STOCKTON, Calif. - April 6, 2003 - Robert Lee didn't surprise anyone but Robert Lee by winning the Bassmaster Tour event on the San Joaquin River Delta.
"I told my dad that I can win," he said. "But how in the world can a guy win four tournaments in the same place. I have a lot of experience but these guys are the best in the world."
Lee may have fished against the best in the world, but there is no question the 35-year old angler from Angel's Camp, Calif. is the best in the world to fish on the San Joaquin River Delta. Lee has won every, four in all, Bassmaster event ever fished on the Delta.
And in a spectacular style that pundits promised for this fishery, Lee finally blew away the field by posting a final-day, five-fish stringer totaling 26 pounds. The stringer was anchored by a 9 pound, 6 ounce lunker and gave him a more than 13-pound victory.
Following him were Jimmy Mize of Ben Lomond, Ark., who weighed in a final-day total 16 pounds, 5 ounces to finish second with 73-1.
Roger Boler of Slidell, La., who lead the first three days of the event, finally ran out of fish in his small fishing area and could only manage 5 pounds, 6 ounces to finish in third with 68-0. Joe Thomas of Milford, Ohio finished fourth with 64-2, Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif. was fifth with 61-7 and Jack Wade of Knoxville, Tenn. rounded out the final six with 60-5.
"I fished a little better each day," Lee said. "I had a little more anxiety today, but then I caught a nice 4-pounder and a nice 5-pounder, then a 9-6 and it was like, Oh, Yeah."
Lee caught his fish as they were either staging up to spawn or were spawning on shelves that lay between islands in the middle of the San Joaquin River. Most of his best areas had a ditch in between the islands channeling the largemouth to the shelves, where he flipped an Ox Blood colored Zipper Worm and a 5-inch Reaction Innovations Dominator tube bait.
Lee said almost all of the big bites during the course of the week were caught on the tube.
"I was catching some of the smaller fish around the tulle patches on the islands," Lee said. "But for the most part I targeted spots away from the bank into the deeper areas.
"The rest of the boats were going right over the fish. I knew what it looked like on low tide and I knew where the fish would go."
Lee said he visualized what the bottom looked like from his previous experience. That experience is the thing that will forever more be credited with allowing Lee to win four Bassmaster events on the Delta.
While Lee admits that helped in reality he credits his inexplicable lock on winning tournaments in this area to other things, most notably having an open mind and not being afraid to work hard.
Lee said he didn't have a good practice, which was fine with him because he didn't want to get focused in on one thing. That singular focus is something that can cause problems on a vast fishery that is constantly changing under the influence of wide-swinging tides.
"There are three things you have to know," he said. "What the fish are doing -- pre-spawn, spawn, post spawn. Then what they will bite -- jigs, tube baits, Zipper worms. And what tide they bite best on."
Armed with the knowledge, Lee runs a milk run ranging from two dozen to a dozen spots, concentrating on specific cover types or depths that he is constantly figuring out.
"You have to fish fast and fish slow," he said, "fish all the water as quickly as you can but as accurately as you can."
"A lot of guys can figure that out, but they get lazy."
His run and gun fishing style netted him a total $100,000, the largest payback of the four Bassmaster events.
Bassmaster Tour
San JoAquin Delta ; Stockton, Calif.
