BAINBRIDGE, Ga. - February 9, 2003 - With his 14 pound 5 ounce limit in the Bassmaster Tour event on Lake Seminole, Texan Gary Klein claimed his eighth victory and became the seventh member of the BASS Millionaires club.
"I finally got the monkey off my back and made it into the million dollar club," said Klein who claimed $100,000 for his 69-15 four-day total. "It is an honor for me to win this title against the crowd I fished against all week. Any of these guys could win any day."
New Jersey's Kotaro Kiriyama finished second with 63-15, Casey Iwai of Arizona brought in 59-7 for third and Washington angler Luke Clausen earned fourth with 54-10. Florida anglers Shaw Grigsby, 52-11 and Jim Bitter, 49-4 rounded out the Super Six.
Klein originally from California claimed his first BASS victory since 1996 and is now tied with Grigsby and Bill Dance for fifth on the BASS All-time victories list. His winning technique involved flipping a black/blue craw-worm into dead vegetation.
"The three weeks of cold weather in the area killed all of the hyacinth," explained Klein. "The Hyacinth collected heat and that is what held the fish in those areas, but it got tougher each day."
Bitter earned a $1,000 bonus for maintaining his lead in the BASS Angler of the Year race and will once again wear the customized Stearns life vest signifying him as the leader. Bitter now enjoys a 38-point lead over Terry Scroggins in the quest for the $100,000 bonus from Anheuser-Busch at the season finale.
Despite Trailing Bitter for the BASS Angler of the Year, Scroggins does lead in the chase for the Rookie of the Year award.
A new component of the Bassmaster Tour events this season is the interactive BASS Sponsor Expo area. Exhibits are present from the various BASS sponsors many of which are interactive and allow an enjoyable experience for all family members. The Expos are completely free to those attending and take place from noon until five on Fridays; and from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at each Tour stop.
Weigh-ins took place at Earl May Boat Basin near Bainbridge.
TELEVISION
The event from Lake Seminole will be telecast on ESPN2 Saturday, Feb. 15, at 10:30 a.m. (ET).
UP NEXT
This was the third event of 10 on the 2003 Bassmaster Tour schedule. The next event takes place Feb. 20-23 on Toledo Bend Reservoir near Many, La.
Bassmaster TourLake Seminole; Bainbridge, Ga.P r o S t a n d i n g s D a y 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Gary Klein Weatherford, Texas 19 69-15 175 $100,000 Day 1: 5 19-02 Day 2: 5 17-03 Day 3: 4 19-05 Day 4: 5 14-05 2. Kotaro Kiriyama New Milford, N.J. 19 63-15 174 $38,000 Day 1: 4 11-00 Day 2: 5 19-08 Day 3: 5 15-15 Day 4: 5 17-08 3. Casey Iwai Laveen, Ariz. 20 59-07 173 $23,000 Day 1: 5 17-13 Day 2: 5 10-12 Day 3: 5 16-15 Day 4: 5 13-15 4. Luke Clausen Veradale, Wash. 20 54-10 172 $20,000 Day 1: 5 19-10 Day 2: 5 8-06 Day 3: 5 15-15 Day 4: 5 10-11 5. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Gainesville, Fla. 19 52-11 171 $17,000 Day 1: 5 10-09 Day 2: 5 17-11 Day 3: 5 17-02 Day 4: 4 7-05 6. Jim Bitter Fruitland Park, Fla. 17 49-04 170 $15,000 Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 17-10 Day 3: 5 7-10 Day 4: 2 8-06 Big Bass Day 1 Jay Yelas Tyler, Texas 10-04 $1,000 2 Randy Blaukat Lamar, Mo. 9-00 $1,000 3 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Gainesville, Fla. 7-04 $1,000 4 Jim Bitter Fruitland Park, Fla. 7-05 $1,000 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 5 29 93-12 2 6 30 91-02 3 5 29 92-14 4 4 26 72-02 ---------------------------------- 20 114 349-14 02/09/03 BASSMASTER Tour BASS Angler of the Year Standings ------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 001 Jim Bitter Fla. 497 002 Terry Scroggins Fla. 459 003 Skeet Reese Calif. 442 004 Gary Klein Texas 439 005 Kelly Jordon Texas 435 006 Tom Mann, Jr. Ga. 431 007 Jay Yelas Texas 419 008 Zell Rowland Texas 418 009 Dustin Wilks N.C. 417 009 Mike Hicks Va. 417 011 Curt Lytle Va. 414 012 Mike Wurm Ark. 411 012 Kevin VanDam Mich. 411 014 Jeff Reynolds Okla. 408 015 Mark Tyler Calif. 405 016 Bud Pruitt Texas 404 017 John Murray Ariz. 401 018 Paul L Elias Miss. 398 018 Ishama Monroe Calif. 