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VanDam Brings Powroznik Plastic Eels
Kevin VanDam brought plastic eels to the Bassmaster Bracket event in Buffalo that Jacob Powroznik could use for cobia fishing back home in the Chesapeake Bay, but first, “J Pow” decided to cast them at muskies while on the Niagara River.
“Right after the Bassmaster Elite tournament on the Upper Chesapeake Bay last summer, Jacob was kind enough to host Sherry, my sons and I at his house to fish for cobia on the southern portion of the Chesapeake, and he guided us to three really good fish using live eels for bait,” remembers VanDam. “The one my son Nicholas caught was over 50-pounds, it was a blast!”
“So a few months ago, when I was working the annual store promotion my brother hosts at D & R Sports, I saw these eels that one of the tackle sales reps brought, and knowing how much Jacob loves to chase cobia, I had to get a couple for him,” says VanDam.
VanDam never dreamed when he hauled the super long soft plastic gifts to Buffalo that Powroznik would tie one on during the B.A.S.S. bracket event, but Powroznik is already a shoe-in for the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, so he’s feeling no pressure on the Niagara, and besides, he’s never caught a muskie.
“They say there’s some big ol musky swimming here, so why not take a shot at one?” challenged Powroznik, who spooled 65 pound braided line to a Quantum reel and flippin’ stick with hopes of landing what many call ‘the fish of 10,000 casts’ because of their elusiveness.
“I swear if Jacob could make a living catching cobia, he would – he loves it that much – it was fun watching him hunt for them last summer,” says VanDam.
“That’s exactly why I love it – cobia fishing combines sight fishing and hunting – you see them, you study their behavior – then you try to hook them – and they fight like crazy – it’s the best of all the things I love in the outdoors,” says Powroznik, one of the world’s best sight fishing anglers during the spawn, who works as a waterfowl guide in the offseason.
“I still remember the first time I caught a cobia,” says Powroznik. “We had been out flounder fishing, and I spotted a cobia just under the surface, next to a giant buoy. I made a cast to him, and sure enough he bit. That fish changed my life. Before long I was out buying a boat with a tower on it, so I could see them better.”
While Powroznik’s chances of catching a musky while in Buffalo are slim, his place in the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, and his plans for later this week are certain – he’s going cobia fishing.
VanDam Leads The Bracket Pack
Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., caught the most weight — a 10 pound, 4 ounce limit of bass — on the first day of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket held on the Niagara River. The quarterfinals will continue July 20 with Match Three (Hite vs. Combs) and Match Four (Lee vs. Rojas) fishing in the morning and Match One (VanDam vs. Benton) and Match Two (Powroznik vs. Kreiger) moving to the afternoon.
Photo by James Overstreet/Bassmaster
Fresh off a Bassmaster Elite Series win at Cayuga Lake, New York — his second victory of the year — the Kalamazoo, Mich., superstar claimed an early lead in a unique, head-to-head bracket tourney on New York’s upper Niagara River that is being live-streamed on Bassmaster.com.
Unlike traditional Elite Series events, an official on each boat immediately weighs the fish and releases it. VanDam, who is matched against Bassmaster Elite Series rookie Drew Benton, ended the morning 3-hour session with a 10-pound, 4-ounce limit, the heaviest of the day. The other morning pairing featured Jacob Powroznik against Koby Kreiger. The afternoon matches were Brett Hite vs. Keith Combs and Jordan Lee vs. Dean Rojas. On the line for this four-day derby is a $50,000 purse and an all-important guaranteed berth in the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Today was the first half of a two-day elimination round. Each match lasted three hours and the weights will be added to Wednesday’s total to eliminate the first four anglers from the bracket. The pairs of anglers who fished the morning hours today will fish the afternoon session Wednesday, and vice-versa. The semi-final round on Thursday will be a single-day, head-to-head elimination after 5 1/2 hours of fishing. The championship round on Friday, featuring the last two anglers standing, will also be a 5 1/2-hour session to crown the champion.
Benton, of Panama City, Fla., had a tough road to hoe matched against bass fishing’s best, and caught just one fish for 1-6. This gives VanDam a seemingly insurmountable lead going into Wednesday’s elimination day.
“I’m still not comfortable,” VanDam said. “I feel confident, but I still need to catch a couple of fish. The good thing about this format is that we get BASStrakk updates that let us know exactly what our opponent has caught. Hopefully I’ll be able to lay off some of my most productive spots and save those fish for the semifinals.”
The second morning pairing saw Kreiger, of Bokeelia, Fla., matched against Powroznik, from Port Haywood, Va. Powroznik, who rooms with Kreiger on the Elite Series circuit, already has a Classic spot clinched and vowed not to stand in his friend’s way to a potential Classic qualification.
Still, as the morning session came to an end, Powroznik filled out a limit weighing 9-14, while Kreiger landed only 8-14.
“Well, I’m going to make him work for it,” Powroznik said with a grin. “But seriously, I knew what he had and I wanted to put on a good show for all the fans watching on Bassmaster.com. Tomorrow, I may just float down the middle of the river. The Classic is huge for our careers, and I hope Koby has a very long career.”
