Pipkens Goes Green, Aided By 5-08 Kicker

By Jonathan LePera
Special to BassFan

Chad Pipkens always has a smile on his face, but it might have been just a little wider after weighing in a 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth today that highlighted his 17-15 stringer that has him atop the leaderboard after a soggy day 1 of the Mississippi River Elite Series.

“My style is run-and-gun fishing super specific spots – this isn’t it,” Pipkens said.

Admittedly, he’s out of his comfort zone and he told the weigh-in crowd that he hasn’t the first clue how to crack the code for good ones on the upper Mississippi River. The Michigan native had all largemouth in his bag today.

Less than a pound separated the rest of the top 12. Cliff Pace and Jacob Powroznik both caught 16-14 and were tied for 2nd. Dave Lefebre has 16-09 in 4th while Casey Ashley and Gerald Spohrer each had 16-07 and are tied for 5th.

Here's a look at the initial top 12 (deficit margins from Pipkens are indicated by red numbers in parentheses:

1. Chad Pipkens: 17-15
2 (tie). Cliff Pace: 16-14 (1-01)
2 (tie). Jacob Powroznik: 16-14 (1-01)
4. Dave Lefebre: 16-09 (1-06)
5 (tie). Casey Ashley: 16-07 (1-08)
5 (tie). Gerald Spohrer: 16-07 (1-08)
7. Randall Tharp: 16-06 (1-09)
8 (tie). Cliff Crochet: 16-05 (1-10)
8 (tie). Aaron Martens: 16-05 (1-10)
10. Wesley Strader: 16-04 (1-11)
11. Darrell Ocamica: 16-02 (1-13)
12. Jacob Wheeler: 15-15 (2-00)

Just 6 pounds separates Pipkens from Shaw Grigsby in 81st. At this point, it’s too early to tell how this event is going to shake out. It has all the makings of someone in the top 12 to run away with it or someone at the bottom putting together a monster sack and jumping 50 spots on Friday.

Much of the field is still torn about how the incoming 2 feet of water tonight will further affect the fish. For an angler like John Murray, who ran 50 miles thinking he had found untouched water, he arrived only to find that his area had been blown out, yet still scratched out 14 pounds to land inside the top 50 after day 1.

With Jamie Hartman electing to miss the tournament due to a back injury, the field is 107 anglers this week and 98 of them hauled in limits today.

Todd Faircloth had the better start of the three competitors who have logged previous Elite Series wins at La Crosse. The Texan is tied for 22nd with 15-04. Tommy Biffle and Ott DeFoe are tied for 81st with 11-11. Current Angler of the Year points leader Brent Chapman caught 15-12 and is in 17th.

With more rain forecast through the night, anglers are anticipating rising water conditions tomorrow. Currently, a clearing trend is in the forecast tomorrow through the remainder of the event. How much run-off will make its way into the river is still unknown, but some anglers indicated that the water levels still could rise another several feet before the weekend wraps up.

The field will be reduced to the top 50 after Friday with the top 12 moving on from Saturday to compete Sunday, when the winner will be determined by highest cumulative weight.

Pipkens on Top

> Day 1: 5, 17-15

Pipkens didn’t have the best practice, but he was more than happy to be atop the field, thanks to his big kicker.

He thinks he’s stumbled onto a deal where everything started to look right and between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. he started looking for similar areas that allowed him to improve his weight.

“I feel like I know what they’re holding on, but I don’t know where enough of it is,” he said.

He only caught seven bass today, but they were the right ones.

Tomorrow, he hopes to settle into a current seam and catch a quick limit so that he can slow down and try and expand on what he learned today. What’s worse is that he isn’t particularly familiar with all of the underwater obstructions, so driving around looking for new spots isn’t as easy as it sounds. The last thing he needs is to get stuck or even worse, ding his lower unit.

Knowing that his competitors are barred from checking media reports, he confessed that he’s getting his fish on topwater baits.

He’s sharing a general area with six other boats, but he’s not sure they’ve dialed in on the same deal that he figured out.

2nd (tie): Pace Still Unsure

> Day 1: 16-14

Pace didn’t know what to expect coming into the tournament and that uncertainty hasn’t left him yet.

He’s thankful to be in the position that he’s in and hopes that he can back up today's effort with a strong showing Friday. His first half of the day was the most productive as he spent the remainder trying to test the same pattern in different water.

