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Zapata,
TX - Heading into the annual Texas/Oklahoma Shootout, Team Oklahoma, led by captain Jeff Kriet, was looking to retain the title and even up the Shootout at two wins a piece. However, Kelly Jordon and the rest of Team Texas has something to say about that as they soundly defeated Team Oklahoma 9 ½ to 3 ½ to bring the trophy back to the Lone Star State and claim victory for the third time in four years.
The playing field for the three day event was Falcon Lake on the Texas/Mexico border were earlier this year, Paul Elias shattered the all time heavyweight record with over 130 pounds of bass over the course of four days.
With torrential rain sweeping through the area over the past month, the lake barely resembled the same body of water that the Elite Series had visited earlier in the year. Morning temperatures hovered in the upper forties while afternoon temps climbed to the mid seventies. Despite the flooded conditions and limited water clarity, both teams were able to mine some Falcon Lake giants.
“When you fish this lake, you don’t get ‘bass thumb’ you get ‘bass palm’ because when you lip them, their mouths are so big that it hits you right in the palm,” said Texan Mike Hawkes.
Leading 5-2 heading into the final day, Team Texas, led by Kelly Jordon along with teammates Todd Faircloth, Mark Pack, Cody Bird, Jason Reyes, Clark Wendlandt, Mike Hawkes and Wade Middleton were able to hold off Jeff Kriet and Team Oklahoma which also included Tommy Biffle, Harmon Davis, John Sappington, Derek Remitz, Mike McClelland, Fred Roumbanis and Kenyon Hill.
Here’s what some of the competitors had to say about the 2008 Texas/Oklahoma Shootout:
Mike Hawkes -
Team Texas
It was expected heading into the event that Texas pro, Mike Hawkes, would be tough to beat – and he was. The Texas pro, fishing with fellow FLW Tour pro, Jason Reyes, brought in a final day kicker weighing 7.56 pounds to anchor a 31.22 pound sack and earn a point over Mike McClelland and John Sappington fishing for Team Oklahoma.
“You worry constantly when you have a lead on a lake like this,” said Hawkes. “Anybody can make the right five casts and catch 35 to 38 pounds. I’ve been beat down here a lot by other guys who get a 12 pound bite. Being consistent is the key and I’m glad that this was a three day event because if you are really onto something, it gives you time to show it.”
Hawkes, who is familiar with Falcon, said that the flood conditions created a challenge to all the competitors. “I’ve only seen it this high one time about 20 years ago. Back in the late 80s it was high like this and it got tough. It’s tough right now and we caught great sacks of fish that made it look easy on stage but it wasn’t easy in the boat.”
Hawkes was tight-lipped regarding the techniques and baits used to bring the title back to Texas, and understandable so as he will be competing in the FLW East/West Fishoff on Falcon the middle of November. He did offer this bit of information about pinpointing Falcon Lake giants, “These fish on this lake react to water color a lot and this lake’s water color will change when the wind blows. When the fish live in clear water they don’t really like that murky water, so that’s key.”
So what did Hawkes think about beating the Oklahoma team? “It’s great. You hate to beat your buddies but I think I’ll make an exception this time. The only thing I’d like better is to win the Bassmaster Classic or the FLW Championship,” he laughed.
Kenyon Hill
- Team Oklahoma
With a final day draw fishing against Wade Middleton and Mark Pack, Oklahoma’s Kenyon Hill and his partner, Harmon Davis, knew they needed a good sack to keep Oklahoma’s hopes alive. The team’s 29.31 pound limit was impressive but unable to eclipse Pack and Middleton who brought in 32.41 pounds of Falcon Lake bass to bring the title back to Texas.
Throughout the event, Hill and Davis led Team Oklahoma with a solid performance.
“Today we just got a bad draw,” said Hill about his final day match up. “We got paired up against a team that came in with 32 pounds and we had just under 30 pounds. Harmon and I fished really well this week.”
“We had one little deep spot and milked it for all that it was worth and between that and throwing a spinnerbait in the bushes, we ended up coming in with some pretty good sacks.”
