Banks Shaw Wins 2026 Stop 5 Presented by K&N Filters on Lake Eufaula!

Another win in 2026 for red hot Shaw! 

Banks Shaw earned his second win of the season with rally at Eufaula.
Photo by Rob Matsuura.

By Jody White, Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Press Release 

EUFAULA, Okla. – Starting the final day of Stop 5 Presented by K&N Filters in third place, Banks Shaw looked like the odds-on favorite to win. While Cal Lane and Drew Boggs had the edge by weight and place, environmental factors well outside their control didn’t look good. The deluge of rain on Day 2 affected all the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech pros, but Lane and Boggs were fishing shallow, well up a creek that rose higher and flowed faster by the minute.

On the main lake and fishing for more stable fish, Shaw didn’t have those same concerns. After sacking up 20 pounds, 6 ounces to jump into contention on Day 2, he followed up with an even 18 pounds on Day 3 for a 52-10 total and the win. Also walloping them on Day 3, Dylan Nutt moved up to finish second with 51-12 for the second event in a row, and Lane and Boggs fell to third and fourth, respectively.

For the win, which was his second Pro Circuit win of the season, Shaw pocketed $100,000. He also moved into the lead for 7 Brew Angler of the Year; and with a 13-point edge over Ryan Lachniet, he’ll look to go back-to-back. The winner of the Invitationals Angler of the Year in 2025, Shaw stands a great chance to close it out when the Pro Circuit regular season finishes up at Lake Champlain in July.

TOP 10 BELOW

Carter Nutt Wins 2026 Stop 4 Presented by Phoenix Boats Tackle Warehosue Pro Circuit on Douglas Lake.

Carter Nutt got it done in style this week. Photo by Jody White.

Jody White, Tackle Warehouse Press Release

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. – There are a number of historically notable sets of brothers in bassin’, and some are very much in action today. But there probably isn’t a hotter set than twins Carter and Dylan Nutt, who have made it look easy most times they launch their boats. In Stop 4 Presented by Phoenix Boats of the Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by MillerTech, the pair finished 1-2 at Douglas Lake, and their biggest competition was each other.

Earning his first Pro Circuit win, Carter weighed a massive 18 pounds, 8 ounces on the final day for a 48-0 total and the $100,000 payday. Finishing second, Dylan racked up 17 pounds on the final day for a 47-10 total and a $23,900 payday.

The win also qualified Carter for REDCREST in 2027, and he took over the lead in the 7 Brew Angler of the Year race, ahead of fellow University of North Alabama angler Banks Shaw. While the Nutt brothers stuck offshore, Keith Poche finished third with 47 pounds that he caught off the grid, and Will Harkins fished docks to catch a big bag on Day 3 and moved into fourth.

Offshore skills fuel Nutt

Growing up in Tennessee, Carter is well-versed in the offshore game. He learned it in high school before forward-facing sonar, and he’s perfected it in college. This week, the depth of knowledge that both brothers have was on full display. Each day, Carter caught the majority of his fish on a crankbait, and most of his weight in the event came with minimal aid from LiveScope.

“I was running the whole lake every day, from the dam to pretty far up the river,” he said. “I was just running around, scanning a bunch of stuff, trying to find places where they were set up good. Run and gun, and stumble on a couple places where they were biting.”

TOP 10 BELOW

2025 Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork Day 2: Fujita Commands Lead!

Canadians Chris Johnston 15th, Gallant 31st, Cory Johnston 42nd, Kung 64th & Gustafson 95th 

Japan's Kyoya Fujita has taken the lead on Day 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork with a total of 65 pounds.  (Photo Seigo Saito/ BASS)

BASS Press Release

YANTIS, Texas — Kyoya Fujita was happy with his day, but he was far from satisfied. That’s a hard statement to process, considering the Japanese superstar notched a 34-pound limit en route to leading Day 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork.

Hailing from Yamanashi, Japan, Fujita placed fourth on Day 1 with 31-0. Heading into Semifinal Saturday, his 65-pound 2-day total gives him a lead of 2 1/4 pounds over 2024 Lake Fork Champion Trey McKinney.

“I had a great day,” Fujita said. “I hope I catch (at least) 34 pounds again tomorrow, but, in practice, I caught 40 pounds on my spot.

“Thirty-four pounds was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a bigger bag, but with all the fishing pressure, it just didn’t happen. I think it’s going to be tougher tomorrow.”

