Posted  May 18th, 2008  5:25 pm CST

Fred Roumbanins Wins at Lake Murray

Story by Brent Conway - Photos by Mark Jeffreys

Columbia, SC – All season long, the trend has been if you’re the leader going into the final day you can essentially be guaranteed to not win. At the Carolina Clash, the sixth regular season stop of the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series, Fred Roumbanis was hoping to snap the streak as he left the launch site as the leader Sunday morning.

Lake Murray has fished this week about how most of the anglers now admit they expected – up, down, and all around. The blueback herring here are always the driver, as well as many other southeastern lakes like Clarks Hill, and they more or less dictate the terms of the event. But going into the final round, all eyes were on Roumbanis who’d strayed from the pack and found a solid bluegill bite.

The lead changed everyday of the tournament, and seemed to be primarily based on who got to fish their best water first as the early-morning bite was huge. Simply put, if you missed the two-hour window it was a struggle. Add to that the on again, off again sun-no wind/clouds wind/sun breeze of the last three days and it’s plain to see that the weather, like the herring, has been largely unreliable.

Like at Clarks Hill two weeks before, the Carolina Clash’s Top 12 was packed with super stars – many of whom were way down the list on the third day but used the weather and the two-hour first strike to their advantage. Three contenders in the Top 12 were below 30th place at the start of Saturday. However, hometown hero Davy Hite, who’d said all week that a win at Murray was a career-long goal, had been rock-solid all week long.

With just under four pounds separating sixth place (Davy Hite) from Roumbanis’ first-place at the start of the day – and only 6-15 separating 12th place (Ish Monroe) from the leader – the Top 12 was the tightest of the season. Ultimately Roumbanis crossed the stage a final time Sunday with 17-14 to put prove that the Day Three leader can win in 2008.

After coming from the 15th spot Saturday to take over the lead, Roumbanis’ 66-13 over four days of fishing was more than enough to claim the $100,000 top prize and his second Elite Series win. 

Finishing the shoot-out in second place was Steve Kennedy with 65-4 overall. Kennedy brought 16-12 to the scales Sunday to come within a pound-and-a-half of taking top honors.

Third place honors went to Edwin Evers, who totaled 64-13 in four days after weighing 19-4 in the final round, just to keep everyone hones. Eversd started the day in fifth place, and after Saturday’s light limit didn’t have the steam to carry him through to victory.

Fourth place belonged to legend and local hero Davy Hite who, with a combined total weight of 64-1, brought 19-0 to the scales Sunday doing all that he could to win on his home lake. Brad Hallman ended his tournament in fifth place with 63-5 overall after placing 18-4 on the scales Sunday.

Rounding out the Super Six was Brian Snowden who, with 61-12 in four days fishing, weighed 15-7 Sunday.

1st Place: Fred Roumbanis
As was said on the third day, Fred Roumbanis just has a knack for getting the big ones to bite. Sunday at the Carolina Clash it was no different as he boated the biggest bass of the day, a 6-13 giant that stole victory away from Steve Kennedy. “Today was just magic,” Fred revealed. 

“It was just one of those days where everything worked out perfectly. I pulled up to my first stop – a mat about the size of my boat – and had 20 blowups in a row. I caught three of them and really got my day started with a blast.”

Last-day heroics aside, it was the big-bass penchant that cost Fred critical momentum on the tournament’s first day. “I had found this eight-pound giant on a bed up in the river during practice on Wednesday,” he explained. “I dropped a Senko down on her and she came up and swiped at halfway down to the bed.

“I knew she was locked on a knew where I would start on Thursday, and I went to her first thing but could not get her to bite. I actually wasted a lot of critical time trying to get her to bite and put myself in a bad way.”

As that first day wore on, Roumbanis wasn’t able to get a slot in the overcrowded point rotation, so as a last resort, about 11:00, he headed back up river where he’d caught two keepers on a frog during practice. That desperate decision turned out to be his saving grace. 

“I had caught a couple of keepers up in the river on a frog during practice, but like everyone else got locked onto the herring deal because I had a really good swimbait bite,” Fred explained. “After giving the herring fish a shot, and not being able to push anyone out of the way, I went back up there and started throwing the frog and within an hour I had 15 pounds.”

The area upriver that Fred went back to was, in his words, “froggy” and looked like it should have bass; however, to go so far off the beaten path was a gamble. “The area that I was in was just perfect for frog fishing,” he said. “There was matted grass everywhere with bugs on the top of the water and bluegill popped all over the place. 

“It was just surreal and exactly what you look for in when you throw a frog.”

Fred explained that, unlike the point/herring run-and-gun that was going on out on the main lake, his frog bite matured as the day wore on allowing him to continually cull up. “The thing about the frog bite is that it gets better as the day develops,” he said. “You can have a limit early and then look forward to the afternoon to get even stronger.”

Though the frog bite Fred had found was solid and grew legs as the day wore on, he explained that it wasn’t a numbers pattern – so each fish that blew up but didn’t make it to the boat was a potential disaster in the make. “You’re going to lose opportunities, and you just have to deal with it,” he explained. 

