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“Pee Paw” McClelland Last One In
Few men in professional bass fishing have won more Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments than Mike McClelland. The well recognized blue trophies have stacked up slowly – but really, really, surely on the mantel of his Northwest Arkansas home. And this week at BASSFest reflects well “Pee Paw’s” slow, methodical, but very successful, approach.
Ten minutes before official blast-off, he finally arrived at the launch ramp. He was literally the last pro to back his boat in the water.
Actually, his best friend and bride of 12 years, Stacy, backed their LEER-covered Tundra down the Lake Chickamauga boat ramp at 6:52 this morning, grinned, and said, “We’re always last, we’re gonna have to get with it.”
McClelland already “got with it.” After a great practice on Lake Chickamauga, Wednesday and Thursday’s derby days weren’t so kind, he missed the cut, and was sent to Nickajack yesterday for the “Second Chance” round. He caught 13-pounds, finished 10th, and secured a chance to continue competing today and tomorrow on Chickamauga.
As a result, McClelland was literally the last angler officially entered into this weekend’s final rounds of competition.
His traveling partner and fellow pro, Jeff Kriet, nicknamed him “Pee Paw” based on McClelland’s highly-organized, way-more-mature-than-his-46 birthdays, approach to life.
Kriet has a point. But know this, McClelland might move faster if his life’s daily travels weren’t slowed by his penchant for taking care of others. McClelland’s nature is to make sure everybody around him has what they need. That takes time. That takes heart.
Heart could lead to a 30-pound limit today too. “He caught a 6-pounder and watched a 10-pounder spit his lure out in practice,” says Stacy. “He had a great practice here on Chickamauga, he just had a horrible day Wednesday, but he loves this BASSFest format, there’s no points to get stressed out about, and by making it back into the cut, we’re assured a check for at least $10,000 – it’s awesome.”
“As soon as he weighed his fish at Nickajack yesterday, a huge storm approached, and we hurried away from weigh-in to drive back to Dayton, so we had no idea that his 13-pounds would make the cut,” admitted Stacy. “Our son Justin was back home watching the leaderboard, and told Mike, “Dad, you made the cut.” Mike’s face just got flushed when Justin told him, and I’m getting goosebumps just telling you about it,” said Stacy, who many now call Mee Maw.
Don’t be shocked if the short on height, big on heart, Pee Paw catches a monster bag today to make a run at another blue trophy. And don’t be surprised if he’s the last one to arrive at the ramp tomorrow either.
“It stresses me out, but it doesn’t stress him out at all,” says Stacy. “He says it’s good to get here last because there’s nobody in line, no standing around listening to dock talk and gossip. Oh trust me, it doesn’t bother him one bit.”
Apparently not – he’s got seven B.A.S.S. wins and $1.5 Million in prize money to prove that slowly but really surely works just fine.
There’s nothing wrong with an old cane fishing pole. And the smell of early spring. Sit down in a fold-up easy chair. On a quiet shady riverbank. Let the world go on without me. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Cause I ain’t in no hurry today.” – Zac Brown Band (2012)
Hamilton Goes “Old School”
Bassmaster Open’s pro Skylar Hamilton went “old school” on the field today at Lake Nickajack during the last chance tournament at BASSfest 2014. The 19 year old pro from Dandridge, Tennessee relied on a very basic set up to put together a impressive 5 fish limit of 25-13 including a 9-15 giant.
Wheeler’s Magic Day
Jacob Wheeler had a “magic” day on Tennessee’s Chickamauga Lake.
Why Use the Equalizer
The Equalizer… what is is it and why do you need it? We have been seeing more and more of these on boats around the country, Find out why pro angler JTodd Tucker uses them.
Get you Equalizers here.
Jacob Wheeler Rolls An Almost 7-Pound Lead On BASSfest Field
DAYTON, Tenn. — At age 23 and from Indianapolis, Ind., Jacob Wheeler would not be most people’s odds-on favorite to take over in the June 11-15 Bassmaster BASSfest competition on Tennessee’s Chickamauga Lake.
Until you know that he’s been fishing Chickamauga for years because one of his often-visited friends lives near the lake. And that he competed on the lake just last year in a major event. And that at age 21, he was the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup champion.
Wheeler put all his experience to work Thursday, BASSfest’s second day. He weighed in 29 pounds, 13 ounces for a two-day total of 52-3, banking a lead of 6 pounds, 12 ounces against Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.
VanDam, the famed seven-time Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year and four-time Bassmaster Classic winner who is known as a Tennessee River impoundment expert, moved up from fifth place into second place with 45-7.
Wheeler, who qualified for BASSfest via the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens circuit, said his day did not start out well. When he arrived at his first spot, his front-deck electronics unit was out.
