The Carolinas in mid-May have indeed been fine places for Fred Roumbanis. He was in the North one year and the South the next, and departed with a combined $350,000.
The 29-year-old California native who now resides in Oklahoma caught a 17-14 sack today to close out the victory at the Murray Bassmaster Elite Series out of Columbia, S.C. The triumph, his first in a regular-season Elite event, came a year and a day after his win in the American Major at North Carolina's High Rock Lake.
He won by 1-09 over runner-up Steve Kennedy of Alabama, who weighed 16-12 today and finished with 65-04. Oklahoma's Edwin Evers caught today's best stringer (19-04) and ended up 3rd with 64-13.
Davy Hite gave the hometown crowd, which included a lot of his friends and family members, a thrill when he weighed 19-00 on his 43rd birthday to briefly take the lead. He finished 4th with 64-01.
Bradley Hallman, yet another Oklahoman, completed the Top 5 with 18-04 today and a 63-05 total.
Here's a look at the final Top 12:
1. Fred Roumbanis: 66-13
2. Steve Kennedy: 65-04
3. Edwin Evers: 64-13
4. Davy Hite: 64-01
5. Bradley Hallman: 63-05
6. Brian Snowden: 61-12
7. Kelly Jordon: 61-08
8. Kevin VanDam: 59-15
9. Aaron Martens: 56-07
10. Dave Wolak: 55-04
11. Ish Monroe: 53-02
12. Grant Goldbeck: 52-11
The latest victory wasn't quite as lucrative for Roumbanis as the Major triumph ($100,000 vs. $250,000), but at least this one came with some Angler of the Year (AOY) points. He started the tournament 20th in the season-long race and moved up to 9th.
He held off a powerhouse final field that included eight anglers who'd won either an Elite regular-season event or a major. His bag was only fourth-best of the day, but it topped those of his three closest pursuers from day 3 (Kennedy, Aaron Martens and Brian Snowden).
Roumbanis' winning fish were hanging out far from the crowded main-lake points.
While just about everyone else was slinging swimbaits on points for bass that were keying on blueback herring, he was off by himself throwing frogs at bluegill-oriented fish. The herring guys found their quarry more amenable to eating today – probably due to the presence of wind and clouds – but none caught enough to overtake him.
Roumbanis Blown Away
Roumbanis said that in one respect, this win was more significant than the Major because he had to outduel roughly twice as many competitors. The thrice-annual Majors, which were discontinued this year, were limited-field events.
"The major was unbelievable, but this is cool because I won against the entire field," he said. "And both times I was doing totally different things than anybody else.
"I'm just blown away. I never expected to win here, and if I did, I thought it would be on a swimbait. But I got on this frog and Roumba (a wakebait he designed for Ima Lures) bite, and that changed everything."
Today's bag included a 6-13 brute that had sipped the bait off the surface and pinned itself against some underwater vegetation. He thought it was a mudfish until he actually got a hand on it.
"When I grabbed it from behind, I got spiked, and I thought, Whoa, mudfish don't have those," he said. "Then I reached around and grabbed it by the mouth, and then I just said, 'Oh, my gosh.'''
He was pleased with his performance as he traveled back to the launch, but wasn't sure if it'd be enough to protect the 7-ounce lead he'd started the day with.
"I knew I had a good bag, but I knew the potential for everybody else was big because the main lake is real good when it's windy. I knew it was going to be close, but I was kind of skeptical. Then I got back and saw Kennedy grinning ear to ear and I thought, Oh, no."
Details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
Steve Kennedy had to make some adjustments, but he ended up with a solid bag that landed him a runner-up finish.
2nd: Kennedy not Bummed
Kennedy wasn't too upset by his inability to overtake Roumbanis.
"I feel pretty good," he said. "We weren't able to pull it out, but we put on a good show. We just got beat, and I can handle that.
"I figured if I came in with 16 or 17 pounds, then (Roumbanis) would have to catch them, and he did."
He had an 18-pound limit by 7:30 on day 3, but it took him longer than that to box his first fish today. He didn't get a bite at his starting spot and missed four straight fish at his second stop.
He pulled it together after that, though. He ended up weighing three fish he caught on a jig and two that were enticed by a swimbait. His best one weighed 4-06.
"It was a pretty good day," he surmised. "I had all of that stuff go wrong at the start, but I still ended up catching them."
3rd: Evers Happy
Evers was a little disappointed that he was unable to rally for the win, but was pleased overall.
"It feels good," he said. "I had a good tournament and I'm real happy with what I did.
"I had a great day today – I had a lot of fun and caught a ton of fish. The reason I didn't win was yesterday, when I only caught 11 pounds."
A 5-14 was the best of the 15 or so keepers he caught today.
"I thought I'd catch them a little better than I did this morning, but the afternoon bite was really strong. I caught most of them between 10:00 and 2:00."
Davy Hite had a birthday to remember – a Top-5 finish and a warm reception from the hometown crowd.