“Anytime you’re fishing with a frog its all about risk versus reward. It’s a gamble, but when it pays off they’re always quality fish.”

While Dean Rojas is considered as the “Frog Master,” Roumbanis contends that much of his success is owed to the amphibian as well. “I would not be here if it weren’t for the frog, no doubt,” he said. “I won my very first Everstart on a frog and put $50,000 in my pocket. 

“That win allowed me to fish the Elites for the first year, and since then I’ve cashed four other checks with the frog.”

Fred’s set up was equally critical in the win. “My set up this week was really what gave me a lot of my confidence,” he said. “I’ve been working with American Eagle to design the Roumbasic rods which is the perfect rod for this type of application.”

As much as anything else, Fred revealed that the closely guarded color of his SnagProof frog was critical given the water conditions he found. “The color that I used is an exclusive color and it’s designed to mimic bluegill,” he said. 

“Even the guys at SnagProof didn’t know why I had it made that color, but since I finally won a tournament with it, it doesn’t matter. It’s called Fred’s Frog.”

Key to the win: “Having the confidence to live or die with the frog. It’s a really dangerous bait as a result, but I’m glad to be the first winner on the Elites with a frog.”

One the win: “This win just gives me so much more confidence because now I know that I can compete with the other 107 guys out here who do this for a living.”

2nd Place: Steve Kennedy
Steve Kennedy has been relatively quiet since the Florida swing where his only two checks of the season have come from so far. To say that he’s struggled would most certainly be an overstatement, but given that he’s typically in the hunt on the final day his absence in the last few tournaments near the top has been noticeable to say the least. 

Kennedy went unconscious Saturday to right a season that has been slower than expected and caught the largest bag of the tournament (22-4) to scream into the hunt. Were it not for a fish-care penalty that backed him up a half-pound, it would have been closer.

“It was a lot tougher on me today,” Kennedy said. “I went looking when it was dead slick yesterday, otherwise I would have really struggled. I broke one off today, which I hadn’t done all week, and had the dead fish. But I couldn’t do anything differently that what I did.” 

That said, Kennedy explained that coming from Clarks Hill felt certain that he knew where the fish would be and what it would take to get them to bite, so practice wasn’t a priority as he and wife Julia took a day to look at a house they’re thinking of buying. “The first day I didn’t even go out and practice because of the wind,” he said. 

“I wasn’t really worried about it because I knew that it was just a matter of hitting as many points as you could. As long as the wind was blowing I could catch them pretty good, but it was just a matter of getting the right bites.” 

However, missing that critical day of practice may well have been the difference between a win and second place. “The problem was that I only had like 11 pounds Thursday,” he smilingly lamented. “I maybe should’ve gone out and practiced a little bit looking back. I lost a lot of fish that first day though really, so I can’t say that it was because I didn’t practice Monday.”

Kennedy is the type of guy who can’t leave well enough alone as he’s always trying to make “good enough” event better. Struggling, as was everyone, with getting the finiky Murray bass to commit, he broke out his airbrush Friday night to make a color change to his swimbait, which paid huge dividends in the end. “I threw a mop jig around a lot, but the swimbait was key,” he explained. 

“Three of the fish I weighed today, and all of my fish yesterday came on the baits that I painted up to try and get the fish to commit to eating them.”

3rd Place: Edwin Evers
Edwin Evers let one slip away at Clarks Hill by, as he said, “changing things on the final day.” At Murray, he was convinced to keep his head down and fish as heard as he could leaning on the lessons from two weeks prior. In the process, he came within two pounds of clinching victory and weighed his biggest bag of the tournament. 

Evers, like most everyone else in the field, commented that the weather’s back-and-forth throughout the week played havoc on his ability to be consistent. “It was just different everyday,” he explained. “I did catch a big fish one of the days when there wasn’t any win, but it was very tough if the wind wasn’t blowing.”

The only possible regret Edwin has in the week was Saturday’s light bag. “I should have slowed down and caught a little bit better bag,” he said. “I could have finessed a little bit more than I did. I was a little hardheaded on that day, but you can’t second-guess yourself.

“All in all, it was a great week. If you start to second-guess everything you can get really critical of each decision and I’m not going to do that. I had a great tournament and another Top 12 finish.”

4th Place: Davy Hite
Davy Hite said all week that a win at Lake Murray was a career-long goal and would mean more to him personally than a Classic title. On his birthday, no less, it appeared as though the magic that’s kept him in the hunt all week would lend itself to home field victory. 

Weighing his second-heaviest limit of the week, he took the hot seat for a short while, but in the end his efforts left him out of the win by less than two pounds. “I had a great tournament and I’m just extremely blessed to be able to have been in this position,” he said. 

“I grew up on the banks of Murray dreaming of being able to win a tournament here. It wasn’t my turn, but hopefully, we’ll be back and I’ll have a shot to try and win it next time.”

A little wind Sunday was exactly what Hite was hoping for, as it had been key for his big bag Saturday; however, a little turned into a lot and was all that he could handle. “Last night I prayed for a win, and I think the Lord thought I said wind,” Hite joked from the stage. 

