Texas Pro Rallies for Second Elite Series Win

Story by Brent Conway - Photos by Mark Jeffreys

Del Rio, TX – Last March, Elite Series rookie Derek Remitz won the second ever Battle on the Border at Lake Amistad ushering in a new line of thinking. Turns out a new comer could do go head-to-head with a battle-tested veteran and come out on top. Since then, it’s become all too evident that a new comer on this sport’s biggest stage isn’t really a greenhorn, and is most certainly a very worthy opponent.

In Saturday’s only cut of the week, which resulted in a venerable whose who in professional bass fishing, two new faces stood out in Sunday’s field of 12. Former major league ballplayer Billy Brewer, who hadn’t yet made a strong statement at this level, and Arkansas pro Clark Reehm, who posted an eight-place finish at this year’s Classic in Greenville, SC both stood within striking distance of leader Jason Williamson.

With the fishing at this week’s fourth stop cut a day short due to Thursday’s weather-related cancellation, strategies were somewhat amended as the entire field of 109 anglers fished through Saturday – skipping Friday’s usual 50-man cut. Sight fishing gave way to the deep jigs and swimbaits as a result of the north wind and, well, the fact that there wasn’t mass of big fish up shallow.

Fifth place honors went to Jason Williamson, who started the day as the leader but brought smallest limit of the week weighing 14-00 giving him 69-12 overall. Rounding out the Super Six was veteran pro Gary Klein with a three-day combined weight of 69-6, after bringing 21-6 to the stage on the final day.

1st Place: Todd Faircloth
Having already won once on the Elite Series, Todd Faircloth knew what it would take to come from the 10th-place position he started the day in and claim top honors…and he didn’t like his chances. “I know how quickly things can go down here at this lake, but I still never expected to win when the day started,” an emotional Faircloth explained. 

“The Lord just really blessed me this week. I still can’t really believe it.”

As a result of no wind and bright skies, Faircloth explained that his morning didn’t amount to much. “The water had just slicked off bad, and was just super slow,” he said. “Every once in a while the breeze would pick up and it would create a little bit of ripple on the water and I’d pick one up.”

With time running out, Faircloth told his cameraman that he had one option left – go to the most reliable spot he could think of and hope for the best. “I pulled up on a tree that I caught 36 pounds from last year with less than an hour to go and caught two of my biggest bass of the day from it,” he said. “I told my camera man that I was saving my magic tree until the last minute.”

With a shortened workweek, Faircloth explained that the off day allowed him to refocus after the battering week before at Falcon. “The day off worked out good for me,” he confessed. “I just took some downtime because I was just wore out. It allowed me to refocus and look forward to the three days I had in front of me.”

Faircloth scored the win by alternating between a six-inch Yamamoto Senko and a swimbait all week. “I located a lot of these fish on a wake bait,” he said. “You could wake that bait on the surface and the fish would show themselves. But we had clouds during practice, so everything I weighed came on either the Senko or the swimbait.” The win secured, Faircloth was able to use hindsight a little and admitted that without an early gamble, he wouldn’t have been able to put all the pieces together. “I was catching a lot of fish during practice, but wasn’t getting a lot of big bites,” the Skeeter pro said.

Above are the actual lures Todd Faircloth used to win his second Elite Series title.  Faircloth alternated between a six-inch Yamamoto Senko and a swimbait all week.  Another key for Faircloth was the Sebile Magic Swimmer 165 SK in which he used to locate the bigger fish.

“The first day of the tournament I caught a limit pretty quick, and decided to pick up the swimbait and just swing for the fences. I actually had the opportunity Saturday to have a 30-pound bag, but you’re going to lose a fish or two on the swimbait – that’s just part of it.”

Key to the Win: “The spots that I had found reloaded every day, and didn’t seem to matter if the wind was blowing or not.” 

2nd Place: Clark Reehm
With a stand-out performance at Amistad already under the young Skeeter pros belt, courtesy of an 18th-place finish he posted here in last September’s Central Open, Clark Reehm new what to do in order to compete. Ultimately though, it was what he shouldn’t do that likely cost him his first Elite Series win.

