COLUMBUS, Miss. - Arkansas pro Mark Davis became the first angler to post a wire-to-wire win at a Bassmaster Elite 50 series event after Saturday's final round on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. Davis brought in a 12-pound, 9-ounce sack Saturday to claim victory for the second time on the 2004 Bassmaster Tournament Trail .
"I've led lots of tournaments, but I've never won (this way)," the former Bassmaster Classic champion said. "I've never led wire to wire and won before."
Davis stuck to a tried-and-true strategy for the final day of the event, when anglers rotated through a separate, six-hole course.
"I did exactly what I did yesterday, today," Davis said, "but the fish changed this afternoon. I'm not quite sure where they went. They may have gone deeper, I don't really know.
"I started looking for these fish in practice using a Strike King Series One crank bait. I found some schools of fish, and in the tournament, I just went fishing using a worm. I figured something out, though. The fish weren't in the grass. They were in front of the grass. That's where I was catching them.
"This is really, really sweet. (Winning) the Table Rock event was great because it was long overdue, but this one is sweet, too, because it's the second event in a year. This really gives me confidence going into the next event in Prattville."
Davis' Bassmaster Elite 50 trophy was presented by Thomas Hamill, the Mississippi native who was held hostage in Iraq and escaped. Davis will take home $5,000 for winning the event and jumped up to 11th place in the Elite 50 standings.
Michigan's Kevin VanDam was the second-place angler with a weight of 26-14, but just didn't have the big fish he needed to take the victory.
"I couldn't get that 5-pounder today like I did yesterday," he said. "That could have really made a difference. I pretty much just decided to run and gun around the holes today. I had a tough time today.
"I felt like the fish were keying on wood and I thought it was my best chance today to fish as much wood as I could find."
VanDam did best Davis in one regard: his second-place finish in Mississippi boosted him to the top of the Elite 50 point standings. If VanDam can keep the lead, he stands to win the $150,000 Bassmaster Elite 50 series' first prize, the largest share of the $1.6 million total purse.
North Carolina's Dustin Wilks took home third place and added a $1,000 check for the Purolator Big Bass of the Day, earned with a 5-6 lunker. That 5-6 was an ounce shy of VanDam's Purolator Big Bass of the Tournament, a 5-7 bass caught in Friday's round. That bass earned VanDam an additional $1,000 from Purolator.
Wilks' day four sack of 14-0 also earned him a $1,000 check from Busch Beer for the of the day, a voluntary contingency program that rewards the participating angler with the largest catch of the day.
The Bassmaster CastingKids program sponsored by was held in conjunction with the BASS Sponsor Expo Saturday. The winners of the event were Blake Bradford from Columbus, Miss., in the 7-10 age group and Tyler Wood of Collingsville, Miss., in the 11-14 age group.
2004 Mississippi Bassmaster Elite 50 05/19-05/22 Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, Columbus Miss. (PRO Division) Standings Day 4 Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 10 28-15 310 $5,000.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 5 16-06 Day 4: 5 12-09 2. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 10 26-14 300 $6,000.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 5 14-07 Day 4: 5 12-07 3. Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 10 25-02 295 $4,000.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 5 11-02 Day 4: 5 14-00 4. Alton Jones Waco, Texas 10 23-04 290 $1,500.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 5 10-14 Day 4: 5 12-06 5. Stacey D King Reeds Spring, Mo. 10 22-03 285 $1,000.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 5 12-11 Day 4: 5 9-08 6. Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 10 20-09 281 $500.00 Day 1: 0 0-00 Day 2: 0 0-00 Day 3: 5 10-11 Day 4: 5 9-14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Purolator Big Bass Day 1 John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 5-03 $1,000.00 2 Brian Snowden Springfield, Mo. 4-12 $1,000.00 3 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 5-07 $1,000.00 4 Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 5-06 $1,000.00 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 5-07 $1,000.00 Day 1 Roland Martin Naples, Fla. 12-06 $1,000.00 2 Brian Snowden Springfield, Mo. 12-08 $1,000.00 3 Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, Mich. 14-07 $1,000.00 4 Dustin Wilks Rocky Mount, N.C. 14-00 $1,000.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 24 178 321-09 2 23 185 325-12 3 26 190 318-01 4 6 30 70-12 ---------------------------------- 79 583 1036-022004 BASSMASTER ELITE 50 POINTS ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 1 Kevin VanDam Mich. 563 2 Stacey D King Mo. 556 3 Zell Rowland Texas 548 4 Gary Klein Texas 536 5 Brent Chapman Kan. 529 6 Kenyon Hill Okla. 508 7 Mark Davis Ark. 507 8 Randy Howell Ala. 505 9 Jay Yelas Texas 502 10 Todd Auten S.C. 496 10 Alton Jones Texas 496 12 Greg Hackney La. 492 13 Dustin Wilks N.C. 487 14 Kelly Jordon Texas 480 15 Dean Rojas Texas 473 16 Gerald Swindle Ala. 467 17 Brian Snowden Mo. 465 18 Randy Blaukat Mo. 464 19 Peter E Thliveros Fla. 458 20 John Murray Ariz. 457 21 Tom Biffle Okla. 456 22 Ben Matsubu Texas 455 23 O T Fears III Okla. 452 24 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 451 25 David Fritts N.C. 450 26 David Wharton Texas 448 27 Todd Faircloth Texas 446 27 Denny Brauer Mo. 446 29 George Cochran Ark. 444 29 Bud Pruitt Texas 444 31 Larry Nixon Ark. 442 32 Davy Hite S.C. 441 33 Tim Horton Ala. 440 34 Roland Martin Fla. 434 34 Edwin Evers Okla. 434 36 Skeet Reese Calif. 430 37 Mark Menendez Ky. 428 38 Jim Bitter Fla. 424 39 Rick Clunn Mo. 420 40 Ron Shuffield Ark. 418 41 Jack A Gadlage Ky. 414 42 Chad Brauer Mo. 412 43 Bernie Schultz Fla. 406 43 Brett Hite Ariz. 406 45 Paul L Elias Miss. 402 46 Kevin Wirth Ky. 398 47 Robert Lee Calif. 376 48 Ishama Monroe Calif. 374 48 Mike Wurm Ark. 374 50 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 251