Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam Daily Notes & Quotes
By editor on Mar 18, 2011 | In Bass Tournaments, BASS Elites, BASS, Pro Anglers, Ryan Said, KVD
B.A.S.S. News
Ryan Said's Biggest Bass Ever
PALATKA, Fla. — Alton Jones’ first stop: At the docks Friday morning, Day One leader Alton Jones said that his first stop will be at a spawning area, but he won’t be sight fishing.
When he gets there, the sun would not be up enough to actually see individual fish on a bed, he explained. That’s why his first stop will be at beds in deeper water.
“It’s too deep to see them on the beds there even after the sun comes up,” he said. “I caught a really nice 4 1/2-pounder yesterday before I could see. I was casting, ‘just fishing.’ It’s what I call blind fishing. If I can get one of those decent bites before I start sight-fishing, it really helps.”
Foggy a.m.: Alton Jones (see above) and other pros might have changed game plans after they motored out to the main river. A fog bank rolled in soon after the 99 boats were away from the Palatka dock and on the main river. The usual 30- to 40-minute trip to the spawning areas most anglers are fishing might have taken longer. With the sun stronger on the beds when anglers arrived, they could have gone straight to the shallower beds.
Lane’s OK after 360s: Thursday afternoon, running full-out on the St. Johns River on his way back to Palatka, Chris Lane’s boat collided with floating river debris, spun 360 degrees and his boat filled with water.
“We did a couple 360s — the whole back of the boat went forward, and we ended up completely under the water, then popped back up and we were sitting in nothing but water all the way up to our chests. The boat slowly came back up, started pumping, and Butcher picked me up,” Lane said.
His Good Samaritan was fellow competitor Terry Butcher. Butcher appeared within “2 seconds” of the incident, Lane said, and three or four other competitors stopped, too. Such courtesies, regardless of what’s on the line — $100,000 in this tournament — are common on the Bassmaster Elite Series.
“You couldn’t miss it,” he said. “We probably threw water 20 feet into the air, a solid wall of water.”
Lane left the boat tied to a river buoy, and all the boats continued on their run back to Palatka. They beat the 4 p.m. deadline. There’s a 1-pound penalty for every minute past check-in time, and all credit is lost after an angler is 15 minutes late.
Thanks to Butcher, Lane got full credit for his day’s catch of 9 pounds, 6 ounces.
Lane does not know what he hit.
“I didn’t feel anything, but obviously I hit something with the way the impact was, and the problems that we saw,” Lane said Friday morning. “The most important thing is that we (he and his official marshal) were safe. Thank God for Legend boats.”
After he got his boat towed in, the Mercury service crew patched up his motor Thursday evening. Lane was ready to go Friday morning.
Action every hour: Bassmaster.com is presenting the Power-Pole Citrus Slam from cover-to-cover.
One of the new features to online coverage of all Bassmaster Elite Series events is Hooked Up! every hour from the Toyota Trucks stage at the water’s edge.
Hosted by Bassmaster emcee Dave Mercer, the updates will begin at 9 a.m. ET Saturday and continue through Sunday afternoon. The updates include video of anglers competing that day on the water, as well as live interviews with pros and unique content, such as show-and-tell of baits being used on the water in the competition.
Fans on site can be part of the audience as the show is produced and shown live on Bassmaster.com.
The updates began last weekend at the season opener on the Harris Chain of Lakes, which Shaw Grigsby of Gainesville, Fla., won.
“I thought it was cool that we were able to show the bait that Shaw was using,” said Bassmaster weigh-in emcee Dave Mercer, who also emcees the updates.
B.A.S.S.Cam takes you to it: At Bassmaster.com, fans can watch anglers on the St. Johns fishery via B.A.S.S.Cam video reports that are posted within minutes of being recorded.
Thursday morning reports include a trip through the fog, shots of anglers hand-poling and using their Power-Poles, and up-close views of the eelgrass flats that Elite anglers are combing.
Music to my ear: Immediately after the weigh-in Friday, the group The Impediments will present a free concert at the Riverfront Park Amphitheater.
Squishy, slimy, sticky green (but not fish) stuff: Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, a local host of the Power-Pole Citrus Slam, is inviting people to an unusual kind of party.
They’re calling it the Jello Jump. It’s a contest, and it’s just what the name suggests: contestants jump into a pool of gelatin. It will happen beginning Saturday after the weigh-in concludes, about 5:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Georgia-Pacific Railroad, the contest challenges fishing fans to leap feet first into a swimming pool of gelatin. Then they must fish around in the quivering mass and grab one of the keys. The trick is to select the one and only key in the pool that fits the ignition of the prize, a Yamaha Rhino ATV.
Dana Jones, chamber president, said that 7,000 gallons of gelatin are being brewed to fill the pool.
Who made all that gelatin?
“Our wonderful volunteers led by Ginny Robbins pre-made some of it in 5-gallon jugs. It’s being kept on site in a cooler. More will be made tonight (Friday) in the pool with 4,000 pounds of ice. When the sun comes up and starts warming it, it will gel,” Jones said as they worked on site early Friday morning.
The pool is 4 feet deep.
“Unless you have an extremely long arm, you’re going to have to go under to reach a key,” she said.
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