BASS Press Release
ORLANDO, Fla. — He started slowly, but in the frigid weather that marked the first Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open of the year on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Van Soles was like a snowball. He gathered speed and eventually rolled over his competition.
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| Frigid temps were not enough to cool Van Soles. (Photo: BASS) |
For each of the final two days Soles posted the heaviest catch in the field. After being mired in 30th place on the first day, he posted catches of 19 pounds, 4 ounces on Day Two and 21-9 on Day Three. His three-day tally totaled 50-15, giving him the win in his first B.A.S.S. professional event.
"I fished the southwest side of Lake Kissimmee all three days, focusing on matted vegetation that had floated up against buggy whips, cattails and Kissimmee grass," Soles said. "The bass were really lethargic and the bite was slower on the last day than on Day Two."
Soles pitched and punched the matted vegetation with a Gambler BB Cricket (Emerald Blue, Black and Blue Flake and Bowen Silver Shadow) fished on a 3/0 Cobra Flipping Hook behind a 1 1/2-ounce Elite tungsten sinker pegged to the line by a Jethro Baits bobber stop. His line was 65-pound-test Power Pro braid spooled on a Lew's Speed Spool casting reel (7.1:1) and mounted on a 7-foot, 11-inch Halo XXX flipping rod (the same rod Jesse Tacoronte used to finish second in the Bassmaster Wild Card presented by Star brite back in December; Soles borrowed it from Tacoronte).
