|
Kimberling City, MO. – Since practice at began at The Rock, the final event of the 2006 Elite Series regular season, the field has been grappling with the tightfisted Missouri fishery. Clear skies and a lack of water movement tormented many anglers during the first two days of competition, while others seemed to have a handle on it.
Then the clouds rolled in Saturday, helping some make slight moves up the leaderboard, and sending other packing. All in all, the event was a classic struggle of ounces where only a handful seemed to flourish. In this case, “flourish” is a relative term given the fact that the tournament was so trying.
There were 12 anglers who survived Saturday’s cut, but one of the, Florida pro and veteran angler Shaw Grigsby, didn’t fish Sunday. Grigsby alerted tournament director Trip Weldon that he had conversed with a co-angler after the weigh-in Saturday. Since the co-angler wasn’t going to be fishing Sunday, under Elite Series rules the conversation would be construed as “outside information” and is forbidden. As a result, Trip disqualified Grigsby but allowed his day three weight to stand.
Regardless of the disqualification, Texas pro Todd Faircloth entered Sunday with a four-pound strangle hold over his closest competitor Edwin Evers. Given that there had been a new leader each day of the tournament, a four-pound advantage meant little to Evers and the other nine pros fishing the final day. Each of them felt that they had a legitimate shot at overtaking Faircloth based on history up to that point.
|
|
|
While it was true that a new leader had emerged each day, Faircloth had no intentions of relinquishing the lead as the other two before him had. He told The BASS ZONE after the weigh-in Saturday that he had caught more bass in that one day than in the first two days of competition combined. As for crowds or weather changes – sure, anything was possible, but the soft-spoken pro was convinced that the tournament was his to lose.
Faircloth crossed the stage for the final time Sunday with his fourth five-fish limit, which weighed 11-04. While not his heaviest limit of competition, it was enough to extinguish any possibility of a possible upset. While the four-pound cushion surely helped his confidence, Todd’s final weight of 50-09 would have given him the win by half a pound. This was Faircloth’s first Bassmaster win in 93 tries, having come close on many other occasions. |
Finishing in second place was Oklahoma pro Edwin Evers with 46-03. Evers, who’s won at an event every year since 2003, seemed poised to continue the tradition with a win in 2006; however, his final limit of the event weighing 10-14 was not enough to overcome the four-pound head start Faircloth started Sunday with.
Finishing the tournament in third was Arkansas pro Kevin Short with 45-14. Short has two BASS tour-level wins to his credit, but has admittedly struggled in 2006. He managed a major turnaround in the last three events of the season, and by bringing in 13-01 Sunday, finished strong.
Elite Series rookie Bill Lowen started practice for The Rock Monday with one goal on his mind – cement his berth into the coveted CITGO Bassmaster’s Classic. With a total weight of 43-13, Lowen did that and then some by finishing the tournament in fourth place. Lowen brought the day’s heaviest limit to the scales Sunday, which weighed 14-05.
Rounding out the top five was Canadian pro Jon Bondy who crossed the stage Sunday with a tournament-limit of bass weighing 11-11, boosting his four-day total to 42-06.
1st: Todd Faircloth
Having put in his time behind 93 entries in seven years as a profession, Todd Faircloth had never won at this level until today. Understandably, he was overwhelmed with emotion after weighing his final fish. The win, however, was made all the more sweet by the fact that last year, Table Rock cost him a trip to the Classic. “I’ve been at this for seven years, and just never have been able to get it done,” he said. “I got it done today!”
All week, Faircloth was bouncing spot to spot catching a keeper here and a keeper there. Sunday, the bite slowed and it wasn’t until around 1:00 that he found the consistency he was looking for. Todd had a limit by about a quarter to noon and started culling shortly thereafter. “It was pretty tough,” he said. “This afternoon I finally started catching some keepers. |
|
|
“I caught seven or eight that would keeper after noon, I’d say. It’s hard to put my finger on the bite, and why the keepers didn’t really fire until after lunch because I was getting bit all morning – they were mostly all little fish though.”
All week long, Faircloth relied on a drop shot rigged with a 10- to 12-inch leader fished ultra-slow with a medium-action Castaway rod a six-pound fluorocarbon line tied to a #1 hook. The bait choice was simple – two colors of the same bait. “I have weighed every one of my fish this week on a five-inch Yamamoto Slim Senko,” he said.
“In the morning, or if it’s cloudy, I’ve been catching them on green pumpkin. When the sun comes out I switch to smoke purple. Sunday the sun never came out so it was green pumpkin all day.”
