Falcon Flap Ruffles A Few Pro Feathers

While just about every angler in the Bassmaster Elite Series field agreed that Texas' Lake Falcon is one of the best fisheries the tour has ever visited, a few pros pulled out of Zapata with a sour taste in their mouths.

There was no room for disappointment with the fishing, the hospitality or the local Tex-Mex - which were rated exemplary by all accounts. So what was the cause for the pucker? In a word: sportsmanship - or perhaps the lack thereof, depending on where you land.

If there was an underlying theme to last week's Falcon slugfest it was the one-spot wonder, the honey hole, the perfect point - label it what you will, the bottom line is Falcon's bass seemed to be grouped by size and where you found one, you found a ton.

BassFans know that grouping is a common pre- and post-spawn phenomenon, and it's because of that phenomenon that we saw 40-plus-pound bags and a new 4-day catch record set in Texas last week. However, that phenomenon also seems to be at the root of some drama that's currently unfolding in the Elite ranks.

What Happened?

It's no secret that Aaron Martens and Byron Velvick were sharing a stretch of water last week. Actually, calling it a stretch might be exaggerating it a bit. The two Californians–turned–southerners were literally casting to the same marker buoy. All total, Martens and Velvick, along with their co-anglers, hauled well over 200 pounds of green fish out of the spot over the course of the 4-day event.

Another notable duo who dueled it out over a specific spot was Paul Elias - who ended up winning the tournament - and Ish Monroe. Monroe was vocal about the situation last weekend and said he felt "disrespected" when Elias jumped on "his spot" before he could get to it on day 2, knowing full well that Monroe had earned a Top 5 finish from that spot the day prior.

But let's rewind a bit.

As Velvick so eloquently described it at the day 3 weigh-in, "Lake Falcon is a freak show." It's an anomaly. It's a place where 4- and 5-pound bass are simply average and a 30-pound sack is lucky to get a few cheers and half-hearted claps from the crowd.

Several pros talked about how easy it was to find concentrations of fish last week. Arkansas pro Scott Rook summed it up best when, about his pre-fishing tactics, he said: "You pull up to a spot and make one cast. If you don't get bit the first time you pull it through there - go somewhere else. It's just that easy."

That's where the problems start. When you put 109 pro anglers on a fishery where "it's just that easy" to locate big groups of even bigger bass, chances are there's going to be some angler overlap on the most productive spots.

To gain some perspective of just how much overlap there was, here's a few notes taken from BassFan's coverage of the event regarding which anglers found which spots:

> Aaron Martens had his A spot which he and Velvick dredged for 3 solid days, but he also had a B and a C spot. One of those spots was the one that Elias and Monroe were feuding about, and the other was Scott Rook's.

> Ish Monroe said that from the primary spot he was fishing he could visually identify Martens, Velvick, Rook, Mike Iaconelli and "a few others." He also said that he'd located the same group of fish that Martens and Velvick were sharing, but that he "didn't know that kind of size was in there."

> Paul Elias said he found three primary schools of fish, and he'd intended to start day 1 on the same spot where Monroe fished. Elias also noted that he'd found the area where Scott Rook spent all 4 days of the tournament and had planned to use that as one of his backup spots. After crossing those two spots out, he went to his third area and found it occupied by Matt Reed.

> Byron Velvick, in addition to the spot he shared with Martens, said he'd also found the Monroe/Elias spot while pre-fishing with his fiancé, Mary Delgado. "Mary actually caught a 10-pounder there in practice," he said. "Ish motored over to me on day 1 and he had Mary as his co-angler and I said, 'Dude, you're fishing the spot where Mary got her 10-pounder.'"

> Mark Davis was one of the few pros in the Top 12 who didn't have much pressure on his fish, but even he shared his area with Derek Remitz the first 3 days. Davis noted he'd also found both the Martens/Velvick spot and the Monroe/Elias spot. "It's amazing how we always find the same fish time after time, but it happens," he said.

Those are just the notes from the anglers who mentioned sharing spots, and no doubt there's more. With so many anglers trying to work so few spots, there's bound to be some on-the-water confrontations, and there were - the most notable of which was between Monroe and Elias.

