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Cleveland, Ohio – Bomber Lures Pro Staffer Frank Scalish has admittedly having a difficult year. The Cleveland, Ohio pro only last week cashed his first paycheck of the 2007 season with a 48th place finish at the Sooner Run at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake. Scalish started the Sooner Run in 107th place in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Points Standings.
While driving, Scalish told The BASS ZONE about his tournament at Grand Lake, his thoughts on the upcoming tournament at Lake Champlain, and some impressions of spectators on the Elite Series.
Scalish took a few minutes to talk to The BASS ZONE while traveling from the Sooner Run to scout the Fort Madison Pool of the Mississippi River’s Fort Madison Pool in preparation for the Elite Series stop next year. “I had to learn to navigate that pool because it is a mine field,” he exclaimed. “A friend of mine took me out there to mark waypoints so that I wouldn’t tear up the hull of my Legend or rip the lower unit off of my
Optimax.”
“I’m not sure that I’m comfortable being at the bottom of the standings,” Scalish told The BASS ZONE. “I’ve never been in last place before, and I know I’ve got a lot of work to do.” Scalish said that his season is the result of some bad decisions, but that he doesn’t count himself out of requalifying for the Elite Series.
“The good news is that I am heading into an area that I am very confident in,” the 47-year-old pro said. “I need to rack up some top 20 finishes to make up ground; I’m sure I can accomplish that with the schedule coming up.” He was close to starting that trend at Grand Lake.
“I had a good tournament at Grand,” Scalish remarked. “I had the fish figured out pretty well, and I’m pretty happy with the finish. Scalish said that he practiced the tournament with the dirty and high water conditions in mind. “The dirty water canceled out the deep patterns that won the tournament last year, but the shallow and mid depth patterns were good.” |
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Scalish spent the practice session using Bomber Fat Free Guppy and Fat Free Shad crankbaits in the 8 to 10 foot range, but couldn’t get the bites he needed to compete. “I turned to shallow water and the willow trees and the points to get my fish,” the OSI sealants pro reported. “I would pick up a shaky head with a seven-inch Yum Houdini worm, but if they weren’t there, it was time to pick up my Powell flipping rod.”
Scalish said that he loaded his Powell 735 with 20 pound Silver Thread Fluorocarbon and a six-inch Yum Lizard and hit the willow trees. “It was predictable,” Scalish said. “If they weren’t on the points, they were in the willows near that point, and I would flip trees, the water color and flooding conditions kept them shallow, all I had to do was move quickly, and find them in either area.”
Scalish’s Yum soft plastics dual arsenal was good enough for a three day total of 39 pounds, and a $10,000 payday.
He did say that one of the biggest challenges he faced at Grand was spectator traffic. “It’s a difficult topic these days, because the fans are what make the sport grow,” but some of them can make competing very tough,” he said. “I know several guys had troubles during the tournament, and I did as well.”
Scalish said that he had his best day of the tournament on the second day at Grand Lake, and that there were several spectator boats watching him, which in itself was fun. However, when he returned on the third morning of the event, some of those spectators were fishing the water he was on the day before.
“I recognized their boats and they were in there pounding my area; I had to find new water,” he said it was similar to Sam Rayburn a few weeks before. “I pulled up to my water on the second day and four of the boats that were watching me the first day were circling my rock pile smashing the fish; I couldn’t even get a line in there.”
He said that having been an angler starting out, he knows the draw to prove themselves, but he doesn’t understand why the draw to show how good an angler they are must impact the ability of a professional to earn a living. “We are the only sport where fans can get on the playing field and impact the outcome of an event, they can’t get on a baseball or football field and hit against A-Rod or score an NFL touchdown, but they go into our water and catch our fish during a tournament.”
Scalish said that he likes having the fans around, but wishes that they understood the seriousness of their actions. “OSI Sealants and my sponsors are really good to me,” he said. “I am able to pay my bills with their contributions, but some of these guys have to catch enough fish to feed their families, and a non competitor can take make a big difference.”
He also said that he knows the subject is unpopular, but that it has been a problem for him on several occasions, and he feels the need to speak out. “I don’t mean to sound like a jerk, but some of these guys are doing it on purpose, I just want them to respect that the guys on tour are fishing for their livelihood and the chance to be here next year, and they could impact a person’s career.”
With all of the struggles and success of Grand behind him, Scalish turns his attention to the New York swing, and the pursuit of smallmouth bass. “I had a great time up there last year,” he reported. “I didn’t count on the largemouth being as much a factor as they were, so I will account for them more this year, but I’m looking forward to catching up with those smallies.”
He said that he got on a good jerkbait bite late on the second day at Champlain in 2006, a tournament that Denny Brauer won with a little over 80 pounds. “I was throwing a Bomber Long A over the tops of the weed beds in the high water, and I was able to catch a bunch of fish on it,” Scalish said. “I like the 15A in the warmer water because of the wider wobbling action; it seems to attract more bites.”
“I’m going to look at the smallmouth at Champlain, but I’m not sure that the higher water up there isn’t going to make it a flip bite, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
To read more about Scalish, visit the website his sponsor, OSI Pro Series Sealants has dedicated to him, click here:
http://www.osisealants.com/frank-scalish/RunScript.asp?Page=18&p=ASP\Pg18.asp
For more on the Pradco products mentioned in this article visit their website at:
http://www.lurenet.com/
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