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BASS Reporter’s Notebook – Clark’s Cheering Section, Quick Weight Loss, Cheering section

Preston Clark of Palatka, Fla., astounded the fishing world last week with a wire-to-wire victory in the Santee Cooper Showdown presented by MotorGuide - the third event of the prestigious CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series - shattering Dean Rojas’ record weight for a four-day tournament (108 pounds, 12 ounces) by more than seven pounds.

With a total weight of 115-15, Clark cemented his own spot in the BASS record books, adding to his newly acquired record for heaviest bass ever caught in the CItgo Bassmaster Classic.

Clark cherishes the record, of course, but the second-year pro said one of his favorite highlights of the tournament occurred early in the competition.

Fellow Florida pro Peter Thliveros was fishing in the same area as Clark on the first and second day of the tournament, and when Clark boated a solid bass, Thliveros became a one-man cheering section.

“I grew up admiring Peter T. He’s from the same area I am,” Clark said. “And it’s nice to have somebody in there cheering you on. It kind of takes care of the nerves a little bit, having a familiar face there. It makes you feel good.”

Clark said sharing the water with Thliveros was never a problem. “He stayed on one side and I stayed on the other, and we never crossed,” Clark said. “And then when we came in [the next day], he said, ‘I won’t come on your side,’ and I said, ‘I won’t come on yours.’ And that’s all we had to say.”

Rapid weight loss
Kelly Jordon finished fifth in the Santee Cooper Showdown with 103 pounds, 3 ounces. If not for a little bad luck immediately prior to the first day weigh-in, Jordon’s total easily could have been closer to 104 pounds.

While Jordon was waiting to weigh his fish on the first day of competition, one of his bass regurgitated a large baitfish that reduced that fish’s weight and Jordon’s total day one catch by an estimated 8 to 10 ounces. The shad was roughly 10 inches long.

Jordon’s big bass that day weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces. As it turned out, Jordon shared Day 1’s Purolator Big Bass honors with eventual winner Preston Clark, meaning the two anglers split the $1,000 award that goes with the title.

“That shad cost me $500,” Jordon said. “That’s why I was running around asking what the rule was on something like that. I wanted to put that shad back in that bass’s mouth so bad, but you can’t do that.”

Persistence pays off
The pattern at last week’s Bassmaster Elite Series Santee Cooper Showdown was all about sight-fishing, the practice of visually locating bass on shallow spawning beds and casting into the fish’s nest to entice a strike.

In light of the record weights that anglers brought to the scales, sight-fishing definitely worked for the competitors, but the technique also can be frustrating.

Consider the plight of Kevin Wirth, an angler who’s well-versed in the ways of sight-fishing. Wirth, who finished eighth in the Showdown with 99 pounds, 3 ounces, posted Day 2’s heaviest catch with 31-15, that day’s Busch Heavyweight bag. But it wasn’t easy. One particular 6-pound largemouth didn’t give up without a fight … and another fight … and another fight.

Wirth said he spent three hours trying to catch one especially troublesome bass off its spawning bed atop a submerged tree stump.

The Kentucky pro twice hooked the big bass, and twice it broke his line. “It got to be personal after a while,” Wirth said. “She’d bite it, but as soon as she would, she’d go over to the other side of the stump, and the stump would just cut my line. That’s why I broke her off twice, right on the hook set.”

Wirth took up a different angle on the stump, and eventually he got a third strike from the fish, this time putting it in his Triton boat. “I finally caught her,” he said. “But it took me three hours to figure it out.”

BASS is the worldwide authority on bass fishing, sanctioning more than 20,000 events through the BASS Federation 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 stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the CITGO 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 550,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.

Courtesy BASS