Clark Claims Third Victory

Dianna Clark, the 2006 Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year, pulled out of her 2008 season slump Saturday by landing her third victory in the Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors, trumping the field by almost 8 pounds.

Over three days of competition on Tennessee’s Old Hickory Lake, the Bumpus Mills, Tenn., pro brought in 36 pounds, 5 ounces of largemouth bass, mostly from one shallow area of the lengthy Cumberland River impoundment.

Angie Douthit of Clewiston, Fla., persevering through flu-like symptoms that stemmed from a tooth infection, finished second with a three-day total of 28-8.

“I’m back on track — hopefully,” said Clark, who in 2006 won twice and captured the AOY title, and who ranked eighth in the 2007 season’s points standings — but was in 57th place in this season’s AOY points race before the Old Hickory event. “I had a rocky start this year. I had some family issues to deal with, but still, I have no excuses. I knew I was going to have to work hard here to catch up.”

In the season-long Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year standings, Clark will certainly improve on her disappointing position. The winner of the points race will score two big prizes this year: a Toyota Tundra and a berth in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport/Bossier City, La. The points race also will determine the 20 qualifiers for the Oct. 23-25 WBT Championship on Arkansas’ Lake Hamilton.

Kim Bain of Alabaster, Ala., will hold on to the top position, with the sixth-place showing she scored at Old Hickory. She will need to hold off a number of accomplished pros to secure the prestigious Classic berth and her first AOY title. Full standings can be viewed at Bassmaster.com.

Clark placed 55th in the 2008 season opener on Texas’ Lake Lewisville — site of one of her two 2006 wins. At the Neely Henry Lake event in Alabama, she finished in 66th place, an all-time low for Clark, who switched to pro fishing in 1996 after a U.S. Army career, retiring with the rank of staff sergeant.

With the victory, Clark took home a $50,000 Triton/Mercury boat package and $1,000. She committed to a long run east from the Hendersonville launch site to target largemouth that were feasting on bream in the shallows of a muddy flat. She said many of her fish took a bait made by B&M Jigs, a 1/2-ounce, camo-colored skirted jig tipped with a green-pumpkin Flipper, a plastic trailer made by Lake Fork Trophy Lures.

Juanita Robinson of Highlands, Texas, who ended with 27-13 and third place, discovered the same sweet spot in practice early in the week, but yielded it to Clark.

Robinson said she hit other productive spots, trying to build her weight and her points total in the 2008 AOY race. She was in fourth place in points going into the Old Hickory event.

“The most important thing for me in this tournament to move up in the points standings and get closer to first place,” Robinson said. “Second in importance was winning this tournament.”

Douthit also stands to improve in her points total after scoring her second-place finish Saturday, her best tournament finish.

“I caught some really good fish cranking a Rapala Down Deep, chartreuse and blue,” she said. “When the current wasn’t running, I went to my backup — back into the bays, the areas most people can’t get to. The fish were around brush and wood, shallow, but close to deeper water.”

She said her main lures included a Gene Larew Ringtail 7 1/2-inch red-shad Texas-rigged worm, a Gambler tube — a pumpkin pepper chartreuse color — pegged with a 1/8-ounce rattle weight, and a Jim Eakin’s 3/16-ounce black-and-blue jig tipped with a Gene Larew 4-inch black-and-blue Salt Craw.

Finishing fourth with 27-2 was Tammy Richardson of Glenwood, Ark., the only WBT pro to have three wins on her WBT record before Clark’s Saturday win. Patti Campbell of Waxahachie, Texas, was fifth with 26-5.

In the co-angler division, the winner was Elizabeth “Liz” Havens, a high-school math teacher from Austin, Texas, who put together 21 pounds, 4 ounces to win a Skeeter/Yamaha rig valued at $25,000. The Old Hickory tournament was her first on the WBT trail.

Second in the co-angler division was Stacey Zhelesnik of Hoboken, N.J. Her 20-10 total included a 5 pound, 1-ounce largemouth that fell for a KVD Strike King Redeye Shad in the Tennessee shad finish. Zhelesnik, co-owner of a restaurant, also took second place in last month’s WBT event in Alabama.

