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Finesse Fishing and Clear Water
Hite And VanDam Face Off In Championship Round
During the semifinal round of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket held on the Niagara River out of Buffalo, N.Y., Kevin VanDam defeated Koby Kreiger and Brett Hite defeated Dean Rojas to advance to the championship match on Friday. The weights will go back to zero and both anglers will fish six hours, from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET.
Illustration by Bassmaster
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A blowout and a tiebreaker made the semifinal round of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket event on the Niagara River a must-watch six-hours on Bassmaster LIVE being streamed on Bassmaster.com.
Arizona’s Brett Hite will face Michigan’s Kevin VanDam for the championship match tomorrow to determine who receives $10,000 and a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
The first-of-its-kind competition is being played out entirely live and is shown using Bassmaster LIVE technology. Fans watch competitors in side-by-side screens as they fish for bass on the Niagara. Their catches are weighed by a tournament official in each boat, and the fish are released immediately.
This semifinal round was rich with drama. VanDam faced Florida’s Koby Kreiger. It looked as though the Michigan superstar would be able to coast through the match until Kreiger made a big move and found several bass where he landed his only keeper yesterday.
Kreiger clawed from a 7-pound deficit to take the lead with only two hours left in the round. VanDam, however, fished his way back one 6-ounce cull at a time and tied Kreiger at 11 pounds with only 20 minutes left in the day. Kreiger hooked up with 10-minutes to go, and the fish came off. That smallmouth swam away with his only chance for a Classic berth, as VanDam won the tiebreaker (based on the angler with the heaviest one-day catch from the previous round).
“Man, I almost screwed this deal up,” VanDam said. “I knew Koby was struggling, so I wasn’t going to hit my best stuff today. Then, when I saw him start catching them with a really good average weight, I knew I had to get serious.
“You don’t make it to the finals if you don’t win the semifinals, and I almost didn’t win it.”
Although VanDam knows how much weight Hite has been catching, he still believes he’s on the winning fish. “I’m looking at them. I know I can win this thing if what I’m seeing will bite.”
As for Hite, who was matched against fellow Arizona angler Dean Rojas, the day was far more relaxing. He landed 13-9 in the first hour of competition and simply chilled out the rest of the day. Rojas could put together only 7-14.
“I had my weight by about 11:30, so I kinda just twiddled my thumbs for the rest of the day,” Hite said. “I did find one more little drift with fish on it that should help me tomorrow.”
And tomorrow he will face KVD, who is on a roll. “If you are going to go head-to-head on a deal like this, you want to go against the best. It should be a killer show!”
B.A.S.S. emcee Dave Mercer, who told the anglers at the beginning of the event that there would be a slight format change the final day, announced the change for the championship round.
“Instead of fishing for a five-fish limit tomorrow, all legal-size fish caught will be weighed by the B.A.S.S. official on the boat and counted before being released.” This wrinkle will create an all-new atmosphere of competition for the anglers.
“Well, this changes my attitude and throws a giant monkey wrench in my game plan,” VanDam said. “I was just thinking about how I was going to rig for tomorrow, and now I’ll have to rethink my rerigging. Still, I have a lot of areas to fish and anything can happen.”
Hite seemed less affected. “I like it! It’s something different and I’m looking forward to fishing hard all day. My spot has a lot of quality fish. This thing could be a real shootout.”
With weights starting from zero again, the anglers will fish head-to-head from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET for the title.
Bassmaster LIVE will stream coverage of the entire match in real time on Bassmaster.com, from first cast until the fishing stops, with a camera in both boats.
There is no entry fee for the tournament. The local host for this event is I Love New York.
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Toyota, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, GoPro, Berkley, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Phoenix Boats, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, Academy Sports + Outdoors, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Lowrance
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Nation, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Meet the IMA Deep Fry
Paul Mueller introduced the new IMA deep Fry at ICAST 2016. This deep diving version of the popular Foxy Fry will fill the need when your looking for a deeper diving jerkbait. Watch as Paul explaines the benefits of this new offering.
