BIG AMISTAD BASS TO HIGHLIGHT FIRST EVENT OF 2007 WBT SEASON

Lake Amistad to Kick off Second Season of Mercury Marine Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats

 

What’s at stake:  $88,940 in cash and merchandise to the top 25 pros and valuable points towards qualifying for the Women’s Bassmaster Tour championship and winning the Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year title. The top 25 co-anglers compete for $47,040 in cash and merchandise.

 The Pros Said It

“The water temperature is warming up and I have even found some water that is in the 60-degree range. I actually hope the water temperature stays where it is currently because if it keeps rising, the fish will transition and I don’t know if I have the right pattern to win the tournament if that happens.” - Dianna Clark, Bumpus Mills, Tenn., 2006 Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year. 

 “I think the trick is to fish very slowly and be patient.  There are plenty of good-sized bass to be caught and I think you can catch them with a number of different lures.  I have caught fish on spinnerbaits, swimbaits and soft plastics and it almost seems that you can catch fish on anything out here.” – Rose Ellis, Birmingham, Ala., who finished in 10th place in a Women's Bassmaster Tour event on Lake Dardanelle in August of 2006.

 “I have had to rethink my strategy because of the fog that could delay launch tomorrow.  I don’t think I will get to my first spot as early as I anticipated and that has caused me to plan a little differently for the first day of competition. While I haven’t found many of the big fish that the other contenders are talking about, I know I can catch a solid limit.” – Darla Bardelli, Glendale, Ariz.

 “I have caught a number of big bass including a nine-pounder and I think I have a pattern that could lead to a nice finish here.  I just need to stay consistent and fish with heavy lines and big baits to be successful.” – Tanya Kreuzer, Mesa, Ariz..

 The Strategy

Clark: Clark said that she has heard of a number of contenders catching lunkers including one that was almost 13 pounds. She indicated that a number of lures will be in play on the vast reservoir as “anything is working out there.”  The 2006 Toyota WBT Angler of the Year estimates that the winning angler could catch as much as 100 pounds over the three-day tournament- a weight that would easily shatter the heaviest weight in the WBT’s short history.  

 Ellis: Ellis felt that finesse-type fishing would lead to a successful finish at the first event of the season.  She said she had located a number of productive spots and could catch a number of keeper-sized bass at each location.  She estimated that the winning weight would be around 60 pounds for three days.

 Bardelli: Bardelli has been keying in on inside points and has yet to develop a main lake bite.  With the water temperature moving up, Bardelli has seen staging fish and even a few bedding fish.  She will use her experience on Arizona fisheries and the patience she has developed in her homestate to her advantage at this tournament.

 Kreuzer: Kreuzer feels that 23 to 28 pounds a day could lead her to victory.  Her prespawn pattern is producing good-sized bass in practice and she feels that as long as she eliminates some tournament nerves, she should be able to post a high finish. 

 Women’s Bassmaster Tour

Lake Amistad

Del Rio, Texas

Feb. 8-10

 Field

Cut to top 25 after Day 2

Launch and Weigh-in

7:15 a.m./ 3:15 p.m. CT

Diablo East Launch Ramp

Background

Previous BASS events

2006 Bassmaster Elite Series Battle on the Border

Previous winners on lake

104-8, Ish Monroe, 2006

Weather

Temperature

63 degrees, partly cloudy

Lake level

1107.11 feet above mean sea level

2007 Mercury Marine Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats

Feb. 8-10       Lake Amistad            Del Rio, Texas

March 29-31  Lake Dardanelle       Russellville , Ark.

May 3-5          Lake Guntersville      Guntersville, Ala.

June 14-16     Kentucky Lake           Gilbertsville, Ky.

Sept. 20-22    Red River                   Shreveport-Bossier City, La.

Local sponsors: The Del Rio Chamber of Commerce

Women’s Bassmaster Tour sponsors: Include Mercury Marine, Triton Boats, Lowrance Electronics, MotorGuide, Advance Auto Parts and Plano.

 

TOP WOMEN’S BASSMASTER PROS GEAR UP FOR ALABAMA’S LAKE MITCHELL

Inaugural WBT Championship Scheduled in Conjunction with Bassmaster Classic

CELEBRATION, Fla. — For the inaugural Women’s Bassmaster Tour Championship contenders, success on Alabama’s Lake Mitchell will come down to the same basic decision facing their 2007 Bassmaster Classic counterparts on Lay Lake.

