|
sponsored by
Zeiner's Angler Supply
The Kansas Angler Online
and Swim Tail Lures |
Arkansas’ Short Takes Second Bassmaster Elite Series Victory on Pickwick Lake
May 2, 2010 - Saving his best for last, Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark. , registered the biggest limit of the tournament Sunday – a 23-pound, 5-ounce, haul despite a reduced competition day – and trounced the rest of the field on way to his second Bassmaster Elite Series victory at the Alabama Charge on Pickwick Lake . Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss. , finished a distant second, more than 4 pounds behind.
With nasty weather looming, BASS officials shortened the competition day to five hours in order to escape the brunt of the inclement weather. While some competitors who were making longer runs were adversely affected, Short, who totaled 75 pounds, 1 ounce over four days of competition, adapted to the parameters and boated the vast majority of his weight less than two hours into the day, effectively ending the tournament.
A frustrating start to the season – mainly due to the style of fishing that the venues have called for – is now in Short’s rearview mirror. Short cut his teeth on the Arkansas River and this week, used much of his experiences there to feel his way out on Pickwick. The back-to-basics approach paid off to the tune of $100,000.
“I kept telling myself throughout the week just to think of Pickwick like a river,” said Short, who took his first Elite victory on the Mississippi River . “I was discouraged after Saturday because I just couldn’t figure out how to get them to bite. But I landed my biggest fish early today (Sunday) and I knew it would be my day then.”
Short caught all of his fish on a Pepper’s Baits WEC crankbait, switching the colors from chartreuse classic when it was sunny to chartreuse black when it was cloudy. The balsa-based square-billed crank is in the same family of lures as the bait Short rode to victory on the Mississippi . The one-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier found the area which produced the majority of his winning catch on the first day of competition.
The 48-year-old found a creek, which produced all of his winning catch, on Thursday morning and preceded to catching cruising male bass. With a flurry of activity, he knew that the larger females had to be close behind. As he expanded on his area, he moved to the back of the creek and found a bevy of cover – including clumps of cypress tress mixed in with singular cypress trees.
On Sunday, Short’s early bass – a 6-12 brute – came off a singular tree, which prompted Short to strictly key on that cover the rest of the day.
“You couldn’t ask for a better area, it had everything,” said Short. “Trees, habitat, you name it. I knew the fish to win were in there, it was just a matter of me remaining patient and finding a way to catch them.”
The icing on the cake for the victory was Short’s uptick in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Short was in a disappointing 74th place heading into the tournament, but moved to 35th with his banner performance, which puts him safely in the 2011 Bassmaster Classic qualification cut.
Sticking to second place, as he has all week, was Pace. Pace worked a community hole, saturated with many of the other competitors who advanced to Sunday. The 29-year-old was able to milk it for all it was worth – including an 18-3 limit on Sunday -- but in the end, it couldn’t produce like Short’s spot.
Plying through a ton of bites, Pace threw a jig to tight, small areas that were home to roaming smallmouth. As the day progressed, he was moving towards the outer edges and finding quality large and smallmouth.
“I thought I gave myself a great chance with the day I had today,” said Pace, who qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason last season. “But it just wasn’t my time to win. Still, I have no regrets and it was a great week.”
Saturday leader Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., slipped to fifth. He was the only one in the Sunday field who was locking through to Lake Wilson , which took a sizable chunk of his fishing day. As such, he took one on the chin Sunday with the truncated day and his 12-11 limit was indicative of the risky approach. Still, Reese came in with zero expectations for Pickwick as this week marked his first time on the Tennessee River impoundment.
Couple that with his fourth consecutive top-five finish in Elite competition and Reese should find the silver lining in his performance. The top-five streak, which is quite rare, puts him more than 150 points in the lead in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
Behind Pace in third this week was Steve Kennedy of Auburn , Ala. , with 67-9. Moving up to fourth and scoring his best Elite finish of the season was Rick Morris of Virginia Beach , Va. , with 65-2. Reese rounded out the top five with 64-14.
Reese’s closest competitor in the AOY standings is Greg Hackney of Gonzales , La. Close behind Hackney is Edwin Evers (third) of Talala , Okla. , and Dean Rojas (fourth) of Lake Havasu City , Ariz. The full AOY standings can be found below.
Next up for the Elite Series is the Synergy Southern Challenge on Alabama ’s Lake Guntersville , another Tennessee River impoundment, on May 6-9.
Local sponsor of the Alabama Charge: Florence/Lauderdale Tourism.
The top 12 pros in the AOY standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, in which the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year will be determined.
Toyota Trucks Championship Week is set for July 24-31 and will be played out once again on two productive Alabama fisheries. The first leg, the July 24-25 Trophy Chase, returns to Lake Jordan out of Wetumpka. The finale, the Evan Williams Bourbon Trophy Triumph, is slated for July 30-31 on the Alabama River from Montgomery .
Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Berkley , Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota , Skeeter and Yamaha.
Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance and Triton Boats.
FINAL ALABAMA CHARGE STANDINGS
2010 Florence , AL 4/29-5/2
Pickwick Lake , Florence AL .