“It can get rough when it’s blowing right down the guts, and I actually ran out of trolling motor today. Despite that I had a great day. 

Hite points to being too intimate with the South Carolina fishery as, perhaps, being party to his undoing on Friday – the day that most likely cost him the win. “I know a lot about this lake, and the second day I ran up the river because I was struggling,” he said. “I caught a lot of fish, but they weren’t the kind of quality I needed to win with.”
Hindsight is always 20/20, and Hite revealed that the frog bite Roumbanis exploited was something he experimented with Friday. “I threw a frog up the river for about three hours,” he said. “Knowing what I know now, it’s clear that I just wasn’t in the right area, but that’s kind of a bitter pill to swallow.”

As everyone commented throughout the week, the Murray bass were incredibly difficult to get to the boat. “You just had to be so easy with the fish because of the way they were eating the bait,” he said. “Everyone lost fish all week, but you never want to have an “F” because you couldn’t keep fish buttoned up.”

In retrospect, Hite explained that he has no complaints on his weed at Murray. “The guys ahead of me would have really had to stumble for me to win,” he said. “Considering everything, I had a really good tournament.”

5th Place: Brad Hallman
If there were awards given out on Sunday for consistency, Brad Hallman would definitely be the winner as he never varied too far from the pace he established Thursday saving his best day of the week for the tournament’s conclusion. “I had a great tournament,” he said. 

“I had the best day I’ve had all week on the last day. That’s what you want.”

Unfortunately, there aren’t prizes given for consistency, unless it results in a win. Still, Hallman pointed out that his consistency was crafted, and instead of burning gas he opted to marinate his baits. “Rather than running a lot of water, I pretty much tried to focus on 10 or 11 points where I knew there were some big groups of fish and that were close enough for me to keep my eye on,” he explained. 

“I would burn the swimbait to get the wolf pack activated and then it was just hang on. If I couldn’t get them to commit to the bait right then, I would let the spot rest for an hour and come back. “

Lost fish was a constant theme for the week at Murray, and Hallman was no exception. “I don’t know that it’s possible to fish clean with the way that you have to fish for schooling bass,” he said. “Everyone of the fish that I caught were hooked on the outside of their head or underneath the mouth. 

“Very rarely did they ever have it inside their mouth, so it’s a good thing that this is South Carolina and not California or I wouldn’t have weighed a fish.”

Despite the faulty hook-up ratio, Hallman stayed true to the swimbait for the duration of the tournament. “’I threw a Siebel swimbait all week,” he said. “The only difference was that I really burned it rather than just swimming it in.” 

“The wind blew and there weren’t as many folks on the water which made it fish a lot better.”

Looking back, Hallman said there’s only one thing he would change. “I would have changed to a #2 hook earlier in the week,” he said. “I didn’t change the hooks until Friday and I think it really helped get more fish in the boat.”

6th Place: Brian Snowden
Brian Snowden, thanks largely to a big second day, made his second Top 12 of the season. He pointed out that his game plan Sunday was, thanks to the thinned field, to focus on areas where he stood the greatest chance to win. “I spent most of my time Sunday focusing on areas where I had the best shot at winning,” he said.

7th Place: Kelly Jordon
Final-Day Thoughts: I went out with the intention of winning this morning, so it was a matter of milking my best spots trying to make up the ground that I needed. All in all, it had a really good day, but I just had a sack of cookie-cutters and never had the big bite that I needed. I had the bites to have over 20 pounds, but that’s just how it is.

Bait of Choice: Sieble swimbait, double rigged with 50-pound braid and a17-pound Fluorocarbon leader. 

Biggest Challenge: If I would have had a fifth fish Saturday, who knows.

Key to the Week: I had three big schools of fish and spent a lot of time on them trying to get the bites I needed to win the tournament. To keep them going, I would burn the bait as fast as I possibly could.

Week in Review: Everyone was keying on the herring, and I wasn’t any different. All week long I would just burn the water up trying to get the school activated. It was a good tournament, and I’ll take all the Top 12s I can get.

8th Place: Kevin VanDam
Final-Day Thoughts: I knew that it was going to be a great day to fish. As a result of the small field I was able to run a lot of water and fish the way that I like to. I actually caught a double on my first spot this morning.

Bait of Choice: Strike King Red-Eye Shad

9th Place: Aaron Martens
Final-Day Thoughts: I went to my best spot this morning and when I first got there was the only time that I saw them schooling. I kind of goofed up because I waited too long for them to show up. I probably should have gone on to some of my other water earlier and give this place a break.

10th Place: Dave Wolak
Final-Day Thoughts: Today I just felt like I was getting punched in the arm. It didn’t happen for me like I thought I would. I thought that the afternoon would allow me to go back to the Money Minnow, but I still couldn’t get the big bites that I needed.

Week in Review: I’ve just been so relaxed all week. After the second day when I lost a big one, if I would’ve gotten upset I don’t think I would have finished where I did. It was a great week, all in all.

FINAL STANDINGS

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