Bass Fishing

McClelland Wins Elite Series Bass Fishing Event on Harris Chain

LEESBURG, Fla. %uFFFD Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark., came full circle Sunday as he took home the winner's trophy in the Bassmaster Elite Series' first tournament of the season, the Sunshine Showdown presented by Advance Auto Parts on the Harris Chain of Lakes, where his Bassmaster career started 20 years ago.
McClelland has two previous Elite Series wins, at Oklahoma's Grand Lake and Georgia's Clarks Hill Lake. With the victory Sunday, McClelland won $100,000, pushing his BASS career earnings to more than $845,000.
Fishing fans can watch McClelland's come-from-behind victory on ESPN2 Saturday, March 15, at 9 a.m. on The Bassmasters.
Brian Snowden of Reeds Spring, Mo., who held a seemingly insurmountable lead through Friday and Saturday's rounds, came up empty-handed on the final day and finished with 54-0 for the tournament. Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., wrapped up a strong week of fishing with a catch Sunday of 10 pounds, 10 ounces for a total of 53-4, to remain in third place, one spot ahead of his brother, Chris Lane of Winter Haven, Fla., who finished fourth with 52-10. Dean Rojas of Lake Havasu, Ariz., rounded out the top five with 48-13.
What had worked for Snowden so consistently through the first three days of the tournament failed him Sunday, as he had several bites but couldn't bring any of them to the boat. The two-day leader left Sunday's festivities promptly and quietly after his weigh-in.
After Saturday's gusting winds and tough conditions, Sunday proved to be a beautiful, clear day. By the final day of the tournament, the top 12 competitors all had realized that the key to solid fishing was to slow down.
Throughout the tournament, McClelland fished lily pads and grass on and around the Dead River and Lake Eustis, sticking with a Zoom trick worm all weekend. On Sunday he brought in a five-fish limit of 15 pounds, 0 ounces, for a four-day total of 59 pounds, 2 ounces.
"I didn't have a keeper until 11 o'clock," McClelland said. "I didn't panic, went to my secondary area, and that ended up being one of the best areas I had all week."
McClelland practiced at Harris Chain with fellow Elite Series pro Jeff Kriet, and the two had a lot of successful bites.
"He said, %uFFFDOne of us is going to win this thing,' " McClelland said of Kriet. "After the first day, I thought, well, the opportunity may be there. He told me last night again, %uFFFDDude you're going to win this thing.' I guess he's actually called it almost three times, Grand Lake, Clarks Hill and this one. It's just been one of those weeks of almost flawless fishing."
McClelland's first Bassmaster event was at Harris Chain in 1988, when Larry Nixon won.
"I caught the second 10-pound fish I'd caught in my life here," McClelland said. "This is where I basically started what is now my career. I've got a lot of memories of it, I have a lot of good things to say about this lake."
Day 1 leader Bill Lowen of North Bend, Ohio, earned a bonus $1,000 for Purolator Big Bass of the tournament for his 10-6 largemouth caught Thursday. Bobby Lane earned an additional $8,000 for the Berkley Heavyweight bag of the tournament for his 26-10 catch Friday.
With the win, McClelland takes the top position in the 2008 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, the seasonlong chase that will determine the top 36 qualifiers for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, with the AOY winning $250,000. The next stop on the Elite Series circuit is the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes out of Lake Wales, Fla., for the March 13-16 Citrus Slam presented by Longhorn.

2008 Sunshine Showdown 3/6-3/9
Harris Chain of Lakes, Leesburg FL.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4

Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$

1. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 20 59-02 305 $101,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 15-04 Day 3: 5 13-01 Day 4: 5 15-00
2. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 15 54-00 305 $30,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 20-00 Day 3: 5 16-13 Day 4: 0 00-00
3. Bobby Lane Lakeland, FL 20 53-04 290 $34,000.00
Day 1: 5 07-06 Day 2: 5 26-09 Day 3: 5 08-11 Day 4: 5 10-10
4. Chris Lane Lakeland, FL 20 52-10 285 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 10-03 Day 3: 5 19-12 Day 4: 5 11-07
5. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu, AR 20 48-13 280 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-02 Day 2: 5 10-11 Day 3: 5 13-09 Day 4: 5 06-07
6. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 20 48-07 276 $15,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-08 Day 2: 5 09-00 Day 3: 5 16-09 Day 4: 5 10-06
7. Rick Ash Pottstown, PA 18 44-10 272 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-12 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 3 06-08 Day 4: 5 07-10
8. Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 20 44-07 268 $15,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-13 Day 2: 5 15-03 Day 3: 5 07-15 Day 4: 5 09-08
9. Morizo Shimizu Osaka, CA 20 43-12 264 $14,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-01 Day 2: 5 14-13 Day 3: 5 11-05 Day 4: 5 06-09
10. Bradley Hallman Norman, OK 20 42-15 260 $13,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-15 Day 2: 5 11-15 Day 3: 5 10-01 Day 4: 5 08-00
11. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 17 42-06 257 $11,867.00
Day 1: 5 10-04 Day 2: 5 24-09 Day 3: 4 04-04 Day 4: 3 03-05
12. Kenyon Hill Norman, OK 15 35-05 254 $11,867.00
Day 1: 5 11-04 Day 2: 5 11-00 Day 3: 5 13-01 Day 4: 0 00-00
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PUROLATOR BIG BASS
Day
1 Bill Lowen North Bend, OH 10-06 $1,000.00
2 Jim Murray Arabi, GA 09-08 $1,000.00
3 Chris Lane Lakeland, FL 06-12 $1,000.00
4 Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 04-13 $1,000.00