Fujita spent his day in Caney Creek, not far from takeoff, where he fished five main spots. This area, he said, held the most promise, both in quality and quantity.

“I practiced all over the lake, but this area had the biggest fish,” Fujita said.

Like much of the lake, Fujita’s area bristled with flooded timber. This habitat is not easily navigated and the snagging risks loom ever present, however, Fujita hunted his targets on forward facing sonar and enticed his fish with precise casts.

2023 AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes: Robertson Claims Lead!

Canadians: Chris Johnston 15th, Gustafson 48th, Gallant 60th &  Cory Johnston 67th

Matt Robertson of Kuttawa, Ky., is leading after Day 1 of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes with 28 pounds, 1 ounce. ( Photo:Seigo Satio) 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — Capitalizing on an early start, Matt Robertson of Kuttawa, Ky., caught a five-bass limit of 28 pounds, 1 ounce to lead Day 1 of the AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at Santee Cooper Lakes.

 

Coming off a Top 30 finish at last week’s Elite Series event at Lake Murray, Robertson heads into Friday’s second round leading rookie Bryant Smith of California by just over a pound.

 

Noting that he's fishing the way he likes to fish, Robertson said he focused mostly on postspawn bass. He spent time in Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie and caught bass in two different areas.

 

“I’m running a shad spawn early and then later in the morning, I’m going fishing for postspawners,” Robertson said. “I was done by about 10:30 or 11.”

2019 BASS Elite Lake Guntersville Day 1: Paul Mueller Sacks Lead with 22-14lbs!

Canadians Chris Johnston 4th, Cory Johnston 25th & Gustafson 62th.
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Mueller regains G-Vile success!
(Photo: BASS)

More than half the field caught at least 16 pounds of bass during Friday’s opening round of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville, and 14 anglers topped the coveted 20-pound mark.
 
Meanwhile, Connecticut pro Paul Mueller showed once again why Guntersville is one of his favorite lakes in the United States.
 
Mueller, who finished second in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Guntersville, took Friday’s opening-round lead on the famed fishery with five bass that weighed 22 pounds, 14 ounces.
 
“I didn’t really see this coming because I didn’t catch a lot of big fish in practice,” Mueller said. “The fish aren’t doing what they should for this time of year, so it’s been mentally exhausting trying to figure them out.
 
“But you only need five — and I’m glad I was able to put something together.”
 
Mueller’s first claim to fame in the big leagues of bass fishing came when he had a whopping catch of 32-3 on the second day of the 2014 Classic. That was a February event, and Mueller — who had qualified for that Classic through the B.A.S.S. Nation Championship for grass-roots anglers — was quick to point out that none of that strategy played into his success Friday, when temperatures rose to the low 90s.
 
Despite his heavy weight, he said Friday was anything but easy — and BASSTrakk statistics backed up that claim. The five bass he weighed were caught at 7:25 a.m., 8:09 a.m., 11:02 a.m., 1:59 p.m. and 2:07 p.m.
 

Soft Stick Bait Secret Rigging Tips Lunker Hunt Pro Matt Avry

Everyone loves to throw soft plastic stick baits. Its the #1 bait in the world for bass. Most anglers think they know it all. Listen to Lunderhunt pro and new Bassmaster Elite angler Matt Avry as he gives you some little known tips on rigging soft stick baits for bass.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Chickamauga Day 1: John Cox Slams 24-11lbs!

Canadians Richardson 71^st & Sim 75th

by Justin Onslow

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Shallow water expert Cox grabs lead.
(Photo: FLW)

John Cox just has a way of not taking himself too seriously. Maybe that’s why he was able to quietly haul the tournament-leading sack to weigh-in and take the lead with only one angler left to cross the stage behind him.

Cox doesn’t get hung up on figuring out how much weight he has. He’s not always crunching the numbers and stressing out about the weight he needs. And on day one of the FLW Tour event on Lake Chickamauga, which is presented by Evinrude, his 24-pound, 11-ounce stringer was more than enough to position the nine-year Tour pro atop the leaderboard heading into day two.

For Cox, it’s a pretty simple formula.

“I’m going to go out there [tomorrow] and try to catch five more decent males, and I’m hoping I can get lucky and catch a 9- or 10-pounder,” he says. “The thing is, this place is awesome. Someone’s going to pull up on a drop or hit a stretch of shoreline and smoke them. Hopefully I can be consistent and get that 22 or 23 pounds every day and I’ll be all right.”

