Saturday was a rainy day in Georgia, but Tommy Biffle was not singing the blues about the West Point Lake Battle.
He managed to fill a five-fish limit after falling one bass short on both Day 1 and Day 2 of the Battle.
Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., seized the third-day lead in the four-day Bassmaster Elite Series’ Battle with a total of 33 pounds, 9 ounces. Seventh after Thursday, he popped into third Friday before taking the hot seat Saturday.
The loss of a “good keeper” early Saturday had him wondering if he’d even weigh four bass.
“I was a little bit worried I’d only have three, because I’ve been getting
Biffle liked Saturday’s wet, wet weather. He said he actually hoped for a thunder and lightning storm on the water to change the barometric pressure.
He got his storm. “Shortly after that, I caught two,” he said. “The fish did bite better after the storm.”
He weighed four largemouth and one spotted bass, which he said actually weighed more than one of his largemouth bass.
Biffle – a six-time Bassmaster winner, including three Elite events – said a key to his success on West Point was his realization that he should not cover the same water twice. He said he’d continue to search for new water Sunday to work the pattern he has going
Nine ounces in back of Biffle was Pete Ponds of Madison, Miss., with 33 pounds even. Day 2 leader Aaron Martens was third with 32-10, 15 ounces behind Biffle.
Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas – winner of the Elite season’s first event – pulled off the recovery of the week with a bag of 15-9, the day’s largest. He moved from 40th place on Day 1 into 33rd on Day 2, and then into fourth place with 32-1. He made the cut to try Sunday for the winner’s take of $100,000 and a berth in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic.
Fifth was Chris Zaldain of San Jose, Calif., with 31-15. His weight set the spread between first and fifth place at 1 pound, 10 ounces – the size of one small West Point Lake spotted bass.
Ponds credited his climb into fourth place on Day 2 from 24th place on Day 1 to a clue and a lure that helped him settle into a productive pattern. He declined to even hint at the details, but said that the rain of Saturday affected it.
“I didn’t catch but two fish on that bait today,” said Ponds, who weighed 11-5 Saturday compared to 13-0 Friday and 8-11 Thursday. “With it not raining tomorrow and the sun coming out, I’m feeling pretty confident about it again.”
Ponds said he also fished a drain with current “that developed into something good.”
Early Saturday, Ponds followed his plan to go only for game-winning largemouth. At 11 a.m., he abandoned that strategy.
“I threw up the white flag with only two largemouth, and went out and got a 2-pound spot, then I went to that drain and got my other two fish,” he said.
For Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, it’s a rainy night in Georgia (to borrow again from Brook Benson’s bluesy song). The Day 1 leader, Combs finished 14th, two places out of the Top 12 cut, missing by 5 ounces.
Greg Vinson, however, avoided a rerun of his soul-drenching experience at the Elite event last month on Bull Shoals Lake, where he dropped out of the cut after leading for two days. The Battle turned out better. In second place two days into a row, the pro from Wetumpka, Ala., brought in 5-2, enough to stay above the cutline in 10th place with 29-15.
Yusuke Miyazaki of Forney, Texas, boated the day’s largest bass, a 6-10. But Biffle’s 6-12 of Day 1 stood as the Battle’s best bass after three days. The largest bass of the event will land the Battle’s Carhartt Big Bass bonus of $1,000, plus $500 if the angler was wearing Carhartt clothing.
In the Berkley Heavyweight competition for an award of $500, Combs’ Day 1 bag of 15-14 was still the best after three days.
The Battle concludes Sunday. The 12 finalists will launch at 6:40 a.m. from Pyne Road Park (4481 Roanoke Road, LaGrange, GA 30240). The championship weigh-in is set to begin at 3:15 p.m. at the same location.
Fans are invited to the launch and weigh-in, as well as to the Bassmaster Elite Series Expo, which features products and activities by Elite Series sponsors; free demo rides in Nitro, Skeeter and Triton bass rigs powered by Mercury and Yamaha engines; Dixie Dock Dogs, a dog-jumping competition; and much more.
At Pyne Road Park next to the weigh-in site, the Expo opens at noon Sunday. All Bassmaster events are free and open to the public.
The Bassmaster website will continue to provide all-day coverage of the event. Online features include live video of the weigh-ins, real-time leaderboards, blogs and catch reports from the water, video reports and daily results.
The West Point Lake Battle will air on ESPN from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET May 12 on The Bassmasters TV show.
By: Cara Clark, B.A.S.S.