“The thing that killed me was that I had to weigh a dead fish Friday,” Reehm explained. “Without being able to cull that fish there’s no telling what I would have been able to weigh. But that’s the importance of fish care, because it can definitely hurt you.”

Reehm said Saturday that he was on top of a good concentration on the point that he’d be stationed on all week, but there were some spot he’d found in Mexico the he might gamble on. Ultimately he rolled the dice, but the gamble didn’t pan out. “It was a mistake running to Mexico because ultimately I wasted about two-and-a-half hours and only had one good fish for it,” he said.

“It was a choice that I made, and I really thought when I first pulled up there and started getting bit immediately that it was a good call. I caught a mess of fish, but they were all small.”

Armed primarily with a Carolina-rigged “big” worm in watermelon/red, Reehm – save the final-day journey to Mexico – focused his efforts on one point from his past. “The spot that I fished was one that I’d found during the Central (Opens),” he said. “I got my butt handed to me at Falcon on post-spawn fish, so I spent time studying maps looking for places where they’d be going to. 

“Turns out that it was the spot I’d found during the Central (Open).”

With a second-place finish in his first year out, Reehm admits that he is all smiles. “It was a great week,” he said. “I made a couple of mistakes that I wish I could go back and re-do, but all in all it was just awesome. I had a great practice and everything went about the way that I had hoped it would, other than not being able to pull off the win.”

3rd Place: Kevin Short
In three tries at Amistad, this week marks the first that K-Short has been able to cash a check, though it certainly wasn’t for a lack of try. Short busted over 33 pounds the first day in last year’s event and blanked the second, falling out of the money as a result. So yes, his was for revenge this week. 

“If feels good,” Short said of the third-place finish. “I was going to be greedy, but we’re happy with the finish.”

Short explained that the program he worked was simple – find yourself a good point with a steep drop, and work it with a Jewell jig and a big worm. “Yesterday, I put down the jig and picked up a Texas-rigged Zoom Old Monster worm and got old-school on ‘em,” he said. 

“I started doing that about 3:30 and was able to cull out most of what I had. That’s pretty much what I did today, but I wasn’t able to get the big bite that I needed.”

Short earned Berkley Heavyweight honors as a result of his second-day performance with the worm – a technique that is somewhat contrary to typical Amistad fare. But, in typical Short-like fashion, he boils it down to the lowest common denominator. “The bottom line is that I hate swimbaits,” he exclaimed. 

“I probably have $7,000 worth of the things and just absolutely hate them. I’ve just never been able to catch anything with them, so I just went Harold Allen on them with worm instead.”

While the worm might be a somewhat new (old) thing for the fish at Amistad, his presentation certainly was not. “I positioned my boat in 75 feet of water, but I was throwing up to about 16 feet,” he said. “Some of the fish were up there spawning, and others were moving out to the secondary points and little pockets.”

With payback settled at Amistad – not a win, but close – Short has no regret on the week. “All in all, it was a great week,” he said. “For me to come down to Amistad and get a damn check – yeah, I’m jacked!”

4th Place: Mike McClelland
For the first two days, Mike McClelland appeared to be in route to winning his fourth Elite Series title in three years. Granted, he was never in the lead, but the pattern he was working and the weights he brought in the first two days had him in great shape. Then came Sunday. 

“Today brought me back to reality,” McClelland admitted. “It slicked off and the big fish just wouldn’t eat the swimbait. I had to slow down and move a lot deeper than I’d been fishing all week.”

As a result of the calm water and deeper fishing, McClelland explained that he wasn’t able to find his groove on the final day. “I never got in a rhythm today at all,” he said. “So many things have to go your way to win. One of the biggest is that you have to have confidence in what you’re doing and you have to be in rhythm. 

“I makes it tough to win when you’re not.”

McClelland admits that the fourth-place finish is far better than he could have hoped for based on his practice. “To be totally honest, after the practice that I had I wouldn’t have imagined that I would have finished where I did,” he said. “The conditions definitely changed and made the little areas that I’d found turn on.”

