Daily Limit: Elam’s home cooking

James Elam's victory in the Open tops this week's five, which includes history of the AOY, the Elite schedule conflicting with FLW events and Tommy Biffle's end around.

First Cast

James Elam debated fishing last weekend’s Open on his home waters. The Elite Series angler considered resting up and getting to this week’s AOY Championship early as he had a great shot to secure his first Classic berth.

“I almost thought about not even fishing it, because there’s a good chance I’d make the Top 12 but maybe not have a chance to win,” Elam said. “That would hurt my chances of going to Sturgeon Bay not being rested up, ready.”

Now Elam heads north on a huge high with a home-state victory Saturday in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open presented by Allstate. Elam not only assured himself a berth in a hometown Classic out of Tulsa, but he’s got momentum after a couple of great tournaments.

“Yeah, it’s been fun,” he said. “I’ve been working hard for it. I knew eventually something good was going to happen.”

Elam made a nice leap in the points standings at St. Clair with his highest Elite finish at 10th. That sent him from being on the bubble to fish Sturgeon Bay to 29th. His 21-place climb puts him well inside gaining a Classic berth.

“I was 50th and happy to be there,” he said. “I knew I had at least a shot to get into the AOY tournament.

“I used to look at things with the mindset of it’s yours to lose, you’re 50th and don’t screw it up. Don’t fall. Now I’m starting to look at it like you always have to go out and take it. It’s a good place to be in.”

So he, as well as another Elite who gets into the Classic because of Elam’s imminent double qualification, is glad he went to Fort Gibson, where he grew up fishing. He’s won there in the past and made the Top 12 in 2012 Open, so he knew he couldn’t simply opt out. His decision to fish was rewarded.

“It’s a big’un,” he said. “Everyone’s pretty happy for me. It’s my first big win. I’m really happy for it and it was really cool being in my hometown, my whole family there. It was a really neat experience.”

And his worries of a quick turnaround to Sturgeon were allayed some as his father pitched in, helping him with tackle prep of switching to smallmouth as well as driving much of the draining 13-hour trip.

“After the weigh-in, I went straight home,” Elam said as they drove through Chicago late Sunday afternoon. “My dad actually helped me get all my stuff in and out that I needed. He relined a lot of rods I needed. It’s a 180. I’ve got all my stuff on I think I’ll need.”

Elam will hit Sturgeon riding a high that might only be surpassed by AOY winner Aaron Martens and St. Clair champ Todd Faircloth, who still has some work as he’s on the Classic bubble. Elam goes in somewhat relaxed, hoping to climb and earn a few extra thousand.

“There’a lot of money on the table there,” he said. “A lot of people look at it as a fun tournament, but since there’s points on the line, they’re still pretty worried. They’re on the edge, not wanting to fall out, guys wanting to get in. That’s a mindset I don’t have to have anymore – let’s make some money. You don’t get to do that often.”

Two in the well

The 46 years of AOY is an amazing photo gallery on the Toyota Anger of the Year winners since it was BASS Masters. With his extensive knowledge of the anglers and history of the sport, Steve Bowman brings life to the B.A.S.S. archive photos.

There are some incredible images of the legends, from a young, striking Bill Dance, to the chiseled face of Roland Martin (he still looks the same), to the evolution of Jimmy Houston’s hair. There’s Larry Nixon, KVD as a kid, Mark Davis, Davy Hite, a very young Timmy Horton, all the AOY winners are featured.

The 100-plus photos illuminate those early days of bass fishing. It’s a real must-see.

As Facebook commenter Charlie Yingst said, “It is great seeing the pros at the beginning of our sport. Seeing the older boats and how they changed over the years. What was more pleasing to see was the transition from the pros wearing those almost Daisy Duke shorts to manly shorts. Although I didn’t see Tommy Biffle in the pictures. I guess nobody sent him the memo about the shorts…”

Yeah, about the shorts …

Three’s company

Speaking of Tommy Biffle, he was the heavy favorite to win on Fort Gibson. Biffle, who has a house on the lake, displayed some gamesmanship during the Open, going into stealth mode and fishing out of a borrowed boat.

Biffle said he wanted to avoid attention as his bite was affected by boat traffic. He went incognito in a black Ranger at checkout and wore dark glasses and a gaiter covered his face. But alas, boat issues hit. See Craig Lamb’s Biffle’s double breakdown and rebound.

Four on the floor

The wedding tradition of something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue translates some for the the 2016 Bassmaster Elite schedule.

From the old English wedding rhyme, something old represents continuity, and that is accomplished with events in famililar places like the St. Johns River and Toledo Bend.

The new represents optimism for the future, like the first-time sites of Winyah Bay and Norfork, a double-lake event with Bull Shoals, which is also something new. Something blue in the rhyme is for purity, love and fidelity. OK. Or maybe we give that to some clear water.

Borrowed, hmmm. That is supposed to symbolize borrowed happiness, but how about borrowed time. Jerry McKinnis said this year the advisory board of anglers told him to make the schedule how he sees fit and not worry about conflicting with FLW events. He didn’t.

The St. Johns is on the same days as an FLW tournament, and the to-be-named locale of BASSfest, June 8-12, is the same week as an FLW event. Be sure BASSfest  won’t be back on Kentucky Lake this time – that’s where the FLW will be that week.

Both tours also will inundate New York the week of June 23-26, B.A.S.S. at Cayuga and FLW on Champlain. Take a look at the Elite schedule.

That’s a limit

Photographers James Overstreet and Steve Bowman shoot tons of images at Elite events and Opens, and it’s always enjoyable to see some of their wildlife encounters. There’s been awesome photos of ducks, deer, turkey, eagles, waterbirds of all sorts, snakes and snails and puppy dog tails. Well, not the last two so much.

Shaye Baker got in the act on Oklahoma’s Fort Gibson Lake last week with these shots of striped bass blasting through a school of minnows. Baker reported the water is constantly boiling as the minnows try to avoid what’s chasing them. Baker got some crisp jumps, an evasion and a capture. Nice. See all the Open galleries.

Culling

  • The gratuitous big bass of the week comes from Fred Roumbanis. Boom Boom blasted this 5-14 on a Biffle Bug on Fort Gibson, and James Overstreet snapped this backstage photo. Roumbanis caught the beaut on Friday, a day after Chad Wiley landed a 5-15 that earned him the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Award.
  • With Elam’s win, Todd Faircloth with 403 points is now last man into the Classic. First out is Gerald Swindle at 402 points, and some other big names are in the hunt for the final spots, namely John Murray (401) and Ott DeFoe (400). Also with solid hopes are Stephen Kennedy 398 and Mike Iaconelli 396. There will be drama at Sturgeon Bay.
  • Kevin VanDam writes in his column to expect a smallmouth smashfest at Sturgeon Bay. The seven-time AOY is 24th in the points standings, in line to return to the Classic after last year missing his first in nearly a quarter century. He’d be going after a record fifth Classic title.
  • Besides the Classic berths, KVD went on to say this event is key for many as their performance will dictate if they can renew sponsorships or even get more attractive ones. Interesting.