Rounding out the top five in the co-angler competition were Dianna Montgomery of Lebanon, Tenn., with 17-12; Sharon Lawson of Red Bank, Tenn., with 14-9; and Petra Ramsey of El Paso, Texas, with 13-14.

Next up for the Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors is the Sept. 18-20 event out of Evans, Ga., on Clarks Hill Lake. The season concludes with the Oct. 23-25 WBT Championship on Lake Hamilton out of Hot Springs, Ark.

Sponsors of the Women’s Bassmaster Tour include Academy Sports & Outdoors, Toyota Tundra, Advance Auto Parts, Lowrance, Mercury, Skeeter, Yamaha, OPTIMA Batteries, Triton Boats, Legend Boats, MoGills and Mustang.

Local hosts include the Sumner County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Holiday Inn Express of Hendersonville

Stop No. 3
2008 Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors
Old Hickory Lake
Hendersonville, Tenn.
June 19-21, 2008

Field
83 pros, 83 co-anglers/observers
Cut to the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers after Day 2

About BASS

For 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on bass fishing. With its considerable multi-media platforms and expansive tournament trail, BASS is guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry leading publications Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer and comprehensive web properties in Bassmaster.com and ESPNOutdoors.com, the organization is committed to delivering content true to the lifestyle. Additionally, television programming on ESPN2 continues to provide relevant content from tips and techniques to in-depth tournament coverage to passionate audiences.

The organization oversees the prestigious Bassmaster tournament trail which includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, Women’s Bassmaster Tour and the Bassmaster Classic, the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing. Through its grassroots network, the BASS Federation Nation, BASS sanctions more than 20,000 events annually.

BASS also offers a wide array of services to its more than 525,000 members while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.

Clark On Top At Home

A 6-pound, 4-ounce lunker gave Dianna Clark a big push Friday in the Old Hickory Lake event of the Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors — and to her sagging season.

The Bumpus Mills, Tenn., pro’s two-day total of 26 pounds, 15 ounces, put her almost 7 pounds ahead of Angie Douthit of Clewiston, Fla., who had 20 pounds.

Currently in 57th place in the season’s points race, Clark also stands to gain ground in the circuit’s race to become the first woman to qualify for a Bassmaster Classic, bass fishing’s most prestigious competition. The one pro with the most points at the end of the season will be the 2008 Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year and qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport/Bossier City, La. The AOY also wins a 2009 Toyota Tundra.

Kim Bain of Alabaster, Ala., was the points leader going into the Tennessee event. She ended Friday in 10th place, a big jump from her previous day’s standing of 32nd. The race will culminate with the WBT Championship, set for Arkansas’ Lake Hamilton on Oct. 23-25,

Closest to the leaders were Cheryl LaLumandier of St. Charles, Mo., with 19-10; first-day leader Janet Parker of Little Elm, Texas, with 19-9; and Bridget Allen of Philadelphia, Pa., who had 17-11.

Clark is a two-time WBT winner and owner of the circuit’s first Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year crown. Both her wins and AOY crown came in 2006. But she lined herself up Friday for a third career win and the Tennessee event’s first prize, a $50,000 Triton/Mercury boat rig and $1,000 cash.

Clark said her day Friday on the water was “amazing.”

“So many of those fish that size break off, especially when they get up around the trolling motor,” Clark related. “I said, ‘Oh, it’s a big one, please stay on. After I got it in, I just shook so hard I had to sit down.”

She said she had her limit by 10:15 a.m., all from the same spot.

“I didn’t have a whole lot of bites today, it was a tough day. I pretty much lucked up on that big fish today. There might not be another one tomorrow, but if there is, I’d be as grateful as I was today.”

She declined to share details of how she caught the lunker until after the tournament ends Saturday.

Meanwhile, Douthit is fighting a tooth infection but persevered to second. The Clewiston, Fla., pro, who has a best finish of fourth on Missouri’s Bull Shoals Lake, was throwing soft plastics in an area she found during practice which she has all to herself.

“I know I’m sick but I’m trying to make the best of it,” said Douthit. “I need to go out and make every bite count.”

