Bass Tournament News

Bassmaster Elite Series Sunshine Showdown: Daily Notes & Quotes

JVD vs. KVD: Rookie Jonathon VanDam, who made the final-day cut in his first Bassmaster Elite Series event, says he isn’t rattled by the fact that his famous uncle is two places ahead of him on the leaderboard.

Ditto for the uncle. Kevin VanDam grinned when he was asked how he felt about his brother’s kid nipping at his heels. VanDam, the reigning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, was in fifth place and his nephew was in seventh place going into the fourth and final day.

“That’s pretty cool, it will be fun,” KVD said. “He’s trying to build a name for himself, so it’s a great way to start. The money he’ll earn will be good, too. It’s tough out there for rookies to find sponsorships.”

At Saturday’s weigh-in, JVD tracked the leaderboard closely to see if he would make the cut, the 12 anglers with the highest weights after three days. He held at sixth place for a while, then dropped to rest in seventh after Stephen Browning popped into third.

“The first professional event I’ve ever fished, I finished third, and I’ve been fishing the (Bassmaster) Opens for some time, and made the cuts there, and I won an Open,” Jonathon VanDam said. “But this is even more exciting.”

Goldbeck’s climb: If it existed, Grant Goldbeck of Boerne, Texas, would win top climber award. Day 1 he weighed 1-1 for 97th place (out of 99 anglers). Day 2 he whumped 27-1 on the scale, pulling him into the first cut at No. 16. Day 3 he brought in 22-15 more, jumping into second place.

He trailed leader Shaw Grigsby by 11-10. One chance to overtake Grigsby is if he can…

… get that girl to notice: Goldbeck said he spend some time last night contemplating how to trigger a solid bite from a big female that probably runs 12 to 14 pounds. He spent four hours on that one bass Saturday with negative results.

“I brought a couple extra baits today for her,” he said. “I decided I need to get big and aggressive and put something on the bed that will make her puff her chest up.”

One bait in his powered-up arsenal is a 9-inch swimbait.

What’s a “couillon”?: That’s the nickname Cliff Crochet (12th place with 39-11) gave the SPRO topwater frog that he plans to use again Sunday. He’s been into a “frog and flippin’ deal” all week, he said.

“Dean (Rojas) throws ‘Kermit,’ so when I used it, I named it “Couillon,” he said. The word, according to the Louisiana State University’s online Cajun French dictionary, is pronounced “KOO Yon,” and means “crazy” or “fool.”

Quotable:
“I struggled to catch what I caught.” — Kevin VanDam on his Day 3 weight of 12-14

“There’s so much grass there, it’s like hunting for a needle in a haystack.” — Kevin VanDam about his pattern that keys in on bass moving into grass to spawn

“I’m quite a bit behind those guys, so I’ve got to do something outstanding. But I have seen in practice, where a big group of big fish is in a small area, and that’s what I have to find again, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s what we’re all looking for.” — Kevin VanDam

“Execution in heavy cover’s been my problem. I’ve only had one limit so far. I had just three yesterday, but my average was good and I made the cut.” — Cliff Crochet

“It’ll be a tight one.” — leader Shaw Grigsby

“I had a 7 1/2-pounder eat it (Gambler Cane Toad), and another one that tried to eat it, probably bigger. That one’s still in there.” — Chris Lane

On golden pond: He left it early Saturday to try out Lake Harris, but Pat Golden said he would probably return Sunday to what’s been a goldmine for him. The area is a canal along Haines Creek that opens up in the back to pondlike areas with deep and shallow water. It’s a small space packed with spawners, and he’s been sharing it with leader Grigsby and runner-up Grant Goldbeck.

“I felt like I had gotten what I was going to get out of there,” Golden said after he weighed in 17-8 Saturday. “But I’ll go back. I’ve been getting a big fish out of there every day. There was another 6-pounder on a bed in there, and I don’t know if one of those guys got it, but the fish are still in there.”

To be an Elite someday: Dustin Snelson, 18, of Leesburg, Fla., is trying to raise enough money to go to Kentucky to compete in the 2011 Junior Bassmaster portion of the upcoming B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Divisional tournament.

As the state champ, he earned the right to represent Florida, but he’s responsible for getting himself there. Much of the money is coming from his job at a car wash when he’s not in school. A local tournament two weeks ago helped out, too.

His entire family is pitching in, including his grandmother. She made a quilt with a fishing theme that’s being raffled off. Tickets were being sold at a booth set up at the Sunshine Showdown in Tavares, Fla., host of the March 10-13 Bassmaster Elite Series event.

“The point of the fundraisers are so I can keep moving forward toward my goal of a career as an angler,” he said. “I’m focused on the Kentucky trip right now, and I’m getting a lot of help.”

While his family members help sell the raffle tickets, Snelson has been watching the Elite competition from backstage as a Florida B.A.S.S. Federation Nation volunteer runner. He’s been able to meet several of the Elite anglers.

His favorite? A fellow Florida-grown angler, of course. His pick to win is Shaw Grigsby.

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