“This place is changing so much, I don’t see how it can get any worse,” Pace said.

He had plenty of company, too.

“I shared water with more people than I would have liked,” he added.

2nd (tie): Powroznik Flipped and Frogged

> Day 1: 5, 16-14

Having grown up fishing the James River under the tutelage of former Classic champion Woo Daves, Powroznik is more of a river rat than he’s given credit for.

“I know what they do when the water gets 2 feet higher like it's forecasted to do by tomorrow,” Powroznik said.

He thinks he’s stumbled onto something important. In practice, once he started testing out his theory, he got 10 bites in 3 hours. He’s starting to dial in the very small, specific areas that they are holding in.

“It’s just gonna be a deal where I am going to go fishing,” he said.

He figures he cycled through a couple dozen keepers. After he put together a 16-pound limit, he left his best area.

“If you can put together 16 pounds a day every day of this tourney, you are going to be holding the blue trophy at the end,” he said.

He’s flipping and frogging for largemouth and picking off smallmouth with a crankbait along current breaks. He never saw a boat all day.

4th: Lefebre Has Secret Area

> Day 1: 5, 16-09

Lefebre could be onto something special, but like everyone else, his program is dependent on how much water comes into the system and how the fish in his areas react to it.

He caught a 5-pound largemouth on both Monday and Tuesday during practice.

“I have a really good area all to myself. I was boat 98 and I didn’t hear a motor or see a boat all day,” he said.

Lefebre sounded exhausted after what he described as a “grueling day." Normally, he likes to run and gun so he was a little out of his element when he dropped his trolling motor and vacuumed water for the day.

He believes that the area he’s found could be one of the least affected as the water continues to rise, as forecasted. It’s an area that has a bunch of quality fish and as the water comes up, he figures more will move in, as it is protected.

After catching 10 bass all in the 3-pound rage and culling up with a 3 1/2, he left the area. He figured 20 keepers came into his boat today.

With five rods on his deck, including one with a new bladed jig by Rapala, Lefebre admitted that he’s power-fishing with big line. He sounded confident and content as today was reminiscent of his past victories.

“It’s a good feeling," he said. "All the tournaments that I have won, I’ve been committed to an area like I am here. I like the feeling of not being scatterbrained and now I can settle down and figure them out. I have to keep an open mind because I have no clue how I'm going to catch them day to day.”

5th (tie): Spohrer Found the Mother Lode

> Day 1: 5, 16-07

Spohrer figures he could have sacked 18 pounds if he hadn’t quit fishing once he hit the 16-pound mark.

“I wanted to see how good the rest of the field did before I beat up on my area,” he said. “I stopped fishing because I was satisfied with where I was at and I had to conserve my areas."

He’s working two areas, one is full of limit-getters, plenty of 2- to 2 3/4-ound largemouth to go around. That's where he started today and plans on doing the same tomorrow.

His key area, albeit small, has the quality he believes could lead him to the blue trophy on Sunday. He went into it to upgrade three times today and the left it alone. He has no clue what potential it holds, but if his suspicions are correct, he very well could leap up the leaderboard tomorrow.

He went through the area to see what quality of fish he could get to commit to his frog and shook off 4 or 5 largemouth before finally setting the hook on his biggest largemouth of the day, a 3 1/2-pound chunk.

What’s interesting is that he only got six bites yesterday, but he had 75 bites today and boated 40 keepers.

“For sure, my areas have loaded up today compared to practice,” he said.

He has offshore fish located nearby and he watched anglers grind it out for them today, amassing 12 to 13 pounds. He figures those quality fish he’s found are coming into his area from the grass flats as the water conditions worsen.

“Those fish did what I needed them to do,” he said.

Tomorrow, he knows he might have to beat up on his areas.

“It’s a fish-management game between those two places,” he said. “It could get blown out with the rising muddy water and I’m not sure how it will hold up.”

He did admit to getting one key fish off a tree with a Missile Baits D-Bomb.

76th (tie): Menendez's Water Got Blown Out

> Day 1: 5, 12-06

Mark Menendez knew today was going to be very good or not good at all, and that would be dictated by the current and the weather.

“It wasn’t so much my pattern," he said. "My two very best areas got blown out with eel grass and I could not make a presentation, it was not going to happen. How do you count on that?"

