W.B.S.Classic 2005 Photo Essay

　The Photo Essay of W.B.S.Classic 2005 is now up on the web.

+W.B.S.　Classic 2005 Photo Essay

Japan International SportFishing Show 2005 Photo Essay

The Photo Essay of Japan International SportFishing Show 2005 is up.

Cecil wins Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship on Lake Conroe

CONROE, Texas - Pro Russell Cecil of Willis caught 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 6 ounces to win the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship presented by Lays on Lake Conroe Oct 15-16. Cecil earned $70,000 for the win, including a fully-rigged Ranger 519 VX powered by a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Garmin electronics and EverStart batteries, plus $15,000 cash. Also included in that $70,000 total is a $20,000 bonus for meeting the Ranger Boats contingency guidelines.

Ebihara bacame Champion at last/ W.B.S. Classic 2006: Final

The 14th W.B.S. Classic final day was extremely windy. It blew 25 m/sec, which is 55.93 mile/h. The anglers union discussed about opening the final day with W.B.S. officials again. Officials drew a map with the coming eye of the typhoon and explained the direction it was moving and the arrival time that came close to the lake at most. They said “you are a bunch of pro anglers who can drive rough water and can think it’s dangerous or not if you wanna go far. Suppose you think it’s unsafe, you wouldn’t need to go far. You can weight-in earlier. It’s up to you whether open it or not.” Union raised a hand to call to open it. However, once they went just outside the marina, there were incredibly large rolling swells. 1 second after they departed, they got all wet. As it was predicted, almost all anglers couldn’t go to their main spots. One managed to go through 6 ft of waves to the other side of the lake and found dead clam spot in creek. He was the winner of the Classic, Hideo Ebihara, weight-inned 3870g for 6 bass. He finished 2nd in 3 tournaments of 4 this year, was actually 2nd place for the AOY race in the past 3 years on a row. Finally, he received a big title.

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FLW Outdoors announces schedule for 2006 Stren Series

Despite name change, $6.24 million tournament trail will remain unchanged in most every other respect

BENTON, Ky. - FLW Outdoors, the world's premier fishing-tournament organization, announced Thursday the schedule for its 2006 Stren Series (formerly known as the EverStart Series), which ranks as one of the most popular tournament trails in the nation. The circuit's five divisions, each with four qualifying events, will visit some of the best bass fisheries in the country, including several new lakes.

Chapman wins 'Busch Shootout'

2005 BUSCH Shootout: Table Rock Lake - Springfield, Mo.
RIDGEDALE, Mo. - Brent Chapman was getting ready to make the 45-mile run to the marina at Big Cedar Lodge Saturday morning when he decided to make a few casts at a spot he originally had ignored.

That decision produced a couple of keeper bass that helped Chapman earn $100,000 as the winner of the second annual 'Busch Shootout' on Table Rock Lake.

Knapp wins EverStart Series event on Lake Champlain

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Pro Jason Knapp of Uniontown, Pa., caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 6 ounces to win the EverStart Series Northeast Division event on Lake Champlain presented by Yamaha near Plattsburgh - the division’s final event of the season. Knapp, who won the Co-angler Division title of the 2004 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Lake Champlain event, earned a Ranger 519VX powered by a Yamaha or Evinrude outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Garmin electronics and EverStart Batteries plus $9,600 cash.

Hiruchi became the Queen again/ J.L.B.A. 2005 3rd event

Japan's only woman angler organization, J.L.B.A., saluted its second year for its trail. The final event of its 2005 season was held at Kagato River, Chiba on September 9th, 2005. In this summer, the area of the river did not have rain much. Therefore, the water clarity was clear even though it is usually muddy. On the other hand, the temperature has been up like mid 80's for this summer. As a result, fishing had been very tough. The only hope anglers had was the coming of the cold front, which actually devastated the western side of Japan very next day. The leading angler of AOY points, Ayako Ashida, came back with an empty bag. Then, last year's AOY, Chiho, Higuchi, brought a solid 5 bass limit of 3740g, and she took another crown of AOY 2 years in a row. She used the techniques of flipping Fat Ika (Gary Yamamoto) to thick covers.

