Bassmaster Elite Series
February 19-21, 2010: Bassmaster Classic – Lay Lake, Birmingham, AL Event won by Kevin VanDam, his third Classic win. Only Rick Clunn has won this event more, four times, but at age 42 Kevin will have many more opportunities.
March 11-14, 2010: Duel in the Delta – San Joaquin River Delta, Stockton, CA John Crews took the $100,000.00 first prize in the Elite series kickoff event of the 2010 season. He beat Skeet Reese by one-ounce, which is truly amazing considering he caught 72 pounds-6 ounces of bass.
March 18-21, 2010: Golden State Shootout – Clear Lake, Lakeport, CA Byron Velvick got his first Elite Series win after leading all four days and landing over 98 pounds of fish this weekend. Byron is credited with starting the swim bait craze ten years ago and his knowledge and experience really paid off for him at this event.
April 15-18, 2010: Blue Ridge Brawl – Smith Mountain Lake, Huddleston, VA
Skeet Reese took another tournament by storm winning the Evan Williams Bourbon Blue Ridge Brawl by over 14 pounds. His four total was just over 78 pounds of Smith Mountain Lake bass. He has an 85 point lead in the Angler Of The Year standings and is the odds-on-favorite to take the title with just five tournaments remaining. As is typical of Mr. Reese he used a 6-inch Rago SKT Swimmer to win the event.
April 29-May 2, 2010: Alabama Charge – Pickwick Lake, Florence, AL
In a rain shortened event Kevin Short took home the victory at the Alabama Charge event the second time he has won the event beating second place finisher Cliff Pace by a wide margin. The fishing was great the first two days but got progressively worse as the weather deteriorated on Saturday and finally stopped the event early on Sunday. Short used his favorite lure the Pepper’s Baits WEC crankbait, using black and chartreuse color when it was cloudy or a classic chartreuse when it got sunny. Once he found fish he stayed pretty much in the backs of bays near creeks fishing in cover around the cypress trees. Cliff Pace came in second using a jig and flipping into tight cover, however as the day wore on he would move to outer edges to catch the larger fish.
May 6-9, 2010: Synergy Southern Challenge – Lake Guntersville, Guntersville, AL
Skeet is amazing, he has placed in the top five of all of the events so far this year. He won his second tounament on Guntersville catching over 100 ponds of bass in the four-day event. He beat Davy Hite primarily using a Lucky Craft 3.5 DD crankbait on ledges in the main lake. Reese now has a nearly 300 point lead in the overall standings and must be considered a favorite at the Pride of Georgia event on Clarks Hill Lake which is scheduled for May 20-23. Kevin VanDam had his best finish so far in 2010 ending up ninth and jumping up to 22nd overall. KVD has been floundering since his victory in the Bassmaster Classic back in February.
May 20-23, 2010: Pride of Georgia – Clarks Hill Lake, Evans, GA
Another nail biter of a tournament, Jason Williamson took the Pride of Georgia Elite Series bass fishing tournament event by two ounces over Cliff Crochet. Williamson boated fifty-three and a half pounds of bass over the four day event. He also happend to catch the largest fish of the weekend a nice 7 lb-12oz beauty that helped secure his top spot. Crochet a rookie on tour this year was disappointed but he knows he performed well and there is always next time. Mop jigs and shaky head worms were the baits that Jason used primarily most of the weekend, something for all of us to consider next time we are out on the lake.
June 9-12, 2010: Tennessee Triumph – Kentucky Lake, Paris, TN
June 17-20, 2010: Sooner Run – Arkansas River, Muskogee, OK
July 24-25, 2010: Trophy Chase – Lake Jordan, Wetumpka, AL
July 30-31, 2010: Trophy Triumph – Alabama River, Montgomery, AL