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Luke talks Gamma
FLW Tour pro Luke Clausen talks about the line he uses and some of the reasons he chooses Gamma, it’s simply the best.
Siller Leads A Thriller At Lake Champlain
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Several competitors spun tales of thrilling rides in 5- to 8-foot waves, but the most exciting moment for Scott Siller was weighing in a 20-pound limit to take the pro division lead in the Bass Pro Shops Northern Open presented by Allstate at Lake Champlain.
The 44-year-old police officer from Milwaukee, Wis., also experienced a rough ride on wind-swept Champlain, which reminded him of fishing back home. “It reminded me of Lake Erie,” he said. “It was terrible. We got soaking wet.”
Siller noted Champlain fishes similar to his home waters of Sturgeon Bay, so he was able to fish his strengths. He found some areas in practice that were holding smallmouth bass, but he could never catch any brown bass more than 3 pounds.
“I really didn’t have a very good practice,” he said. “I had a couple of areas where I caught some big fish (largemouth), and I went in there today and within an hour and a half I had about 20 pounds.”
After culling out a keeper, Siller left the area and looked for some spots to help his partner catch some fish. Siller noted that he didn’t see any other competitors in his primary area, so he plans on making the long run again tomorrow.
The Wisconsin angler is competing in his sixth B.A.S.S. event, and his previous highest finish was a 22nd-place effort last year in a Northern Open at Lake Erie.
Challenging Siller is Bassmaster Elite Series pro Mike Iaconelli, who moved into second place with a 19-6 limit. Iaconelli has plenty of history on Champlain, having fished club tournaments here in the early 1990s and winning his first professional tournament, a Bassmaster Top 150 event, in 1999. “That was a pretty special thing, so I would like to win here again,” he said.
The wind changed the lake level in the area Iaconelli was fishing, so he had to make some adjustments. “It was a slower day than what happened in practice,” he said. “My (lake) level rose today and the fish got scattered.”
“I am concentrating on largemouth, but I am catching a few smallmouth mixed in,” he said. “I went out of my way in practice this week to strictly fish for largemouth.” The touring pro from Pittsgrove, N.J., knows smallmouth tend to roam this time of year on Champlain, so he is sticking with a more reliable largemouth pattern.
The rest of the Top 5 in the pro division includes Ryan Cooper, Nashua, N.H., in third place with 19-1; Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, in fourth with 18-13; and Rick Nitkiewicz, Pittsburgh, Pa. in fifth with 18-11.
Fishing for only the second time on Champlain, Shawn Parenteau of Kingston, N.H., caught a three-fish limit weighing 11-2 to take the lead in the co-angler division. “I was drop shotting and catching all smallmouth,” said the 39-year-old Parenteau, who caught his limit by 8 a.m.
Hosting this week’s Northern Open is The Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau (www.goadirondack.com). The launches and weigh-ins each day will be held at Dock Street Landing at 5 Dock Street in Plattsburgh.
2014 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2014 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Presenting Sponsor: Allstate
2014 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2014 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: Boat U.S., Booyah, Carhartt, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. 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 presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.
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Media Contact: Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, dprecht@bassmaster.com or Helen Northcutt, 205-313-0944, hnorthcutt@bassmaster.com.
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North Alabama Team Leads Championship, Dedicate It To Dad
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. — Dave Gullette would be standing in the front row cheering, emailing photos to all his coworkers and otherwise beaming with pride right now to see his son, Michael, and Michael’s teammate, Nathan Martin, in the lead at the 2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship on Chatuge Reservoir.
But Dave Gullette, Michael’s father and biggest fan, died in January, right after Michael qualified for the championship.
“We’re dedicating this tournament to him,” Michael said.
“We came here to win it for him,” Martin said.
Gullette and Martin weighed in 14 pounds, 15 ounces today, putting the University of North Alabama (UNA) team 9 ounces ahead of the second-place Bethel University team of Zach Parker and Matt Roberts.
“I grew up fishing with my dad in Illinois,” said Gullette, who headed south to go to college because UNA was the only school that had both the major he wanted, culinary arts, and a bass fishing team.
And he’s really glad he made that move.