398 018 Elton Luce Jr. Texas 398 021 Mark Menendez Ky. 385 021 Mark Kile Ariz. 385 021 Harold Allen Texas 385 024 Brent Chapman Kan. 384 025 Jack L. Wade Tenn. 383 026 Doug Gilley Fla. 381 027 Mark Davis Ark. 374 028 Casey Iwai Ariz. 373 029 Tim Horton Ala. 370 030 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 367 031 Mark Rogers Fla. 359 031 Joe Thomas Ohio 359 033 Peter E. Thliveros Fla. 352 034 Todd Faircloth Texas 350 035 Cody Bird Texas 346 036 Kotaro Kiriyama N.J. 345 036 Tim Loper Miss. 345 038 Stacey D. King Mo. 341 038 Alton Jones Texas 341 040 Todd Auten S.C. 340 041 Danny Correia Mass. 339 042 Luke Clausen Wash. 336 043 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 332 043 Rick Taylor Mich. 332 043 Kevin Wirth Ky. 332 046 Koby Kreiger Ind. 328 047 Roland Martin Fla. 327 048 Charlie Youngers Fla. 325 048 Jason Barber Texas 325 048 O. T. Fears III Okla. 325 048 J. T. Kenney Md. 325 052 Roger Boler La. 323 053 Gerald Swindle Ala. 322 054 Lance Vick Texas 321 055 David Fritts N.C. 319 056 Ben Matsubu Texas 316 056 Lee Bailey, Jr. Conn. 316 058 Mike Reynolds Calif. 314 059 Stephen Browning Ark. 311 059 Dalton Bobo Ala. 311 061 Mike Gough Fla. 308 062 George Cochran Ark. 303 063 Jeff Kriet Okla. 302 064 Woo Daves Va. 301 064 Randall R Romig Pa. 301 066 Matt Reed Texas 300 066 Kyle Mabrey Ala. 300 068 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 299 069 Brett Hite Ariz. 296 070 Ron Shuffield Ark. 295 071 David Wharton Texas 294 072 Jason Quinn S.C. 288 073 Mike Auten Ky. 281 074 Jimmy D. Mize Ark. 279 074 Bernie Schultz Fla. 279 074 Mark Rizk Ala. 279 077 Chris Price Md. 275 078 Jay Kendrick Tenn. 271 079 Allen Armour Ga. 268 079 Robert Hamilton Jr. Miss. 268 081 Gerry Williams Fla. 266 082 Chad Brauer Mo. 265 083 Shonn Blassingame Texas 264 084 Jody Cordell Ga. 263 085 Danny Kirk Ga. 254 086 Mark Sabbides La. 253 087 Eric Nethery Ga. 251 088 Morizo Shimizu Japan 250 088 Michael Johnson Ga. 250 090 Pete Gluszek N.J. 248 091 Guy H. Eaker N.C. 247 092 Jim Murray, Jr. Ga. 246 092 Kenyon Hill Okla. 246 094 Takahiro Omori Texas 244 095 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 243 096 Terry Segraves Fla. 242 096 Jimmy Reese Calif. 242 096 Keith Green Ark. 242 099 Charlie Hartley Ohio 241 100 Ken Cook Okla. 237 101 Charles Hammack Texas 236 102 Marty Fourkiller N.C. 233 103 Jack A. Gadlage Nev. 230 104 Tommy Stiles Tenn. 229 105 Brian Snowden Mo. 226 106 Edwin Evers Okla. 224 106 Gary Yamamoto Texas 224 108 Mike O'Shea Calif. 222 109 Larry Nixon Ark. 217 110 David Mansue N.J. 215 111 Rick Morris Va. 208 112 Jarrett Edwards Colo. 206 112 Tommy Martin Texas 206 114 Darren Wolf Texas 205 114 Randy Howell Ala. 205 114 Art Ferguson III Mich. 205 117 Denny Brauer Mo. 204 117 Tim Sainato Mo. 204 119 Doug Garrett Ark. 197 120 Greg Hoskinson Ky. 196 120 Pete Ponds Miss. 196 122 Byron Velvick Nev. 195 122 Warren Wyman Calif. 195 124 Johnny Lesesne Ga. 193 125 Randy Yarnall Pa. 191 126 Carl Maxfield S.C. 187 126 Mark Duerr Wisc. 187 128 Randy Dearman Texas 181 128 Charlie Weyer Calif. 181 130 Sean Hoernke Texas 178 131 Bill Berry Ind. 177 132 Roger Schofield Ala. 176 132 Rick Clunn Mo. 176 134 Dennis Kolender Calif. 175 134 Chris Daves Va. 175 136 Timothy Carini N.Y. 173 137 Kim Stricker Mich. 172 138 Frank Scalish Ohio 171 139 Gregory Pugh Ala. 170 140 Aaron Martens Calif. 168 141 Tom Biffle Okla. 161 142 Aaron A. Hastings Md. 158 143 Bo Fraser Va. 154 143 Homer Humphreys, Jr La. 154 145 Gerald Gostenik Mich. 145 146 David Foshee Fla. 138 147 Boyd L. Duckett Ala. 134 148 Coby Carden Ala. 132 149 Wayne Jeffcoat S.C. 130 150 Scott Rook Ark. 129 150 Ken Sheets Mo. 129 150 Walt Reynolds Fla. 129 153 Dave Smith Okla. 128 154 Dean Rojas Texas 123 155 David LeFebre Pa. 122 156 Robert Lee Calif. 121 157 Tim Carroll Okla. 119 158 Jeff Magee Miss. 115 159 Marty Stone N.C. 114 160 Mark Tucker Mo. 111 160 Robert 'Duke' McCardleGa. 111 162 Rickie Harp Ala. 105 163 John Crews Va. 104 164 Gabriel Bolivar Calif. 102 165 J Todd Tucker Ga. 97 166 Chuck Economou Fla. 91 166 Tom Dolin N.Y. 91 168 Steve Geffs Calif. 84 169 Danny White Ga. 81 170 Davy Hite S.C. 67 170 Steve Sennikoff Texas 67 172 Brooks Rogers Texas 60 173 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 57 174 Michael Hall Va. 36 175 Ted Pate La. 24