COLUMBIA, S.C. - Confidence, luck with a frog and a big fish he named "Shug" did the trick Sunday for Fred Roumbanis of Bixby, Okla., as the Day 3 leader carried through to win the Carolina Clash bass fishing tournament on Lake Murray. Roumbanis brought a five-fish limit of 17 pounds, 14 ounces, to the weigh-in stage on Day 4 of the event, holding off Alabama's Steve Kennedy for another day.
Roumbanis finished with 66-13 overall, while Kennedy ended up with 65-4. Rounding out the top five were Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., with 64-13, local favorite Davy Hite of Ninety Six, S.C., with 64-1, and Bradley Hallman of Norman, Okla., with 63-5.
Roumbanis, 29, said confidence was key for him throughout the tournament as he fished differently than most of his competitors. He threw a frog all day Sunday and got roughly one bite per hour, and he landed the Purolator Big Bass of the day, at 6 pounds, 13 ounces.
"It really, truly makes me feel like I'm a pretty good angler," he said. "I feel like I can trust my own instincts and run with it, not worry about what everyone else is doing, what the typical pattern is on the lake.
"There's so many pieces to the puzzle, there's probably five different patterns at any body of water you go to. This is just one of those different patterns."
The 6-13 largemouth, which gave him the boost in confidence that he would bring a good bag to the weigh-in stage, was one he believed bit for him every day he fished Lake Murray this week.
"I kept getting one giant bite around that vicinity," Roumbanis said of the fish he named. "I just wanted it to give me some sugar, get in the livewell, so we named it 'Shug.' "
With the win, Roumbanis takes home $100,000 and valuable points in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. He is ninth in the standings now with 1,341 points, just 134 behind new AOY points leader Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark. Coming into the Carolina Clash, Roumbanis was 20th in the standings. The top 37 at the end of the season will qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 20-22 on Louisiana's Red River.
Kennedy said he went looking Saturday and found productive spots while the water was slick and calm, in preparation for the final day, but he struggled early Sunday, going without a fish from his first spot.
"I managed to catch a limit," Kennedy said of his limit Sunday that weighed 16-12. "I think I caught all my weight off of new spots,there was one spot that I caught a fish off of that I caught them on previously."
Kennedy caught his biggest fish of the day, a 5-pounder, on a jig - a bait a lot of other pros struggled with on Lake Murray.
"As long as the wind was blowing, I could catch them on it," he said. "They were just the right bites. There's all those fish out there and you're making that first cast and you're getting a 4- or 5-pounder instead of a 2- or 3-pounder throwing the jig, that's the key to it."
Evers had the of the final day with his 19-4, and Day 1 leader Grant Goldbeck's 8-7 lunker caught Thursday held on to earn him the Big Bass of the tournament and the additional $1,000 bonus.
Next, the Elite Series circuit will visit Alabama's Lake Wheeler on June 5-8 for the seventh event of 11. Bobby Lane, 12th in the AOY standings, leads the Rookie of the Year race over Texan Billy Brewer.
2008 Elite Series - Carolina Clash PRO 05/15-05/18 Lake Murray, Columbia S.C.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 20 66-13 310 $101,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 13-02 Day 3: 5 20-09 Day 4: 5 17-14
2. Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 20 65-04 295 $42,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-00 Day 2: 5 15-04 Day 3: 5 22-04 Day 4: 5 16-12
3. Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 20 64-13 290 $26,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-05 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 11-10 Day 4: 5 19-04
4. Davy Hite Ninety Six, S.C. 20 64-01 285 $18,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 10-10 Day 3: 5 19-04 Day 4: 5 19-00
5. Bradley Hallman Norman, Okla. 20 63-05 280 $17,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 14-04 Day 3: 5 14-01 Day 4: 5 18-04
6. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 20 61-12 276 $16,500.00
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 5 18-11 Day 3: 5 13-13 Day 4: 5 15-07
7. Kelly Jordon Mineola, Texas 19 61-08 272 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 4 13-10 Day 4: 5 17-12
8. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 20 59-15 268 $14,500.00
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 16-01 Day 4: 5 17-04
9. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 19 56-07 264 $14,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-15 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 18-12 Day 4: 4 9-05
10. Dave Wolak Wake Forest, N.C. 20 55-04 260 $14,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 5 18-08 Day 3: 5 10-09 Day 4: 5 11-06