Consistency isn’t always Cox’s calling card, but that isn’t a knock on his immense talent. He just loves to fish shallow – especially sight-fishing, which he did plenty of Thursday – and that recipe often leads to trouble when things don’t line up just right. Today, they did.

The DeBary, Fla., pro marked about 10 fish in practice that he thought might help him during the tournament. Many of those fish had already been caught or moved off their beds by the time Thursday rolled around, but he was able to make the most of what he had. He also might have something left in his bag of tricks tomorrow.

“I started on a real big fish and got frustrated with it,” he explains. “I couldn’t catch her, and I just bailed on her.”

Cox returned to that fish several times throughout the day, each time finding a new male on the bed with her. After trying a few times to catch the “probably at least 10-pound” female, he determined he might have better luck on Friday.

Top 10 BELOW

Jacob Wheeler Dominates Group A in Shotgun Round 1 at Smith Lake

Wheeler Maintains Momentum with Dominant Performance

MLF PRESS RELEASE

Blistering speed of Wheeler gives him big jump ahead of the pool.
(Photo: MLF)

If you ever wondered if momentum is a thing in professional bass fishing, look no further than the five names at the top of SCORETRACKER™ after the first Shotgun Round of the Bass Pro Tour Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury: Jacob Wheeler, Andy Morgan, Wesley Strader, Ott DeFoe and Edwin Evers.

 

Led by Wheeler's record-breaking 38-fish, 61-pound, 15-ounce performance, that quintet of Major League Fishing® (MLF) pros racked up 138 scorable bass for just over 236 pounds to leave Smith Lake with comfortable cushions to carry into their Elimination Round competition on Thursday.

 

It was a continuation of recent success for all five anglers: Evers has four top-10 finishes in four events this season and leads the Bass Pro Tour points race; DeFoe is just a month removed from a Bassmaster Classic win; Strader has seven Top 20s in his last season-and-a-half; Morgan is shooting for back-to-back wins; and Wheeler has two Top 5s in his last four events.

 

"Momentum makes you a little fearless, for lack of a better term," said Morgan, who entered the week fresh off a win two weeks ago at Stage Four on Lake Chickamauga. "You're just kinda 'with it' from the get-go, whether you're getting bites from the get-go or not. Everybody is at their best when they're relaxed, and that's what everybody is after in this sport: to be relaxed, and to just keep it rolling."

 

Wheeler Was Dominant on Day 1 

 

No matter how you measure Wheeler's performance, "rolling" is an accurate description. On a fishery that showed signs of being in a slight post-spawn lull before the event started, Wheeler figured out the right patterns and the right locations early in the day, piling up 36 of his 38 fish in the first two periods and overtaking Morgan, who had rang up 18 fish and a big lead in Period 1.

 

Jason Lambert Wins 2018 FLW Tour Kentucky Lake with 101-09lbs!

Gustafson finishes 7th
by Curtis Niedermier
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Jason sets record with 28 pound winning margin.
(Photo: FLW)

No questions. No doubts. No surprises. No one even came close to catching Jason Lambert on the final day of the FLW Tour event presented by Costa Sunglasses on Kentucky Lake.

The Michie, Tenn., pro added another 27 pounds, 3 ounces to his total weight to finish with an astounding four-day total of 101 pounds, 9 ounces.

Lambert began the day with a lead of more than 19 pounds over Scott Martin, and finished with a winning margin of 28 pounds, which is a new FLW Tour record. The previous record was 23-9 by Randall Tharp at Lake Okeechobee in 2012. Lambert’s overall weight is the most ever at Kentucky Lake (besting his record of 97-2 from 2016), and ranks 10th all-time among FLW Tour events.

Since 2016, Lambert has won three multi-day FLW tournaments on Kentucky Lake, all during the months of May and June, which comprise the heart of the ledge-fishing season, and he’ll be back in a few weeks to compete in the Costa FLW Series tournament out of neighboring Lake Barkley, where he’ll be the odds-on favorite once again.

Yesterday, Lambert basically put it out of reach by catching 30 pounds, 8 ounces. He started on a community hole at the northern end of the lake and had 20 pounds in the box quickly. That was a main-lake spot where a school of hawgs was hanging out on a current-facing point on a narrow ridge. He then added a pair of 5-pounders and a 9-pound, 2-ounce kicker from another main-lake school that basically showed up that morning on an old waypoint.

Today, he blew everyone away in the first hour.