The field was cut to the top 20 pros to compete in Saturday’s finale, which will be covered by Bassmaster.com with live video and a real-time leaderboard beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT. Following the weigh-in, Bassmaster.com will post final results, stories and photo galleries.

In the co-angler division, Elizabeth Havens of Austin, Texas, had a two-day total of 16-6 to top the list of the 20 co-anglers who made the cut to compete Saturday for the first-place prize of a Skeeter/Yamaha rig valued at $25,000. Havens’ 16 pounds, 6 ounces put her far in front of Stacy Zhelesnik of Hoboken, N.J, who had 13 pounds, 13 ounces, and Petra Ramsey of El Paso, Texas, who had 10 pounds, 10 ounces.

The field will launch Saturday at 5:30 a.m. at Sanders Ferry Park, 100 Sanders Ferry Road in Hendersonville. The finale weigh-in will be begin at 2:30 p.m. at Academy Sports & Outdoors, 2350 Gallatin Pike N. in Madison, Tenn.

All WBT events are free and open to the public.

Sponsors of the Women’s Bassmaster Tour include Academy Sports & Outdoors, Toyota Tundra, Advance Auto Parts, Lowrance, Mercury, Skeeter, Yamaha, OPTIMA Batteries, Triton Boats, Legend Boats, MoGills and Mustang.

Local hosts include the Sumner County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Holiday Inn Express of Hendersonville

Stop No. 3
2008 Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors
Old Hickory Lake
Hendersonville, Tenn.
June 19-21, 2008

Field
83 pros, 83 co-anglers/observers
Cut to the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers after Day 2

Saturday Launch
5:30 a.m. CT
Sanders Ferry Park
100 Sanders Ferry Road
Hendersonville, Tenn.

Saturday Weigh-in
2:30 p.m. CT
Academy Sports & Outdoors
2350 Gallatin Pike N.
Madison, Tenn.

About BASS

For 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on bass fishing. With its considerable multi-media platforms and expansive tournament trail, BASS is guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry leading publications Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer and comprehensive web properties in Bassmaster.com and ESPNOutdoors.com, the organization is committed to delivering content true to the lifestyle. Additionally, television programming on ESPN2 continues to provide relevant content from tips and techniques to in-depth tournament coverage to passionate audiences.

The organization oversees the prestigious Bassmaster tournament trail which includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, Women’s Bassmaster Tour and the Bassmaster Classic, the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing. Through its grassroots network, the BASS Federation Nation, BASS sanctions more than 20,000 events annually.

BASS also offers a wide array of services to its more than 525,000 members while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.

WBT Rolls Into Tennessee

Old Hickory Lake will be a new test for the anglers as the Women’s Bassmaster Tour (WBT) presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors makes its June 19-21 stop in Tennessee’s Sumner County, just east of the Nashville metro area.

WBT pros will vie for a $51,000 top prize and points that count toward an historic berth in the Bassmaster Classic – the first for a woman angler. The pro with the most points at the end of the 2008 season will be crowned the Toyota WBT Angler of the Year (AOY) and will qualify for the 2009 Classic, Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport/Bossier City, La. The AOY also will win a fully loaded Toyota Tundra.

To watch the Old Hickory competition unfold, fishing fans can click in daily to http://www.Bassmaster.com. The site will present streaming video and real-time leaderboards during the Thursday-Saturday weigh-ins as well as daily postings of photo galleries, stories and standings.

While Old Hickory Lake and Sumner County will be a first-time venue for BASS’ three-year-old women’s tour, the Cumberland River impoundment has been the site of four other BASS pro-level tournaments. One was a Bassmaster Top 100 event in October 1996, won by Missouri’s Chad Brauer — son of Bassmaster Elite Series pro Denny Brauer — with a three-day total of almost 50 pounds.

In June, Old Hickory can produce a winning weight that’s just as good — or better, according to Tennessee pros Emily Shaffer of Mount Juliet and Cindy Hill of Smyrna.

