Brian Snowden Wins Toyota Texas Bass Classic
Category: press release
Oct 4th, 2010 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 4th, 2010 at 12:00 AM
CONROE, Texas – Championship wins are coveted by all professional anglers. For one thing, it’s a difficult road just to qualify for a championship – let alone win one – and secondly, they only come around once a year. For those anglers who beat the odds and win, the accomplishment is forever cherished – their name set in stone as a champion.
That’s exactly what happened Sunday for Brian Snowden, the champion of the fourth annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic. He didn’t do it gracefully, weighing only four fish (11-12), but his 48-4 total was enough to edge runner-up Michael Iaconelli (47 pounds) by a little over a pound.
Takahiro Omori caught one of two “overs” Sunday and that fish, combined with four others, catapulted him from 10th place to third. His big fish (8-11) was the largest of the day and boosted his weight to 19-4, the largest limit of the day by nearly five pounds.
Keith Combs continues his tear, finishing fourth place with 46-7, while last year’s TTBC winner, Dave Lefebre, finished in the fifth spot with 43-12.
Here’s how the Tundra 10 shook out:
1) Brian Snowden: 14, 48-08
2) Michael Iaconelli: 13, 14-12
3) Takahiro Omori: 15, 46-04
4) Keith Combs: 15, 43-12
5) Dave Lefebre: 15, 42-08
6) Edwin Evers: 15, 41-08
7) Rusty Salewske: 13: 40-08
8) Todd Auten: 15, 37-00
9) Kelly Jordon: 11: 36-12
10) Russ Lane: 13: 34-08
As can be seen by the weights, Lake Conroe proved to be a tough nut to crack for the second day in a row. In fact, all except Omori said Sunday was the toughest day of competition, even with only 10 boats on the water.
To find out how tough it was, here is what the anglers had to say.
Snowden – Thought he lost it the first day
Brian Snowden didn’t have a very good feeling by mid-day when his livewells were void of fish.
“All week I’ve been fishing five spots in an area up north that had produced nearly all my fish on Friday and Saturday,” he said. “Today I went there thinking I could still catch them good but that’s not what happened.
“At 11 a.m., I still didn’t have a fish in the boat,” he said. “I ended up catching two up there but decided to leave the area and look for something new around 1 p.m.
“I went south and decided to fish docks the rest of the day, something I hadn’t done all week. I guess it was the right decision because I caught two fish on a jig, one which was a 3-pounder.”
All week he had relied on a Carolina-rigged Zoom Trick Worm (black) or a 10-inch Zoom Ol’ Monster (plum apple). Sunday he mixed in a 3/8-ounce War Eagle jig tipped with a Zoom twin tail trailer, both in green pumpkin.
His reaction to winning the event: “This is the biggest win of my life. Here we had 50 of the best anglers from all three leagues. I’m proud to have pulled it off against these anglers.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to do it after Kelly weighed that big bag on Friday. I thought saving my fish would kill me but as it turned out, it was the smartest thing I did all week.”
Iaconelli – Gave it his best
Michael Iaconelli’s day started off on fire but fizzled out before noon.
“It ended up being a tough day,” he said. “The morning was great but around 11 a.m. I started to struggle. I caught six or seven keepers all day and I lost another big fish.
“That’s what killed me this week was lost fish,” he said. “You can’t do that and win against these guys.”
Would he have done anything different looking back on the three days?
“I stuck to my game plan and I feel good about that,” he said. “I’d never seen the lake prior to this week but when I got here I felt right at home. I knew if I could cover enough water with a shaky head and jig I’d be able to catch fish. It worked out. I just didn’t convert some key fish. So yes, I would do the same thing
He caught most of his fish on a shaky head, jig and a couple on a Laser Lure crankbait.
“I concentrated on the rock transition between where the shoreline rock meets the natural lake bottom,” he said. “First I’d fish out a little deeper with the shaky head and then go back through there fishing the jig up shallow. Then, when I was moving between areas, I’d throw the crank in between the docks.
“It was really important to work the jig and shaky head through the rocks,” he added. “I lost over 40 baits today – I was making sure to be in the rock.”