“I started this morning where I caught that 9-pounder and them two 5s yesterday,” Lambert says. “I had, like, two 3s and a 5. That was the very first three casts of the day.

“I had a lull after that for about 20 minutes or so, and then it got ridiculous again for 30 or 40 minutes. I caught probably eight or nine total. I caught some little guys too, though, and I stayed there until about 9:30.”

2018 FLW Tour Kentucky Lake Day 1: Randy Haynes Smashed 26-03lbs!

Chris Johnston 26th, Gustafson 51st, Cory Johnston 89th & Richardson 98th
by Curtis Niedermier
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Ledge fishing is not dead at Kentucky!
(Photo: FLW)

Normally, when Randy Haynes catches them big on the Tennessee River, then reports a tough day and a lack of confidence that he can repeat a big limit for a second day, he’s sandbagging like crazy. This time around on Kentucky Lake, in the FLW Tour event presented by Costa, the Ripley, Miss., pro’s “tough day” statements might be more accurate … but he’s probably still sandbagging a little.

Haynes pounded out 26 pounds, 3 ounces to take the day-one lead, but instead of walloping fish all day long and targeting dozens of schools, he got it done from one key area, and he had to really lean hard on them to get there

“I kind of burned the hole down today, so I might have nothing tomorrow,” Haynes says. “I was very fortunate to have what I had. I grinded it out. The bites I had were just the right ones.”

His uncertainty stems from the fact that the fish just haven’t made it out in big numbers to Haynes’ favorite ledges. He checked spots deep and shallow, and areas traditionally good early in the season and late. They’re essentially behind schedule. If they continue to show up over the next few days, however, watch out, because he’s one of the best at the offshore game.

Haynes struck out on his first five or so spots this morning. He ended up catching a couple of keepers on his key area mid-morning. For the next couple hours, he bounced around and checked a number of spots without much luck. A return trip in the afternoon produced most of his weight. All totaled, he says he landed only six keepers.

“There were 10 fish on that spot. I caught six of them. My co-angler caught a couple. It’s burned to the ground now.”

The good thing for Haynes is he’s not encountering a lot of fishing pressure from the rest of the field. He says the area is “wide open,” meaning he can check just about anything he wants without having to dodge other boats. That’s the way he likes it.
TOP 10 BELOW

2018 Bassmaster Elite Grand Lake Day 1: Omori Tops Them All with 23-12lbs.

10 limits over 20 pounds!
By Thomas Allen
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Tak on the path to second win in 18.
(Photo: BASS)

Japanese angler Takahiro Omori, who now calls Emory, Texas, his home, recently earned his seventh Bassmaster title at the first event of the 2018 Bassmaster Elite Series season on Alabama’s Lake Martin.
 
Today his dominating streak continues thanks to a pair of 6-pound bass that anchored a 23-pound, 12-ounce five-bass limit at the 2018 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Grand Lake in Grove, Okla.
 
“I didn’t have a very good practice earlier this week,” he said. “I knew the fish were about to spawn, but I was surprised with what I caught today. The rest of the field also caught quite a few big fish, and that’s going to keep things interesting for the next three days.”
 
The 47-year-old angler has been fishing with B.A.S.S. for over 27 years, and he said this was his best day ever on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
 
“The best finish I’ve had on this lake was 30th place, so I’m very happy with how I did today,” said the 2004 Bassmaster Classic champion. “I know more fish are moving to shallow water, but it will be tough to catch this much again tomorrow.”
 

2017 BASS Elite Lake Dardanelle Day 1: Kevin Van Dam Leads with 19-03lbs!

Past success a mixed blessing for KVD
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Bass-fishing superstar Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., is in an early position to win a record-breaking 24th Bassmaster title. After weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces, the four-time Classic champion is leading the GoPro Bassmaster Elite at Dardanelle presented by Econo Lodge.
With $100,000 and valuable Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points on the line, VanDam fully understands what's at stake. But even the seasoned veteran was surprised at today's results.
"I've had mixed results on Dardanelle. I got second to Mark Menendez in 2009, and had a terrible tournament in 2014," VanDam said. "But I know the bass in this lake move around a lot, which makes staying consistent difficult sometimes. I'm actually very pleasantly surprised with my weight today, and the rest of the field did better than I had expected."