Growing up on Sam Rayburn with all of its grass and timber, it ironic that Todd’s first win came with a drop shot in the ultra-deep waters of Table Rock. “It really is sort of ironic,” he said. “I would have never dreamed that my first victory would come on a drop shot.
“I’m a lot more comfortable with a flipping stick in my hand, but the last few years at Rayburn the grass has really only been deep. I’ve had to learn how to do this down there to get to the deeper grass.”
Faircloth spent all of his time this week between the mouth of the White and James Rivers all the way to Indian point targeting the 30- to 35-foot depth range. “I was fishing long gravel flats and humps,” he said. “I would position the boat right on the break line in around 35 feet of water. It was all the better if there was some standing timber around.”
The weather was never really a factor for Todd as he was catching them sunny or cloudy all week. “I was catching fish pretty tight to the brush piles, but today they were scattered off of it a little ways,” he said. “I expected that going into the morning.
“All week long, you could pull up to a spot and catch one or two and they’d shut down. So I never spent more than five or ten minutes in one spot, but today I had to slow down and find them because of the clouds.”
While he was drop-shotting in nearly 40-feet of water with artificial bait, Todd said his set-up was likely closer to live bait and sight fishing. “The way you can see these fish set up on cover with your electronics is almost like fishing with live bait,” he said. “I mean, I would see a fish on my Lowrance X-17 and flip the bail of the real and drop the bait down to it and start shaking it.
“You could see the fish move up and eat the bait – so, it was probably closer to sight fishing <laughs> than finesse fishing.”
Key to the week: “I fished a clean tournament,” he said. “I think I only lost two or three fish all week. The other thing was my electronics. My Lowrance graph and GPS was like my eyes under the water and my memory above it. I never spent too long in one place, so I had a dozen or more coordinates I would run to. The Lowrance X-17 was huge in my win.”
NOTE: Todd will be a guest on The BASS ZONE Live radio show Monday night at 7:00pm CST.
|
|
|
2nd: Edwin Evers
In order to continue his trend of winning a tournament each year, Edwin Evers was going to have to make up a four-pound deficit. The only way to do so was to go shallow.“The bite was pretty good today actually,” he said. “I went shallow trying to catch a big one, and I got the bites, but she never really committed to it.”
Edwin spent about three hours out of his day up shallow fishing a topwater once he secured his limit out deep. The time spent up shallow didn’t net him any rewards, but he doesn’t regret the move. “I was trying to catch Todd, and knew that I would have to have a big bite to do so,” he said. “I wanted to win really bad, and did everything I thought I could in order to do so.” |
Edwin spent the majority of his week fishing brush up around 30- to 40-feet deep with a drop shot rigged with a four-inch BPS finesse worm. “I caught a lot of fish off brush,” he said, “but I wouldn’t say it was key. More than anything else, it was timing.
“I covered a lot of water and hit a lot of spots, but once I got there I would settle down and work the spot over. You could catch one or two fish and leave and cycle back through later in the day.”
Key to the week: “Just being slow and methodical and not rushing it.”
3rd: Kevin Short
By the mid-point of the season, it looked as though Kevin Short was going to slid off the edge of the cliff he’d perched himself on after a string of tough finishes. However, once he got the spark, he’s been a constant figure around the top of the leader board. Once again at The Rock, Short wound up with a strong finish. ““I did the best job I could do,” he said.
“I got quite a few bites, and I’m happy with what I did. It’s saying a lot with my history up here to not come to Table Rock and blank. So I’m just thrilled to death to finish where I did.”
Short continued to hunt and peck each day of the event expanding his starting spot. It paid off for him each day of the tournament, but especially so Sunday. “Every morning I would start in the same place,” he explained. “As the day wore on, I was able to cycle through my spots and be looking for new water all the while. |
|
|
“That really came in handy Saturday and Sunday because almost everything I fished was fresh. The last hour of the day Sunday, I wound up culling in a brand new spot, so it was key.”
Short fished a Carolina-rig tipped with a variety of soft plastics – the most productive of which was a four-and-a-half inch Zoom Speed worm. “I would bite about a half inch off the head, so it really looked more like a Senko when it was all said and done,” he said. “I actually tried a Senko, but couldn’t ever get bit with it, so I stuck primarily with the Speed worm.”
Short has no complaints on how he fished this week, or where he finished. “All in all, my week was just absolutely fantastic,” he said. “I’m just thrilled to death to be standing here right now.”
