Posted  June 15th, 2008  10:20pm CST

Horton's Final Day Charge Falls Just Short

Story by Brent Conway - Photos by Mark Jeffreys 

Gilbertsville, KY – The eighth stop of the 2008 Elite Series season at the much heralded Kentucky Lake, or The Bluegrass Brawl as it was called, turned out to be just that. The fish cooperated, as did Mother Nature for the most part, but just as it was two years ago at the Tennessee-Kentucky border lake the crowds were problematic. 

A 200-boat Wal-Mart BFL tournament launched Saturday morning, and all week long, anglers commented on how its participants watched (and in some cases interrupted) their fishing. Many Elite Series anglers, including the leader since the start, Kevin VanDam, were forced to fish the event in two phases – a two-day blitz to make the Top 50, and a weekend scramble to find new, less crowded water.

As stated, Kevin VanDam led the event from the beginning, and showed little signs of weakness as he proceeded to hang a seven-pound deficit on second place by the start of Sunday. Rick Clunn, the legendary anger who was in second place at the start of the day, suggested that someone from down the pack would have to unseat the modern-era “World’s Greatest,” as he likely didn’t have the fish to do it.

Enter Tim Horton, who had quietly and consistently gained ground on KVD each day after Thursday. By the time Sunday rolled around, the Alabama angler had taken over third place, but was still nearly 10 pounds back of VanDam. 

The heavy favorite, VanDam, saved plenty of back-up areas for the final day. It has been long established that his fast and furious style of fishing allows him to not only cover acres of water lightening fast, but to also accrue weight just as quickly. Sunday was supposed to be a battle of the titans, but it turned into VanDam holding off the hard-charging Tim Horton.

Early indications of an incredible ledge bite proved correct, as the remaining 12 anglers all talked of catching their fish from shell-lined “sweet spots” on either Barkley or Kentucky Lake. The other pre-tournament predication was that a 22-pound average, up significantly over the 2006 numbers, would be the winning creel.

1st Place: Kevin VanDam
Just like last week’s Southern Challenge at Wheeler Lake, the Bluegrass Brawl this week once again came down to a two-horse race featuring Kevin VanDam. Leading the tournament wire-to-wire, KVD had to fend off a last-minute come-from-behind attempt by Tim Horton.

VanDam had brought over 20 pounds of bass to the scales each of the first three days of the tournament; however, on the final day, it appeared as though his momentum had slowed. “These big schools of fish move around so much from one day to the next, and I really struggled to keep up with them today,” KVD explained.

“After the three days that I had where it was so easy, the final day was incredibly tough.” 

“It was tough to stay in the game,” Kevin commented on the day’s fishing. “I had a lot of spots that I had been saving, but every spot that I went to, the fish just weren’t there. I had one spot that I had been saving all week. I found it during practice and didn’t touch it this week at all. I went in there this afternoon and they were just there.”

VanDam credited his near-constant movement as being critical to the win, the 14th of his storied career. VanDam was able to keep just enough fish in reserve on the day when it mattered most. “I had a lot of good schools found, so I was able to just cycle through them. To find that many schools of big fish and go back to them day after day was really special.”

With the win secured, VanDam revealed that up until the moment that his final weight was tallied, he was still second-guessing his decisions over the final day. “Looking back on the day, I should have probably changed my rotation up quite a bit,” he explained. “That’s easy to say after the fact, you know? Fortunately it was enough.”

In the 2006 event at Kentucky Lake, the win escaped VanDam so success this week is even sweeter. “Winning this week means more to me than any event in a while, because two years ago I let the win slip away on the third day,” he said. “I should have won that one, but I learned from it. I planned for the weekend pressure and it worked out.”

VanDam is now firmly in control of the Toyota Angler of the Year race, and his favorite part of the season just ahead. “I’ve been fishing really well,” he said. “When you get on a roll like that, the momentum just keeps going. I had a couple of bad tournaments early in the season, but I’m really looking forward to the end of the year.”