“When you’re fishing deep, you need a graph,” he said. For about 15 minutes, he tried to repair it himself.
“Then I said, ‘You know what, I need to settle down.’ I decided to just use the back graph along with a (marker) buoy, and fish slow and take my time,” Wheeler said. “Then everything got into a rhythm, and I was able to catch a few fish.”
He hopped around to several more spots, and boated a few more bass before he pulled up on one that he had to himself. The time was about 12:30 p.m.
“It was lights out,” he said. “I caught a couple of my really nice fish.”
He culled one more time before he had his 29-13.
Wheeler said the timing of his rotation around his spots was a key to his success. Some spots worked best without current, some with current.
Another key: He worked spots he basically had to himself. The lake has been “fishing small” for many BASSfest competitors, meaning most are sharing the most productive water.
VanDam was one of those sharing water. He and two other competitors fished within speaking distance of each other.
Despite weighing 22-14, VanDam wasn’t happy with how his day went. Contrary to his first day, when he had fished “clean,” he said, on Thursday he failed to boat several bass that would have helped him considerably.
“It’s hard to make up for what happened to me today,” he said. “But it’s part of fishing.”
Elite Series pro Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., rose from 13th place into third place with a two-day total of 44-13. He weighed 24-8.
“This lake is full of grass, and that’s my favorite way to fish, so I’m fishing grass or close to it,” he said.
Hackney, who said he’s never before fished Chickamauga, missed out on about a day and a half of practice time for the event because he was competing in another tournament. None of that seems to be hurting him: Thursday he found a 6-12 and another in the 6-pound range.
Like Hackney, Matt Herren was an upward mover. The Ashville, Ala., Elite Series pro had a two-day tally of 43-13, enough to push him up from sixth place.
Fifth place was taken by Takahiro Omori at 43-1. He had been in fourth place, but the slip was understandable. Omori felt so ill during Thursday’s competition that at one point he had to stretch across his deck and fish his Carolina rig lying down. He still weighed in 20-2.
First-day leader Michael Iaconelli of Pitts Grove, N.J., plummeted to 20th place after bringing in three bass — two short of a limit — that weighed 8-1. He had bagged 25-12 on Day 1.
“They seemed to vanish,” Iaconelli said.
Wheeler won the Livingston Lures Leader award of $500 for climbing to the top of the leaderboard on the second day. For his 29-13 Day 2 catch, Wheeler became the top contender for the event’s Berkley Heavyweight award of $500.
Hank Cherry of Maiden, N.C., captured big-bass honors with a 10-11. The behemoth was also the largest bass of the Bassmaster Elite Series season so far — and Cherry’s personal best.
Amazingly for June on a Southern lake, the 10-11 was on a bed when Cherry caught it. He’d spotted her each day for three days, following his swimbait, but had not seen her actually on a bed.
“I went into there today, and she was locked tight on the bed,” he said. “It took five flips to catch her.”
Twice the bass slipped out of his hands, he said, and his shredded palms proved that. He finally was able to two-hand her over the side and into his boat.
He was using a 9/16-ounce jig with a small creature bait on 20-pound line.
Cherry became the frontrunner for the event’s Carhartt Big Bass award of up to $1,500.
Part competition, part festival, BASSfest is a new and unique event. The field includes the 107 pros of the Bassmaster Elite Series plus 33 anglers from the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens circuit. They are competing over five days for a first prize of $125,000 and a berth in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.
The Top 50 will sit out a day while the other 90 anglers go into a shootout on Nickajack Lake on Friday. The 10 pros who survive the shootout will rejoin the 50 anglers Saturday for the next round on Chickamauga. Sunday, the Top 12 from Saturday will compete on Chickamauga for the trophy.
While the Nickajack leg of the event takes place, the Top 50 from Thursday’s competition will participate in an extensive slate of free seminars conducted by Bassmaster University presented by Nationwide, part of the big BASSfest Expo at Dayton’s Point Park. The Expo will open at 10 a.m. Bassmaster University seminars will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Nickajack weigh-in will be streamed live into Point Park beginning at 2:30 p.m. After that weigh-in is complete, Bassmaster College Series anglers will take the Point Park stage to weigh their catches from Watts Bar Reservoir.
There’s no admission charge to the Expo and all seminars are free.
All times are Eastern.
The local host of the event is the City of Dayton.
The Bassmasters on ESPN2 will present coverage of BASSfest in four hours of programming beginning June 29 at 8-9 a.m. ET. The next two hours will air July 6 from 6-8 a.m. ET, including the finale. It will reair July 13 from 7-8 a.m. ET.
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.