P r o S t a n d i n g s D a y 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Robert Lee Angels Camp, Calif. 20 86-08 175 $102,000 Day 1: 5 18-12 Day 2: 5 20-00 Day 3: 5 21-12 Day 4: 5 26-00 2. Jimmy D. Mize Ben Lomond, Ark. 20 73-01 174 $41,000 Day 1: 5 18-04 Day 2: 5 24-13 Day 3: 5 13-11 Day 4: 5 16-05 3. Roger Boler Slidell, La. 19 68-00 173 $24,000 Day 1: 5 27-09 Day 2: 5 20-01 Day 3: 5 15-00 Day 4: 4 5-06 4. Joe Thomas Milford, Ohio 20 64-02 172 $21,000 Day 1: 5 22-09 Day 2: 5 19-07 Day 3: 5 7-07 Day 4: 5 14-11 5. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 20 61-07 171 $18,000 Day 1: 5 21-08 Day 2: 5 14-07 Day 3: 5 13-08 Day 4: 5 12-00 6. Jack L. Wade Knoxville, Tenn. 20 60-05 170 $17,000 Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 18-06 Day 3: 5 12-09 Day 4: 5 9-10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Bass Day 1 Jack L. Wade Knoxville, Tenn. 9-15 $1,000 2 Jimmy D. Mize Ben Lomond, Ark. 8-05 $1,000 3 Robert Lee Angels Camp, Calif. 8-07 $1,000 4 Robert Lee Angels Camp, Calif. 9-06 $1,000 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 6 30 128-06 2 6 30 117-02 3 6 30 83-15 4 5 29 84-00 ---------------------------------- 23 119 413-07
04/06/03 Bassmaster Tour BASS Angler of the Year Standings
------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 001 Bud Pruitt Texas 991 002 Roger Boler La. 975 003 Kevin VanDam Mich. 974 004 Alton Jones Texas 965 004 Jay Yelas Texas 965 006 Mark Davis Ark. 957 007 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 953 008 Mike Wurm Ark. 952 009 John Murray Ariz. 951 010 Zell Rowland Texas 935 011 Elton Luce Jr. Texas 928 012 Mark Kile Ariz. 927 013 Brent Chapman Kan. 924 014 Dustin Wilks N.C. 897 015 Jeff Reynolds Okla. 893 016 Gary Klein Texas 891 016 Mike Reynolds Calif. 891 018 Kelly Jordon Texas 890 019 Skeet Reese Calif. 885 020 Harold Allen Texas 871 021 Todd Faircloth Texas 854 022 Ishama Monroe Calif. 852 022 Tom Mann, Jr. Ga. 852 024 Jay Kendrick Tenn. 836 025 Jeff Kriet Okla. 831 025 Jack L. Wade Tenn. 831 027 Jim Bitter Fla. 820 028 Edwin Evers Okla. 819 029 Ron Shuffield Ark. 800 029 Roland Martin Fla. 800 031 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 799 032 Randy Howell Ala. 794 033 Kevin Wirth Ky. 786 034 Curt Lytle Va. 784 035 Tim Horton Ala. 779 036 Peter E. Thliveros Fla. 777 037 Lance Vick Texas 772 038 David Wharton Texas 770 039 Mark Tyler Calif. 757 039 Takahiro Omori Texas 757 039 Stacey D. King Mo. 757 042 Tommy Stiles Tenn. 752 043 Mark Menendez Ky. 748 043 Terry Scroggins Fla. 748 045 Jimmy D. Mize Ark. 738 045 Joe Thomas Ohio 738 047 Pete Ponds Miss. 737 047 Gerald Swindle Ala. 737 049 Kenyon Hill Okla. 736 050 Guy H. Eaker N.C. 735 051 Ben Matsubu Texas 733 052 Matt Reed Texas 729 053 Stephen Browning Ark. 727 054 Dalton Bobo Ala. 718 055 Woo Daves Va. 714 056 Mike Auten Ky. 713 057 Allen Armour Ga. 711 057 J. T. Kenney Md. 711 059 O. T. Fears III Okla. 696 060 Brian Snowden Mo. 682 061 George Cochran Ark. 679 062 Tim Loper Miss. 678 063 Ken Cook Okla. 664 064 Robert Hamilton Jr. Miss. 663 065 Mark Rogers Fla. 662 066 Gary Yamamoto Texas 661 067 Dennis Kolender Calif. 