“If it weren’t for this UNA team, I wouldn’t still be in school,” Gullette said. “These last few months have been so tough, but these guys have been there for me. They’ve been really supportive.”
His teammates even gave him a custom rod inscribed with “In memory of Dave Gullette.”
“That rod is always with me, whether I’m using it or not,” Gullette added.
Gullette and Martin still have quite a ways to go before they can proclaim a win, especially with less than a pound of cushion between them and their nearest competitors.
“It’s going to take everything we’ve got and everything we know to bring it home,” Gullette said.
“Today has been so tough,” Martin said. “We only had eight bites all day. I was here last year for the championship, and I got my heart broken. We lost so many fish.”
This time, Martin is determined to have a solid tournament, and he’s off to a good start. “We’re running three different patterns,” Martin said. “Two of them worked today. Tomorrow, it just depends on the weather.”
What’s helped them so far is that they are specifically avoiding what so many other teams are doing — using the wooden rat that last year’s winners, Tom Frink and Jacob Nummy of Auburn University at Montgomery, employed to catch 15 pounds a day here.
As for Friday, they’ve got brushpiles all over the lake that they are planning to hit. “I’ve got 120 more of them waypointed from last year,” Martin said. “You can never have enough brushpiles.”
Gullette and Martin were working with less practice than most of the other anglers. They got into town over the weekend, but they had to come off the water before noon on two of the three practice days because the boat’s motor overheated, and they had to get it repaired.
Yet they still did better on practice time than a couple of others. Jake Gipson of the University of Alabama team only arrived the night before the championship began because he was taking the bar exam. And Jacob Wall and Kyle Schneider of University of Oregon arrived mere hours before the tournament began.
“We’ve been up for 38 hours because of flying in late on some messed up travel plans,” said Schneider.
The Oregon anglers got only a 20-minute nap before going on the water. “We did manage to get a fish in the last 10 minutes,” said a red-eyed Schneider. “It was on one of the most delirious casts of my life!”
Wall and Schneider’s one fish weighed 2-3, only slightly higher than the average 2-pound bass brought to the scales on Day 1. About one-third of the field managed to catch a five-fish limit, and 12 teams zeroed.
The biggest fish caught was 6 pounds, 7 ounces — and there were two of them. The leaders, Martin and Gullette, caught one of them, and Garrett Cates and Graham Howard of Kansas State University caught the other. The two teams are tied for Carhartt Big Bass honors, which are awarded to the team that catches the biggest bass of the tournament. Martin and Gullette are also in the lead for Bass Pro Nitro Big Bag honors for their 14-15 sack Thursday. If that holds up, the teammates win a $250 Bass Pro Shops gift card.
Day 1 set the stage for the championship, but Day 2 will be a big day for anglers who have a lot of ground to make up. To make the cut for Day 3, the team has to be in the Top 5. The Top 5 teams will compete for the championship trophy, and then the Top 4 teams advance to the 2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series College Bracket, Aug. 2-5, also on Chatuge Reservoir. In that event, the anglers will fish individually, and the winner earns a berth in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.
Competition resumes Friday at 6:30 a.m. ET at The Ridges Marina & Resort in Hiawassee, Ga., for takeoff. The Day 2 weigh-in will be held at Young Harris College at 3 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to Bassmaster.com for updates.
2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Title Sponsor: Carhartt
2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Quantum, Yamaha
2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Supporting Partners: Booyah, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Motorguide, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano
2014 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Proud Partner: Mustang Survival
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. 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 presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.
History In The Making On The Delaware
PHILADELPHIA — The Bassmaster Elite at the Delaware River, Aug. 7-10, 2014, promises to be an historic occasion in a couple of particulars. For one, it’s B.A.S.S.’s first stop at this venue, best known for George Washington’s crossing into New Jersey for a surprise attack on British forces. For another, it begins the stretch run of the 2014 Elite season, culminating in dozens of Bassmaster Classic berths and the crowning of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
But the angler with the best insight into the Delaware River’s bass fishery isn’t in the tournament. He’s Pete Gluszek, the Dean of Bass University TV, a two-time B.A.S.S. tournament winner and three-time Classic qualifier. Gluszek lives in nearby Mt. Laurel, N.J., and has spent the last 25 years fishing the river — typically 20 or 25 times a year.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how the best anglers in the business will approach the river,” Gluszek says. “They’ll have fresh eyes, and I can’t wait to find out how it goes!”