McClellend primarily stuck with a Carolina-rigged Zoom Hawg for the bulk of his weight, but also worked a ¾-ounce Jewell football head jig, and Osprey swimbait, and a prototype stickbait by Spro as well. “Everyday after I would catch my limit, I would pick up the stickbait,” he said. 
“I used it to cull some of my fish, which is pretty awesome because I’ve helped develop the bait.”

Looking back, McClelland admits that there could have been a different outcome had he opted for a change. “I was pretty hardheaded Sunday, but it was just a different kind of day,” he said. “Fortunately I did catch one good one, but it would have been a different day if I’d made some better decisions.

“But, you know, you can’t complain about a Top 12 finish because the points in the Angler of the Year race are so critical. As long as I can keep knocking out the Top 12 finishes, I’ll be that much close to accomplishing my goal.”

5th Place: Jason Williamson
Sophomore pro Jason Williamson has had the kind of Texas crusade that would please anyone with back-to-back Top 12 finishes at two of the best bass waters in the world. Sunday, however, would stand as likely most miserable. “It was probably my worst day in Texas ever,” Williamson allowed. 

“It was a little different for me. I managed to catch five, but I sure could’ve used a little bit of wind.”

Williamson’s primary meat hanger for the week was a Baby-E swimbait in blue gill, but also employed a Senko to get the ball rolling early. “In the morning I would start with a seven-inch Senko casting it to deep trees,” he said. “The swimbait was my main deal, but you have to have wind or clouds, or both, to get them to eat it.”

Starting the day as the tournament’s leader, Williamson knew that the lack of wind the forecast was calling for could be his ultimate undoing. “I took a gamble in this tournament by hanging everything on the swimbait,” he said. 

“Mother Nature helped me out the first couple of days, but I had to back out today and throw a Carolina rig just to finish my limit.”

Disappointed that he wasn’t able to finish in the top spot, Williamson won’t look back on the week with regret. “I’m absolutely pleased to be in Texas and have back-to-back Top 12s,” he said. “I’ve had a break-out week and to finish where I did here at Amistad is just phenomenal.” 

6th Place: Gary Klein
Veteran pro Gary Klein likes Amistad, and, as it turns out, Amistad likes him right back. In three trips to the Rio Grande impoundment, Klein has never left without a check – and has earned two Top 12 finishes to boot. As he said after the tournament though, it all comes down to quality in the end. 

“Today was a great day for me,” Klein explained. “I caught a lot of fish, I just didn’t catch a lot of great big ones when it mattered most.”

Klein explained that the reason he’s always in the money at Amistad is because it’s familiar to him. “I really, really enjoy Amistad,” he said. “I always seem to do pretty well because it’s a lot like the water that I grew up fishing in California.”

While Klein was able to remain consistent with the deep-water bite he was on all week, he allowed that it was a lot of work. “I would have to run though a lot of different spots all day,” he said. “I didn’t ever have a problem getting bit, but I wasn’t able to pick up more than one or two off each spot.

“I would get my one or two bites and then pick up my marker buoy and leave. You could’ve sat there for another hour and never got another bite, so I had to have a bunch of spots to run through.”

Klein revealed that he didn’t go near the bank this week, opting instead to work out deep. “I stayed deep all week thinking that there wasn’t a lot left up on the bank,” he said. “I was in around 35 feet all week, which isn’t that deep for a lake like this, but is pretty deep for me.

“The real key for me was making long casts. I couldn’t catch anything up close, just couldn’t do it.”

Klein, the tactician, is pleased with his finish. Klein the competitor…maybe not so much. “On the one hand, I’m satisfied…I made the cut,” he said. “On the other, I wanted to win it. I knew that some of the guys ahead of me would have to crater, so all I could do is boat everything that bit today. When you execute flawlessly you can’t complain.” 

7th Place: Greg Hackney
Final-Day Thoughts: “It slicked of out there today, so I really had to change the way that I’d been fishing. Another big bite like I had Saturday would have made all the difference in the world – and I fished for the bite all day, but it just never happened.”

Bait of Choice: StrikeKing Series 6 and a Shad-a-licious

Biggest Challenge: “The water here is so clear, so the deal is that you just have to move the bait so slow to be effective. But the problem is that if they get a good look at it, they won’t eat it because it’s tough to fool Mother Nature.”