11. Ish Monroe Hughson, Calif. 20 53-02 257 $12,500.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 5 9-15 Day 3: 5 18-00 Day 4: 5 11-02
12. Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, Md. 16 52-11 259 $15,300.00
Day 1: 5 20-04 Day 2: 5 14-00 Day 3: 3 10-01 Day 4: 3 8-06
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Purolator Big Bass
Day
1 Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, Md. 8-07 $1,000.00
2 Dave Wolak Wake Forest, N.C. 6-08 $1,000.00
3 Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 5-14 $1,000.00
4 Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 6-13 $1,000.00
Purolator Big Bass of Tournament
Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, Md. 8-07 $1,000.00
Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year Leader
Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas $1,000.00
Berkley Big Bag
Day
1 Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg, Md. 20-04 $1,000.00
2 Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 18-11 $1,000.00
3 Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 22-04 $1,000.00
4 Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 19-04 $1,000.00
Berkley Big Bag of Tournament
Steve Kennedy Auburn, Ala. 22-04 $10,000.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 86 500 1229-05
2 86 496 1194-07
3 33 220 553-12
4 10 57 181-12
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215 1273 3159-04
7 Pro Points After Lake Murray
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Place Name St Pts
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1 Mike McClelland Ark. 1475
2 Todd Faircloth Texas 1465
3 Skeet Reese Calif. 1435
4 Kevin VanDam Mich. 1423
5 Dean Rojas Ariz. 1406
6 Kenyon Hill Okla. 1378
7 Edwin Evers Okla. 1357
8 Alton Jones Texas 1342
9 Fred Roumbanis Okla. 1341
10 Rick Morris Va. 1329
10 Mark Davis Ark. 1329
12 Bobby Lane Fla. 1314
13 Scott Rook Ark. 1310
14 Casey Ashley S.C. 1300
15 Brian Snowden Mo. 1283
16 Bryan Hudgins Fla. 1260
17 Ish Monroe Calif. 1234
18 Randy Howell Ala. 1232
19 Derek Remitz Ala. 1226
20 Jared Lintner Calif. 1215
21 Steve Kennedy Ala. 1211
22 Bernie Schultz Fla. 1207
23 Aaron Martens Ala. 1197
24 Terry Scroggins Fla. 1196
25 Dave Wolak N.C. 1195
26 Kelly Jordon Texas 1188
27 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 1187
28 Gary Klein Texas 1181
29 Davy Hite S.C. 1151
30 Britt Myers S.C. 1149
31 Kevin Short Ark. 1147
32 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 1145
33 Dustin Wilks N.C. 1144
34 Bill Lowen Ohio 1139
35 Byron Velvick Texas 1136
36 Morizo Shimizu Japan 1112
37 Brent Chapman Kan. 1103
38 Bradley Hallman Okla. 1091
39 Chris Lane Fla. 1081
40 Denny Brauer Mo. 1080
41 Jason Williamson S.C. 1078
42 Shaw Grigsby Fla. 1053
43 Greg Hackney La. 1049
44 Tommy Biffle Okla. 1045
45 Jason Quinn S.C. 1037
45 Russ Lane Ala. 1037
47 Takahiro Omori Texas 1035
48 Boyd Duckett Ala. 1024
49 Mike Wurm Ark. 1021
50 Mark Menendez Ky. 1006
51 Billy Brewer Texas 1005
52 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 1002
53 Jeff Kriet Okla. 1001
54 Timmy Horton Ala. 998
55 Scott Campbell Mo. 993
56 Kevin Wirth Ky. 991
56 John Crews Va. 991
58 Peter Thliveros Fla. 989
59 Cliff Pace Miss. 985
60 Matthew Sphar N.Y. 970
61 Preston Clark Fla. 967
62 Gerald Swindle Ala. 960
63 Marty Stone N.C. 931
64 Jay Fuller Okla. 928
65 Wade Grooms S.C. 923
66 Brian Clark Texas 920
67 Greg Gutierrez Calif. 914
68 Marty Robinson S.C. 911
69 Mark Tucker Mo. 900
70 Jeff Connella La. 894
71 Matt Reed Texas 888
71 Jami Fralick S.D. 888
73 Clark Reehm Ark. 884
74 Jon Bondy Canada 881
75 James Niggemeyer Texas 867
76 Jeff Reynolds Okla. 862
76 Rick Clunn Mo. 862
78 Stephen Browning Ark. 845
79 Kurt Dove Va. 842
80 Paul Elias Miss. 836
81 Grant Goldbeck Md. 832
82 Ben Matsubu Texas 829
83 Kevin Langill N.C. 826
84 Jimmy Mize Ark. 824
85 John Murray Ariz. 823
86 Jim Murray Ga. 819
87 Ken Cook Okla. 813
88 Elton Luce Texas 806
89 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 805
90 Terry Butcher Okla. 786
91 Pat Golden N.C. 776
92 David Sherrer La. 772
93 Charlie Hartley Ohio 768
94 Mark Tyler Okla. 767
95 Corey Waldrop Texas 762
96 Jeremy Starks W.Va. 759
97 Zell Rowland Texas 755
98 Guy Eaker N.C. 748
99 Rick Ash Pa. 722
100 David Smith Okla. 712
101 Todd Auten S.C. 707
102 Steve Daniel Fla. 703
103 Pete Ponds Miss. 701
104 Matt Amedeo Ohio 663
105 James Kennedy La. 644
106 Paul Hirosky Pa. 581
106 Glenn Delong Ohio 581
108 Randy Allen La. 550
109 Bobby Myers Okla. 438
2008 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
After Lake Murray, Columbia, SC ending 05-18-2008, Day 4
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Place Name St Pts
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1 Bobby Lane Fla. 1314
2 Billy Brewer Texas 1005
3 Jay Fuller Okla. 928
4 Wade Grooms S.C. 923
5 Brian Clark Texas 920
6 Clark Reehm Ark. 884
7 Pat Golden N.C. 776
8 David Sherrer La. 772
9 Corey Waldrop Texas 762
10 Randy Allen La. 550
11 Bobby Myers Okla. 438