Kenyon’s strategy on Falcon involved covering “massive amounts of water” with a spinnerbait and then slowing down once key areas had been found. “There’s literally hundreds of miles of bushes right now and they are not all good,” explained Hill. “We found two or three stretches that held good fish and we were able to capitalize on them.”
Wade Middleton -
Team Texas
On the final day, Middleton paired up with Texas pro Mark Pack and the results were stellar. Weighing in the tournaments heaviest limit at 32.41 pounds, the Texas duo secured the championship for the Lone Star State. “It’s amazing even though we won how close everything is each year at this event,” commented Middleton.
“Yesterday I fished with Kelly Jordon and he was on them really good and today Mark Pack and I did something totally opposite and it worked out as well.”
When asked about the location of the Shootout, Middleton pointed out that it was actually Oklahoma’s captain, Jeff Kriet, who chose the location. “It was up to Kriet this year where he wanted the shootout to take place and Falcon was his choice,” Middleton explained. “We went to Choke Canyon last year and I asked him where he wanted to go and he said Falcon. We told him we’d go to Oklahoma but that’s his call and it will be his call next year as well.”
Jeff Kriet
- Team Oklahoma
At last years Texas/Oklahoma Shootout, Oklahoma’s Jeff Kriet was instrumental in putting together the first winning team for the Sooner State. Heading into the 2008 Shootout, hopes were high for a repeat. It didn’t go as planned.
“We got it handed to us pretty good, we really did,” said Kriet after the final day. “The thing is that we caught them pretty good today. Every one of us caught over 20 pounds but it all came down to Hawkes. Probably three-quarters of their weight came off of two or three places that he had found and he was really smart the way he fished them.”
Fishing with teammate Derek Remitz, Kriet was unable to find the magic that propelled Kriet and Remitz to a high finish in the PAA Corporate Cup event earlier in the Month where they were also teamed up. “I think Derek and I caught 25 pounds or better every day but it was a real struggle. We wouldn’t catch but 10 keepers a day,” said Kriet.
One highlight for the Oklahoman came with a final day match victory over Kelly Jordon and Todd Faircloth. “We got it put on us pretty good and we all had fun but we don’t have to like it much. If there’s one positive deal that came out of this week, it was beating Kelly Jordon in a head to head match,” joked Kriet.
When asked about the location for next years shootout, Kriet said, “I don’t know yet if we will go to Oklahoma next year and I’m sure Wade and I will talk about it. You know, it might not be the smartest strategy on my part, but this is the time of year that a lot of guys deer hunt so if I’m going to get eight Oklahoma guys together, it better be somewhere where they can catch a 30 pound bag.”
Kelly Jordon -
Team Texas
Despite a final day match loss to Kriet and Remitz, Texas pro Kelly Jordon was able to lead Team Texas to their third victory in four years over Team Oklahoma. “Victory is always good and that’s what we came here to do but more than that it’s just a really fun event and it feels really good to be the defending champions again because we got it taken away from us pretty soundly last year,” said Jordon.
“Falcon was a really good lake for this event right now because everything was changing around. I had three different spots where I had located some fish and today all three of them were gone.”
Jordon was quick to give props to the Hill/Davis team from Oklahoma. “I was really impressed with what Kenyon Hill and Harmon Davis were able to get on because they had big bass 2 out of 3 days and big bag as well.”
The high water conditions created a unique playing field for both the Texas and Oklahoma anglers. “When the water is flooded like this, pretty much everything that you’ve learned prior goes out the window because spots that you fished before are now in 50 foot of water,” said Jordon. “You just had to fish and fish and fish and fish to find something and there was no guarantee that they would be there the next day.”
“We just weren’t able to find them today and didn’t have anything near what we needed so we conceded the match to Kriet and Remitz. Yea, it’s painful to lose to Kriet head-to-head, but I’m pretty sure that I’ve beat him head-to-head the last three years,” Jordon said with a smile.
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