Records Continue to Fall During Elimination Round at Table Rock Bass Pro Tour Stage Six

MLF pro Gary Klein was one of 15 anglers who snatched 100 pounds
 or more in two rounds at the Bass Pro Tour

Three days into competition at the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour Berkley Stage Six presented by TrueTimber, we're starting to run out of superlatives to describe the bite at Table Rock Lake. Choose your favorite - "stellar" and "outstanding" fit - but "record breaking" is still the most accurate.

Cliff Pace became the most recent record breaker, putting 38 fish on SCORETRACKER® for 60 pounds, 1 ounce on the day, giving the Mississippi pro a two-day total of 134-13 and obliterating the existing Elimination Round record of 105-6 held by Zack Birge. Pace's two-day fish total of 89 is another record. The field combined to catch 407 fish in the first period, and weighed 684-9 (both records).

And while all of the above numbers are impressive, the fact that 15 of the 20 anglers advancing out of the round surpassed the 100-pound mark tells the story of just how prolific this impoundment of the White River has been.

"Of all the years I've been around fishing, I don't know if I've ever seen anything like this as far as sheer volume of fish," said MLF NOW! analyst Marty Stone. "I knew when we came here that this lake was in good shape, but I've never seen a like that's so good from one end to the next. We're looking at where guys are catching fish, and we're seeing anglers who are literally 50 miles apart catching them. It's harder right now to find a place where there's not a fish than a place there is."

Pace was followed by Gary Klein (130-2), Birge (129-11), Greg Vinson (125-12), Aaron Martens (121-15) and Jacob Powroznik (116-15). Jesse Wiggins, Michael Neal, Mark Rose, Fletcher Shryock, Russ Lane, Jeff Sprague, Anthony Gagliardi, Casey Ashley, Dave Lefebre, Andy Montgomery, Fred Roumbanis, Brent Chapman, Randy Howell and Randall Tharp qualified for Tuesday's Knockout Round.

Tharp Escapes Elimination

As has become the daily storyline during Elimination Round competition, the race around the Elimination Line came down to a difference of a single fish. Trailing Jason Christie by 7 ounces entering the final 10 minutes of official competition time, Randall Tharp caught two fish for 2-13 in the final seven minutes, finishing with 94-12 and moving past Jason Christie into 20th. 

2019 BPT Lake Conroe: Duckett Leads Top 10 Anglers into Championship Round

Stephan Browning jumps into Top 10 at very last moment!
By Rory Connellan
BPT PRESS RELEASE

Battle for the win starts tomorrow!
(Photo: BPT)

For the better part of the past year, Boyd Duckett has been "Mr. MLF" as he worked endlessly to establish the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour. But for the seven hours of competition in the Knockout Round of MLF Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two Conroe presented by Favorite Fishing, Duckett was "Mr. Consistency".

Duckett caught his first scorable bass 22 minutes into the competition at Lake Conroe and then steadily added fish to SCORETRACKER® throughout the morning and early afternoon, swimming a small worm. By the time Period 3 got underway, Duckett had already weighed 31 pounds, 14 ounces, and owned a 9-plus-pound lead on the field.  

 

The Alabama pro would eventually finish the day with 38-5 on 21 fish, followed by Gary Klein (30-1), Edwin Evers (29-2), Brent Ehrler (28-12) and Jordan Lee (28-12).

"I've always been decent at compartmentalizing my fishing and my work, but I just couldn't make fishing the most important thing at Toho," Duckett admitted, referring to the MLF Bass Pro Tour's inaugural event in Florida two weeks ago. "Coming into this one, I told everybody that I was going to concentrate on my fishing. It's been nice to just be an angler at this event."

And Duckett the angler has been consistently stout on Conroe from Day 1. He recorded 46 fish in his first three rounds, despite spending the majority of each competition day either looking for new water, or guarding what he considers his best area.    

"I like that this fishery is tough," Duckett said. "I've traditionally done well in events that are difficult to fish. You really have to figure out how to catch these fish, you can dial something in that's just a little bit different than what the other guys are doing."

Surviving the battle for the Championship 10

Randall Tharp (27-13), David Walker (27-10), Wesley Strader (27-5), Jeff Sprague (26-6) and Stephen Browning (25-13) filled out the Top 10 and will compete in the Championship. And while all five anglers endured their moments of stress, Browning had to work especially hard for his spot in the finals.