However, while Martens maintained what seemed a cool demeanor when asked about sharing the same water with Velvick last week, it was obvious it had started to eat at him as the event progressed, especially on the last day. He called the ordeal, "nerve-wracking," and as he described his week at the final-day weigh-in, made it sound as though he felt slightly more entitled to the area.

"I pulled up on that spot and made one cast and as soon as I made that cast I turned around and Byron was pulling up on that spot right behind me," he said. "I looked at him and I was like, 'Byron!', but he said he came in there at the same time I did."

Word has spread this week that Martens is now saying he feels that he was encroached upon by Velvick, and that Velvick cost him the tournament. But Martens couldn't be reached for comment.

Ultimately it comes down to a matter of perspective. If multiple anglers work independently and discover a spot in practice, are they each entitled to it? And if so, in what capacity? Should they all get to fish it at the same time, or should they have to take turns and swap out?

Or is the whole thing a first-come, first-serve scenario where the first man on the spot each day gets to use it as he pleases?

Here's what a few of the pros involved in last week's Falcon flap had to say.

Monroe Feels Wronged

After his strong showing on day 1 at Falcon, Monroe told BassFan that he was "concerned" about his spot on day 2 because, as he described it, "there's another guy who just sat there and watched me catch them today."

He elected not to name any names at that time, but said, "We'll have a talk tomorrow, and if he moves up on my spot, we're going to have a conversation about how this guy poached my fish, and I'll tell you exactly who it is."

It turns out the angler he referenced was Paul Elias. Monroe went back to the same spot on the morning of day 2 and found Elias already working over the area with a crankbait.

"I lose total respect for guys like that," Monroe said. "He sat there and watched me catch those fish, and he knew I was in the Top 5. To me that shows complete disrespect for me, and if you don't respect me, then I can't respect you.

"BASS makes rules about sportsmanship, but when you bring up that rule, there's really no definition," Monroe added. "I feel like what Paul did showed a lack of sportsmanship on his part. It's unfortunate he got a late boat draw, but that's how this sport goes. It would've been the same thing if that had been a bedding fish."

Monroe also said: "As he was leaving that spot on day 2 he offered me the bait he was fishing with, and I took it. But what was I supposed to do, not take the bait? Giving me a crankbait doesn't make things right. What he did was disrespectful. If he'd been in the position that I was in, I would've given him that spot - that's sportsmanship. That's how our sport works. You don't poach another guy's fish."

Elias Backed Down

There are always two sides to every story, and Elias feels like he handled everything in a sportsmanlike manner.

"I found that spot in practice just like Ish did," Elias said. "I had all intentions of starting there on day 1. When I got there and saw Ish on that spot I waited on him to move, and he just stayed there. Then his roommate came by and (Ish) waved him in on that point while I was just sitting there.

"When he did that I motored over to him and said, 'I'm not going to let you boys play tag team on this point all day long. This is where I intended to start the tournament.'"

Elias said he tried to give Monroe all the courtesy he could by surrendering the spot after only catching four fish off it on day 2.

"I felt like that was fair," Elias said. "Ish stayed on that spot all day the first day and I never got to fish it. On the second day I gave it up to him after I'd caught what I needed. I was willing to share that area. I even left my marker buoy out there for him and gave him the bait I was catching them on.

"I told him to bring my marker buoy back to me at the weigh-in, but he never talked to me the rest of the day."

As noted in BassFan's winning pattern follow-up with Elias, he and Monroe both showed up at the spot on day 3, but Elias quickly realized "that wasn't going to work" and opted to fish a few of his backup spots. Monroe failed to make the Top 12 cut so Elias had sole possession of the area on the final day.

A look at Elias' numbers each day tells the story of just how productive the spot was. He fished his backup areas on days 1 and 3 and weighed in 28-05 and 27-07, respectively. When he claimed the area for himself on days 2 and 4, he sacked 39-01 and 37-11.

Notable

> BassFan will update this story when Martens and Velvick can be reached.

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