Saving his best for last, Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark., registered the biggest limit of the bass fishing tournament Sunday - a 23-pound, 5-ounce, haul despite a reduced competition day - and trounced the rest of the field on way to his second Bassmaster Elite Series victory at the Alabama Charge on Pickwick Lake. Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., finished a distant second, more than 4 pounds behind.
With nasty weather looming, BASS officials shortened the competition day to five hours in order to escape the brunt of the inclement weather. While some competitors who were making longer runs were adversely affected, Short, who totaled 75 pounds, 1 ounce over four days of competition, adapted to the parameters and boated the vast majority of his weight less than two hours into the day, effectively ending the tournament.
A frustrating start to the season - mainly due to the style of fishing that the venues have called for - is now in Short's rearview mirror. Short cut his teeth on the Arkansas River and this week, used much of his experiences there to feel his way out on Pickwick. The back-to-basics approach paid off to the tune of $100,000.
"I kept telling myself throughout the week just to think of Pickwick like a river," said Short, who took his first Elite victory on the Mississippi River. "I was discouraged after Saturday because I just couldn't figure out how to get them to bite. But I landed my biggest fish early today (Sunday) and I knew it would be my day then."
Short caught all of his fish on a Pepper's Baits WEC crankbait, switching the colors from chartreuse classic when it was sunny to chartreuse black when it was cloudy. The balsa-based square-billed crank is in the same family of lures as the bait Short rode to victory on the Mississippi. The one-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier found the area which produced the majority of his winning catch on the first day of competition.
The 48-year-old found a creek, which produced all of his winning catch, on Thursday morning and preceded to catching cruising male bass. With a flurry of activity, he knew that the larger females had to be close behind. As he expanded on his area, he moved to the back of the creek and found a bevy of cover - including clumps of cypress tress mixed in with singular cypress trees.
On Sunday, Short's early bass - a 6-12 brute - came off a singular tree, which prompted Short to strictly key on that cover the rest of the day.
"You couldn't ask for a better area, it had everything," said Short. "Trees, habitat, you name it. I knew the fish to win were in there, it was just a matter of me remaining patient and finding a way to catch them."
The icing on the cake for the victory was Short's uptick in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Short was in a disappointing 74th place heading into the tournament, but moved to 35th with his banner performance, which puts him safely in the 2011 Bassmaster Classic qualification cut.
Sticking to second place, as he has all week, was Pace. Pace worked a community hole, saturated with many of the other competitors who advanced to Sunday. The 29-year-old was able to milk it for all it was worth - including an 18-3 limit on Sunday -- but in the end, it couldn't produce like Short's spot.
Plying through a ton of bites, Pace threw a jig to tight, small areas that were home to roaming smallmouth. As the day progressed, he was moving towards the outer edges and finding quality large and smallmouth.
"I thought I gave myself a great chance with the day I had today," said Pace, who qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason last season. "But it just wasn't my time to win. Still, I have no regrets and it was a great week."
Saturday leader Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., slipped to fifth. He was the only one in the Sunday field who was locking through to Lake Wilson, which took a sizable chunk of his fishing day. As such, he took one on the chin Sunday with the truncated day and his 12-11 limit was indicative of the risky approach. Still, Reese came in with zero expectations for Pickwick as this week marked his first time on the Tennessee River impoundment.
Couple that with his fourth consecutive top-five finish in Elite competition and Reese should find the silver lining in his performance. The top-five streak, which is quite rare, puts him more than 150 points in the lead in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
Behind Pace in third this week was Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., with 67-9. Moving up to fourth and scoring his best Elite finish of the season was Rick Morris of Virginia Beach, Va., with 65-2. Reese rounded out the top five with 64-14.
Reese's closest competitor in the AOY standings is Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La. Close behind Hackney is Edwin Evers (third) of Talala, Okla., and Dean Rojas (fourth) of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. The full AOY standings can be found below.
Next up for the Elite Series is the Synergy Southern Challenge on Alabama's Lake Guntersville, another Tennessee River impoundment, on May 6-9.
The top 12 pros in the AOY standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series postseason, in which the Bassmaster Angler of the Year will be determined.