VanDam’s explained his key to the week, “I made the right decision Saturday by abandoning my water and going to the spots that I had in reserve. There was just too much competition for the spots that I had been on. There’s just no way that I could have finished the week on those spots.”

2nd Place: Tim Horton
In order to be the spoiler, you have to have a great story line to assist, and this week Tim Horton couldn’t have scripted one any better. Flying under the radar screen with the majority of the focus on the KVD vs. Clunn match up, Horton quietly climbed the leader board each day and waited until the final round to make his move.

When the last fish had been to the scales, the spoiler story that Horton was hoping for fell short by just one pound. Horton explained it certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort. “I took that Fat Free shad out there and really just went out to catch as many fish as I could today,” he said. “It was a really special day, and I feel certain that I had the fish on to win this tournament.”

“I lost some really key fish this week, but when you’re cranking that’s just part of the game,” he said. “It’s really painful because one of the ones that I lost today would have likely been enough to win with.”

Fishing an XCalibur 7A Fat Free Shad in chartreuse and blue, Horton explained that the key to his week began in practice. “I located a number of quality schools during practice, and with the exception of Friday, it was easy,” he opined. “Being around the right schools of fish all week long allowed me to move up everyday, but Friday was the difference maker.” 

“I don’t know what happened,” Horton added. “I don’t know if it was a timing and current issue or what. Fortunately, I was able to recover but it certainly cost me.”

Horton explained that a key to the Fat Free he fished was in the modification he made. “I shave the edges of the lip to make the bait really roll side to side,” he said. “I think it makes the bait come into the strike zone a lot softer and doesn’t alert the school. I think that had a lot to do with it, I really do.”

3rd Place: Terry Butcher
Terry Butcher brought his biggest limit to the scales Sunday, capping off an incredibly consistent week. “I just had an awesome day,” the Oklahoman said. “I caught a 13-pound limit this morning within the first hour and then just ran around culling here and there until the afternoon.”

Culling up to around 16 pounds by mid-afternoon, Butcher said that he returned to his starting spot in Barkley Lake, where he’d started each day of the tournament, to try and finish the day strong. “I fished it real hard when I came back in the afternoon, but didn’t get a bite,” 

Scratching his head over the death of his best spot, Butcher elected to make a right turn and follow the ledge in search of the roving school of bass. It was a great decision. “I moved down a little bit to see if I could find them, and really got on them then,” he said. 

“In less than 10 minutes I culled just about everything I had in the boat. They were just wadded up.”

Butcher fished a XCalibur 7A Fat Free Shad in Chartreuse and Blue almost exclusively this week. “I might have had one or two fish all week that I caught on a Big Show Paddle Tail worm,” he allowed, “but the majority of what I caught came on the crankbait.”

In retrospect, Butcher explained that if he had it to do all over again, he wouldn’t have tried to save his primary area quite so aggressively. “I really didn’t realize what was there during the first couple of days,” he said. “I should have at least got up to 20 pounds each of those first two days before I quit, but you can’t beat yourself up about things in hindsight because I had a really good week.”

4th Place: Mike McClelland
Mike McClelland is having a career year. He has won an event this season and is in the mix for the coveted Toyota Angler of the Year title. After starting strong this week, he faltered Friday and Saturday. “I changed a little today over what I’d been doing all week,” McClelland said of his 21-pound day. 

“I felt like I needed to start out with a 12- to 15-pound limit and then go hunting some heads. I did that, and it was just an awesome day.”

McClelland said that unlike in a few events in the recent past where he let an opportunity to make the Top 12 slip away, he fished methodically Saturday to ensure that he would survive the cut. “I changed it up a little yesterday and fished a little more conservatively than maybe I normally would have,” he said.

“I just wanted to make sure that I made the Top 12, so I caught what I felt like I would need to have, rather than trying to win it on the third day. It paid off because I had some fish left over.”

