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The Final Report
Bassmaster Elite 50: Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway, MS Someone should have told Mark
Davis that tournaments were supposed to be close, and that the winners
generally don't lead all four days. Obviously, no one did. Davis lead from
Day 1, keeping up a torrential pace that left all others behind. On Day 2,
Davis found himself ahead of second place by over 11 pounds. "I think I’ll
be OK," he said. He was. Going All the Way
  "I've led lots of tournaments, but I've never won (this way),"
Mark Davis of Mount Ida, AR, said. "I've never led wire to wire and won
before." This is Davis' second major victory this season - he won at
Table Rock by almost 8 pounds. Before this year, he has been winless since
1995. Something definitely happened this year.
"This is really, really sweet," he said. "(Winning) the Table Rock event was
great because it
was long overdue, but this one is sweet, too, because it's the second event
in a
year. This really gives me confidence going into the next event in
Prattville." Davis changed lures often early in the
tournament, but finally found what the bass wanted and stuck with it. On Day
1, Davis used a tequila plastic worm, a topwater, and a crankbait. Day 2
found him casting a tequila worm, while he used green pumpkin/black worm on
Day 3. Finally, on Day 4, he sealed his victory with the same lures he used
the day before - Strike King's 3X green pumpkin/black worms.
"I started looking for these fish in practice using a Strike King Series One
crank
bait," Davis said. "I found some schools of fish, and in the tournament, I just went
fishing
using a worm. I figured something out, though. The fish weren't
in the grass.
They were in front of the grass. That's where I was catching them."
Clear water was a key to Davis' pattern: “I figured out how to catch
them in the
backwater areas where it was clear, then they put me in this pool where it’s
muddy," he remarked. "I traipsed around in the mud half the day, but then when I got back to where
it was
clear, then it got fun."
The Stats:
| Day |
Rank |
Weight |
| 1 |
1 |
14-08 |
| 2 |
1 |
33-05 |
| 3 |
1 |
16-06 |
| 4 |
1 |
28-15 |
Run and Gun - Again
  In spite of a slightly slow
year for the man from Kalamazoo, MI, Kevin VanDam did well in this event,
and managed to secure 2nd place even though he had a "tough time" on Day 4.
“I can’t
complain. I fished well all week,” he said. VanDam's second place finish
improved his E50 standings - he is now in first place in the rankings.
$150,000 will be his if he remains on top for the second half.
"I pretty much just decided to run and gun around the
holes today (Day 4)," he said.
"I felt like the fish were keying on wood and I thought it was my best
chance today
to fish as much wood as I could find." “On a course like
this, you really have to fish what’s in front of you,” VanDam commented.
The Stats:
|
Day |
Rank |
Weight |
|
1 |
14 |
9-02 |
|
2 |
7 |
20-05 |
|
3 |
2 |
14-07 |
|
4 |
2 |
26-14 |
3rd by 2 Pounds
 Dustin Wilks of Rocky Mount, NC,
earned $4,000 for his third place finish on the Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway. He never left the top 10 during the entire event, in spite of
catching under six pounds on Day 2.
Wilks rebounded on Day 3 with an 11-02 sack, and followed it
up with a limit weighing 14-00 on Day 4. He consistently caught at least 11
pounds except on Day 2, and finished 3rd by nearly two pounds.
The Stats:
|
Day |
Rank |
Weight |
|
1 |
4 |
11-15 |
|
2 |
10 |
17-12 |
|
3 |
4 |
11-02 |
|
4 |
3 |
25-02 |
As For the Rest...
Alton Jones of Waco, TX, finished 4th place with 23-04, and
earned $1,500.00. Reeds Spring, MO, pro Stacey King caught 22-03 over the
final two days. King earned $1,000.00 for his finish, and was trailed by
Gary Klein of Weatherford, TX. 20-09 earned Klein $500.00.