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 20 75-01 315 $100,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-03 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 12-15 Day 4: 5 23-05
2. Cliff Pace Petal, MS 20 70-04 295 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-09 Day 2: 5 16-00 Day 3: 5 16-08 Day 4: 5 18-03
3. Steve Kennedy Auburn , AL 20 67-09 290 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 18-14 Day 3: 5 16-08 Day 4: 5 16-11
4. Rick Morris Virginia Beach , VA 20 65-02 285 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 5 16-14 Day 4: 5 16-01
5. Skeet Reese Auburn , CA 20 64-14 285 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 13-00 Day 3: 5 20-04 Day 4: 5 12-11
6. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 20 63-08 276 $13,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 17-02 Day 3: 5 16-07 Day 4: 5 11-12
7. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 20 62-05 272 $13,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 14-04 Day 3: 5 20-08 Day 4: 5 13-03
8. Shaw E Grigsby Gainesville , FL 20 61-13 268 $12,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 15-09 Day 4: 5 13-14
9. Edwin Evers Talala, OK 20 61-01 264 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 5 16-01 Day 4: 5 11-15
10. Bill Lowen North Bend , OH 20 60-12 260 $12,500.00
Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 15-05 Day 3: 5 16-15 Day 4: 5 11-06
11. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 20 60-08 257 $11,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 17-09 Day 3: 5 16-15 Day 4: 5 08-15
12. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City , AZ 20 58-15 254 $10,500.00
Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 18-14 Day 3: 5 20-13 Day 4: 5 09-02
BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT
Bill Lowen North Bend , OH 07-00 $1,000.00
BERKLEY HEAVYWEIGHT OF TOURN
Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 23-05 $500.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 93 465 1257-06
2 93 465 1284-00
3 47 235 664-08
4 12 60 167-02
----------------------------------
245 1225 3373-00
TOYOTA TUNDRA BASSMASTER ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
2010 Alabama Charge - Florence , AL Pro Points After Pickwick Lake , Florence , Ala. Ending 05-02-2010, Day 4
-------------------------------------------
Place Name St Pts
-------------------------------------------
1 Skeet Reese Calif. 1170
2 Greg Hackney La. 1017
3 Edwin Evers Okla. 990
4 Dean Rojas Ariz. 984
5 Dave Wolak N.C. 963
6 Brian Snowden Mo. 947
7 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 938
8 Greg Vinson Ala. 918
8 Aaron Martens Ala. 918
10 Jeff Kriet Okla. 912
11 Cliff Pace Miss. 902
12 Bill Lowen Ohio 881
13 Steve Kennedy Ala. 877
14 Derek Remitz Ala. 863
15 Todd Faircloth Texas 860
16 Gary Klein Texas 854
17 Shaw Grigsby Fla. 850
18 James Niggemeyer Texas 841
19 Zell Rowland Texas 833
20 John Crews Va. 828
21 Terry Butcher Okla. 823
22 Stephen Browning Ark. 821
23 Guy Eaker N.C. 817
24 Scott Rook Ark. 812
25 Mark Tucker Mo. 810
26 Mark Davis Ark. 802
27 Bobby Lane Fla. 801
27 Jared Lintner Calif. 801
27 Tommy Biffle Okla. 801
30 Kevin Wirth Ky. 798
31 Denny Brauer Mo. 795
32 Clark Reehm Ark. 788
33 Mike McClelland Ark. 776
34 Kelly Jordon Texas 774
34 Kevin Short Ark. 774
36 Bradley Roy Ky. 769
37 Ish Monroe Calif. 768
38 Kevin VanDam Mich. 766
39 Matt Herren Ala. 757
40 Billy McCaghren Ark. 752
41 Morizo Shimizu Japan 744
42 Dustin Wilks N.C. 743
43 Russ Lane Ala. 742
44 Gerald Swindle Ala. 741
45 Randy Howell Ala. 738
45 Terry Scroggins Fla. 738
47 Boyd Duckett Ala. 737
48 Jason Quinn S.C. 736
49 Alton Jones Texas 735
49 Brent Chapman Kan. 735
51 Takahiro Omori Texas 734
52 Jason Williamson S.C. 728
53 Byron Velvick Texas 719
54 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 718
55 Pat Golden N.C. 712
55 Jeff Connella La. 712
55 Casey Ashley S.C. 712
58 Paul Elias Miss. 708
59 Marty Robinson S.C. 701
60 Peter Thliveros Fla. 692
60 Bradley Hallman Okla. 692
62 Mark Menendez Ky. 674
63 Matt Reed Texas 673
64 Rick Morris Va. 662
65 Grant Goldbeck Md. 658
66 Cliff Crochet La. 656
67 Pete Ponds Miss. 638
68 Wade Grooms S.C. 632
69 J Todd Tucker Ga. 628
69 Matt Greenblatt Fla. 628
71 Dennis Tietje La. 624
71 Mark Tyler Okla. 624
73 Davy Hite S.C. 622
74 Marty Stone N.C. 620
74 Fred Roumbanis Okla. 620
76 Charlie Hartley Ohio 592
77 Vince Fulks Okla. 590
77 Timmy Horton Ala. 590
79 Rick Clunn Mo. 589
80 Jami Fralick S.D. 586
81 Kenyon Hill Okla. 580
82 Bernie Schultz Fla. 560
83 Keith Poche Ala. 555
84 Chad Griffin Texas 546
85 Mark Burgess Mass. 544
86 John Murray Ariz. 538
87 David Smith Okla. 502
87 Byron Haseotes Mass. 502
89 Chris Lane Ala. 498
90 Britt Myers S.C. 480
91 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 478
92 Jeremy Starks W.Va. 474
93 Scott Ashmore Okla. 432
Back to
Zeiner's Angler Supply | Kansas
Angler Online |
Swim Tail Lures
|