PUROLATOR BIG BASS OF TOURN
Bill Lowen North Bend, OH 10-06 $1,000.00

BERKLEY HEAVYWEIGHT
Day
1 Bill Lowen North Bend, OH 21-10 $1,000.00
2 Bobby Lane Lakeland, FL 26-09 $1,000.00
3 Chris Lane Lakeland, FL 19-12 $1,000.00
4 Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 15-00 $1,000.00

BERKLEY HEAVYWEIGHT OF TOURN
Bobby Lane Lakeland, FL 26-09 $8,000.00

The Bassmaster Classic is a competition in professional bass fishing. It was first held in 1971 in Lake Mead, Nevada. After years of being held in July, the Bassmasters Classic was moved to February in 2006.

The event has turned into a three-day spectacle, complete with a theatrical presentation of the weigh-ins and hours of television coverage. The purchase of the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society (BASS), which organizes the event, and coverage by ESPN has increased the Classic's profile.

First-place money has grown from $10,000 in 1971 to $500,000 in 2006.
Contents

* 1 Rules and procedures
* 2 Past winners
* 3 Jr. Bassmasters
* 4 References
* 5 External links

Rules and procedures

The field consists of 55 anglers: the top 40 in the season-long BASS standings and 15 regional qualifiers. The 2007 competition included women for the first time. They competed in a separate event.

The Bassmaster Classic takes place over three days. All fish are caught under catch-and-release rules, must measure at least 14 inches, and must be alive at the time they are presented for weigh-in. There is a cut after the second day, in which only the 25 best anglers, based on total weight, advance to the third day. The highest total weight after three days wins the competition.

Contestants can only fish in specified areas at the competition venue. This is usually a lake, but the 2005 competition was held along the Three Rivers that make up the Pittsburgh area.

Restrictions on where anglers could fish were tightened in 2007, resulting in lower total number of fish caught.[citation needed]

Past winners

* 1971: Bobby Murray, Hot Springs, Arkansas
* 1972: Don Butler, Tulsa, Oklahoma
* 1973: Rayo Breckenridge, Paragould, Arkansas
* 1974: Tommy Martin, Hemphill, Texas
* 1975: Jack Hains, Rayne, Louisiana
* 1976: Rick Clunn, Montgomery, Texas
* 1977: Rick Clunn
* 1978: Bobby Murray
* 1979: Hank Parker, Clover, South Carolina
* 1980: Bo Dowden, Natchitoches, Louisiana
* 1981: Stanley Mitchell, Fitzgerald, Georgia
* 1982: Paul Elias, Laurel, Mississippi
* 1983: Larry Nixon, Hemphill, Texas
* 1984: Rick Clunn
* 1985: Jack Chancellor, Phenix City, Alabama
* 1986: Charlie Reed, Broken Bow, Oklahoma
* 1987: George Cochran, North Little Rock, Arkansas
* 1988: Guido Hibdon, Gravois Mills, Missouri (first winner from outside the South)
* 1989: Hank Parker (had moved to Denver, North Carolina)
* 1990: Rick Clunn
* 1991: Ken Cook, Meeks, Oklahoma
* 1992: Robert Hamilton Jr., Brandon, Mississippi
* 1993: David Fritts, Lexington, North Carolina
* 1994: Bryan Kerchel, Newtown, Connecticut (first winner from the East Coast and the first BASS Federation member to win the classic)
* 1995: Mark Davis, Mount Ida, Arkansas
* 1996: George Cochran (had moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas)
* 1997: Dion Hibdon, Stover, Missouri(Son of 1988 classic champion Guido Hibdon)
* 1998: Denny Brauer, Camdenton, Missouri
* 1999: Davy Hite, Prosperity, South Carolina
* 2000: Woo Daves, Spring Grove, Virginia
* 2001: Kevin VanDam, Kalamazoo, Michigan
* 2002: Jay Yelas, Tyler, Texas
* 2003: Michael Iaconelli, Woodbury Heights, New Jersey
* 2004: Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas (but born in Japan; first foreign-born winner)
* 2005: Kevin VanDam
* 2006: Luke Clausen, Spokane Valley, Washington (first winner from a West Coast state; set record for total catch with 52 pounds, nine ounces)
* 2007: Boyd Duckett, Alabama (first to win championship in home-state waters)
* 2008: Alton Jones, Waco, Texas