“Eighteen pounds won a five-hour tournament there last Sunday morning,” said Hill, who has six top-10 finishes on her WBT record and is in second place in this season’s points race, just 19 points behind leader Kim Bain of Alabaster, Ala. “I think 15 to 18 pounds a day at our tournament will get you into the (top-20) cut and a check.”

Shaffer, who is 14th in the points race, estimates the winning weight will go 35 to 40 pounds.

Both Shaffer and Hill fish Old Hickory frequently, so the June event gives them a strong bid to capture their first BASS win. But they know the lake well enough to peg it as a fishery that tends to even the playing field.

“Any technique somebody has a lot of confidence in, they’ll be able to bring to Old Hickory and capitalize on it,” Shaffer said. “The beauty of Old Hickory is it will accommodate just about any style of fishing you like to do.”

Water temperatures in the shallows are at about 80 degrees, and the deeper sections of the spring-fed lake are about 60 degrees, Shaffer said, but as many bass are in the shallows as are in the cooler, deeper sections. Hill agrees.

“The quality fish could be anywhere, from the shallow grass all the way out to the drops,” Hill said.

The impoundment is almost 100 miles long and spans about 20,000 acres. Anglers will be allowed to lock down into the Cumberland River, expanding the tournament waters outside the lake’s boundaries. But commercial-barge traffic often ties up the busy lock, according to Hill, and she predicts most pros won’t gamble their fishing time on a lock-through.

“Anyway, I think the better fish are going to come off Old Hickory,” Hill said.

Both pros said they will target largemouth bass to fill their five-fish daily limits, although smallmouth and spotted bass also are fair game.

“I’ll start shallow with topwater baits and frogs and go from there to creek channels and other deeper water,” Hill said.

Shaffer said she’ll hit emergent grass and boat docks, then break out a Carolina rig for deep-water spots.

The public is invited to watch the daily action at two venues. One is Sanders Ferry Park, 100 Sanders Ferry Road in Hendersonville, where the pros will launch Thursday-Saturday at 5:30 a.m. CT. The park will also be the site of the Thursday and Friday weigh-ins at 2:15 p.m. CT.

The action shifts to Madison, Tenn., on Saturday, June 21, for the finale. The Madison location of Academy Sports & Outdoors will host the weigh-in at 2:30 p.m. CT, when a pro winner and a co-angler winner will emerge from the 20 anglers in each division who made the Friday cut.

The Academy store, located at 2350 Gallatin Pike N., also will host Meet and Greet for fans to chat with the pros and get their autographs from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 18.

All WBT events are free and open to the public.

Sponsors of the Women’s Bassmaster Tour include Academy Sports & Outdoors, Toyota Tundra, Advance Auto Parts, Lowrance, Mercury, Skeeter, Yamaha, OPTIMA Batteries, Triton Boats, Legend Boats, MoGills and Mustang.

Local hosts include the Sumner County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Gallatin, Tenn., http://www.sumnercountytourism.com; 615-230-8474 or 866-336-7866

About BASS

For 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on bass fishing. With its considerable multi-media platforms and expansive tournament trail, BASS is guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry leading publications Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer and comprehensive web properties in Bassmaster.com and ESPNOutdoors.com, the organization is committed to delivering content true to the lifestyle. Additionally, television programming on ESPN2 continues to provide relevant content from tips and techniques to in-depth tournament coverage to passionate audiences.

The organization oversees the prestigious Bassmaster tournament trail which includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, Women’s Bassmaster Tour and the Bassmaster Classic, the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing. Through its grassroots network, the BASS Federation Nation, BASS sanctions more than 20,000 events annually.

BASS also offers an array of services to its more than 525,000 members while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.

Pam Martin-Wells and Army Anglers

Pam Martin-Wells fished a variety of patterns to claim her latest victory on Lake Neely-Henry, but it was a jig and a weightless worm that did the heavy lifting for Martin-Wells. She explains the techniques and patterns and also shares her thoughts on the 2008 WBT Angler of the Year fishing in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.

Then we hear from SSG. Mike Garrett from the Army Bass Anglers. The soldiers are busy fishing tournaments all around Texas, even while one member has deployed to Iraq and two others are preparing to. SSG. Garrett also has some good news to share about “Returning Heroes Home.”

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