2010 Florence, AL 4/29-5/2 Pickwick Lake, Florence AL. (PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 20 75-01 315 $100,500.00 Day 1: 5 20-03 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 12-15 Day 4: 5 23-05 2. Cliff Pace Petal, MS 20 70-04 295 $25,000.00 Day 1: 5 19-09 Day 2: 5 16-00 Day 3: 5 16-08 Day 4: 5 18-03 3. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 20 67-09 290 $20,000.00 Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 18-14 Day 3: 5 16-08 Day 4: 5 16-11 4. Rick Morris Virginia Beach, VA 20 65-02 285 $15,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 5 16-14 Day 4: 5 16-01 5. Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 20 64-14 285 $15,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-15 Day 2: 5 13-00 Day 3: 5 20-04 Day 4: 5 12-11 6. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 20 63-08 276 $13,500.00 Day 1: 5 18-03 Day 2: 5 17-02 Day 3: 5 16-07 Day 4: 5 11-12 7. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 20 62-05 272 $13,000.00 Day 1: 5 14-06 Day 2: 5 14-04 Day 3: 5 20-08 Day 4: 5 13-03 8. Shaw E Grigsby Gainesville, FL 20 61-13 268 $12,500.00 Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 15-09 Day 4: 5 13-14 9. Edwin Evers Talala, OK 20 61-01 264 $12,000.00 Day 1: 5 18-09 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 5 16-01 Day 4: 5 11-15 10. Bill Lowen North Bend, OH 20 60-12 260 $12,500.00 Day 1: 5 17-02 Day 2: 5 15-05 Day 3: 5 16-15 Day 4: 5 11-06 11. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 20 60-08 257 $11,000.00 Day 1: 5 17-01 Day 2: 5 17-09 Day 3: 5 16-15 Day 4: 5 08-15 12. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, AZ 20 58-15 254 $10,500.00 Day 1: 5 10-02 Day 2: 5 18-14 Day 3: 5 20-13 Day 4: 5 09-02 BIG BASS OF TOURNAMENT Bill Lowen North Bend, OH 07-00 $1,000.00 BERKLEY HEAVYWEIGHT OF TOURN Kevin Short Mayflower, AR 23-05 $500.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 93 465 1257-06 2 93 465 1284-00 3 47 235 664-08 4 12 60 167-02 ---------------------------------- 245 1225 3373-00 BASSMASTER ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS Pro Points After Pickwick Lake, Florence, Ala. Ending 05-02-2010, Day 4 ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Skeet Reese Calif. 1170 2 Greg Hackney La. 1017 3 Edwin Evers Okla. 990 4 Dean Rojas Ariz. 984 5 Dave Wolak N.C. 963 6 Brian Snowden Mo. 947 7 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 938 8 Greg Vinson Ala. 918 8 Aaron Martens Ala. 918 10 Jeff Kriet Okla. 912 11 Cliff Pace Miss. 902 12 Bill Lowen Ohio 881 13 Steve Kennedy Ala. 877 14 Derek Remitz Ala. 863 15 Todd Faircloth Texas 860 16 Gary Klein Texas 854 17 Shaw Grigsby Fla. 850 18 James Niggemeyer Texas 841 19 Zell Rowland Texas 833 20 John Crews Va. 828 21 Terry Butcher Okla. 823 22 Stephen Browning Ark. 821 23 Guy Eaker N.C. 817 24 Scott Rook Ark. 812 25 Mark Tucker Mo. 810 26 Mark Davis Ark. 802 27 Bobby Lane Fla. 801 27 Jared Lintner Calif. 801 27 Tommy Biffle Okla. 801 30 Kevin Wirth Ky. 798 31 Denny Brauer Mo. 795 32 Clark Reehm Ark. 788 33 Mike McClelland Ark. 776 34 Kelly Jordon Texas 774 34 Kevin Short Ark. 774 36 Bradley Roy Ky. 769 37 Ish Monroe Calif. 768 38 Kevin VanDam Mich. 766 39 Matt Herren Ala. 757 40 Billy McCaghren Ark. 752 41 Morizo Shimizu Japan 744 42 Dustin Wilks N.C. 743 43 Russ Lane Ala. 742 44 Gerald Swindle Ala. 741 45 Randy Howell Ala. 738 45 Terry Scroggins Fla. 738 47 Boyd Duckett Ala. 737 48 Jason Quinn S.C. 736 49 Alton Jones Texas 735 49 Brent Chapman Kan. 735 51 Takahiro Omori Texas 734 52 Jason Williamson S.C. 728 53 Byron Velvick Texas 719 54 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 718 55 Pat Golden N.C. 712 55 Jeff Connella La. 712 55 Casey Ashley S.C. 712 58 Paul Elias Miss. 708 59 Marty Robinson S.C. 701 60 Peter Thliveros Fla. 692 60 Bradley Hallman Okla. 692 62 Mark Menendez Ky. 674 63 Matt Reed Texas 673 64 Rick Morris Va. 662 65 Grant Goldbeck Md. 658 66 Cliff Crochet La. 656 67 Pete Ponds Miss. 638 68 Wade Grooms S.C. 632 69 J Todd Tucker Ga. 628 69 Matt Greenblatt Fla. 628 71 Dennis Tietje La. 624 71 Mark Tyler Okla. 624 73 Davy Hite S.C. 622 74 Marty Stone N.C. 620 74 Fred Roumbanis Okla. 620 76 Charlie Hartley Ohio 592 77 Vince Fulks Okla. 590 77 Timmy Horton Ala. 590 79 Rick Clunn Mo. 589 80 Jami Fralick S.D. 586 81 Kenyon Hill Okla. 580 82 Bernie Schultz Fla. 560 83 Keith Poche Ala. 555 84 Chad Griffin Texas 546 85 Mark Burgess Mass. 544 86 John Murray Ariz. 538 87 David Smith Okla. 502 87 Byron Haseotes Mass. 502 89 Chris Lane Ala. 498 90 Britt Myers S.C. 480 91 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 478 92 Jeremy Starks W.Va. 474 93 Scott Ashmore Okla. 432