The 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series season hasn't been a great one for Mississippi veteran Paul Elias, but it's had its high points. There was a 6th-place finish at Guntersville and two others in the 20s in six events, and he has a chance to qualify for his first Bassmaster Classic since 2004.



A berth in next February's event in New Orleans is a significant goal for the man who won the sport's premier derby way back in 1982.

"I really want to make it, but it's like I've been fighting myself and trying not to make it," he said. "I'm trying as hard as I can, but I keep doing stupid stuff."

The less-than-brilliant actions he referred to actually boil down to a single concept – he's failed to capitalize on a lot of the bites he's generated this year.

"I'm losing a lot of fish and my mechanics are terrible getting fish in the boat. There's a few where I might've made a mistake, but I think it's mostly just been bad luck. I had an opportunity to win at Guntersville, but I lost way too many fish on crankbaits."

Not Far to Climb

Elias will go into this week's event at Kentucky Lake at No. 42 in the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year (AOY) race. The Top 36 will qualify to fish at New Orleans, and the number will go to 37 in the highly likely event that defending champion Kevin VanDam stays within the cutoff.

He's headed to a venue that's treated him extremely well on his last two visits – he was 16th last year and 5th in 2008. He's still as good as anybody in the game when it comes to fishing deep structure, and that's always the ticket at Kentucky Lake in June.

"I've been on schools of fish there several times that were good enough to win, but I've managed to blow it somehow," he said. "When you go there this time of year it's always a ledge-fest and a slugfest and you've got to convert on those big fish. It's hard to catch 25 pounds a day if you don't boat every big one that bites.

"There've been times that I probably should've put down the crankbait and fished with a single-hook bait – a big spinnerbait, a swimbait, a jig or a worm – but I was getting so many bites on the crankbait and it seemed that was what the bigger fish wanted. If I throw something with a single hook out there, I usually boat them.

"I have plenty of confidence there and I was on enough fish to contend last year," he added. "(Winner Bobby Lane) caught a lot of good fish, but I blew it the first day when I lost back-to-back 6- or 7-pounders. And I didn't even lose those on a crankbait – they were on a single hook. It was just unfortunate."

Plans to Stay Around Awhile

Elias, who's in his 29th year as a tour pro, is older (59) than the vast majority of Elite Series anglers. But he's 11 years younger than his travel partner, Guy Eaker.

Eaker has said that this will probably be his final campaign, so Elias, who plans to fish at least another 5 years, could have a different road routine in 2011. His six children are all adults, so wife Barbara will likely accompany him on most trips.

"I don't think about (retirement) that much," he said. "I don't like the path the tour has taken with the high entry fees – I don't agree with it – but I'd like to stay at it for awhile."

His current focus is on the current campaign and trying to qualify for his 15th Classic. After Kentucky Lake, it'll be on to the Arkansas River in Oklahoma, and faring well in that one will likely require an exceptional effort.

"My track record on the Arkansas River isn't real good, but I'm hoping to change things there. If I can get a Top 20 at Kentucky Lake, I'll have a good opportunity to make the Classic at that last event. I'll have to discipline myself to get in those backwaters and fish shallow because that's how it's going to be won.

"I don't like getting in crowds and fishing shallow targets that everybody's beating on. I have a hard time with that, but I'm just going to have to fall in there and do it."

Notable

> Elias finished 9th in the 2001 Classic at New Orleans. "It was a shallow deal, but it was a fun deal – I got lots of bites and caught a lot of fish. Unless a hurricane messes things up, it should take a lot of weight to win that tournament."

> He said he hooked seven 5-pound-plus fish on day 2 at Guntersville this year and lost every one of them. "It starts to play on your mind really bad and that day my marshal didn't show up, so I was by myself. I was really frustrated and I didn't have anybody I could vent to."