Key to the week: “Staying busy trying to find new water.”
|
|
|
4th: Bill Lowen
Final-Day Thoughts: “Things went pretty good today,” he said. “It seemed like every stump had a fish on it, whether it was a keeper or short fish. It was a lot like practice, but only better.”
Bait of Choice: Black, 10-inch Berkley Power Worm
Biggest Challenge: “Oh, it was yesterday’s traffic where I was at,” he said. “Yesterday I had a lot of boat traffic. Whenever you’re up shallow and there’s tons of traffic it hurts the bite, which was the case (Saturday). I didn’t have anyone in there with me today, so I was able to just go to work.” |
Key to the Week: “I was as far back in Flat Rock as you could go,” he said. I would go all the way to the back and just work my way out. It was just like home back there, and fishing that way with heavy line and a big rod is where I’m most comfortable.”
Week in Review: “It’s been a life-long dream to make the Classic,” he said, “so it’s just awesome. I just wish I could have had a better day yesterday, and I might have been able to catch up with Todd.”
5th: Jon Bondy
Final-Day Thoughts: “I just had a great time today,” he said. “I caught six keepers, and I just had a blast all day.”
Bait of Choice: Drop shot; watermelon/purple flake 4 ¼-inch BPS Stick-O
Key to the Week: “For me it was just relaxing and having fun,” he said. “I was prepared today to make a change, but I never had – and that’s the way I worked all week.”
Week in Review: “It was just an awesome, awesome week,” he said. “This has been a really long season, but to be able to finish strong means a lot.” |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
6th: Bill Smith, Jr.
Final-Day Thoughts: “It was pretty tough today, really,” he said. “I thought the fish would come up and start moving around, but for some reason they moved out deeper. The only thing on my mind today was to try and get a limit. It took me a long time to get five in the boat, and by the time I did, it was too late to swing for the fence.”
Bait of Choice: Drop shot; Reaction Innovation Flirt Worm in Spanish Fly.
Key to the Week: “In practice the fish would move up to 20-feet of water and suspend. Finding where they would suspend in the water column was key to me.” |
Execution: “I broke off three or four through the day that pulled good, but it’s hard to say,” he said. “Whenever you’re fishing 40-feet deep with six-pound line, you’re going to lose a fish or two. I just wish it wouldn’t have been today.”
Week in Review: “I pretty pleased with this one being the last event of the year, going out with a bang,” he said. “I’m going to have to start off next year better than I did this one, that’s for sure.”
7th: Ish Monroe
Final-Day Thoughts: “It was a tough, frustrating day,” he said. “I caught a lot of shorts and only ended up with four keepers.”
Bait of Choice: Reaction Innovations Flirt Worm in Spanish Fly.
Key to the Week: “The key for me the rod I used all week,” he said. “I used a Daiwa CLO drop shot rod, which has a titanium tip. Whenever you’re fishing deep like we were here at Table Rock, you need a rod that has a real soft tip.”
Execution: “I lost one fish all week, and that was today,” he said. “It was a good keeper right at the boat today, which was insanely frustrating.” |
|
|
Week in Review: “I fished a decent tournament I would say, and there’s really not anything I could have done differently. It’s been a decent year overall, but I’ve had a couple of bad events along the way that cost me a Classic berth.”
8th: Tommy Biffle
Final-Day Thoughts: “Today it just got pretty tough, but there was still a ton of bait, so I’m really surprised they didn’t eat better” he said.
Bait of Choice: Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver in Green Pumpkin
Key to the Week: “I caught all my fish all week up shallow…well, I say that, but I did catch a fish or two out to around 10-feet deep,” he said. “It was deep for where I was at, which was the last 1000 yards or so of a creek. I just stayed in that creek all week long.”
Week in Review: “I never caught a limit this week, and I’m a little upset by that,” he said, “but to make the final in the final tournament you can’t really complain too much. I’ve had a great year though.”
|
|
|
9th: Brian Snowden
Final-Day Thoughts: “I thought they would bite a spinnerbait a little bit, so I threw that until 11:00, and did catch two, but they were small Kentucky’s. I caught 15 shorts and three keepers. I sure wish I knew why they didn’t bite better up shallow, but I guess there’s still a lot of fish out shallow. We want them to be up here, but they’re just not yet.”
Bait of Choice: Drop shot; YUM Houdini worm in Mardi Gras and Green Pumpkin |
Week in Review: “I’m really a little bit disappointed by my finish here,” he said. “I really thought that a lot of the work I’d done in pre-practice would pay off better than what it did. I actually just had to fish normal structure because the brush piles that I had set out weren’t really that good.”