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Hite, VanDam Lead The Final Four
After the second day of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket held on the Niagara River out of Buffalo, N.Y., the Match One winner (VanDam) will move on to fish against the Match Two winner (Kreiger) Thursday and Match Three (Hite) winner will move on to fish against the Match Four winner (Rojas). The weights will go back to zero, and all anglers will fish six hours, from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Photo illustration by B.A.S.S.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — And then there were four. The first round of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket tournament on the upper Niagara River is over and half the field is driving back home.
The two Elite Series anglers from Arizona are staying though, as Brett Hite dominated and Dean Rojas performed some last-minute heroics during the first round, stamping their tickets to the semifinals.
Michigan’s Kevin VanDam and Koby Kreiger of Florida round out the semifinalists heading into Thursday’s head-to-head clashes in hopes of winning the lion’s share of the $50,000 purse and a berth into the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
The unusual format of this derby has generated a lot of excitement from the anglers and fans watching on Bassmaster.com and WatchESPN, as every second of fishing has been streamed live.
The anglers are also getting updates from BASSTrakk to know how much weight their rival has caught, and officials on each boat immediately weighing and releasing the fish once the information is logged.
“I love this format,” said Rojas, who fished against Alabamian Jordan Lee. “We fished for 5 1/2 hours, and I was losing for all but two minutes of the match. When I caught that last fish, fans got to watch in real time the excitement and incredible circumstance that gave me the win.”
Rojas was 5 pounds behind Lee when he hooked a 3-pounder. He had five minutes left when he hooked another big one. It came off. His next cast produced another bite and he swung another 3-pounder into the boat with two minutes left.
“I’m a slow starter, but I finish strong,” Rojas said. Rojas ended with a two-day total weight of 13-9, and Lee with 12-9.
Hite wasn’t sweating a bit. With the second-heaviest limit on Tuesday, he had a 2-pound cushion over Texan Keith Combs, his first round opponent.
“I knew some big ones lived in my spot, and when they bit early, I felt like I was in good shape,” Hite said.
After boating the biggest limit of the event so far (11-2) in the first two hours of competition, Hite was more than 7 pounds ahead of Combs, who ended the day with just 6-12.
“I felt really good with my weight, so I went exploring for the last hour. I found some stuff that should help me tomorrow,” Hite said.
Speaking of help, Kreiger beat Jacob Powroznik with the help of Jacob Powroznik.
The two anglers are roommates on the Elite Series, and Powroznik vowed to help Kreiger make it to the Classic. Winning this tournament is the Florida pro’s only chance to get there.
Kreiger fished for more than 2 1/2 hours without a bite while Powroznik watched, and even coached, from his boat nearby. Kreiger finally got a bite, and the fish jumped off. With 27 minutes left in competition, Kreiger set the hook and boated a 1-7, enough to finally eclipse Powroznik’s Day 1 total.
“Thank the Lord and thank Jacob Powroznik!” Kreiger said. Powroznik ended the first round with 9-15, and Kreiger moves to the next round with a two-day total of 10-4.
VanDam had nearly a 9-pound lead over Florida pro Drew Benton heading into Wednesday’s elimination match and could have slept through the second session and still won. However, that’s not KVD. He went out and caught 10-4 for a two-day total of 20-8. Benton finished with a final total of 5-10.
“I was watching BASSTrakk and knew Drew was having a tough time, so after I boated one pretty good one, I went practicing,” VanDam said. “Based on what I found, I feel really good about my future in the derby.”
Thursday’s semifinal round on July 21 will pit Rojas vs. Hite and VanDam vs. Kreiger. The weights will go back to zero, and all anglers will fish from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET.
The winner of those two matches will advance to Friday’s championship round. With weights starting from zero again, the anglers will fish head to head from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for the title.
Bassmaster LIVE will broadcast coverage of the entire tournament Thursday and Friday, from first cast until the fishing stops, with a camera in every boat.
The payout for the bracket event will be distributed as follows: $10,000 and a Classic berth for first place, $8,000 for second place, $6,000 for third and fourth place (eliminated from semifinals) and $5,000 each for fifth through eighth place (eliminated from quarterfinals).
There was no entry fee for the tournament. The local host for this event is I Love New York.
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Toyota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, GoPro, Berkley, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, Academy Sports + Outdoors, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.