Inaugural Event; Inaugural Win

Part 1 of 2: Randy Howell
   The winner of the recent Bassmaster Elite 50 event, Randy Howell, recently took the time to share his thoughts on the tournament. The inaugural event was an inaugural win as well - Howell had never won a Bassmaster Tour event. In spite of a below-par year, Howell now has the momentum heading his way.

   "I was amazed; that first day of practice was phenomenal. I was thinking it (Dardanelle) was a good 2-3 pound fish lake," Howell said. " I couldn’t believe it. That’s a great fishery." During practice, Dardanelle was high, and the bass were ambushing prey in shallow cover and grass. According to Howell, "The only reason you didn’t see great weights was because they pulled water on us." Sad, but true. This event could have seen much higher weights if only water had not been pulled. The water dropped, and so did the fishing.

   That was practice. Starting the tournament was very different for Howell. "I didn’t think that late start was going to be good at the end of those tournament days," he said. However, they wound up helping him:  "During that 10:00 - 2:00 range was the best fishing; as soon as we started during the day the fish were really biting. 3:30 - 5:00 was slow, but then 5:00 on was good." The late start (10:00 AM) also allowed many more spectator boats to be on the water. "It did allow more spectators to be on the water. They were really good about it. They weren’t affecting me at all," Howell commented. "They kind of kept me motivated during those slow spells."

   Most of the E50 coverage showed Howell bringing in bass on a crankbait - but he says that crankbaits were not his key lure. A jig accounted for most of his bigger bass: "I ended up culling most of those crankbait fish," he says.

   Finally, Day 4 arrived. Howell won the event, with his wife and son by his side. He hoisted the trophy, while Fish Fishburne held his son. "I'm a real emotional person," Howell said. "Having my family with me made it great. By myself it would have been great, but with my family up there with me it made it so much better. Without a family base there traveling with me would take a lot of enjoyment out of it."

   Looking back over the season, this was one of Howell's slow years. "The good Lord has timing for everything. This year was my slowest season I’ve ever had, finishing 60^th in the tour," he mentioned. In 2003 he finished 30th. "It was disappointing but I really learned something from it." The tough year made Howell examine his extreme versatility - he was just to versatile. "It’s really weird. I’m 30; not really that young compared to some. I’ve learned a lot every year; but this year I learned a lot during those tournaments. It got me down to the basics; it got me to do what I could do and stick with my guns."

   Howell offered this advice to weekend anglers that want to increase their catch and enjoy their day on the water: "For somebody that doesn’t fish a lot it pays to go back to what you have confidence in," he commented. Howell also offered an example: "As long as I’m shallow I have confidence. I’m going to get one of those baits that I can catch fish on and I’m going to stick with it." That is good advice - Howell just proved it.

   Stay tuned to UltimateBassin.com for Part 2 on Randy Howell.

Special thanks is due to Randy Howell for taking the time to be interviewed. Check out his website at http://www.randyhowell.com.

By Brandon Shook