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Pro Bass Angler Scroggins Wears a Kayak Lifejacket
The fact that Florida’s Terry “Big Show” Scroggins racked-up another Top 10 finish on the St. Johns River during the first Bassmaster Elite Series tournament of 2016 was no great surprise – but the fact that he chose to wear a lifejacket designed for kayakers during the $100,000 competition certainly caught the attention of fans and media who lined the dock in his hometown of Palatka before morning launch.
“I’ve always had more trust in a traditional fishing vest style of life jacket than the inflatable type, but I never liked the bulkiness of a vest style, and the way it rides up on your neck when you’re running down the lake,” says Scroggins.
“I was walking through the Gander Mountain store in Saint Augustine back in December, killin’ time while my girlfriend shopped, when I spotted this kayak lifejacket, and I thought “heck, that’d be the perfect combination between a vest style lifejacket and the newer style of inflatable SOSpenders”,” says Scroggins.
Knowing his reputation for spontaneous purchases – Scroggins recount of the story brings a grin, but for him it’s a serious satisfaction to a longtime frustration tied to his daily wardrobe as a pro bass angler. Not to mention, that drowning is the single biggest cause of death in boating accidents, and 80% of the casualties were not wearing life jackets when found.
“I also like the fact that because the kayak style isn’t bulky in the shoulder area, your arms have a greater range of motion,” adds Scroggins.
Scroggins doesn’t wear it while actually fishing – but he’s as happy as a bed of St. Johns River clams, and a few thousand dollars more comfortable as a result of yet another top tournament finish while wearing his unique new life jacket.
A Cook Called, Clunn Answered, I listened.
I went to the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in Palataka, Florida last Tuesday afternoon looking for a payphone – the payphone that helped change the life of the one person that shaped my life, more than any other, beyond my own parents.
“Palatka will always be special to me. When I won $100,000 at Super Bass there in 1983, I walked across the parking lot from the weigh-in, called Tammy on a payphone, and told her I was quitting my job as a fisheries biologist to be a full-time pro angler, and that she might as well quit her job too, so we could travel together,” Ken Cook once told me.
By Tuesday evening, I hadn’t yet found the payphone during my first two hours in town.
So at dinner, craving a connection beyond the “Ken” printed on the left heel of my Nike Shox, and “Cook” on the right heel – I asked my longtime friend, and veteran pro angler, Shaw Grigsby to tell me about his memories of Ken at the ’83 Super Bass event over a plate of Boston Butt bbq at Terry Scroggins’ house.
“Ken won it, and got a hundred grand, and I finished like 11th and won $2,000,” laughed Grigsby. “I didn’t know Ken at that particular time, but I certainly got to know him in the years that followed – and I’ll always carry a piece of Ken Cook with me,” he added.
Me too, Shaw – but by Sunday – the final day of this year’s event – I still hadn’t spotted a payphone near weigh-in.
What I did see was 69-year-old Rick Clunn win the $100,000 event.
“Your hero did his thing,” came an immediate text from my mom in the moments after Clunn hoisted the blue and silver trophy, as she watched on Bassmaster.com back in Western Pennsylvania.
Wait! What? I thought Ken Cook was your hero?
He was.
Along with Clunn.
In my Juniata College and University of Oklahoma dormitory rooms – you’d have found photos of three anglers. Ken Cook. Gary Klein. And Rick Clunn.
Speaking of college – I attended my first two Bassmaster Classics during that time period. Rick Clunn won on a Poe’s RC1 crankbait in 1990 on the James River, and Ken Cook won with a Hart willowleaf spinnerbait the following year on the Upper Chesapeake Bay.
Today – 26 years later – a replica of Clunn’s winning RC1 crankbait sits on my kitchen counter in Skiatook, autographed by Rick Clunn with the words “There Are No Limits.”
I look at it every day.
Cox Wins Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell
ANDERSON, S.C. (March 20, 2016) – Florida pro John Cox, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces Sunday to win the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Evinrude. Cox’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 67 pounds, 6 ounces earned him the win by a slim 7-ounce margin over second place angler Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, and $100,000 in the second FLW Tour event of 2016.
“It feels absolutely incredible to win this event,” said Cox, who now leads the 2016 FLW Angler of the Year race. “I haven’t won a Tour event in five years. Everything just came together for me this week.”
Cox said he spent the first three days of the tournament scouring nearly 70 miles of shoreline in search of spawning bass. He said his most productive baits were a wacky-rigged, watermelon-seed-colored Yamamoto Senko and Zoom Trick Worm.
“I ran to as many pockets as I could and caught most of my stringers off of beds,” said Cox. “My biggest bass of the tournament, a 6-pound, 11-ouncer, actually came off of a dock. It was crazy because I caught that one as I was targeting a 3-pounder.”
On day four, Cox said he decided to concentrate on a ¼-mile stretch of dirty water near Seneca that he called ”the pond”. He said he rotated between a black and blue jig and a Z-Man ChatterBait in a variety of cover and ended up boating seven keepers.
“I put my head down and got to work,” said Cox. “I threw to various pieces of wood and some rocks, basically anything on the bank. Every 200 yards I’d get a bite. I ended up catching each stringer fish from a different piece of cover. It’s amazing that I could spend three days running for miles sight-fishing, and then all of a sudden do so well in a such a small area.”
The Florida pro said that his decision to stay in the pond ultimately got him the win.
“Every time I tried to leave the area, I’d catch one,” said Cox. “I ended up being in there all day. It worked out perfectly.”
The top 10 pros finished the tournament:
1st: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 20 bass, 67-6, $100,000
2nd: Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas, 20 bass, 66-15, $30,000
3rd: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 20 bass, 62-9, $25,000
4th: Jeff Gustafson, Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, 20 bass, 59-14, $20,000
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 59-8, $19,000
6th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 20 bass, 59-3, $18,000
7th: Yamamoto Baits pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 20 bass, 57-14, $17,000
8th: Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 20 bass, 56-5, $16,000
9th: Lew’s pro Peter Thliveros, Saint Augustine, Fla., 20 bass, 55-0, $15,000
10th: Powell Kemp, Scotland Neck, N.C., 20 bass, 54-10, $14,000
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 50 bass weighing 130 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 10 pros Saturday. All 10 of the day four contenders caught five-bass limits.
Chuck Kavros of Grass Valley, California, won the co-angler division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 22 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by Anthony Goggins of Auburn, Alabama, who finished in second place with 10 bass weighing 21 pounds, 9 ounces worth $7,500.
In addition to casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division, anglers are also competing for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 4-7 on Wheeler Lake.
The Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Evinrue was hosted by the Anderson Convention & Visitors Bureau. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the Walmart FLW Tour at Beaver Lake presented by Jack Link’s.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.
Wisdom from Clunn
Rick Clunn raised the trophy today on the St.Johns, you will be hearing a lot about the winning patterns and baits that were used. There is a story with in a story that you may not hear as much about. Rick Clunn is a legend in the sport of no way to argue that . He has effected three generations of angler while amassing four Bassmaster Classic titles and now fifteen wins. Today on stage the 69 year old Clunn made a profound statement. “Don’t Ever accept that all your best moments are behind you”. This could just be the quote of 2016.
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On Deck: Championship Sunday from the St Johns River
Here is a looks at what we saw from the dock this morning.
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