Key to the Week: “My big fish Saturday was the difference make for me. The Lord really blessed me with that bite. I look forward to fishing the lake every time we come here because Amistad is just full of big fish.”

Week in Review: “I stayed out in 12 to 15 feet all week fishing both spawning and post-spawn fish. I had a lot of success up shallower than most of the guys because I was able to catch them coming and going, but the conditions didn’t work for on the final day because it just slicked of too much.”

8th Place: Billy Brewer
Final-Day Thoughts: “We didn’t have much wind today and the water really slicked off. It made it awfully tough. They just didn’t bite, but when the wind picked up a little bit they seemed to turn on and I caught a five pounder. I kept thinking that they were fixing to go crazy, but the wind died again.”

Bait of Choice: Osprey swimbait and a Gambler swimbait

Key to the Week: “I can’t say that there was one single key. I was around quality fish and was throwing a big-fish bait. The Lord just really blessed me.”

Week in Review: “I said before I left the ramp this morning that even if I blanked, I’ve had the most awesome fishing week of my life. I just can’t be thankful enough with where I finished.”

9th Place: Edwin Evers
Final-Day Thoughts: “I just needed the wind. I had a whole bunch of fish come up and check out my swimbait, but they wouldn’t commit.”

Bait of Choice: YUM Dinger in watermelon/red and a YUM Money Minnow

Biggest Challenge: “I was all around them, but in the end I wasn’t able to put three consecutive days together.”

Key to the Week: “Without a doubt it was the Money Minnow. They just smoked it.”

Week in Review: “I just like this lake a lot. It’s just full of fish, and because the water’s so clear you can see a lot of them.”

10th Place: Denny Brauer
Final-Day Thoughts: “It was a real slow morning. It took me until around 10:30 just to get a limit of 14-inchers. I ran around a little bit today trying to find some different stuff, but in the end, I think the lack of wind really hurt the bite. I never could get anything over four pounds today.”

Bait of Choice: ¾ oz StrikeKing jig in Green Pumpkin/Brown

Biggest Challenge: “Fishing deep was a struggle for me, but I’ve had my butt handed to me down here so I made up my mind that I was going to commit to staying off the bank.”

Key to the Week: “I focused on deep ledges in 20- to 25-feet, which is odd for me considering I usually like to be up as shallow as I can be. I ran lots of miles of ledges, and made lots of casts.”

Week in Review: “I was able to catch about 50 fish a day, so it was really a lot of fun. I was forced to scramble and cover a lot of water, but that’s sort of what you wind up having to do at this lake.”

11th Place: Kurt Dove
Final-Day Thoughts: “I did something totally different today. I’ve been out deep all week, but was out there today until about 11:00 and didn’t have a bite. I moved into a little pocket and picked up four off a bed, and one on a swimbait.”

Biggest Challenge: “The weather, because I have no clue what it did to them. I just know that my deep fish quit cooperating, but there were shallow fish thankfully.”

Key to the Week: “I really feel like I got my confidence back. This week, I feel like, was a real turning point for me.”

Week in Review: “It’s been a great week. This is my third year here, so it’s glad to be in this position finally. I feel like I made another step in my career this week. This fishing game, some guys make it quick and others of it have to crawl before we can run.”

12th Place: Kotaro Kriyama
Final-Day Thoughts: “It was very tough for me today. I didn’t catch as many fish because there wasn’t as much wind.” 

Bait of Choice: Jackal Swimbait 

Biggest Challenge: “It would have been good, I think, if there had been wind today. I was able to catch them a lot better when there was some movement in the water.”

Key to the Week: “Because of the trouble to get my baits, I knew that I had to catch them this week. The bait that I was throwing was certainly the key to how well I fished.”

Week in Review: “It was a really good week fishing for me. I always enjoy the fishing at Amistad. Practice was very good and I had over 30 pounds on my second day, but I ran completely out of baits. I called the manufacturer back in Japan to see if they could ship me some more, but it would have taken three days for them to get here. Rather than shipping them to me, he got on a plane and hand-carried the baits to me.” 

FINAL STANDINGS