Patterns vs. Spots: One of the first questions the pros have to determine in breaking down tournament waters is whether the event will be won by fishing a pattern (with a multitude of locations fitting a productive profile) or a spot (a single area one angler can exploit and protect from the rest of the field).
Gluszek is adamant that this event will be won with a solid pattern … or two or three. “I don’t think there’s a spot on the Delaware that will hold up for four days of fishing,” he says. “Patterns on the river revolve around vegetation (eelgrass and hydrilla) and hard cover (bulkheads, docks and piers, rocks, riprap and laydowns).
“The real key, though, is coming up with the proper strategy for the tides and being in the right places at the right times.”
Baits for Success: “Fishing on the river isn’t fancy,” Gluszek says. “Crankbaits, jigs, shaky heads, spinnerbaits and vibrating jigs are going to catch the bulk of the fish. Tidal water bass want to bite, and power fishing is usually the way to go. The bass battle a lot of current and are looking for feeding opportunities.”
Decisions, Decisions: “The first thing the Elite pros will have to decide,” Gluszek offers, “is whether they’ll try to develop patterns on the main river or in the creeks
Though the river offers water that’s more than 50 feet deep in places, anything greater than 10 feet is considered “deep” to local anglers, and few tournaments are won by fishing “down there.”
The Extra Mile(s): Anytime the Elites are on a river, long, gas-burning, bone-jarring, time-consuming runs are a possibility, and that’s certainly true on the Delaware. In fact, it’s especially true so late in the season when many anglers’ hopes of a Classic berth hinge on a win here.
Gluszek knows of a few tributaries with winning potential that are hours from the starting point at Frankford Arsenal Boat Launch.
“You’d have to run an hour and a half or so out to Delaware Bay and then run up a creek or river another 30 or 40 minutes to find quality fresh water, but it could pay off. If the wind’s blowing against the tide in the bay, though, you’re going to have some nasty waves to battle.”
Expect a Slow Start: Because the tournament will open at low tide on Thursday morning, Gluszek believes the fishing will start tough and get better each day.
“With the water low, being in the right place to begin the tournament is critical. If you guess wrong, you’re going to be in for a long day. The first round will be the most challenging. I’m expecting the best catches to come in the finals (Sunday).
To Win: “I’m predicting that 44 pounds, 12 ounces will win the tournament,” Gluszek says. “To make the first cut (Top 50 after two days), it’ll take about 19 or 20 pounds. It’s going to be really tight, with just ounces separating most of the anglers in the Top 12 in the finals.”
Gluszek’s predicted winning weight is only about a pound more than the lightest winning weight in Elite history. He estimates the weight of the tournament’s big bass to be “right around the 6-pound mark.”
Ones to Watch: Gluszek’s close friend, Michael Iaconelli, cut his angling teeth on the Delaware and other area waters and is a resounding pre-tournament favorite among fishing fans, including Gluszek. But Ike’s not the only angler Gluszek will be watching at the tournament.
“Jacob Powroznik is extremely talented and grew up fishing the James River, so he certainly understands tidal waters. I’m also expecting one of the western pros who are strong on the California Delta to do well here.”
Check out Pete Gluszek’s on-the-water blogs during competition on Bassmaster.com.
The local hosts for this event are the Philadelphia Sports Congress and the State of Pennsylvania.
2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha
2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Booyah, Carhartt, Diet Mountain Dew, Livingston Lures, Lowrance, Plano, Power-Pole, Rigid Industries, Shimano
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. 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 presented by Allstate, B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro.
Oh Golly it’s Topwater Time
Oh Golly it’s topwater time with Shaw Grigsby! Shaw absolutely loves fishing topwater baits throughout the year in his home state of Florida. However, when the conditions are right for topwater fishing, you will find Shaw slinging topwaters in search of big bass throughout the country! “Topwater is good a lot more often then we give it credit for” says Shaw. In this class, Shaw will cover his most effective topwater baits and more specifically, he will describe which conditions each type of topwater bait excels in!