Entering the last 10 minutes of competition, Browning, Shin Fukae, Keith Poche, Andy Montgomery and Jonathan VanDam all sat within 14 ounces of each other in the race to make the 10 cut.   

HAVOC BAITS

Check out the new line of HAVOC BAITS from Berkley. We got a chance to see them live at the Toronto Sportsman Show. We also found out that there are three new baits coming. So new that no samples exist yet. We'll have an update in a few days.

Bass Master Classic 2011 Day 3: Classy Classic Moments

Bass Master Classic: Post Classic
Classy Classic Moments
Sunday,  February 20, 2011
Louisiana Delta
New Orleans, La.
By Luigi De Rose

By now, everyone has learnt that Kevin Van Dam smashed records on the Delta. But what might have been missed with all the cheering were the many classy moments. Many claim that professional tournament fishing is the best sport ever. True sportsmanship, honour and friendships are made and displayed on and off the water. Here are three cool things you need to know.

A Touching Toot

Kerchal's Fish Whistle.
Photo: James Overstree (BASS)

Brandon Palaniuk finished in fourth. A great achievement for any pro but he isn't a pro. He is a Federation member from Idaho. Also, he was in the mix with the rest of the Top 10 fishing Lake Cataouatche (Lake Cat) so to pull off such an amazing performance in front of the best anglers in the world is pretty cool. What is even cooler is that after he weighted his final limit he spoke of Bryan Kerchal. Bryan Kerchal is the 1994 Classic Champ and the only Federation angler to win a Classic.  Unfortunately, Bryan died in a plane crash a few months after his victory. 

One quirky element of Kerchal was that he blew his fish whistle every time he boated a bass during the 1994 Classic. It was Bryan's lucky charm.  So, in memory of Bryan and in honour of all Federation Nation anglers, Brandon blew into a Kerchal fish whistle. The packed house roared with excitement and clapped as for this classy young angler's appreciation for all the Federation Nation's support.

Leading the Way
Gary Klein needs to be honoured for his classy act of allowing Brett Chapman, a fellow competitor to follow him down to bass rich Venice area on day 2. Without Gary's help, Chapman wouldn't have had any time to fish and might have killed himself or someone else without the aide of Klein's leadership and radar unit. (Learn more about Vinson's near death experience on his foggy run on Day 2 in a future post) Why help Chapman, a fellow competitor? Probably the pure act of kindness and respect for the welfare of Brett and others. Actually, this kind act hurt Klein because Chapman's day 2 limit went 20 pounds, launching Brett into 2nd place. Many felt this was Gary's Classic to win and the pressure of obtaining a life time goal could of swayed Gary's mind. It didn't and that is why Gary Klein will always be a true Bassmaster legend.

A Helping Hand and Bait



Cranking it out.
Photo: James Overstreet (BASS)

 The story of this year's Classic was the Tank Pond area of Lake Cat. Fishing nose to nose, Van Dam, Aaron Martens and Scott Rook were 1, 2, and 3 after day 1.  During his victory press conference, Van Dam acknowledged that he had given Scott Rook the exact same Strike King coloured crankbait that he was using to Rook to use on day 3. Why would anyone on the verge of winning the most prestigious title in all of bass fishing give a fellow competitor the perfect lure? Kevin explained the two were good friends. The story gets better. The strangest thing is that they were fishing boat to boat. Any bass Rook would catch would be detrimental to Van Dam's possible success.  Kevin topped that gracious act by giving Rook additional advice on Day 3.

Seeing Rook struggling, he mouthed instructions to slow the retrieve down as the two passed each other while competing. Van Dam's instructions did help as Rook's afternoon catch improved greatly. Not only is Van Dam the best bass angler ever he might be the kindest too.