The Championship contenders, who advanced via their top-12 status in the Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year standings, will spend Feb. 22-24 on Lake Mitchell out of Gadsden, Ala. 

Both Mitchell and Lay Lake are members of the Coosa River chain. That means tournament anglers are always faced with an initial strategic decision — whether to target the heavier largemouth bass or more plentiful spotted bass that inhabit both waters.

Mitchell is a 5,850-acre hydroelectric reservoir and is the smallest impoundment of the Coosa chain, which is noted for the Alabama subspecies of spotted bass.

Georgia’s Pam Martin-Wells, winner of the WBT preview event in 2005, expects the fishing to be varied during the championship event. 

“I think Mitchell is a wonderful fishery,” she said. “It’s a very versatile lake meaning you can fish various different patterns. You can fish shallow and deep.”

The top WBT pro will take home a first-place prize of a 2007 fully rigged Triton boat valued at $50,000 as well as $10,000 cash. The total prize purse is $225,750, and the winning co-angler will receive a Triton/Mercury package valued at $24,000, plus $1,000 cash.

But to take home the coveted prize lot, the championship contenders will have to make the right decision on which species of bass to target.  Martin-Wells maintains that Mother Nature will play a role.

“It depends on the weather, really,” Martin-Wells said. “It depends on the weather the week before the tournament and then the weather during that week. A lot could change during the early springtime in a week’s time. So you will have to stay on your toes and read the water.”’

Tennessee’s Dianna Clark, the inaugural Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year, agrees with Martin-Wells’ assessment of the weather.

“I think everything will depend on the weather. If it starts to warm, I believe an angler will have to target largemouth to win. But if the weather stays cold and nasty, I think it will be a combination of the two species, but you will have to catch more spots.”

When it comes to pattern decisions, veteran tournament angler Lucy Mize played it close to the vest but she did offer up a telling prediction.

“I’m either going to be a hero or a zero because I’m not fishing for second place,” she said. “I’m going to take a big gamble.”

On the final day of competition, the top-six WBT pros will weigh-in on the Bassmaster Classic stage at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center. The 12 co-anglers will compete in a two-day tournament finishing on Friday.

Sponsors of the Women's Bassmaster Tour include Mercury Marine, Triton Boats, Lowrance Electronics, MotorGuide, Advance Auto Parts and Plano.

BASS is the worldwide authority on bass fishing, sanctioning more than 20,000 events through the BASS Federation Nation annually. Guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans, BASS sets the standard for credibility, professionalism, sportsmanship and conservation, as it has for nearly 40 years.  

BASS sanctions and stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the Bassmaster Classic. Through its clubs, youth programs, aquatic resource advocacy, magazine publishing and multimedia platforms, BASS offers the industry's widest array of services and support to its nearly 530,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla. 

For more information, call BASS Communications at 407-566-2208. To join BASS, visit www.bassmaster.com or call 1-877-BASS-USA.

WOMEN’S BASSMASTER TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS

PROS

1.      Dianna Clark                               Bumpus Mills , Tenn.

2.      Tammy Richardson                     Amity, Ark.

3.      Lucy Mize                                     Ben Lomond, Ark.

4.      Tammie Muse                             North Little Rock, Ark.

5.      Sheri Glasgow                             Muskogee, Okla.

6.      Emily Shaffer                               Mount Juliet, Tenn.

7.      Cindy Hill                                      Smyrna, Tenn.

8.      Lisa Sternard                               Clarksville, Tenn.

9.      Juanita Robinson                        Highlands, Texas

10.  Robin Babb                                Livingston, Texas

11.  Lisa Sands                                 Cullman, Ala.

12.  Pam Martin-Wells                      Bainbridge, Ga.

CO-ANGLERS

1.      Bonnie Ward                              Snohomish, Wash.

2.      Mary Croft                                   Bedford, Va.

3.      Keri Schieber                             Cumming, Ga.

4.      Kim Stapp                                  Ringgold, Ga.

5.      Heather Sullivan                         Sitka, Alaska

6.      Lila Bass                                    Austin, Texas

7.      Sharon Rushton                         Kimberling City, Mo.

8.      Tammie Ply                                Harrison, Ark.

9.       Angela Everitt                           Livingston, Texas

10.  Summer Stephens                   Flintstone, Ga.

11.  Colleen McKay                         Worchester, Mass.

12.  Karen Williams                         Stark City, Mo.