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Shuya Akabane got the 3rd win on the row on W.B.S. 2005 final event

The 4th event of W.B.S. Professional Team Tournament 2005 was held in Lake Kasumi, and One of the oldest members of its organization, Shuya Akabane, won 3 of the 4 events they held this year, and it was the 3rd win on the row. 15 years of W.B.S.'s history, he had never won a big title (they open Class every year, and AOY system), yet he has been called one of the best pros around because of his constancy of finishing high on regular tournaments for the past 15 years. "I'm glad that could finally be able to achieve this level, but I still have the Classic to fish, " said Akabane. This tournament's 2nd finisher, Hideo Ebihara, came to finish the AOY race in 2nd place as well. Actually, he finished 2nd in AOY standing 3 years on the row.

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BASS INTRODUCES ELITE SERIES TO SHOWCASE WORLD’S BEST ANGLERS

Tournament Enhancements Include Doubling CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year Prize Purse; Creation of 2 CITGO Bassmaster Tours to Replace Bassmaster Opens

CELEBRATION, Fla. - BASS announced major enhancements today to its tournament structure, creating the all new CITGO Bassmaster Elite Series - the highest level of competition featuring the worldﾕs top anglers and awarding more than $11 million. Additionally, BASS is introducing the CITGO Bassmaster Northern and Southern Tours ﾐ events that qualify anglers for the Elite Series.

Say hello to the new champ!

2005 CITGO Bassmaster Classic; Pittsburgh, Pa.

PITTSBURGH - When the 35th edition of the CITGO Bassmaster Classic ended on Sunday, a pair of highly accomplished pros found themselves in very familiar positions.

Michigan's Kevin VanDam brought a five-bass limit to the scales that weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces. The limit - rare for this Classic, which set an all-time record low final weight - was enough to overtake second-round leader Aaron Martens by a scant 6 ounces. VanDam's three-day total of 12-15 enabled the three-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year to add a second coveted Classic trophy to his mantel in Kalamazoo.

THE DEBATE IS OVER! RICK CLUNN VOTED GREATEST ANGLER OF ALL TIME

　THE DEBATE IS OVER! RICK CLUNN VOTED GREATEST ANGLER OF ALL TIME

9 Classic Appearances, 14 BASS Wins Highlight Career

PITTSBURGH ? Rick Clunn is the greatest bass angler of all time, as determined in ESPN’s Greatest Angler Debate presented by John Deere, BASS announced today. Clunn, of Ava, Mo., bested 34 other nominees to win the prestigious award.

“John Deere congratulates Rick Clunn, winner of ESPN's Greatest Anger Debate,” said Robert Nelson, promotions manager for the John Deere Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment division. “Rick's dedication and determination to the sport has earned him the distinction of being bass fishing's greatest angler of all time. He is an inspiration to anglers around the world.”

Cochran wins $500,000 at Forrest L. Wood Championship

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Standing before an arena filled to capacity with cheering, hometown bass-fishing fans, George Cochran of Hot Springs brought in a winning catch of five bass weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces to pocket $500,000 in the Forrest L. Wood Championship presented by Castrol on Lake Hamilton. The half-million dollar check is the largest first-place award in professional bass fishing.

Iaconelli wins Chevy Open presented by Kellogg’s

LAPLATA, Md. ? Mike Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., landed his first Wal-Mart FLW Tour win in grand fashion Saturday with a two-day, final-round total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 14 ounces. The former Bassmaster Classic champion earned $200,000 in the Chevy Open presented by Kellogg’s after topping Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas, by nearly 5 pounds.

FLW Outdoors announces 2006 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule

BENTON, Ky. - FLW Outdoors announced its 2006 Wal-Mart FLW Tour schedule and indicated that complete payout details will be released June 21 following registration for the $1.25 million Chevy Open on the Potomac River in Charles County, Md. Next season’s schedule takes the most lucrative bass tournament trail in the world to seven of the nation’s best largemouth and smallmouth fisheries.

Japan's First Ladys-only Tournamet Had its Season Fenale

The first girls-only bass fishing tournament organization called J.L.B.A. (Japan Ladies Bass Assossiation) opened its season-last tournament on Nagato River of Chiba Prefecture, Japan, in Sept. 19th. There was a deadheat battle for the first AOY of J.L.B.A. Chiho Higuchi caught a 660g of bass and said "it was like T.O. caught his last fish at the last minutes on Classic." She came in second last tournament, and this time she won the tourney and received the AOY title.

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New Mexico in front of dawn.

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The Louisiana delta of dawn.