Hite of Phoenix, Ariz., led the pack for the afternoon session with a 10-2 limit, the second heaviest of the day. “Going into this thing, I knew we’d only have three hours to fish so I wanted to identify one or two areas close together so I wouldn’t waste time,” Hite said. So, unlike every other angler, he spent his entire day milking one spot.
“I found the fish in practice and I knew they would be there … they have no place to go. So, I went all-in and it worked out.” Hite said he found the fish in the morning during practice and they bit better, so he is confident his weight tomorrow will increase. Combs, of Huntington, Texas, wasn’t able to land a limit. He finished with 7-15, which is still within striking distance of Hite for Wednesday’s elimination day.
Lee, hailing from Vinemont, Ala., landed four fish for a total of 7-15, while his adversary, Rojas, from Lake Havasu City, Ariz., struggled to put a pattern together and ended with three fish for 3-11.
“I had a bad practice and bounced around a lot just trying to figure something out,” Lee said. “I’m happy with my weight, but I think it will improve tomorrow when I get to fish the morning session. The fish here seem to bite better early. This format puts a premium on strategy, and flip-flopping the times we are on the water could change some decisions I will make. And with only three hours to boat a limit, I have a lot to think about tonight.”
The quarterfinal will continue Thursday with Match Three (Hite vs. Combs) and Match Four (Lee vs. Rojas) taking place from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and Match One (VanDam vs. Benton) and Match Two (Powroznik vs. Kreiger) moving to the afternoon hours of 1:30-4:30 p.m.
The semifinal round on July 21 will pit the Match One Winner vs. the Match Two winner and the Match Three winner vs. the Match Four winner. The weights will go back to zero, and all anglers will fish from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
The winner of those two matches will advance to the July 22 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, from first cast until the fishing stops, with a camera in every boat. Fans can watch the LIVE show on WatchESPN and the ESPN app on Wednesday. The semifinals and finals will be streamed on Bassmaster.com Thursday and Friday.
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 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, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird, Mercury
2016 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, Academy Sports + Outdoors, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels
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.
Don’t Overlook Heavy Weights for Drop Shotting
During the unique 8-man Bassmaster Classic Bracket tournament on New York’s Niagara River, Jacob Powroznik showcased the importance of going big with your drop shot weights when conditions call for it – like when hunkered down behind a bridge pier in 25-feet of water with the current raging past, not far from plunging over Niagara Falls.
“I realize that normally we think of small 1/8 and 3/16 ounce weights for drop shotting – it’s a finesse technique – but this river current is so extreme that I had to go big with my weight in order to keep the lure near the bottom,” he explains.
“I was actually using a ½ ounce weight,” confessed Powroznik. “And heck, that’s no big deal really, Elite Tungsten just came out with a 1-ounce drop shot weight.”
“Whatever the conditions, the bottom line is, if you’re not keeping your bait near the bottom, you’re probably not going to get a bite when drop-shotting,” emphasizes Powroznik.
Highly accomplished New York B.A.S.S. Nation angler Brad Brodnicki is quick to support Powroznik’s claims that sometimes super-sizing a drop shot weight is simply a necessity.
“When you’re on Lake Erie riding 4 or 5 foot waves over 30-feet of water, and those Smallies are near the bottom eating gobies, the only way to keep a bait in their face and maintain contact with your lure is with a ¾ or 1-ounce drop shot weight,” says the highly likeable school teacher and successful big water bass angler.
What about “Power Shotting?”
“You wanna talk about big drop shot weights? – Heck, they use a big ½ or ¾ ounce weight and 20-pound line on a drop shot rig with baitcasting equipment all the time to pitch around tulles and other heavy cover in the California Delta,” says Powroznik. “They call it ‘Power Shotting’ – and trust me, it works.”
“That’s the cool thing about bass fishing – just when we think we’ve got a standard way of doing things – somebody adds a little innovation or experimentation and proves there’s a better or different way, and using a big weight instead of a tiny weight on a drop shot rig is a great example of that.”
Powroznik’s Typical Drop Shot Rod, Reel, and Line: “Day in and day out, I use a 6’ 10” medium light spinning rod, with a 6-pound Hi Seas fluorocarbon leader tied to 10-pound Hi Seas braid on a super fast Quantum Speed Freak reel,” says Poworzonik.
“I love that reel because it picks up 33” of line with every turn of the handle, and when you’re dealing with crazy smallmouth, you better pick up all the line you can in a hurry when you hook one in deep water.”
Andy Montgomery Talks TWS at ICAST 2016
Elite Series pro Andy Montgomery was pretty fired up about the Daiwa T-Wing system at ICAST 2016. Andy explains a few of the reasons why TWS will make you a better fisherman.
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Carl Jocumsen: Versatility in Tough Conditions
Australia’s Carl Jocumsen understands that when the fishing is tough, an angler’s mind and skills are the best tools for getting bass to bite. Carl teaches about his versatile approach when the bite slows down with specifics on the tactics and decisions that have worked best for him.
Carl states on his website:
I never give up until the last cast and try not to take a backward step in life, I want to always move forward! At the end of the day I’ve learnt not to take life too seriously and just enjoy every minute. I just love to fish no matter what it’s for – if it swims I want to catch it
Watch Carl’s entire versatility fishing seminar, gain access to our full bass fishing video library, and begin gaining confidence in new fishing tactics and techniques by subscribing below or signing-in here:
