Biffle Tops E50 Leaderboard Heading Into Finals

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – Tommy Biffle just seems unstoppable on the Alabama River. The Oklahoma pro kept the lead going into the Bassmaster Elite 50 tournament’s final day by lugging a 13-pound, 9-ounce sack of fish to the BASS weigh-in at Stanley-Jensen Stadium.

Biffle, who joined the top 12 pros Friday on a pre-set course on the Alabama River, is fishing with the goal of qualifying for this summer’s CITGO Bassmaster Classic, the world championship culmination of the CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail. If he finishes the four-event Elite 50 points race in the top 10, he will earn one of the coveted berths to his home water, Lake Wylie, S.C. At the moment, he believes he is in fine shape.

“I’ve done what I set out to do,” Biffle said. “I’ve made the cut, so I’m going to get the good points. I got five bonus points yesterday for leading it, so I should be in good shape to make the Classic.”

Biffle and the rest of the top six pros after Friday’s round will fish in Saturday’s finals in the same pre-set course near Catoma Creek. The course format lends an additional strategic element to bass fishing’s normally straightforward competition.

As the leader, Biffle was first to select his starting area in the six-hole course for Saturday. Although each angler gets an hour and 20 minutes on each section, there is a distinct advantage in being the first angler to fish a good spot during the day, essentially getting the first crack at the area’s largest (or more catchable) bass.

During the selection meeting, Biffle selected Hole One, widely regarded as the pick of the bass fishing litter. Second-place angler Todd Auten of Lake Wylie, S.C., caught 12-2 on Friday and selected Hole Six, which allows him to fish Hole One immediately after Biffle. The rest of the top six anglers stacked up in order behind him, although they had a few novel suggestions for BASS tournament director Trip Weldon.

“Why don’t we all fish that hole all day?” asked Floridian Dean Rojas, who is in third with 11-12 and selected Hole Five.

“A shotgun start,” Auten suggested.

In all seriousness, Oklahoma's Edwin Evers, who was left to start in Hole Two, admitted that his visit to Hole One in the last rotation of the day was a disappointment but not unanticipated.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Evers, who qualified for the 2004 Classic through the CITGO Bassmaster Open series presented by Busch Beer. “It’s (Hole Two) where I started today.”

Evers said he is focused on fishing for a big chunk of the Elite 50’s $1.6 million prize purse, now that the pressure to make the Classic is off his shoulders.

“It takes a bunch of pressure off,” Evers said. “It allows you to swing more freely and to take more chances. It can be a bad thing, too. If I was struggling to make the Classic, I’d probably push harder at times.”

In addition to Biffle, Auten, Rojas and Evers, the rest of the top six is rounded out by veteran pro Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Mo., who caught 10-13, mostly with his trademark jig, and Arkansas’ Mark Davis, who is capping his victory at the last Elite 50 with a 10-3 effort and fifth place.

Although only the top 12 fished the separate course on Friday, the remaining anglers had the opportunity to improve their positions in the tournament standings for 13th through 49th place. (50th place is reserved for Florida’s Shaw Grigsby Jr., who competed in the first Elite 50 but had to withdraw from the remaining events in order to recover from heart surgery.) The two $1,000 incentive prizes awarded by BASS sponsors went to anglers in the larger field Friday.

Alton Jones of Waco, Texas, hauled in a 5-pound, 9-ounce brute to earn the $1,000 Purolator Big Bass of the Day Award. However, it wasn’t enough for him to unseat fellow Texan Kelly Jordon, whose 6-9 lunker from day one looks good to earn the $1,000 Purolator Big Bass of the Tournament bonus.

It was a vindication for Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo., on Friday when he brought in 18-1 to earn the Busch Heavyweight award, given to the angler with the largest sack of fish each day of the event. King and a BASS staff member reported on Thursday that a man fired a weapon in their direction while King fished the bank near the man’s property. On Friday, King said he had determined not to be shaken by the previous day’s events.

“I had already made up my mind that I was going to fish fresh water,” said King, who did not return to the same spot Friday. “I believe that if it messes up your thinking, you’re not going to do well.”

His huge catch in Friday’s round certainly supported that argument.

Saturday’s launch will take place at Cooters Pond at 10 a.m. The final weigh-in, including a fireworks display, will begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Stanley-Jensen Stadium and is free to the public.

Fans can catch the third event of the Bassmaster Elite 50 series on the Alabama River in two parts, Saturday, June 12 and Saturday, June 19 at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
 

Day 3 Pro Standings

From BASS