Posted by TJ
on July 16, 2008, 10:59 am
206.222.171.33
2009 ELITE Season
The 2009 season gets rolling on the familiar Lake Amistad, where the winning Elite pro has weighed in an average of 25 pounds per day in the past two years' tournaments. The reservoir will host the Battle on the Border, March 12-15 in Del Rio, Texas. In 2008, Texas' Todd Faircloth rallied from 10th place on the final day of competition to win the Battle on the Border with an overall weight of 76 pounds, 15 ounces.
From Texas the series heads to Russellville, Ark., for the March 26-29 event on Lake Dardanelle. In 2007, Boyd Duckett of Demopolis, Ala., then the reigning Bassmaster Classic champion, won the last BASS event on the northwestern Arkansas reservoir with a four-day total of 55 pounds, 9 ounces.
Next, the Elite pros circle back to Alabama, the birthplace of BASS. If 2008 was any indication, the April 2-5 Dixie Duel on Wheeler Lake out of Decatur is sure to be loaded with excitement. The last Elite event there, just last month, became a slugfest. After a few days of trash-talking and nail biting, second-year Elite pro Jeremy Starks beat the legendary Kevin VanDam by a mere 8 ounces.
Hosting its fourth BASS tournament April 23-26, Virginia's Smith Mountain Lake is a scenic 20,600-acre lake that is 40 miles long and features more than 500 miles of shoreline nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 2007, Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., then a rookie, claimed his first victory as an Elite pro at Smith Mountain with a four-day total of 57 pounds, 3 ounces.
To start a two-week tour of Alabama, the circuit next stops at Lake Guntersville, May 7-10 out of Guntersville, Ala. The last time the Elites visited Guntersville, a familiar face smiled under the weight of a hoisted 2007 Southern Challenge trophy. Kevin VanDam earned his 11th BASS career victory, besting the second-place finisher, Saint Louis' Mark Tucker, by more than 6 pounds with a four-day total of 66 pounds, 3 ounces.
From Guntersville the Elites travel to the smallmouth haven of Pickwick Lake and Florence, Ala., for the May 14-17 event. The 47,500-acre Tennessee River impoundment is primarily a flooded river with points, gravel bars, stump flats, islands and small tributaries. It last hosted a BASS event in 2005.
After the Elite Series' second tour of Alabama, the trail heads to Paris, Tenn., for the June 3-6 Tennessee Triumph on Kentucky Lake. With four tournaments to go in 2008, Kentucky Lake was the site of a thrilling battle between titans: four-time Bassmaster Classic winner Rick Clunn and VanDam, a three-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year. It went down to the wire as VanDam claimed his 14th career BASS victory with an overall weight of 84 pounds, 13 ounces.
Starting the homestretch in June, BASS will visit America's second-largest river — the Mississippi River, out of Fort Madison, Iowa, on June 11-14 for the River Rumble. The Mighty Mississippi was host to a Bassmaster Tour event in 2006, when Elite angler Darrin Schwenkbeck won with a three-day total of 42 pounds, 12 ounces. The Mississippi has hosted more than 10 BASS events but this will be its first Elite Series event.
The Elite Series' newest venue, Big Bay de Noc and Little Bay de Noc, will host the July 23-26 Cold Water Clash out of Escanaba, Mich., about 430 miles north of Kalamazoo, home of two-time Bassmaster Classic champ Kevin VanDam. With more than 90,000 acres of water, the two bays are home to plentiful smallmouth bass.
A return to Lake Champlain out of Plattsburgh, N.Y., means a return to the Canadian border for the Aug. 6-9 Empire Chase. In the 2007 season-ending event, Bassmaster Elite Series anglers caught 3,864 pounds of bass there. Timmy Horton of Muscle Shoals, Ala., won with 83 pounds, 10 ounces, nearly 13 pounds more than his closest competitor, eventual 2007 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif.
Finally, the Elite Series travels a few ticks south to Syracuse, N.Y., to close the season at Oneida Lake with the Champion's Choice, Aug. 13-16. Oneida is the 11th-largest lake in the world by surface area, with 9,910 miles. The 51,000-acre lake, which will host a BASS event for the fourth consecutive year, once again will be where the 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year is decided.
2009 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule
DATE
March 12-15
March 26-29
April 2-5
April 23-26
May 7-10
May 14-17
*June 3-6
June 11-14
July 23-26
Aug. 6-9
Aug. 13-16 EVENT
Battle on the Border
Diamond Drive
Dixie Duel
Blue Ridge Brawl
Southern Challenge
Alabama Charge
Tennessee Triumph
River Rumble
Cold Water Clash
Empire Chase
Champion's Choice
FISHERY
Lake Amistad
Lake Dardanelle
Wheeler Lake
Smith Mountain Lake
Lake Guntersville
Pickwick Lake
Kentucky Lake
Mississippi River
Big Bay de Noc/Little Bay de Noc
Lake Champlain
Oneida Lake HOST CITY
Del Rio, Texas
Russellville, Ark.
Decatur, Ala.
Moneta, Va.
Guntersville, Ala.
Florence, Ala.
Paris, Tenn.
Ft. Madison, Iowa
Escanaba, Mich.
Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Syracuse, N.Y.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread