|
Day One Story
Kansan Brent
Chapman in 24th
Maxfield
assumes early Classic lead
South Carolina pro tops tight-knit field
CHICAGO, July 20 - It took Carl Maxfield several
years and considerable
effort to qualify for the prestigious BASS Masters Classic and
the South
Carolina pro is making the best of his first opportunity. Maxfield
plied
the waters of the Calumet River to catch a five- bass limit weighing
10
pounds, 1 ounce to take a slim first-round lead in the Chicago
Classic.
Maxfield, who has finished
as the odd-man out on the Classic qualifying
list an agonizing five times, holds a 1-ounce lead over California's
Aaron
Martens. Michael Iaconelli of New Jersey and Texan Jay Yelas
are tied for
third with 9-14, followed by four-time Classic winner Rick Clunn
of
Missouri with 9-5.
It is a tight-knit field
with less than 3 pounds separating the top 20 pros.
Maxfield, 47, competing
in his first Classic, put himself in prime position
to make a run at the $100,000 top prize and the most important
title in
competitive fishing. "I'm really tickled with what I caught
and to be in
this position," he said. "I caught 18 fish total and
was fortunate to catch
some good ones."
Most of those bass and
all of Maxfield's keeper-sized largemouths came from
a single spot in the river - a small, wind-laden point of a break
wall. His
success came on small jigs, tubes and lizards fished on 10-pound
test line.
"If the wind changes,
I won't even go back there tomorrow," Maxfield said.
"I had one little key area and the wind on that spot made
the fish
aggressive. If the wind changes, I have a couple of other spots
where I
hope I can catch fish."
Maxfield, who has never
won a national tournament, was asked if he felt any
pressure as the early Classic leader. "I try to look at
this as just
another tournament," he replied. "Yeah, I know it's
the BASS Masters
Classic, the Super Bowl of fishing and all that. But when they
call your
boat number for the take-off, it's just you and the fish. You
had better
forget about all of the hoopla when you're doing it or you will
forget why
you're there."
Martens, 27, culled through
35 bass to bring his five best to the scales.
He fished among an estimated 30 boats in the Calumet River, but
was unfazed
by fishing in a crowd.
"That's California
fishing," Martens said. "It's right up my alley -
fishing in a crowd, around a lot of pressure, light-line finesse
fishing."
The Classic continues Friday
and Saturday.
Notes & Quotes
RICK CLUNN 9-5, fifth place
- I'm in there with the crowd. I came here with
game plan that largemouth would provide consistency, but win
it with
smallmouth. That's my game plan, and I will stick with it. I
culled one
smallmouth. Not really in tune with these smallmouth yet. They
are the kind that will win tournament. The winner will be the
one who figures out how to catch bigger fish. Spent five hours
in Lake MIchigan.
MIKE IACONELLI 9-14,
tied for third place
- I used today as a practice day.
I did a lot of looking. I think I can improve my weight each
day. I stuck to my game plan, to use today as a practice day.
Went out with idea of looking. I figured a couple of things out,
which should help. I had all largemouths. Had a good smallmouth
on that I lost. Had others follow. Didn't figure out how to get
them to bite today.
I caught my largemouths
in the river. Then went looking to try to
figure out smallmouths in the lake. I believe that the average
size of smallmouths is better than largemouths in the river.
If it stays calm and water clears more, might see smallmouths
really take over this tournament.
I caught my fish a little
shallower than I had been. Using bigger
baits than I had been. I liked the fact that wind blew and it
was overcast.
I'd like to see it stay the same as it was today. I figured out
that my smallmouths had shifted a little deeper than they were
sixe weeks ago. I think I can make adjustments to catch them
tomorrow. Fished in river until 11:30. Spent remainder in the
lake.
There were a lot of spectator
boats. They were totally polite, and
it was great. Having people watch me pumps me up and I fish harder,
so I
wouldn't mind 50 boats following me tomorrow. A lot of desert
bottom out there. I'm looking for rocks and vegetation. There
are enough smallmouths here to win tournament.
JAY YELAS 9-14, tied
for third place -
I fished Lake Calumet. About half of
the field was there. I had to go to finesse worms because of
so much
pressure. I wanted to catch some of the fish there. Will have
to do some
other things. Best start that I've ever had in the Classic.
California background helped
a lot today. I was fishing same area
that Aaron was. Just slow way down and pull out your spinning
rod and light line. Catch them on finesse baits. Lake MIchigan
was null and void today. Smallmouths just didn't show up today.
I was shocked. Totally shocked.
I think catch was so low
because we had a month and a half
offlimits, and practice day was blown out. Guys were afraid to
go out
there. That's where all the big fish are. If weather will allow
us to get
out there and fish for smallmouths, will see some good fish.
I caught one smallmouth in main lake. Might spend some more time
there tomorrow. Fishing grubs and Berkley Power worms. Caught
my biggest fish on a crankbait. Other good ones on spinnerbait.
Mixed bag. I was fortune to catch what I did.
AARON MARTENS 10-0,
second place---
I caught 35 fish, 9 keepers. Caught a lot of small smallmouths.
Started in river and ended up in lake. Fished mainly Calumet
River. It's a great fishery, justs needs a few more years. The
wind is not hurting me. Dirtied up the water a little. If lake
clears up, probably will take more weight to win. Wind dirtying
up water in
lake probably helps us in the river.
I have some other good
spots, but smaller fish in them. Light lines, small baits, lot
of pressure, big crowds, California fishing. That was California
fishing. About all we do. I was using 6 pound line. At least
30 boats there. I expect it to be the same or worse tomorrow.
I have a backup plan, but probably would be 8 or 9 pounds, not
10 or 11.
Fish are out there. I had
a 13 or 14-pound bag out there last
month. River has a lot of fish in it. Cloud cover hurting me
the most. Scattering the fish a lot. They are cruising more than
they would if sun were out.
CARL MAXFIELD 10-1,
first place---
Wjind was good. No problem running up and down the lake. 3 fish
at 9:30. Caught 14 or 15 out of one spot. Don't
know if I will go back. Wind made it happen. If wind changes,
won't go
back. Just have to see. Wind blew around corner of break wall.
If wind speeds up, may help it some.
I changed lures three days.
Fished a jig, tube, and a small lizard.
Don't think bait was the key. Think it was the wind. Current
coming right
across the point of break wall. They were up to get the baitfish.
I've seen baitfish here. Have to have clean water, structure,
and
baitfish to have a good fishery.
This is a test, trust me.
This area seems to be fairly clean. Using 10-pound Stren, clear
line. Didn't have to retie a lot. I don't think anybody had any
expectations. What makes it so tough is all the offlimits water.
Think we have more offlimits than on.
Boat was sitting in 10
feet and fish were in about 6. I went up there expecting to catch
smallmouths. I was surprised largemouths were there. Caught 18
keepers, all largemouths.
Don't think cool weather
had much to do with it. Fish through
spawning. Saw water temperatures of 74 degrees. If wind gets
bad, I guess that I will fish in the river with the rest of them.
Playing field for this tournament more level than any other Classic.
I think that you will get standings jump around a lot.
Day 1 Standings
PLACE NAME CITY STATE FISH/DEAD LBS-OZ
001 Carl Maxfield Summerville SC 5/00 10-01
002 Aaron Martens Castaic CA 5/00 10-00
003 Michael Iaconelli Woodbury Heights NJ 5/00
9-14
003 Jay Yelas Tyler TX 5/00
9-14
005 Rick Clunn Ava MO 5/00
9-05
006 Bernie Schultz Gainesville FL 5/01
9-01
007 Brett Hite Phoenix AZ 5/00
8-12
008 Art Ferguson III Rochester MI 5/00
8-07
009 George Cochran Hot Springs AR 5/00
8-06
010 Woo Daves Spring Grove VA 5/00
8-04
011 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Gainesville FL 5/00
8-03
012 Norio Tanabe Tokyo JA 5/00
8-01
013 Kevin Wirth Crestwood KY 5/00
7-11
014 Scott Rook Little Rock AR 5/00
7-06
015 Mark Pack Mineola TX 5/00
7-03
016 Edwin Evers Mannsville OK 5/00
7-02
017 Mark Rizk Antelope CA 5/00
7-00
018 Mark Hardin Canton GA 3/00
6-15
019 Ray Sedgwick Cross SC 5/00
6-12
020 Kotaro Kiriyama Tokyo JA 5/01
6-08
021 Ron Shuffield Bismarck AR 5/00
6-07
022 Alton Jones Waco TX 4/00
6-03
023 Charlie Youngers Oviedo FL 5/00
6-01
024 Brent Chapman Shawnee KS 5/00
5-14
025 Larry Nixon Bee Branch AR 3/00
4-15
026 Dion Hibdon Stover MO 4/00
4-12
027 Gerald Beck Lexington NC 5/01
4-11
028 Gary Klein Weatherford TX 2/00
4-09
029 Todd Faircloth Jasper TX 3/00
4-08
030 Dean Matts Yukon OK 3/00
4-03
031 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo MI 3/00
3-09
032 Randy Jackson Poplar Bluff MO 3/00
3-03
033 Skeet Reese Cotati CA 2/00
3-02
033 David Walker Cannon KY 2/00
3-02
035 Rickie Harp Cottondale AL 2/00
2-07
035 Tom Mann, Jr. Buford GA 2/00
2-07
037 Lendell Martin, Jr. Nacogdoches TX 1/00
2-04
038 Curt Lytle Suffolk VA 1/00
1-14
039 Robert L. Kilby Hot Springs AR 1/00
1-12
040 Russell Smarr Charleston WV 1/00
1-06
041 Kim Stricker Howell MI 1/00
0-14
042 Stan Fisher Trout Creek MT 1/00
0-13
043 Phillip Jones Holland MI 0/00
0-00
043 Mike Wurm Hot Springs AR 0/00
0-00
043 Timmy Horton Spruce Pine AL 0/00
0-00
043 Davy Hite Prosperity SC 0/00
0-00
DAY BIG BASS NAME
CITY STATE CASH
1 3-14 Mark Hardin Canton
GA $1,000
DAY # FISH # DEAD
# LIMITS LBS-OZ
1 157 3 23 243-13
Back
to Classic Coverage | Back
to Zeiner's Fishing News
Merchandise | Specials | Fishing Reports | Home
|