10th: Skeet Reese
Final-Day Thoughts: “I had to go back up river where I’d been with the conditions today,” he said. “I felt like if I was going to have a shot at winning, I was going to have to swing the big stick all day. I had one good bite, but couldn’t get anything to go with her.”
Bait of Choice: LuckyCraft BDS 3
Key to the Week: “I know that there’s no one in this tournament that has made more casts than me this week,” he said. “I have done some chunckin’ and windin’ this week, that’s for sure.”
Week in Review: “Anytime you can finish in the top 12 with this kind of competition, you’ve done pretty good,” he said. “I really felt like I had the opportunity to do better than what I wound up doing, but I can’t complain because I did everything I knew to do.”
11th: John Murray
Final-Day Thoughts: “I started out spooning like I’ve been doing,” he said. “I caught a big walleye and had one other bite and finally switched back to the drop shot. I think that they moved in and to the sides, and I kept working out and deeper. Just one of those things.”
Bait of Choice: One ounce Triple Turn spoon; drop shot: Robo Worm
Key to the Week: “The sun really turned on my spooning fish,” he said. “When it was cloudy, they didn’t bite it well, but when they did I could bust a big sack…which happened one out three days.”
Execution: “The week was actually pretty good, but I lost a big Kentucky right at the boat today on the spoon,” he said. “That hurt.”
Week in Review: “It was a good week, you know,” he said. “I would always prefer to win, but I made the Classic, so, you know.”
.
FINAL STANDINGS
| Pl |
Angler |
Hometown, State |
Day 3 |
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
Day 4 |
Total |
Total |
Earnings |
|
|
|
# |
Wt. |
# |
Wt. |
# |
Weight |
|
| 1. |
Todd Faircloth |
Jasper, Texas |
5 |
14-14 |
5 |
11-04 |
20 |
50-09 |
$101,000 |
|
Day 1: 5 13-09 |
Day 2: 5 10-14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2. |
Edwin Evers |
Talala, Okla. |
5 |
13-04 |
5 |
10-14 |
20 |
46-03 |
$30,000 |
|
Day 1: 5 10-05 |
Day 2: 5 11-12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 3. |
Kevin Short |
Mayflower, Ark. |
4 |
10-10 |
5 |
13-01 |
18 |
45-14 |
$25,000 |
|
Day 1: 5 14-01 |
Day 2: 4 8-02 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 4. |
Bill Lowen |
North Bend, Ohio |
2 |
4-10 |
5 |
14-05 |
17 |
43-13 |
$19,000 |
|
Day 1: 5 13-03 |
Day 2: 5 11-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 5. |
Jon Bondy |
Windsor, Canada |
4 |
9-11 |
5 |
11-11 |
18 |
42-06 |
$17,000 |
|
Day 1: 4 9-03 |
Day 2: 5 11-13 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 6. |
William Smith, Jr |
Somerset, Ky. |
3 |
6-15 |
5 |
10-14 |
18 |
41-00 |
$15,500 |
|
Day 1: 5 11-09 |
Day 2: 5 11-10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 7. |
Ishama Monroe |
Hughson, Calif. |
3 |
8-12 |
4 |
9-00 |
14 |
36-08 |
$15,500 |
|
Day 1: 2 6-05 |
Day 2: 5 12-07 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 8. |
Tommy Biffle |
Wagoner, Okla. |
4 |
9-05 |
4 |
7-09 |
15 |
36-00 |
$14,500 |
|
Day 1: 3 7-00 |
Day 2: 4 12-02 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 9. |
Brian Snowden |
Reeds Spring, M |
5 |
10-04 |
4 |
7-03 |
17 |
35-11 |
$14,000 |
|
Day 1: 3 6-10 |
Day 2: 5 11-10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 10 |
Skeet Reese |
Auburn, Calif. |
2 |
5-05 |
2 |
6-02 |
12 |
34-09 |
$15,500 |
|
Day 1: 5 15-10 |
Day 2: 3 7-08 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 11 |
John Murray |
Phoenix, Ariz. |
3 |
8-08 |
2 |
4-11 |
12 |
32-10 |
$13,500 |
|
Day 1: 2 3-06 |
Day 2: 5 16-01 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 12 |
Shaw E Grigsby, Jr |
Gainesville, Fl |
2 |
5-10 |
0 |
0-00 |
11 |
27-08 |
$12,300 |
|
Day 1: 4 9-09 |
Day 2: 5 12-05 |
|
|
|
|
| |