He went through 15 to 18 keepers, but never got a key bite. He’d actually hoped to be able to put together a pretty respectable bag based on what he’d found.

“With the water coming up, it reduced another two of my areas," he added. "I could not fish them due to the wind because it's really hard to stay on a wing dam when the wind is quartering it and you have current coming from 90 degrees the opposite way. I guarantee my fish are right there, I just can’t get any bait down to them because of the current."

He has a big hill to climb to make the 50-cut to get a check, but he’s hopeful he can pull it off.

“It’s a matter of getting two 3-pound bites and a bag with 2 1/2-pounders and you are home. That’s the only way you can make up some ground to cut a check tomorrow,” he said.

92nd: Coulter Never Found his Rhythm

> Day 1: 5, 10-07

Brandon Coulter was fooled by the Mississippi River as well.

“Sometimes you just miss it," he said. "I thought I could catch some smallmouth cranking and that didn’t play out. The stuff I was on, I don’t know if the high water affected it and I just didn’t adjust well. It’s one of those things that I’m just scratching my head. If I knew, I would have done it today.”

What’s worse is he saw the rest of the field catch fish all over the lake and thought he’d have found similar success.

“I caught a couple quick on topwater and thought it was to be a decent day. That just kind of went away for me. I flipped some decent ones but I only had a pair of 2 1/2s and if you only catch two of those on this pond, you aren’t going to do very well."

Notable

> Day 1 stats – 107 anglers, 98 limits, 2 fours, 3 threes, 2 twos, 1 one, 1 zero.

> Kelly Jordon was forced to take a zero for the day when he was more than 15 minutes late to check-in after getting stuck in a lock. He estimated that his bag would’ve registered 12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds.

Day 1 Standings

1. Chad Pipkens -- Lansing, MI -- 5, 17-15 -- 110
Day 1: 5, 17-15

2. Cliff Pace -- Petal, MS -- 5, 16-14 -- 109
Day 1: 5, 16-14

2. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA -- 5, 16-14 -- 109
Day 1: 5, 16-14

4. Dave Lefebre -- Erie, PA -- 5, 16-09 -- 107
Day 1: 5, 16-09

5. Casey Ashley -- Donalds, SC -- 5, 16-07 -- 106
Day 1: 5, 16-07

5. Gerald Spohrer -- Gonzales, LA -- 5, 16-07 -- 106
Day 1: 5, 16-07

7. Randall Tharp -- Port St. Joe, FL -- 5, 16-06 -- 104
Day 1: 5, 16-06

8. Cliff Crochet -- Pierre Part, LA -- 5, 16-05 -- 103
Day 1: 5, 16-05

8. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, AL -- 5, 16-05 -- 103
Day 1: 5, 16-05

10. Wesley Strader -- Spring City, TN -- 5, 16-04 -- 101
Day 1: 5, 16-04

11. Darrell Ocamica -- New Plymouth, ID -- 5, 16-02 -- 100
Day 1: 5, 16-02

12. Jacob Wheeler -- Harrison, TN -- 5, 15-15 -- 99
Day 1: 5, 15-15

13. Clifford Pirch -- Payson, AZ -- 5, 15-14 -- 98
Day 1: 5, 15-14

14. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 5, 15-13 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 15-13

14. Gary Klein -- Mingus, TX -- 5, 15-13 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 15-13

14. Hunter Shryock -- Newcomerstown, OH -- 5, 15-13 -- 97
Day 1: 5, 15-13

17. Brent Chapman -- Lake Quivira, KS -- 5, 15-12 -- 94
Day 1: 5, 15-12

18. Mark Daniels Jr. -- Tuskegee, AL -- 5, 15-09 -- 93
Day 1: 5, 15-09

19. Boyd Duckett -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 15-08 -- 92
Day 1: 5, 15-08

20. Ish Monroe -- Hughson, CA -- 5, 15-06 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 15-06

20. Cliff Prince -- Palatka, FL -- 5, 15-06 -- 91
Day 1: 5, 15-06

22. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 5, 15-04 -- 89
Day 1: 5, 15-04

22. Marty Robinson -- Lyman, SC -- 5, 15-04 -- 89
Day 1: 5, 15-04

22. Jonathon VanDam -- Gobles, MI -- 5, 15-04 -- 89
Day 1: 5, 15-04

25. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 5, 15-03 -- 86
Day 1: 5, 15-03

25. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 5, 15-03 -- 86
Day 1: 5, 15-03

27. Stephen Browning -- Hot Springs, AR -- 5, 15-02 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 15-02

27. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 5, 15-02 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 15-02

27. Takahiro Omori -- Emory, TX -- 5, 15-02 -- 84
Day 1: 5, 15-02

30. Chris Groh -- Spring Grove, IL -- 5, 15-00 -- 81
Day 1: 5, 15-00

30. Chris Lane -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 15-00 -- 81
Day 1: 5, 15-00

32. Josh Bertrand -- San Tan Valley, AZ -- 5, 14-15 -- 79
Day 1: 5, 14-15

32. Michael Iaconelli -- Pitts Grove, NJ -- 5, 14-15 -- 79
Day 1: 5, 14-15

34. Fletcher Shryock -- Dennison, OH -- 5, 14-14 -- 77
Day 1: 5, 14-14

35. Drew Benton -- Panama City, FL -- 5, 14-13 -- 76
Day 1: 5, 14-13

36. Chris Zaldain -- Laughlin, NV -- 5, 14-12 -- 75
Day 1: 5, 14-12

37. Matt Lee -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 14-11 -- 74
Day 1: 5, 14-11

38. Justin Lucas -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 14-10 -- 73
Day 1: 5, 14-10

39. Alton Jones -- Lorena, TX -- 5, 14-09 -- 72
Day 1: 5, 14-09

40. Dustin Connell -- Clanton, AL -- 5, 14-08 -- 71
Day 1: 5, 14-08

40. Alton Jones Jr. -- Waco, TX -- 5, 14-08 -- 71
Day 1: 5, 14-08

42. Randy Howell -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 14-07 -- 69
Day 1: 5, 14-07

43. Greg Vinson -- Wetumpka, AL -- 5, 14-06 -- 68
Day 1: 5, 14-06

44. Russ Lane -- Prattville, AL -- 5, 14-03 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 14-03

44. Keith Poche -- Pike Road, AL -- 5, 14-03 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 14-03

44. Bradley Roy -- Lancaster, KY -- 5, 14-03 -- 67
Day 1: 5, 14-03

47. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 5, 14-00 -- 64
Day 1: 5, 14-00

47. John Murray -- Spring City, TN -- 5, 14-00 -- 64
Day 1: 5, 14-00

49. Mike McClelland -- Bentonville, AR -- 5, 13-15 -- 62
Day 1: 5, 13-15

50. Jared Lintner -- Arroyo Grande, CA -- 5, 13-14 -- 61
Day 1: 5, 13-14

51. Jeff Kriet -- Ardmore, OK -- 5, 13-11 -- 60
Day 1: 5, 13-11

52. Brian Snowden -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 5, 13-10 -- 59
Day 1: 5, 13-10

53. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, CA -- 5, 13-09 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 13-09

53. James Elam -- Tulsa, OK -- 5, 13-09 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 13-09

53. Shin Fukae -- Palestine TX -- 5, 13-09 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 13-09

53. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 5, 13-09 -- 58
Day 1: 5, 13-09

57. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 5, 13-08 -- 54
Day 1: 5, 13-08

57. Brandon Palaniuk -- Hayden, ID -- 5, 13-08 -- 54
Day 1: 5, 13-08

57. Jake Whitaker -- Fairview, NC -- 5, 13-08 -- 54
Day 1: 5, 13-08

60. Bobby Lane Jr. -- Lakeland, FL -- 5, 13-07 -- 51
Day 1: 5, 13-07

61. Rick Morris -- Lake Gaston, VA -- 5, 13-05 -- 50
Day 1: 5, 13-05

62. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 5, 13-04 -- 49
Day 1: 5, 13-04

63. Bill Lowen -- Brookville, IN -- 5, 13-03 -- 48
Day 1: 5, 13-03

64. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 13-02 -- 47
Day 1: 5, 13-02

65. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 5, 13-01 -- 46
Day 1: 5, 13-01

66. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 5, 12-15 -- 45
Day 1: 5, 12-15