4th: Hite got Consolation
Hite badly wanted to win this event – he lived here for the first 30 years of his life – but took some solace in the warm greeting he got from the crowd on his birthday.
"It was pretty special," he said. "I wish it would've turned out just a little bit better, but that's two straight Top 5s (including the previous event at Clarks Hill) and I'll take those in an Elite Series event anytime I can get them."
His undoing was day 2, when he weighed only 10-10.
"I made some bad choices that day and lost four fish in a row. Then I went up and did the exact same thing Fred did to win, but it just didn't work out.
He had a 5-02 and a 4-10 among his 10 keepers today.
"I had a limit both yesterday and today by 10:00. The time between takeoff and 10:00 was always the best, but every day I caught fish throughout the day."
5th: Hallman a Bit Surprised
Hallman finished off his best-ever Elite Series event with his best bag of the tournament.
"I caught them a lot better than I thought I would, but then a got back (to the launch) and realized that other people had caught them, too. I fished a couple of spots that usually had little ones, and I was kind of surprised to find good ones there.
"We'd been beating on the same points for 3 straight days and I didn't know how the fish were going to react today. But I think the bite got stronger with less boat pressure."
He caught about 20 keepers, including a 5-02.
"I had 20 pounds on the line every day, but hooking them and getting them into the boat are two different things here. You've got to figure you're going to land about 50% of the good ones."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 10 limits, 1 four, 1 three.
> Roumbanis wanted to send his best wishes to the family of BASS tournament staffer Chris Bath, who died of an apparent heart attack today. "He was the last person I talked to before I left the launch, and he told me I was going to win," he said. "Then my wife talked to him just a little while before it happened."
> Mike McClelland, who finished 20th here, took over the points lead for the third time this season. He has a 10-point edge over previous leader Todd Faircloth, who ended up 38th. Skeet Reese, who's finished no higher than 9th and no lower than 22nd in any of the six tournaments, is now 3rd. For the updated points standings, click here.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Fred Roumbanis -- Bixby, Okla. -- 20, 66-13 -- 310 -- $101,000
Day 1: 5, 15-04 -- Day 2: 5, 13-02 -- Day 3: 5, 20-09 -- Day 4: 5, 17-14
2. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, Ala. -- 20, 65-04 -- 295 -- $42,000
Day 1: 5, 11-00 -- Day 2: 5, 15-04 -- Day 3: 5, 22-04 -- Day 4: 5, 16-12
3. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 20, 64-13 -- 290 -- $26,000
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 14-10 -- Day 3: 5, 11-10 -- Day 4: 5, 19-04
4. Davy Hite -- Ninety Six, S.C. -- 20, 64-01 -- 285 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 15-03 -- Day 2: 5, 10-10 -- Day 3: 5, 19-04 -- Day 4: 5, 19-00
5. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, Okla. -- 20, 63-05 -- 280 -- $17,000
Day 1: 5, 16-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-04 -- Day 3: 5, 14-01 -- Day 4: 5, 18-04
6. Brian Snowden -- Reeds Spring, Mo. -- 20, 61-12 -- 276 -- $16,500
Day 1: 5, 13-13 -- Day 2: 5, 18-11 -- Day 3: 5, 13-13 -- Day 4: 5, 15-07
7. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 19, 61-08 -- 272 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 17-13 -- Day 2: 5, 12-05 -- Day 3: 4, 13-10 -- Day 4: 5, 17-12
8. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 20, 59-15 -- 268 -- $14,500
Day 1: 5, 12-00 -- Day 2: 5, 14-10 -- Day 3: 5, 16-01 -- Day 4: 5, 17-04
9. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, Ala. -- 19, 56-07 -- 264 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 11-15 -- Day 2: 5, 16-07 -- Day 3: 5, 18-12 -- Day 4: 4, 9-05
10. Dave Wolak -- Wake Forest, N.C. -- 20, 55-04 -- 260 -- $14,500
Day 1: 5, 14-13 -- Day 2: 5, 18-08 -- Day 3: 5, 10-09 -- Day 4: 5, 11-06
11. Ish Monroe -- Hughson, Calif. -- 20, 53-02 -- 257 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 14-01 -- Day 2: 5, 9-15 -- Day 3: 5, 18-00 -- Day 4: 5, 11-02
12. Grant Goldbeck -- Gaithersburg, Md. -- 16, 52-11 -- 259 -- $15,300
Day 1: 5, 20-04 -- Day 2: 5, 14-00 -- Day 3: 3, 10-01 -- Day 4: 3, 8-06
Big Bass
Day 4: Fred Roumbanis -- Bixby, OK -- 6-13 -- $1,000
Day 3: Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 5-14 -- $1,000
Day 2: Dave Wolak -- Wake Forest, NC -- 6-08 -- $1,000
Day 1: Grant Goldbeck -- Gaithersburg, MD -- 8-07 -- $1,000
