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Arkansas’ Stephen Browning Right at Home on California Delta at Bassmaster Elite Series Season-Opener

Category: press release

 Mar 11th, 2010 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Mar 11th, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Applying thirty-plus years of Arkansas River pedigree, Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., mastered the tougher-than-typical California Delta Thursday at the Trokar Duel in the Delta, the Bassmaster Elite Series season-opener.

	Stephen Browning with some of his Day One catch.(Photo Courtesy of BASS)

Browning worked a large area containing six to eight dead-end slews for the entirety of the day, boating 21 pounds, 11 ounces, which was enough to hold off another accomplished river rat, Dave Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., by more than 2 pounds.  

A pre-tournament favorite due to his shallow water chops — perfected on the Arkansas River – Browning also scored a third-place finish on the Delta the last time the Elite Series stopped at the Delta in 2007.  That finish, said the 43-year-old, played into his strategy Thursday and helped Browning remain patient.

And patience was a virtue.  Browning went without a bite nearly three hours into his competition day.

“I’m really not sure what happened to turn them on,” said Browning.  “They certainly live in my area.  I’m just not sure if it was the tide that helped them or what.  I don’t want to give up too much as far as what I’m doing but I will tell you that it’s a deal I learned when we were here in 2007.”

Throughout the week, fans can catch all up-to-the-minute action from the event on Bassmaster.com, which will feature daily analysis, photo galleries, standings and a real-time leaderboard. ESPN360.com will offer live, streaming video, and ESPN2 will recap the entire competition on the Sunday, March 28, edition of The Bassmasters at 10:30 a.m. ET. The episode will air again Saturday, April 17, at 10 a.m. ET.  Click here to see all of BASS’ technology offerings.

Not surprisingly, Browning, a six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, felt technique played a large role in enticing the bites.  He withheld specifics but did say things turned on when he finally found the right combination.  That first bite, a 6-pound, 1-ounce, lunker set up the day.

In contrast with Thursday’s chamber of commerce-type weather, Friday comes with the prospect of ugly weather – forecasts call for a 80% chance of rain – but Browning found that encouraging.

“I’m thinking the bite could really turn on,” said Browning, a one-time BASS winner.  “I know I’m in the right area for things to really get crazy.”

Fellow river rat Wolak grew up scouring tidal fisheries like the Potomac and the Hudson Rivers.  And despite being a self-proclaimed “spastic” angler, the 33-year-old learned patience from his roots, like Browning, and applied them Thursday.

Despite boating 18 pounds, 9 ounces, the one-time BASS winner’s day started slow, a common theme for many in the field.  He couldn’t entice a bite for the first two hours of competition.  But his patience kicked into high gear and when the tide changed on him a bit, his area turned on.

“It was just a grind-it-out type of day,” said Wolak, who is looking to redeem himself after a subpar 2009 season.  “I know that sounds cliche but it’s hard to describe it any other way.  Things are just really tough right now.”

Bouyed by the biggest bass of the day, an 8-8 brute, Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., was third with 18-10.  Also looking to rebound from a disappointing 2009 campaign, Derek Remitz of Hemphill, Texas, was fourth with 15-13.

	Russ Lane with some of his Day One catch. (Photo Courtesy of BASS)

Elite Series rookie Dennis Tietje of Roanoke, La., was fifth with 15-4.  The full list of standings can be found here.

While Tietje made it count in his first Elite Series event, many favorites struggled.  Ish Monroe of Hughson, Calif., slumped to 54th place while Kevin VanDam turned in a pedestrian 37th-place showing.  2009 Bassmaster chamption Skeet Reese of nearby Auburn, Calif., was 11th and within striking distance.

Elite anglers are competing for a $100,000 first-place prize and points toward qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series postseason and 2011 Bassmaster Classic, and the title to the first of eight tournaments of the Elite Series’ fifth regular season.

Stockton, the state’s 13th largest city and seat of San Joaquin County, is situated on the San Joaquin Delta Waterway – also known as the California Delta because the area forms a triangle with the three points being Sacramento, Stockton and Pittsburg, Calif. The Delta encompasses 1,000 miles of navigable, fishable water in a labyrinth of sloughs, canals, channels and islands, one factor that makes tournament fishing there so tough – and so good.

In March 2007, a haul of 85 pounds, 12 ounces, was the total weight Aaron Martens of Leeds, Ala., brought to the scales to win when the Elite Series last stopped in Stockton. In April 1999, before Mark Tyler of Vian, Okla., became an Elite pro, he set a record that still stands today: the largest bass caught in a BASS competition, a 14-pound, 9-ounce Delta lunker.

The full Elite field will compete Thursday and Friday, with the top 47 advancing to Saturday’s competition. Only the top 12 will still be in the game the final day, Sunday, for the $100,000 top prize.

The public is invited to the daily launches at Weber Points Event Center. Times are 6:20 a.m. PT, Thursday-Saturday, and 7 a.m. PT Sunday, and there’s no admission fee.

Also free and open to the public, the daily weigh-ins are also set for 3:30 p.m. PT at Weber Point Events Center, 221 N. Center St., in downtown Stockton.

Bassmaster Elite Series Official Sponsors: Toyota, Berkley, Evan Williams Bourbon, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Skeeter and Yamaha.

Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance and Triton Boats

For more tournament information, check out http://bass.outdoorsfirst.com/

About BASS

For more than 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on bass fishing.  The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and its expansive tournament structure while championing efforts to connect directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.

As the flagship offering of ESPN Outdoors, the Bassmaster brand and its considerable multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer; comprehensive Web properties in Bassmaster.com, BASSInsider.com, ESPNOutdoors.com and ESPN360.com, and ESPN2 television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.

BASS oversees the prestigious Bassmaster Tournament Trail, which includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, BASS Federation Nation and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.

BASS offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.