656 068 Koby Kreiger Fla. 655 069 Paul L Elias Miss. 653 070 Jack A. Gadlage Nev. 651 070 Brett Hite Ariz. 651 072 Tom Biffle Okla. 640 073 Rick Morris Va. 631 073 Bernie Schultz Fla. 631 075 Rick Taylor Mich. 627 076 Marty Stone N.C. 625 077 Denny Brauer Mo. 623 078 Todd Auten S.C. 618 078 Luke Clausen Wash. 618 080 Jimmy Reese Calif. 617 081 Jason Barber Texas 613 082 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 610 083 Kyle Mabrey Ala. 607 084 Casey Iwai Ariz. 598 085 Shonn Blassingame Texas 597 086 Charlie Weyer Calif. 591 087 Warren Wyman Calif. 590 088 Dean Rojas Texas 582 089 Danny Kirk Ga. 578 090 Robert Lee Calif. 575 090 Kotaro Kiriyama N.J. 575 092 Chad Brauer Mo. 555 092 Randall R Romig Pa. 555 094 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 551 095 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 549 096 Jason Quinn S.C. 548 097 David Fritts N.C. 547 098 Byron Velvick Nev. 528 099 Charles Hammack Texas 525 100 Charlie Hartley Ohio 524 101 Brooks Rogers Texas 523 102 Danny Correia Mass. 521 103 Robert 'Duke' McCardleGa. 519 104 Jody Cordell Ga. 518 105 Cody Bird Texas 513 106 Sean Hoernke Texas 511 107 Mark Rizk Ala. 509 108 Gerald Gostenik Mich. 507 109 David Mansue N.J. 501 110 Gregory Pugh Ala. 491 111 Frank Scalish Ohio 485 111 Mike O'Shea Calif. 485 111 Morizo Shimizu Japan 485 114 Chris Price Md. 475 115 Tommy Martin Texas 473 116 Mike Hicks Va. 470 117 Rick Clunn Mo. 469 118 Larry Nixon Ark. 465 119 Keith Green Ark. 463 120 Lee Bailey, Jr. Conn. 454 121 Pete Gluszek N.J. 449 122 Mike Gough Fla. 447 123 Roger Schofield Ala. 446 123 Jarrett Edwards Colo. 446 125 Johnny Lesesne Ga. 438 126 Randy Yarnall Pa. 437 127 Michael Johnson Ga. 430 128 Scott Rook Ark. 428 129 Ken Sheets Mo. 421 130 J Todd Tucker Ga. 417 131 Charlie Youngers Fla. 416 132 Chris Daves Va. 408 133 David Lefebre Pa. 405 134 Doug Garrett Ark. 399 135 Jim Murray, Jr. Ga. 389 136 Mark Tucker Mo. 387 137 Kim Stricker Mich. 385 137 Mark Duerr Wisc. 385 139 Darren Wolf Texas 382 140 Doug Gilley Fla. 381 141 Bo Fraser Va. 379 142 Randy Dearman Texas 377 143 Mark Sabbides La. 374 144 Rickie Harp Ala. 369 145 Aaron Martens Calif. 367 146 Dave Smith Okla. 365 146 Terry Segraves Fla. 365 148 Marty Fourkiller N.C. 362 148 Gerry Williams Fla. 362 150 Coby Carden Ala. 358 150 Tim Carroll Okla. 358 152 Aaron A. Hastings Md. 357 153 Eric Nethery Ga. 355 154 Greg Hoskinson Ky. 351 155 Gabriel Bolivar Calif. 345 156 John Crews Va. 342 157 Homer Humphreys, Jr La. 338 158 Chuck Economou Fla. 332 159 David Foshee Fla. 327 160 Timothy Carini N.Y. 314 161 Jeff Magee Miss. 312 162 Davy Hite S.C. 288 163 Tom Dolin N.Y. 286 164 Art Ferguson III Mich. 274 165 Boyd L. Duckett Ala. 271 166 Wayne Jeffcoat S.C. 270 166 Steve Geffs Calif. 270 168 Walt Reynolds Fla. 241 169 Tim Sainato Mo. 240 170 Bill Berry Ind. 229 171 Danny White Ga. 193 172 Steve Sennikoff Texas 173 173 Ted Pate La. 125