Bass fishing in the United States largely evolved on its own, and was not influenced by angling developments in Europe or other parts of the world. Indeed modern British sea bass fisherman look to the United States freshwater bass techniques for inspiration for lure fishing and to the USA, Japan and China for tackle. During the early to mid-1800s, wealthy sport anglers in the United States (mostly located in the northeastern portion of the country) largely confined themselves to trout and salmon fishing using fly rods. While smallmouth bass were sought by some fly fishermen[4], most bass fishing was done by sustenance anglers using poles and live bait. The working-class heritage of bass fishing strongly influenced the sport and is manifested even today in its terminology, hobbyist literature, and media coverage.[5]

Sometime during the mid-1800s, the first artificial lure used for bass was developed in the form of an artificial fly. At first, these artificial fly patterns were largely derivations of existing trout and salmon flies. As time went on, new fly patterns were specifically developed to fish for bass, as well as heavier spinner/fly lures that could be cast by the baitcasting and fixed-spool casting reels and rods available at the time.[6][7] Floating wooden lures(plugs) or poppers of lightweight cork or balsa were introduced around 1900, sometimes combined with hooks dressed with artificial fur or feathers.[8]

In the United States, the sport of bass fishing was greatly advanced by the stocking of largemouth and smallmouth bass outside their native ranges in the latter portion of the 19th century. As the nation's railroad system expanded, large numbers of 'tank' ponds were built by damming various small creeks that intersected the tracks in order to provide water for steam engines; later, new towns often sprang up alongside these water stops. Shippers found that black bass were a hardy species that could be transported in buckets or barrels via the railroad, sometimes using the spigot from the railroad water tank to aerate the fingerlings.[9]

Largemouth bass were often stocked in tank ponds and warmer lakes, while smallmouth bass were distributed to lakes and rivers throughout the northern and western United States, as far west as California. Smallmouth were transplanted east of the Appalachians just before the Civil War, and afterwards introduced into New England.[10][11]

Largemouth bass populations boomed after the U.S. Department of Agriculture began to advise and assist farmers in constructing and stocking farm ponds with largemouth bass, even offering advice on managing various fish species. Soon, those who had stocked largemouth bass on their farm ponds began to pursue them on a burgeoning number of new reservoirs and impoundments built in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s. These impoundments coincided with a postwar fishing boom, supplying additional funds from sales of fishing licenses for the first large-scale attempts at bass fisheries management. This was especially true in the southern United States, where the largemouth bass thrived in waters too warm or turbid for other types of gamefish.[12][13]

Studies indicate that the bass fishing this year is expected to be very hot, especially in the traditional hotspots for bass fishing. This is expected to be particularly good in the bass fishing regions of Pennsylvania.

The regional supervisor of the Fish and Boat Commission said that fishermen can expect a large population of smallmouth and largemouth in the fishing rivers, and that bass are abundant in the main braches of most rivers. Normally, the fish population remains pretty steady, especially the bass population, he said, but now the populations are up and ripe for an excellent bass fishing season.

As far as what is expected to work best this year for bass lures, some strategic tips were offered, although he stated that bass fishermen "pretty much know what they are doing, and you can rarely give them advice", he said with a smile. He suggested minnows and rapala lures when doing your bass fishing on lakes and ponds, and artificial lures such as Mr Twister jigs when on the river. He also noted that Stone Cats are working very well, claiming "those are dynamite for bass".

The reason that bass fishing is expected to continue to be good around the country in the traditional bass fishing spots is thought to be weather related. Some preliminary studies indicate that a relatively mild winter, and the warmer spring weather starting earlier in the year has given bass a jump start on breeding this year. Although almost all fresh water fish are in this same situation, it is interesting to note that the bass population seems to have really liked the weather this year, especially the much earlier thaw of most northern ponds and lakes.

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