McClelland fished a ¾ Jewell Football Jig, tipped with a full-sized green pumpkin Zoom brush hog to catch the bulk majority of his weight this week. “I feel like the bigger, bulkier bait eliminated a lot of the smaller fish,” McClelland said of his decision to use the full-sized version of the popular bait.

“The ¾-ounce bait was really key,” McClelland added. “It really allowed me to zero in on a particular place. I actually fished a 5/8-ounce jig a lot in practice but I didn’t feel like it gave me the control I needed.”

In hindsight, McClelland admits that his focus on his primary area likely cost him in the end. “I sort of got hardheaded this week and focused on one or two areas,” he said. “From what I learned today, I probably should’ve been moving around a lot more all week.”

5th Place: Paul Elias
Enough has been said about Paul Elias and the penalty he suffered on Day One. In the end, the approximately three pounds he lost would not have been enough for the win. Despite his initial set back, Elias went out on the final day intent on catching another great limit from the spot that had produced so well all week long, but for the first time this week his fish didn’t respond. 

“I couldn’t get a bite on my best spot this morning,” Elias said. “I’m really just blessed to have what I did because I had to scramble for everything I had.”

Elias’ best water, it seems, had been overrun – not by other tournament fishermen, but by local meat fishermen – on the final day. “I had one key spot, and it was the only possible spot that I could’ve won the tournament on,” he said. “I dropped my spoon first thing this morning and got all wrapped up in a trot line. They had run three across my best water and I didn’t catch a fish there today.”

Elias explained that it was likely that the spot had seen its best days before he arrived. “The smallmouths were never there like they were the first day,” he said. 

“I’ve just fished enough everyday to stay in the mix. It was a great week, even in spite of my blunder on the first day.” 

6th Place: Terry Scroggins
“Big Show” first earned his nickname by bringing in big limits to steal the show. The final day of this event was another such occasion as he held the lead for a brief period, though he knew that it would require a miracle to come close to winning. “I had way too much ground to make up on Kevin to really be a threat,” Scroggins said. 

“I just went out today to have fun and try and get as many points as I could.”

Alternating between an XCalibur Fat Free Shad and a ¾-ounce Booyah Pig Skin Jig throughout the week, Scroggins explained that he merely out drove the competition. “I learned back in 2006 here that you can’t try and fish the ledges in Kentucky because everyone else finds the same fish,” he said.

“I ran 75 miles one way, way past Paris (TN), to get there. I pretty much had it to myself as far as the Elite guys were concerned.”

In hindsight, Scroggins said that he wouldn’t change a thing. “I had a great week and really had a lot of fun this week,” he said. “The Tennessee river has treated me well the last few weeks. I feel good about what I’ve done.”

Week in Review: “Camping out on that one area all week was a risk that I took but I wouldn’t change. I had a few other spots that I could catch fish on, but there was just such quality there that it was hard not to stay focused on it. Making the Top 12 this week is just such a blessing.” 

Week in Review: “I just had an absolute ball this week, I really did. I’ve come into this season with a renewed attitude, so I just fish for the day, everyday. I don’t know that I was on the caliber of fish to win, but I feel really good about what I found and how I fished.”

Week in Review: “My crankbait bite started dying yesterday. I had to go to a jig to get what I had Saturday, but even the jig wouldn’t work for me today.”

Key to the Week: “Having the confidence to not live or die on one spot. I ran out of fish today and had to scramble around to find some new fish. That’s really been the key for me this season.”

Week in Review: “I didn’t really understand what was going on until the tournament started. I didn’t realize how many fish I was around, but over the course of the week I fished every inch of Barkley Lake, I think. It was a blast.”

Week in Review: “I know Barkley a lot better, but I got on a good group of fish in Kentucky Lake during practice and decided to start there. That was a huge mistake and I didn’t go back there again.”

FINAL STANDINGS

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