Standings:
For more complete standings, please
refer to The Full Story
or each individual day's story on the
National Tournament News
page. Day 1:
| Rank |
Name |
Hometown |
Bass |
Weight |
| 1 |
Mark Davis |
Mount Ida, AR |
5 |
14-08 |
| 2 |
Roland Martin |
Naples, FL |
5 |
12-06 |
| 3 |
Davy Hite |
Prosperity, SC |
5 |
12-04 |
| 4 |
Dustin Wilks |
Rocky Mount, NC |
5 |
11-15 |
| 5 |
John Murray |
Phoenix, AZ |
5 |
11-04 |
| 6 |
Tom Biffle |
Wagoner, OK |
5 |
11-02 |
| 7 |
Michael Iaconelli |
Runnemede, N.J. |
5 |
10-15 |
| 8 |
Zell Rowland |
Montgomery, TX |
5 |
10-14 |
| 9 |
Ben Matsubu |
Hemphill, TX |
5 |
10-11 |
| 10 |
Alton Jones |
Waco, TX |
5 |
10-01 |
| 11 |
Gary Klein |
Weatherford, TX |
5 |
9-05 |
| 12 |
Brian Snowden |
Springfield, MO |
5 |
9-04 |
| 13 |
Todd Auten |
Lake Wylie, SC |
5 |
9-03 |
| 14 |
Kevin VanDam |
Kalamazoo, MI |
5 |
9-02 |
| 15 |
Larry Nixon |
Bee Branch, AR |
4 |
9-01 |
| 16 |
Gerald Swindle |
Hayden, AL |
5 |
8-13 |
| 17 |
Bud Pruitt |
Spring, TX |
5 |
8-07 |
| 18 |
Ishama Monroe |
Patterson, CA |
5 |
8-06 |
| 19 |
Randy Blaukat |
Lamar, MO |
5 |
8-01 |
| 20 |
Randy Howell |
Springville, AL |
5 |
7-15 |
| 21 |
Brent Chapman |
Shawnee, KS |
5 |
7-13 |
| 22 |
Jay Yelas |
Tyler, TX |
5 |
7-10 |
| 23 |
Denny Brauer |
Camdenton, MO |
5 |
7-08 |
| 24 |
David Fritts |
Lexington, NC |
5 |
6-11 |
| 25 |
Peter Thliveros |
Jacksonville, FL |
5 |
6-10 |
Day 2:
| Rank |
Name |
Hometown |
Bass |
Weight |
| 1 |
Mark Davis |
Mount Ida, AR |
10 |
33-05 |
| 2 |
Davy Hite |
Prosperity, SC |
10 |
22-04 |
| 3 |
Brian Snowden |
Springfield, MO |
9 |
21-12 |
| 4 |
Gary Klein |
Weatherford, TX |
10 |
21-08 |
| 5 |
John Murray |
Phoenix, AZ |
10 |
20-15 |
| 6 |
Alton Jones |
Waco, TX |
10 |
20-13 |
| 7 |
Kevin VanDam |
Kalamazoo, MI |
10 |
20-05 |
| 8 |
Tom Biffle |
Wagoner, OK |
10 |
18-05 |
| 8 |
Stacey King |
Reeds Spring, MO |
9 |
18-05 |
| 10 |
Dustin Wilks |
Rocky Mount, NC |
9 |
17-12 |
| 11 |
Ben Matsubu |
Hemphill, TX |
9 |
17-06 |
| 12 |
Zell Rowland |
Montgomery, TX |
10 |
17-04 |
| 13 |
Todd Auten |
Lake Wylie, SC |
10 |
16-08 |
| 13 |
Roland Martin |
Naples, FL |
8 |
16-08 |
| 15 |
Gerald Swindle |
Hayden, AL |
10 |
16-03 |
| 16 |
Bernie Schultz |
Gainesville, FL |
9 |
15-13 |
| 16 |
Jay Yelas |
Tyler, TX |
10 |
15-13 |
| 18 |
David Fritts |
Lexington, NC |
10 |
15-06 |
| 19 |
Jack Gadlage |
Benton, KY |
8 |
15-01 |
| 20 |
Todd Faircloth |
Jasper, TX |
7 |
14-11 |
| 20 |
David Wharton |
Sam Rayburn, TX |
8 |
14-11 |
| 22 |
Dean Rojas |
Grand Saline, TX |
8 |
14-08 |
| 23 |
Larry Nixon |
Bee Branch, AR |
7 |
14-06 |
| 24 |
Bud Pruitt |
Spring, TX |
9 |
13-01 |
| 25 |
Brent Chapman |
Shawnee, KS |
9 |
12-14 |
Day 3:
| Rank |
Name |
Hometown |
Bass |
Weight |
| 1 |
Mark Davis |
Mount Ida, AR |
5 |
16-06 |
| 2 |
Kevin VanDam |
Kalamazoo, MI |
5 |
14-07 |
| 3 |
Stacey King |
Reeds Spring, MO |
5 |
12-11 |
| 4 |
Dustin Wilks |
Rocky Mount, NC |
5 |
11-02 |
| 5 |
Alton Jones |
Waco, TX |
5 |
10-14 |
| 6 |
Gary Klein |
Weatherford, TX |
5 |
10-11 |
| 7 |
John Murray |
Phoenix, AZ |
5 |
10-07 |
| 8 |
Zell Rowland |
Montgomery, TX |
5 |
9-14 |
| 9 |
Davy Hite |
Prosperity, SC |
5 |
9-03 |
| 10 |
Brian Snowden |
Springfield, MO |
5 |
8-15 |
Day 4:
| Rank |
Name |
Hometown |
Bass |
Weight |
Pts. |
Winnings |
| 1 |
Mark Davis |
Mount Ida, AR |
10 |
28-15 |
310 |
$5,000.00 |
| 2 |
Kevin VanDam |
Kalamazoo, MI |
10 |
26-14 |
300 |
$6,000.00 |
| 3 |
Dustin Wilks |
Rocky Mount, NC |
10 |
25-02 |
295 |
$4,000.00 |
| 4 |
Alton Jones |
Waco, TX |
10 |
23-04 |
290 |
$1,500.00 |
| 5 |
Stacey King |
Reeds Spring, MO |
10 |
22-03 |
285 |
$1,000.00 |
| 6 |
Gary Klein |
Weatherford, TX |
10 |
20-09 |
281 |
$500.00 |
Big Bass:
|
Day |
Name |
City, State |
Weight |
Award |
|
1 |
John Murray |
Phoenix, AZ |
5-03 |
$1,000.00 |
|
2 |
Brian Snowden |
Springfield, MO |
4-12 |
$1,000.00 |
|
3 |
Kevin VanDam |
Kalamazoo, MI |
5-07 |
$1,000.00 |
|
4 |
Dustin Wilks |
Rocky Mount, NC |
5-06 |
$1,000.00 |
By Brandon Shook
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