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Carl Maxfield Claims His First BASSMASTER Victory On The Potomac
Charles County, MD. -- August 26, 2000 -- In his tenth full year on the
BASSMASTER Tournament Trail, Carl Maxfield of Summerville, South Carolina
finally shed the bridesmaid label to win the $431,000 Maryland Top 150
August 23-26 on the Potomac River.
Having been within ounces of winning many times before, Maxfield hedged his
bets this time by going into the final round with a 5 1/2-pound lead over
second place. Although relentlessly pursued by the final ten anglers,
including Rick Clunn, Maxfield didn't give up an ounce of his margin by
responding with a 17-pound, three-ounce limit for a 64-3, four-day tally.
"I've been real close, one-ounce out of first going into the last day, I've
led MegaBucks, I've led the Classic, been second at an invitational, been
real close a bunch of times," grinned Maxfield after accepting his $110,000
winner's share.
"I know I'm not Denny Brauer or Kevin VanDam. I'm not one of the
superstars. If I was playing golf, I guess you would call me a grinder. I'm
there every tournament, but most of the time when they hand those checks
out, I'm going to get one."
In wresting the victory away from the likes of Clunn, Skeet Reese and Kevin
VanDam, Maxfield had to share his water in the back of Mattawoman Creek
with two of the leaders (Clunn and Reese), creating an "imaginary line"
between Clunn's water and his own.
It was an example of professional courtesy that ultimately worked in
everyone's favor as Clunn pulled 17 pounds, 11 ounces out of his area for
second place and a 58-pound, 12-ounce total while Reese pulled himself up
to third with a 13-12 limit for 50 pounds, six ounces.
At the core of Maxfield's key area was a "hydrilla wall" (actually a
mixture of hydrilla and eel grass) against a quickly sloping bank that
dropped to three feet and dropped again to five before rounding out into a
creek channel at eight feet.
Having fished this same area for several years, Maxfield intimately knew
every subtle contour in the grass line and could line up on key spots with
various shoreline objects such as broken limbs and patches of arrowhead
plants.
After catching and losing two quality fish on a 1/4-ounce Silver Buddy
blade bait, Maxfield decided that a tube would be better suited to the
cover. He switched to a four-inch Gambler tube (black/red flake) on a
3/16-ounce Hudson jighead sporting a 2/0 Gamkatsu hook and a similarly
rigged prototype Z-Man Tuff Tube (green pumpkin).
Switching back and forth between the two tubes produced bass that
inexplicably turned on and off for the slightly different baits. These
confusing mood shifts also made a Lake Fork Tackle Baby Ring Fry (green
pumpkin) effective during the second round.
Not far away, Clunn worked an area of eel grass on the outside swing of a
creek channel with a Norman Baby N (Chartreuse/black back) to get a quick
limit each morning before slowing down with a dark-hued four-inch Lucky
Strike worm.
His pattern for quality fish was farther upriver where he targeted deeper
pilings with a Poe 300 crankbait (chartreuse/black back) during the first
two rounds. However, his move upriver actually opened up the event for
those who stayed in Mattawoman Creek.
In particular, Skeet Reese was working one area that overlapped Clunn's
water. At the time, Reese looked to be out of the running for the top ten,
so Clunn told him to go ahead and fish a pocket of water guarded by an
overhanging tree. Casting a new 3/8-ounce Terminator jig, the Californian
quickly produced a trio of three-pounders in ten minutes during the third
round for what eventually was his boost into the top ten.
Sponsors of the 2000/2001 BASSMASTER TOURNAMENT TRAIL include: Ranger(r)
Boats, RangerTrail(r) Trailers, Mercury(r) Outboard, Chevy Trucks,
ACDelco(r) Batteries, Pennzoil(r) Marine Humminbird(r) Electronics,
Zercom(r) Marine, Flowmaster(r) Exhaust Systems, First USA Visa Card,
MotorGuide(r) Trolling Motors, Gore-Tex(r) Outerwear, GMAC Insurance,
worldwaters.com
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:
B.A.S.S. Communications at (334) 272-9530
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