Marina. I started there, but I missed the fact that most of the weight was in the back of the creek.

On the first day I had a good boat draw and went straight to the area of the marina where I knew there would be fish. But as I staked my spot, my marshal counted 26 boats that passed me and went farther back into the creek. And it was easy to count them, because it was an idle area where everybody had to pass slowly. And I’ll repeat, 26 boats passed by me.

I also made a bad decision late. I had found a boat dock with a bunch of spots, and I knew I could probably catch a limit of small fish on that dock. But it would take 45 minutes to get in and out of there.

Late in the tournament, when I gave up on catching a fish of any size, I decided I would go to the dock and see if I could get the limit. But, as I said, it was late, and by the time I got to the dock, I would only have about 15 minutes of fishing time. So I took off and got to the edge of the creek, where I would have to start idling. And I decided it wasn’t worth it. I decided not to idle in. I spun around and went to a bridge, where I thought I could catch the fifth one- and maybe it would be bigger. It turned out to be a horrible decision, and I knew it in my gut when I made it.

Just to prove how bad it was, after I missed the cut, I went back into the creek and went to the boat dock. (I could do that then, because I was out of the tournament.) I got to the dock, made three casts and caught three fish.

That decision could have cost me an entire season. I don’t know if a 3 is a low enough rating.

FOCUS AND COMPOSURE – Scorecard Rating: 6
Even making a bad decision, I was ok with the fact that I didn’t freak out on the first day when I realized I had made a mistake. But the second day was frustrating because I wasn’t catching them. I just didn’t fish well the second day and got frustrated when I couldn’t put the fifth one in the boat.

PREPARATION – Scorecard Rating: 8
As I’ve said before, I don’t get many chances to pre-fish, and I didn’t pre-fish here. Preparation wasn’t the issue. I did what I had to do.

PRACTICE – Scorecard Rating: 3
Enough said. I found one decent area. But I missed the big one.

WEST POINT SATURDAY SCORECARD RATING – 23