Van Dam at home on Dardanelle. (Photo: BASS)

The seven-time Angler of the Year caught his limit early, but made a substantial upgrade later in the day that nicely augmented his five-bass limit.
"I caught two big fish that really helped," he said. "I learned some things today, but on Dardanelle you can't always bet on a pattern holding — you have to stay flexible. I don't believe the forecasted storms will have much impact on how and where I'm fishing, but duplicating today's weight would surprise me again."

2017 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest Day 3: Brandon Palaniuk Advances into Lead!

Waiting game begins as Top 12 rest on Saturday. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE
Brent Ehrler hasn’t won a tournament since joining the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2015.

Brandon got on a role and climbed it into the lead. (Photo: BASS)

But after three rounds of the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, both anglers are in good position to end those droughts.

Palaniuk, a seven-year Elite Series veteran from Idaho, caught 24 pounds, 7 ounces during Friday’s semifinals to vault himself from second place into the lead with 72-0. Ehrler, the California pro who led the tournament the first two days, caught 24-3 Friday and slipped into second place, just 2 ounces behind Palaniuk with 71-14.

Palaniuk’s lead might be much bigger if it hadn’t been for several giant fish he lost at the boat.

“It was not a very good day of execution,” he said. “I’ve lost fish every day. But today was just the day that I got them all the way to the boat, and they broke off or came off for whatever reason.”

One fish, in particular, haunted Palaniuk the most.

2017 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest Day 1: Ehrler Take Early Lead

Fishing great on Day 1
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Brent looking for his 2nd TTBC win!
(Photo: BASS)

Brent Ehrler used a strange term to describe the way he fished Sam Rayburn Reservoir during Wednesday’s first round of the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
 
“The fish are confused,” he said. “And you have to fish confused.”
 
The tactic worked, as the California pro caught 25 pounds, 6 ounces of bass to take the lead in an event that features a $100,000 first-place prize and an automatic berth into the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
 
His five-bass catch was anchored by a 9-1 largemouth that gave him the lead in the race for Toyota Big Bass of the week. The angler who claims that title will take home a Toyota Tundra pickup truck valued at $50,000. Total payout is $1 million.
 

2017 BASS Elite Lake Okeechobee Day 2: Timmy Horton Sacks Monster Bag and 8 Pound Lead!

Big bags move many up leader board. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE
After weighing the second limit of the tournament that crested 30 pounds, Tim Horton of Muscle Shoals, Ala., took control on Day 2 of the A.R.E. Truck Caps Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee. Today's 30-pound, 4-ounce limit pushed his two-day total to an impressive 56 pounds, 3 ounces.

Horton's performance vaulted the four-time Bassmaster champion ahead of Thursday's leader Ott DeFoe of Knoxville, Tenn., by almost 8 pounds.

This is what 30-04Lbs looks like.
(Photo: BASS)

Horton has a history of winning by a substantial margin: Three of his four victories carried a minimum of a 13-pound difference between first and second place.

But knowing how fickle Lake Okeechobee bass can be, he's not comfortable just yet.

2016 BASS Elite Cayuga Lake Day 3: Jordan Lee Continues to Lead with 58-02lbs.

Lee living large.
By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE
As an Alabama resident and former member of the Auburn University Bass Fishing Team, Jordan Lee has spent plenty of time on Lake Guntersville.

Drop shot key for Lee during calm conditions.
(Photo: BASS)

On that famed Alabama fishery, largemouth bass wallow out holes in aquatic grass to make their spawning beds — and that’s where Lee always looks for them during the spring.

The fish are doing the same thing on Cayuga Lake this week, and Lee’s hard-earned, home-grown knowledge has put him on the verge of his first career victory on the Bassmaster Elite Series.

The 24-year-old angler caught 17 pounds, 10 ounces of largemouth during Saturday’s semifinal round and maintained the lead in the Busch Beer Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake. His three-day total of 58-2 gave him a narrow lead over Arizona angler Brett Hite (57-3) and Kevin VanDam (56-6) — a Michigan superstar who fished his first event with B.A.S.S. in 1987, four years before Lee was born.

“I’m honestly just a little bit disappointed in the way things went today,” said Lee, who won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic qualifying event in 2013. “I was hoping to catch a couple of more big ones. I fished clean and probably caught about 25 fish, but I just never had any big bites today.”

Matt Arey Wins 2015 FLW Tour Event at Beaver Lake!