67. Brett Hite -- Phoenix, AZ -- 5, 12-14 -- 44
Day 1: 5, 12-14

68. Robbie Latuso -- Gonzales, LA -- 5, 12-10 -- 43
Day 1: 5, 12-10

68. Jordan Lee -- Grant, AL -- 5, 12-10 -- 43
Day 1: 5, 12-10

70. Micah Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 5, 12-09 -- 41
Day 1: 5, 12-09

70. Tim Horton -- Muscle Shoals, AL -- 5, 12-09 -- 41
Day 1: 5, 12-09

72. Tyler Carriere -- Youngsville, LA -- 5, 12-08 -- 39
Day 1: 5, 12-08

73. Brandon Card -- Knoxville, TN -- 5, 12-07 -- 38
Day 1: 5, 12-07

73. Seth Feider -- Bloomington, MN -- 5, 12-07 -- 38
Day 1: 5, 12-07

73. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 5, 12-07 -- 38
Day 1: 5, 12-07

76. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 5, 12-06 -- 35
Day 1: 5, 12-06

76. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 5, 12-06 -- 35
Day 1: 5, 12-06

78. Roy Hawk -- Lk Havasu Cty, AZ -- 5, 12-03 -- 33
Day 1: 5, 12-03

79. Morizo Shimizu -- Osaka, Japan -- 5, 12-02 -- 32
Day 1: 5, 12-02

80. Kyle Monti -- Okeechobee, FL -- 5, 12-01 -- 31
Day 1: 5, 12-01

81. Shaw Grigsby Jr. -- Gainesville, FL -- 5, 11-15 -- 30
Day 1: 5, 11-15

82. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 5, 11-13 -- 29
Day 1: 5, 11-13

83. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, OK -- 5, 11-11 -- 28
Day 1: 5, 11-11

83. Ott DeFoe -- Blaine, TN -- 5, 11-11 -- 28
Day 1: 5, 11-11

85. Fred Roumbanis -- Russellville, AR -- 5, 11-08 -- 26
Day 1: 5, 11-08

85. Bill Weidler -- Helena, AL -- 5, 11-08 -- 26
Day 1: 5, 11-08

87. Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 5, 11-05 -- 24
Day 1: 5, 11-05

88. Jesse Wiggins -- Cullman, AL -- 5, 11-04 -- 23
Day 1: 5, 11-04

89. Scott Rook -- Little Rock, AR -- 5, 11-03 -- 22
Day 1: 5, 11-03

90. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 4, 11-03 -- 21
Day 1: 4, 11-03

91. Kelley Jaye -- Dadeville, AL -- 5, 10-14 -- 20
Day 1: 5, 10-14

92. Brandon Coulter -- Knoxville, TN -- 5, 10-07 -- 19
Day 1: 5, 10-07

93. Edwin Evers -- Talala, OK -- 5, 10-05 -- 18
Day 1: 5, 10-05

94. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 5, 09-15 -- 17
Day 1: 5, 09-15

95. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 5, 09-13 -- 16
Day 1: 5, 09-13

96. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 3, 09-09 -- 15
Day 1: 3, 09-09

97. Bernie Schultz -- Gainesville, FL -- 5, 09-07 -- 14
Day 1: 5, 09-07

98. Andy Montgomery -- Blacksburg, SC -- 5, 09-05 -- 13
Day 1: 5, 09-05

99. Randy Sullivan -- Breckenridge, TX -- 5, 08-14 -- 12
Day 1: 5, 08-14

100. David Fritts -- Lexington, NC -- 3, 08-10 -- 11
Day 1: 3, 08-10

101. Paul Elias -- Laurel, MS -- 5, 08-04 -- 10
Day 1: 5, 08-04

102. Skylar Hamilton -- Dandridge, TN -- 4, 08-04 -- 9
Day 1: 4, 08-04

103. Jason Williamson -- Wagener, SC -- 3, 06-05 -- 8
Day 1: 3, 06-05

104. Rick Clunn -- Ava, MO -- 2, 05-07 -- 7
Day 1: 2, 05-07

105. Adrian Avena -- Vineland, NJ -- 2, 04-02 -- 6
Day 1: 2, 04-02

106. David Walker -- Sevierville, TN -- 1, 02-02 -- 5
Day 1: 1, 02-02

107. Kelly Jordon -- Flint, TX -- 0, 00-00 -- 0
Day 1: 0, 00-00