KIMBERLING CITY, Mo. - Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, parlayed a deep-water, drop-shot pattern into his first BASS victory on Sunday at Table Rock Lake. Faircloth won The Rock, the final bass fishing tournament of the Bassmaster Elite Series season, with 50 pounds, 9 ounces and took home $100,000.
The winner and his competitors will be featured on ESPN2 on Saturday, Sept. 23, and Saturday, Sept. 30, at 10 a.m. ET.
Faircloth, a professional angler for seven years, surged into the lead on Saturday and held onto the top spot while fishing against the 10 other finalists. Targeting spotted bass, Faircloth, 31, caught his fourth five-fish limit Sunday and weighed in 11 pounds, 4 ounces. Runner-up Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., finished more than 4 pounds behind with 46-3.
"I've come close a couple of times and just hadn't gotten it done until today," said Faircloth, who has two second-place finishes. "I never dreamed my first victory would come on a drop-shot with a spinning rod because I'm a flipper and a shallow cranker. It was an incredible experience for me."
Faircloth used his depth finder extensively to locate fish and utilized a five-inch Yamamoto Senko in two colors. Because of rain and cloud cover on Sunday, he modified his pattern slightly, but the basic tactic still worked.
A deep-water pattern also worked for Evers, who caught a five-fish limit of 10-14 and logged his fourth top-10 finish of the season. He found success using a spinning rod and fishing 30 to 47 feet deep. "I fished in brush piles and little rock piles," he said. "The key this week was not to move my bait. I tried to hold it as still as possible."
Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark., continued his late-season surge by finishing third with 45-14. Short also placed third in his last BASS tournament- the Bassmaster Legends. "I'd like to go about four more tournaments and see what would happen," said Short, who weighed in five fish for 13-1 on Sunday. "The weather actually made it better for me. I had to shuffle around and find some new water, but I just did the best I could do."
Rounding out the top five were Bill Lowen of North Bend, Ohio, with 43-13 and Canadian Jon Bondy with 42-6.
The Rock closed the 2006 Elite Series season and with its completion, the top 37 anglers were given berths to the 2007 Bassmaster Classic, Feb. 23-25 on Lay Lake in Birmingham, Ala. Also, the BUSCH Shootout field was decided.
On Saturday, Mike Iaconelli of New Jersey was named the Bassmaster Angler of the Year, Steve Kennedy of Alabama was named the Toyota Rookie of the Year and Denny Brauer of Missouri received the Horizon award.
2006 The Rock Pro 09/14-09/17
Table Rock Lake, Kimberling City Mo.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas 20 50-09 310 $101,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 5 10-14 Day 3: 5 14-14 Day 4: 5 11-04
2. Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 20 46-03 295 $30,000.00
Day 1: 5 10-05 Day 2: 5 11-12 Day 3: 5 13-04 Day 4: 5 10-14
3. Kevin Short Mayflower, Ark. 18 45-14 290 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-01 Day 2: 4 8-02 Day 3: 4 10-10 Day 4: 5 13-01
4. Bill Lowen North Bend, Ohio 17 43-13 290 $19,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-03 Day 2: 5 11-11 Day 3: 2 4-10 Day 4: 5 14-05
5. Jon Bondy Windsor, Canada 18 42-06 280 $17,000.00
Day 1: 4 9-03 Day 2: 5 11-13 Day 3: 4 9-11 Day 4: 5 11-11
6. William Smith, Jr Somerset, Ky. 18 41-00 276 $15,500.00
Day 1: 5 11-09 Day 2: 5 11-10 Day 3: 3 6-15 Day 4: 5 10-14
7. Ishama Monroe Hughson, Calif. 14 36-08 272 $15,500.00
Day 1: 2 6-05 Day 2: 5 12-07 Day 3: 3 8-12 Day 4: 4 9-00
8. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, Okla. 15 36-00 268 $14,500.00
Day 1: 3 7-00 Day 2: 4 12-02 Day 3: 4 9-05 Day 4: 4 7-09
9. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 17 35-11 264 $14,000.00
Day 1: 3 6-10 Day 2: 5 11-10 Day 3: 5 10-04 Day 4: 4 7-03
10. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 12 34-09 265 $15,500.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 3 7-08 Day 3: 2 5-05 Day 4: 2 6-02
11. John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 12 32-10 257 $13,500.00
Day 1: 2 3-06 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 3 8-08 Day 4: 2 4-11
12. Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Gainesville, Fla. 11 27-08 254 $12,300.00
Day 1: 4 9-09 Day 2: 5 12-05 Day 3: 2 5-10 Day 4: 0 0-00
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Big Bass
Day
1 Chad Brauer Osage Beach, Mo. 2-02 $500.00
1 Alton Jones Waco, Texas 0-00 $500.00
2 Randy Howell Springville, Ala. 4-14 $1,000.00
3 Denny Brauer Camdenton, Mo. 4-09 $500.00
3 Ishama Monroe Hughson, Calif. 4-09 $500.00
4 Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 4-06 $1,000.00
Day
1 Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. $1,000.00
2 John Murray Phoenix, Ariz. 16-01 $1,000.00
3 Todd Faircloth Jasper, Texas 14-14 $1,000.00
4 Bill Lowen North Bend, Ohio 14-05 $1,000.00
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 12 209 486-12
2 16 253 558-13
3 7 128 297-00
4 6 46 106-10
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41 636 1449-03
2006 Kimberling City, MO - The Rock Pro Points
After Table Rock, Kimberling City, Mo.