His tackle all week consisted of a 3/16-ounce shaky head fished on 6′-6″ ABU Veritus rod, ABU 2500 spinning reel, six or eight pound Berkley 100 percent fluorocarbon line and a Berkley Power Shaky Head worm (Color: The General). He switched to 8-pound line today after losing a big fish Saturday.
His jig gear consisted of a seven-foot medium-heavy ABU Veritus rod, ABU Revo reel, 15-pound Berklet 100 percent fluorocarbon line, 3/8-ounce Berkley Gripper Jig (natural craw) and a Berkley twin tail trailer.
His crankbait gear was a 7-foot Veritus cranking rod, ABU Revo reel, 12-pound Berkley 100 percent fluorocarbon line and a shallow diving Lazer Lure in crazy shad.
Omori – Almost had it
Takahiro Omori weighed the day’s biggest limit of fish but it wasn’t enough for the win. Still, he felt proud to have made such a comeback.
“I came here to try to win,” he said. “I had a great day. I came from 10th place and ended up in third. Against this great field of anglers, that’s something to be proud of.”
He concentrated on one pattern all week.
“I cranked all week,” he said. “I wanted to cover as much water as I could – I figured if I did that, I would have a chance.
His crankbait gear consisted of a 7-foot Diawa casting rod with a Diawa casting reel, 20-pound Sunline Shooter FC and a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 (color didn’t matter).
Combs – Switched his gameplan
Keith Combs came into the week knowing he could catch crank fish deep. Sunday, though, he had to switch it up a little.
“All week I’d been catching fish deep on a Strike King 6XD crankbait,” he said. “I was fishing isolated brush and rock in six to eight feet of water.
“Today I couldn’t catch a fish deep so I went shallow with a Lucky Craft RC 1.5 and finally got the fish to eat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
“It was a great week but it just didn’t pan out today,” he said. “I needed a big one (Saturday) to win.”
Lefebre – Fish disappeared
Dave Lefebre had been fishing way inside creeks all week but that pattern didn’t work out for him.
“I went to the water I’d been fishing all week and couldn’t connect with the fish.,” he said. “By noon I had seven or eight misses and decided I better figure something out.
He went to the main lake for the first time.
“I didn’t know what to do when I got out on the lake so I just went around and threw a jig,” he said. “I’m just happy I got a limit.”
He threw a 3/16-ounce black and blue TABU jig all week tipped with a 4-inch Yamamoto twin tail grub (blue sapphire).
He also had another run-in with some timber that could have ended his day right at the start.
“On my way to my first spot today, I hadn’t notice the wind was blowing so hard it pushed the water out of the creek I’d been in,” he said. “The water level was about six inches lower than it had been and I hit a stump and busted my lower unit.
“The stump took a chink out of my skeg and I was leaking gear oil but there was nothing I could do at that point. I fished with it all day and that Yamaha got me back to the ramp.”
Evers – Couldn’t keep ‘em pinned
Evers knew he was on the right pattern to win, but just couldn’t convert his bites.
“I had 20 bites today – they just wouldn’t stay on,” he said. “They’ve been nipping at the bait all week. I lost two 4-pounders today and that hurt.
He concentrated on shallow water, 1-5 feet deep.
He fished seawalls and docks in the backs of pockets the entire week.
Salewske – Jig and vibe jig
Rusty Salewske felt confident when tournament directors announce they would extend the day by 90 minutes.
“My bite’s been an afternoon bite all week so I was happy they let us fish longer,” he said. “Still I didn’t catch enough to win but it was a great tournament for me.”
He had two patterns: a jig in open water and a vibrating jig around docks.
“My best bait all week was a Phenix vibrating jig tipped with a 4 1/2-inch Yamamoto Swimming Senko fished around the docks,” he said. “I was fishing shade lines the docks created – which is probably why the afternoon bite was better.
“I also had a deeper pattern I’d use in the morning,” he added. “That consisted of fishing a jig in open water rock piles. The tops of the rock piles were in 4 1/2 to 5 feet of water and I would keep my boat in about eight feet.
“This was a great week and I wouldn’t change a thing I did,” he said. “The fish just didn’t bite for me today.”
For more tournament coverage and photos, visit www.FishPAA.com