Bass Master Classic 2011 Day 2: How our picks did on Day 2

ibassin.com Top Classic Picks: How are they fishing?
By Luigi De Rose



Another in the boat for Kevin.
Photo: James Overstreet (BASS)

Kevin Van Dam #1 Kevin Van Dam is leading! Well, that is not a surprise. Kevin is so amazing he is an easy pick. Very glad that I picked him as one of my top picks but he is so dominate he is almost too easy. Just the same, he is making a mess with his cranking rod. No real word about how is is catching them but I've seen many photographs with him hold a KVD cranking rod and even one photo with a small, shallow running crank. Looks very similar to a Lucky Craft's Rick Clunn 1.5 profile but it must be Strike King's KVD square bill crank. Regardless, this is his style of fishing.

Gary Klein # 7

Klein at Top Speed!
Photo: James Overstreet (BASS)

Gary is just amazing. Considering his age he is still a killer. On stage he said he would abandon his Venice fishing spot if the fog delay went past 10am. It was lifted at 9:45am and he rocketed down there. Today, Gary explained he only fished for 42 minutes and still caught 17 pounds even. That is amazing. What damage could he have done without the fog.

Ike # 17
He has been fishing well just not having the time to do it. He is also going very far south and trying his best. Too many things didn't fall into place. A limit of 13-01 on day 1 follow by 11-09 on day 2 is still strong in this crazy Classic.

Morizo Shimizo #22


Sharing a joke on stage.
Photo: James Overstreet (BASS)

 A strong showing for a guy fishing his first Classic. He was one of the first to land a limit today. He is fishing very small ditched and canals close to Shaw Grigsby. Still think he was a good long shot. Hopefully, on day 3 he nails 25 pounds. (Probably not likely but I hope he gets 15 pounds)

Kelly Jordan #37
Great start yesterday but got killed today. Only 2-15 today and I think he was late getting in. A strong fisherman who said he was going for it all today. That's what happens. Still a great pick.

Greg Hackney #42
Still not sure what happened. He explained to the crowd that he will never pre-fish a Classic way in advanced again. It ruined his mental game trying to refish old and dying spots. Again, another super fisherman who didn't get it right this week. Still think he was a super choice.

HAVOC Revealed at 2011 Bass Master Classic

Pros Have Full ControlBerkley Creates, Unleashes HAVOC: New Series
Thursday, February 17, 2011

Berkley Press Release

Photo: Berkley The Devil Spear, designed by Mike Iaconelli.

Word leaked a week or two ago about a brand new line of Berkley soft-plastics called HAVOC. The project, from inception, was shrouded in secrecy. The pros involved were forbidden from even hinting about the new baits, the media knew nothing, and excitement ramped up as the Bassmaster Classic approached.

Today at Classic Media Day, Berkley finally released news about the exciting HAVOC line and here's the scoop.

HAVOC soft plastics are pro-designed for bass fishing and give anglers lifelike action with a wide-ranging lineup of colors.
HAVOC officially launches at the New Orleans Bassmaster Classic with four new baits. Additional baits will follow throughout the Bassmaster Elite Series season including new and innovative shapes as well as proven forms.
What seems to immediately set HAVOC apart is the control given to pros in the design process. Skeet Reese, Mike Iaconelli, Gary Klein and Bobby Lane spearheaded development of the four new shapes and were given absolute control over the final product. That's somewhat of a departure from traditional pro-manufacturer working relationships, where both parties often compromise on final design.
Berkley product manager Brad Danbom noted: "Berkley's worked extensively with our pro team to create shapes with actions that satisfy their rigorous standards. The great thing about HAVOC is no other baits out there are as unique and action-packed as these soft plastics."

All four of the HAVOC pros addressed the Classic media onstage today. Klein noted: "The HAVOC designs are phenomenal. Anytime you get a group of anglers like us turned loose, and you get us in a room, we'll come up with the best. I think we truly knocked it out of the park. And The Deuce without a doubt is the most versatile out of them all (laughs)."

Reese stated: "There's roughly 150 years of fishing experience standing on this stage right now that designed these new baits for the industry. Most of those years lie with Gary (laughs). But truly, I've done a lot of design work for the last 10 years and I can honestly say right now that the baits we're putting out on the market right now are truly designed to help the angler catch more fish."

The first introductory baits include the HAVOC 4" Devil Spear, 4" Craw Fatty, 3" The Deuce and 4" Pit Boss. Each bait will be available in 10 pro-selected colors for $3.49. More baits will be introduced throughout the year.
Here's the intel on each of the four new baits.