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Bassmaster Elite Series Heads to Smallmouth Country, Deep Waters of Lake Erie and Niagara River

July 21, 2008 - The Bassmaster Elite Series will bring its 10th tournament of the season ­ the Empire Chase presented by Farmer's Insurance ­ to Lake Erie and the Niagara River out of Buffalo as the season winds down to the critical final two events.

While angling for the 2008 Empire Chase's first-place prize of $100,000, the Elite pros also are down to the wire now in the Trail to the Trophy with only the season finale, the Champion's Choice on Oneida Lake out of Syracuse , N.Y. , remaining after this event. After the Tennessee Triumph on Old Hickory Lake out of Hendersonville , Tenn. , Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo , Mich. , leads the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race. His top threat for the title and the $250,000 top prize is Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas , just 12 points back, while Mike McClelland of Bella Vista , Ark. , (third place, 120 points back) and reigning AOY Skeet Reese (fourth, 142 points back) aren't too far behind.

In the race to qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La., Davy Hite of Ninety Six, S.C., is on the bubble in 36th place with 1,649 points in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Virginia 's Rick Morris (1,644 points) and South Carolina 's Britt Myers (1,639) are lurking in 37th and 38th, respectively. The top 36 in the AOY standings qualify for the Classic.

With more than 10,000 square miles of water touching Ohio , New York , Pennsylvania and Canada , Lake Erie has enjoyed a lofty standing as a top fishery for several years. Lake Erie is the eleventh largest lake in the world and the fourth largest of the Great Lakes in surface area. It also is the shallowest of the Great Lakes .

In 2007, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Edwin Evers of Talala , Okla. , joined the BASS Millionaires' Club with his victory in the Empire Chase, holding off Kotaro Kiriyama of Moody, Ala., by exactly 4 pounds. Evers weighed in 65 pounds, 7 ounces of Lake Erie smallmouth bass in the three-day event, which was shortened from four days because of unsafe weather conditions, using a drop-shot with a green pumpkin Yum Houdini worm in 36 to 42 feet of water.

Lake Erie is home to such a tremendous smallmouth fishery, its largemouth population isn't often a factor in national tournaments. Elite pro Matthew Sphar, of Pavilion, N.Y., who considers Erie his home waters, thinks the pros will use a lot of tubes and drop-shots on the big lake and the Niagara River.

"The fishery is in excellent shape," said Sphar, who tied Faircloth for 14th place in the 2007 Empire Chase with 37 pounds, 9 ounces.

He expects an average of 15 pounds caught per day in the four-day tournament, with the top bags needing to be 20 pounds or better, and he thinks weather will play a significant role.

"It's rare to have four days in a row where you don't have some kind of weather here," Sphar said. "It doesn't take much wind to get the lake cranking. If the wind comes out of the north, sometimes it's not that bad. But if it's out of the west or the southwest, then it gets pretty nasty. We'll be pounding through 4-footers at least one day; I'd expect that."

The smallmouth are post-spawn and in their summer pattern on Lake Erie, and Sphar said fish should be scattered from 20 feet of water to about 40 feet, with spotted bass and big fish in different depths, including a few shallow bites. He added that the wind will determine how much the bass are feeding from day to day.

If it's flat, there won't be much movement, so competitors will have to switch to smaller baits and finesse fishing. If it's windy, Sphar said most anglers will bounce around, drift shoals and use the wind to their advantage while the fish are aggressive.

"This is probably the only tournament all year that anybody will be drifting a whole lot to catch their fish," he said.

Daily weigh-ins and launches Thursday-Sunday at the Empire Chase will take place at the NFTA Boat Harbor , 1111 Fuhrman Rd. , Buffalo . Launches begin at 8 a.m. ET and weigh-ins begin at 5 p.m. through the four days of competition. They are free and open to the public.

Sponsors of the Bassmaster Elite Series include Toyota Tundra, Advance Auto Parts, Berkley, Lowrance, Mercury, Purolator, Skeeter, Yamaha, Evan Williams Bourbon, Longhorn, OPTIMA Batteries, Triton Boats, Costa Del Mar, MotorGuide and Ramada Worldwide.

2008 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Standings

---------------------------------------------------------------

Place Name Hometown Points

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1 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo , Mich. 2254

