COLUMBIA, S.C. — The dozen Bassmaster Elite Series anglers making the final cut in the Carolina Clash presented by Evan Williams were asked Sunday morning about the lures they'd used to catch fish on Lake Murray this week.
First, Fred Roubanis, 48-15
Two lures have been the key: a Snag Proof Frog and an Ima Roumba wakebait. Unlike every other angler in the top 12, Roumbanis found bass feeding on bluegill in the Saluda River. The Snag Proof Frog has orange under the chin to imitate a bluegill and the Roumba is in a perch/bluegill color pattern. He's been adding a feather to the back treble hook of the Roumba.
Second, Steve Kennedy, 48-8
He has caught them on four different baits: a big Mop Jig; a Sebile swimbait he custom painted after being able to find one only in a purple-and-orange color pattern; a Kinami Flash soft plastic lure in a watermelon-purple color pattern and a double Fluke rig, like the one Kelly Jordon is using.
Third, Aaron Martens, 47-2
A 4-inch Roboworm on a drop shot has produced most of Martens' fish. He's used a vareity of colors in it. But he's also catching them on a topwater Pencil Popper and a double Fluke rig.
Fourth, Brian Snowden, 46-5
The Sebile Magic Swimmer 125 has produced most of Snowden's bass. He's cranking it fast and hitting as many long, shallow points as possible each day. He has also caught some fish on a YUM Money Minnow.
Fifth, Edwin Evers, 45-9
He's fishing as many points as possible with a YUM Money Minnow soft plastic swimbait.
Sixth, Davy Hite, 45-1
He's mixing it up with both hard plastic swimbaits, soft plastic swimbaits (Strike King's Shadalicious), topwater lures (Zara Spook) and Yamamoto Senkos, rigged both Texas- and Carolina-style.
Sixth, Bradley Hallman, 45-1
Like many others, Hallman has relied almost exclusively on the Sebile Magic Swimmer 125 hard-plastic, double-jointed swimbait. He's making about 10 casts per point; if the bass don't hit it, but follow the lure back to the boat, he's moving on to the next point.
Eighth, Grant Goldbeck, 44-5
He's found some schooling bass chasing blueback herring and targeting them with a Sebile Magic Swimmer and Strike King King Shad. Goldbeck has found a couple of places where the bass are coming to the surface often, but he's had trouble landing all the fish he's hooked and lost one estimated at 11 pounds Friday.
Ninth, Dave Wolak, 43-14
A YUM Money Minnow soft plastic swimbait has been his "money bait" all week. It has worked much better on windy days, and he's hoping the wind will make the difference today for him.
10th, Kelly Jordon, 43-12
He's throwing a rig with two soft-plastic jerkbaits on it. Jordon attaches a swivel to the end of his main line and about a 12-inch leader between the swivel and one shad-colored jerkbait. The other jerkbait is also on a 12-inch leader attached to a free-moving swivel that is threaded on the main line before the first swivel is tied to the end of it. Like most of the other anglers, he's targeting main points, where the bass are feeding on blueback herring.
11th, Kevin VanDam, 42-11
"Everything but the kitchen sink," is the way VanDam described the wide variety of lures he's throwing, while hitting as many main-lake points as possible, where bass are feeding on blueback herring. VanDam said he'll start out with 12 rods on the deck, but soon there will be as many as 15. Among the lures he's using: Strike King's Shadalicious hollow-bellied soft plastic swimbait, Strike King's Red Eye Shad lipless crankbait, shaky head worms and spinnerbaits.
12th, Ish Monroe, 42-0
He's mixing it up, too, catching them on a topwater Reaction Innovations Vixen, drop shotting a Reaction Innovations Flirt Worm on 5-pound test Maxima line, a Berkley Hollow Belly Swimbait with a Revenge jighead and he's caught one good bass on a Hildebrandt spinnerbait.
Visit Bassmaster.com for full coverage of the Elite Series Carolina Clash, May 15–18, 2008. Thursday through Saturday, daily weigh-ins with live streaming video and real-time leaderboards start at 3:00 p.m. ET. On Sunday, "Hooked Up" will air at noon and 2:45 p.m. ET, with the final weigh-in and live streaming video to start at 3:15 p.m. ET.