Ending 09-17-2006,
Day 4
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Place Name St Pts
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1 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 2648
2 Steve Kennedy Ala. 2591
3 Kevin VanDam Mich. 2582
4 Aaron Martens Ala. 2572
5 Dean Rojas Ariz. 2493
6 Kevin Wirth Ky. 2458
7 Skeet Reese Calif. 2456
8 Edwin Evers Okla. 2454
9 Tommy Biffle Okla. 2420
10 Kelly Jordon Texas 2410
11 Greg Hackney La. 2404
12 Jason Quinn S.C. 2355
13 Gerald Swindle Ala. 2347
14 Denny Brauer Mo. 2303
15 Russ Lane Ala. 2286
16 Alton Jones Texas 2269
17 John Murray Ariz. 2259
18 Jared Lintner Calif. 2240
19 Peter Thliveros Fla. 2228
20 John Crews Va. 2226
21 Matt Reed Texas 2198
22 Mike McClelland Ark. 2174
23 Todd Faircloth Texas 2162
24 Randy Howell Ala. 2161
25 Mike Wurm Ark. 2156
26 Bill Lowen Ohio 2134
27 Jeff Reynolds Okla. 2114
28 Lee Bailey Ala. 2097
28 Mark Tucker Mo. 2097
30 Timmy Horton Ala. 2090
31 Terry Scroggins Fla. 2068
32 Zell Rowland Texas 2063
33 Jeff Kriet Okla. 2058
34 Rick Clunn Mo. 2056
35 Takahiro Omori Texas 2052
36 Gary Klein Texas 2032
37 Ishama Monroe Calif. 2015
38 Kotaro Kiriyama Ala. 2012
39 Shaw Grigsby, Jr Fla. 2007
40 Davy Hite S.C. 1994
41 Brent Chapman Kan. 1982
42 Kenyon Hill Okla. 1979
43 Dave Wolak Pa. 1971
44 Terry Butcher Okla. 1961
45 Stephen Browning Ark. 1959
46 Greg Gutierrez Calif. 1944
47 Scott Rook Ark. 1943
48 Morizo Shimizu Calif. 1924
49 Paul Elias Miss. 1917
50 Bradley Hallman Okla. 1889
51 Bernie Schultz Fla. 1885
51 William Smith, Jr Ky. 1885
53 Chad Brauer Mo. 1881
54 Brian Snowden Mo. 1861
55 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 1842
56 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 1833
57 Jeff Connella La. 1830
58 Jeremy Starks W.Va. 1812
59 Jimmy Mize Ark. 1800
60 Darrin Schwenkbeck Md. 1798
61 Chris Lane Fla. 1768
62 Jon Bondy Canada 1762
63 Marty Stone N.C. 1753
64 Mark Tyler Ariz. 1746
65 Steve Daniel Fla. 1745
66 Jami Fralick S.D. 1725
67 Kevin Short Ark. 1713
68 Mark Menendez Ky. 1708
69 Fred Roumbanis Calif. 1697
70 Frank Scalish Ohio 1696
71 Kevin Langill N.C. 1694
71 Keith Phillips Ala. 1694
73 Ken Cook Okla. 1670
74 Elton Luce Jr Texas 1655
75 Paul Hirosky Pa. 1654
76 Britt Myers N.C. 1646
77 Charlie Youngers Fla. 1642
78 Preston Clark Fla. 1637
79 Mike Reynolds Calif. 1632
80 Dave Smith Okla. 1620
81 Rick Morris Va. 1586
82 Kurt Dove Va. 1583
83 Pete Ponds Miss. 1568
83 Charlie Hartley Ohio 1568
85 Guy Eaker N.C. 1564
86 Byron Velvick Nev. 1554
87 Jarrett Edwards Ariz. 1550
88 Grant Goldbeck Md. 1534
89 Bradley Stringer Texas 1532
90 David Gliebe Ky. 1523
91 Mike O'Shea Calif. 1518
92 Vince Hurtado Calif. 1512
93 Joe Thomas Ohio 1473
94 Charlie Weyer Calif. 1447
95 Doc Merkin Ill. 1446
96 Terry Segraves Fla. 1435
97 Bink Desaro Idaho 1389
98 Ken Brodeur Conn. 1383
99 Mark Rogers Fla. 1292
100 Rick Ash Pa. 1177
101 Jimmy Houston Okla. 1084
102 Brooks Rogers Texas 1031
103 Randy Yarnall Pa. 1027
104 Robert Hamilton Jr Miss. 551
105 Conrad Picou La. 390
106 Dustin Wilks N.C. 151