2 Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas 2238

3 Mike McClelland Bella Vista, Ark. 2139

4 Skeet Reese Auburn , Calif. 2118

5 Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City , Ariz. 2020

6 Alton Jones Waco , Texas 2019

7 Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 1973

8 Terry Scroggins San Mateo , Fla. 1953

9 Scott Rook Little Rock , Ark. 1939

10 Randy Howell Springville, Ala. 1908

11 Steve Kennedy Auburn , Ala. 1895

12 Kenyon Hill Norman , Okla. 1880

13 Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 1840

14 Bobby Lane Lakeland , Fla. 1836

15 Bryan Hudgins Orange Park , Fla. 1834

16 Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 1820

17 Bill Lowen North Bend , Ohio 1784

18 Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount , N.C. 1769

19 Byron Velvick Del Rio , Texas 1757

20 Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 1739

20 Kelly Jordon Mineola, Texas 1739

22 Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, Kan. 1719

23 Timmy Horton Muscle Shoals, Ala. 1716

24 Kotaro Kiriyama Moody, Ala. 1713

25 Morizo Shimizu Osaka , Japan 1712

26 Michael Iaconelli Runnemede, N.J. 1711

27 Fred Roumbanis Bixby, Okla. 1709

28 Jason Quinn York , S.C. 1694

29 Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 1691

30 Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 1688

31 Casey Ashley Donalds, S.C. 1684

32 Peter E Thliveros St Augustine, Fla. 1681

33 Shaw E Grigsby Gainesville , Fla. 1670

34 Denny Brauer Camdenton , Mo. 1666

35 Dave Wolak Wake Forest , N.C. 1652

36 Davy Hite Ninety Six, S.C. 1649

37 Rick Morris Virginia Beach , Va. 1644

38 Britt Myers Lake Wylie, S.C. 1639

39 Bernie Schultz Gainesville , Fla. 1622

40 Ish Monroe Hughson, Calif. 1619

41 Jason Williamson Aiken , S.C. 1615

42 Derek Remitz Grant , Ala. 1609

43 Rick Clunn Ava, Mo. 1607

44 Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, Calif. 1604

45 Marty Stone Fayetteville , N.C. 1600

46 Chris Lane Lakeland , Fla. 1586

47 Gerald Swindle Warrior, Ala. 1578

48 Mark Menendez Paducah , Ky. 1572

49 Jeff Kriet Ardmore , Okla. 1568

50 Kevin F Short Mayflower, Ark. 1560

51 Boyd Duckett Demopolis, Ala. 1556

52 Ray Sedgwick Cross, S.C. 1550

53 Bradley Hallman Norman , Okla. 1548

54 Greg Hackney Gonzales , La. 1529

55 Scott Campbell Springfield , Mo. 1526

56 Tommy Biffle Wagoner, Okla. 1521

57 Matt Reed Madisonville , Texas 1488

58 Takahiro Omori Emory, Texas 1457

58 Terry Butcher Talala, Okla. 1457

60 Cliff Pace Petal, Miss. 1444

61 Jeff Reynolds Idabel, Okla. 1439

62 Jami Fralick Martin, S.D. 1435

63 Jeff Connella Bentley, La. 1429

64 Wade Grooms Bonneau , S.C. 1427

65 Mike Wurm Hot Springs , Ark. 1414

66 Russ Lane Prattville , Ala. 1413

67 John Murray Phoenix , Ariz. 1411

67 Matthew Sphar Pavilion, N.Y. 1411

69 James Niggemeyer Van, Texas 1398

70 Mark Tucker Saint Louis, Mo. 1397

71 Jeremy Starks Charleston , W.Va. 1394

72 Kevin Langill Terrell, N.C. 1371

73 Jon Bondy Windsor , Canada 1368

74 John Crews Salem , Va. 1365

75 Stephen Browning Hot Springs , Ark. 1356

76 Paul Elias Laurel, Miss. 1352

76 Grant Goldbeck Gaithersburg , Md. 1352

78 Brian Clark Haltom City , Texas 1348

79 Todd Auten Lake Wylie, S.C. 1328

80 Clark Reehm Russellville, Ark. 1320

81 Yusuke Miyazaki Forney, Texas 1291

82 Billy Brewer Bruceville, Texas 1280

83 Jim Murray Arabi, Ga. 1271

84 Preston Clark Palatka, Fla. 1268

85 Corey Waldrop Fort Worth , Texas 1266

86 David Smith Del City , Okla. 1261

87 Jimmy Mize Ben Lomond, Ark. 1258

88 Zell Rowland Montgomery , Texas 1254

89 Pat Golden High Point , N.C. 1244

90 Marty Robinson Lyman, S.C. 1239

91 Mark Tyler Vian, Okla. 1238

92 Ken D Cook Lawton , Okla. 1193

93 Ben Matsubu Hemphill, Texas 1188

94 Kurt Dove Fairfax, Va. 1185

95 Glenn Delong Bellville , Ohio 1173

96 Steve Daniel Clewiston, Fla. 1160

97 Jay Fuller Kingston , Okla. 1154

98 Charlie Hartley Grove City , Ohio 1141

99 Guy Eaker Cherryville, N.C. 1138

100 Elton Luce Brookeland, Texas 1091

100 Pete Ponds Madison , Miss. 1091

102 James Kennedy Lacombe, La. 994

103 David Sherrer Shreveport , La. 993

104 Rick Ash Pottstown, Pa. 977

105 Randy Allen Shreveport , La. 914

105 Greg Gutierrez Red Bluff, Calif. 914

107 Matt Amedeo Clinton , Ohio 875

108 Paul Hirosky Guys Mills, Pa. 845

109 Bobby Myers Broken Arrow , Okla. 438


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