Saturday, 25 May 2013
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2012 Schedule - Results


Elite #1

Dates: March 15-18
Venue: St. Johns River - Palatka, Fla.
Finish: 63rd
Notes: B.A.S.S. has held 17 professional level events on the St. Johns, most recently the 2011 Elite Citrus Slam won by Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., with 77 pounds, 1 ounce. On a historical note, at the 1973 Florida Invitational on the St. Johns, Bob Tyndal caught a 12-pound, 13-ounce largemouth that stood as the biggest in B.A.S.S. history for 24 years.


Elite #2

Dates: March 22-25
Venue: Lake Okeechobee
Host: Okeechobee, Fla.
Size 470,000 surface acres (about half the size of Rhode Island!)
Finished: 33rd
Notes: B.A.S.S. has held 19 professional events on Okeechobee. The most recent was a 2010 Bassmaster Southern Open won by Elite angler Chris Lane of Guntersville, Ala., with a three-day total of 41-2. The 2012 tournament will be the first Elite Series event here. Okeechobee is a popular venue with the Elite anglers. Rick Clunn, Paul Elias, Tim Horton, Gary Klein, Chris Lane, Terry Scroggins and Byron Velvick have all won here.


Elite #3

Dates: April 19-22
Venue: Bull Shoals Lake
Host: Arkansas
Size 45,000 surface acres
Finished: 35th
Notes: B.A.S.S. has held six previous events on Bull Shoals, but none (other than a 2006 WBT tournament) since 1991. Despite the small number, Bull Shoals has a big place in B.A.S.S. history. Dee Thomas, the inventor of flippin’, introduced the world to his technique by winning the 1975 Arkansas Invitational here. With the victory — and a subsequent series of features in Bassmaster Magazine — flippin’ became the hottest technique on the Tournament Trail. It still is, really, and Bull Shoals is where the story broke.


Elite #4

Dates: May 3-6
Venue: Douglas Lake
Host: Dandridge, Tenn.
Size 30,000 surface acres
Finish: 10th
Notes: B.A.S.S. has a short history on Douglas Lake, but it’s an interesting one. In 2001, Rick Clunn picked up the 13th of his 14 B.A.S.S. wins here at a MegaBucks tournament. In 2011, Bobby Ferguson won a Southern Open on Douglas in the first B.A.S.S. event he ever fished!


Elite #5

Dates: June 7-10
Venue: Toledo Bend Reservoir
Host: Many, La.
Size 185,000 surface acres (fifth largest man-made reservoir in the U.S.)
Finished 85th
Notes: Toledo Bend has been a very popular stop on the Bassmaster Tournament Trail over the years. Thirteen professional events have been held here, including the 2011 Elite Battle on the Bayou won by Arizona’s Dean Rojas with 70-15. In 1981, Roland Martin sandwiched wins at Lake Okeechobee (Fla.) and Lake Eufaula (Ala.-Ga.) around a win at Toledo Bend to become the first angler in history to win three B.A.S.S. events in a row.


Elite #6

Dates: June 21-24
Venue: Mississippi River - La Crosse, Wis.
Finish: 18th
Notes: B.A.S.S. has held five professional tournaments on the Mississippi River, but only two of them were hosted by La Crosse, Wis., and the most recent of those was 28 years ago. That’s a lot of water under the city’s historic Mississippi River Bridge. Rick Clunn will be trying to recapture some of his 1983 magic, when he won B.A.S.S.’ first Mississippi River tournament out of La Crosse with 22-11 over three days. Kevin Short fared a little better in 2009 at the only Elite event to be held on the Mississippi (though further south, out of Fort Madison, Iowa) with 43-3 over four days in the stingiest Elite tournament in history.


Elite #7

Dates: June 28-July 1
Venue: Green Bay, Wis.
Size: Big enough!
Finish: N/A
Notes: It’s been a while since B.A.S.S. had a tournament at a “mystery lake” — especially one of such potential magnitude. The first six Bassmaster Classics were held at mystery sites — qualifiers didn’t know of the location until they boarded a plane and were in the air — but that all ended in 1976. Since then, the mystery lake events have been rare ... until now. What makes this one special is the impact it’s going to have on the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. Since this will be the penultimate tournament of the year, the race will be down to just a few contenders, and since none will know of the destination until just before the practice period, finding bass quickly and figuring out how best to catch them right away is going to be paramount. The 2012 AOY race will be given a trial by fire.


Elite #8

Dates: Aug. 23-26
Venue: Oneida Lake
Host: Syracuse, N.Y.
Size: 51,072 surface acres
Finish: 36th
Notes: Frequently referred to as “the thumb” due to its proximity to the New York’s famed “Finger Lakes,” Oneida has been a very popular B.A.S.S. stop in the last decade. In fact, B.A.S.S. has been here seven times since 2003, including three Elite tournaments. They were won by Tommy Biffle (2006), Dean Rojas (2008) and Chad Griffin (2009). Weights have always been considerable and consistent (between 63-10 and 65-10). Look for more of the same here in 2012 as the Bassmaster Angler of the Year award and more than 30 Bassmaster Classic berths are decided in New York.
 

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