Avery Wins Beaver Again!

by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE
In Matt Arey’s bio, he lists Beaver Lake as his favorite lake in the country. Many have assumed this was some kind of joke or mistake. But it’s not. Beaver Lake really is Arey’s favorite lake, and today the Quaker State pro proved why, winning his second Walmart FLW Tour title on Beaver Lake in a row.

Big limit on day 4 cliches Beaver for Arey. (Photo FLW)

Arey saved the best for last, weighing in the biggest limit of the tournament – 17 pounds, 13 ounces – on the final day to win by nearly 6 pounds over Tracy Adams. Arey's four-day total was 55-06, and his winning margin was substantial on such a challenging lake.
“It’s been an unreal week,” says Arey, who pocketed $125,000 for his win. “Stuff happened today that never happens; it’s been a day I’ll never forget.

2013 Bassmaster Elite Mississippi River Day 1: Palaniuk Pounds Them

By Deb Johnson
BASS Press Release

LA CROSSE, Wis. — For some reason, said Brandon Palaniuk, he felt the bass were going to bite for him Thursday, the kickoff of the Diet Mountain Dew Mississippi River Rumble presented by Power-Pole.

Palaniuk, the first of 99 Bassmaster Elite Series pros to come to the scales, had just weighed what later proved to be the largest bag of the day: 18 pounds, 4 ounces.

Brandon mixed up his presentation and locations
on the diverse river.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS))

“I caught a few big ones in practice, but never felt I was on anything solid,” said the pro from Rathdrum, Idaho. “I don’t know how to explain that, other than I had confidence that the bass I was after were going to bite today.”

On Wednesday, the eve of the four-day event, he had described his practice as “not very good.”

But the magic happened for Palaniuk, who at 25 already has a 2012 Elite win on his record as well as the 2010 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship title. He secured a 2-pound, 4-ounce lead over Kevin Hawk of Guntersville, Ala., in second place with 16-0.

Bassmaster Elite Evan Williams Bourbon Carolina Clash Day 2

Boom Boom Busts to the Top!

By Deb Johnson

BASS Official Press Release

May 13, 2011

Booming BOOM BOOM!
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a second-day rally to repeat his 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series title on Lake Murray, Fred Roumbanis shot from 34th place into the lead Friday at the Evan Williams Bourbon Carolina Clash.
With a catch of 18-4 Friday for a two-day total of 30-9, the pro from Bixby, Okla., kept two South Carolina challengers at bay, but just barely. Eight ounces back was Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., who put up 30-1 for two days. A home-lake favorite, Davy Hite of Ninety Six, S.C., fell one spot into third with 29-7 after two days.
Fourth and fifth places were secured by pros from Missouri: Brian Snowden with 28-5, and Rick Clunn with 27-12.
Roumbanis struggled on the first day, but was able to turn it around and establish a pattern he said is strong enough to carry him to a repeat win. He encountered a slight hitch: The pattern drew strikes from stripers, too.
“It was a little slow because I started catching striped bass. Every time I’d hook a fish, I’d say, ‘Please be a bass, please be a bass.’”

Bassmaster Elite Evan Williams Bourbon Carolina Clash Day 2

Lake Murray: What's Happening!
Lake Murray - Columbia, SC, May 12 - 15, 2011

By Luigi De Rose

Fred " Boom Boom" Roumbais is on top on Day 2 of the Bassmaster Elite Evan Williams Bourbon Carolina Clash. The who and what will be covered in the official BASS press release. I will be discussing the where and how to catching them at Lake Murray.

Points and herring are the key ingredients to the early morning bite. Rick Clunn, the legend of all legends and currently in 5th stated that the herring bite is early and quick. With that in mind almost every angler was zipping back and forth between points waiting and hoping for a school to erupt. Many had success and many others didn't Check out these photos to see the action.



Davy Hite in 3rd working the points.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)



Ike zipps around Ott De Foe as Ott fishes a point.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

  Another surprising trend is all the spinning gear. Lighter line and further casts are needed to work the schools of bass and these pros are all on to it. Very interesting to watch how many of these Elite stars felt spinning was the way to go.

Ike's got one.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)



Big Show has one.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)




Even Jami got one.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

The most important ingredient is the correct lures to catch schooling bass. Soft plastic jerkbaits, swimbaits and topwaters are all deadly. 

What? No flipping jigs. Even Biffle is after the schoolers.
(Photo: Seigo Saito BASS)

A little double rigged fluke rig for South Carolina’s Jason Williamson.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

 AGAIN SORRY FOR THE DELAY BUT BLOGGER WAS DOWN.