Biffle takes PAA series win with signature bait
BY KELLY BOSTIAN World Outdoors Writer
Sunday, September 16, 2012
9/16/12 at 6:47 AM
Chalk up another major tournament win for Tommy Biffle and his signature creature bait.
The veteran BASS Elite Series pro from Wagoner again eclipsed a field of some of the top anglers in the country on waters near his hometown as he collected top prize in the final Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series of the season, held on the Arkansas River out of Three Forks Harbor near Muskogee.
With 14.12 pounds Thursday, 16.37 on Friday and another 15.96 Saturday, which included the big bass of the day at 4.25 pounds, Biffle's performance totaled 15 fish for 46.45 pounds. He said he caught every fish on a Gene Larew Biffle Bug in a black and blue color known as Blackberry Sapphire. The win netted Biffle a $1,250 cash prize and a Nitro-Mercury boat-motor package worth more than $40,000.
Former Elite pro Mark Tyler of Vian climbed through the ranks each day to come closest, but in second place with 38.75 pounds even he was 7.7 pounds short of Biffle's mark.
Tyler moved to Vian from Arizona seven years ago and recently has taken time off the pro tour. He said he's getting some businesses established and plans to get back on the full circuit again in a year or two. The break from full-time touring hasn't dampened his skills. "I would have liked to have won this one," he said. "I fished against Tommy in the Bassmaster Elite Series for 10 years ... I've beat him many times but he's beat me more, and he's very good here. He's a local boy."
Indeed the conditions suited Biffle, who is widely recognized as a master when it comes to flipping baits and pulling bass out from around brush in shallow muddy waters.
Biffle hit the same area off the Arkansas River all three days, he said. Reaching the productive waters required a long slow idle to get around all the stumps and other shallow-water obstacles to the area that held the fish. He even had a friend follow him today, just in case. "It's miles long," he said. "You can idle for an hour or you can idle 40 minutes and run some - if you're feeling lucky."
He started the day with a couple of missed strikes. "I lost a 3 (pounder) and a four," he said. "I thought. 'Oh no, not today.' "
He said the first fish came off the hook as he pulled it up through heavy brush, the second was on the line until it surfaced and "kind of wallered" and slipped the hook. Still, he managed to top off his live well with five good fish by mid-day. "I had a good day, I culled several times," he said.
Several anglers commented on the tentative bites of fish, among them Park Hill pro Jason Christie, who finished in fifth place with 35.19 pounds, and longtime Texas pro Harold Allen who has more than 35 years on tour. "This fish just got so finicky," he told a crowd of roughly 200 gathered outside Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow for the finale.
The legendary worm fisherman said he used a 4-inch worm and consistently got bites, but not necessarily fights. "You feel the bite on a worm this long? They don't have any hands, they bit it, you know it's in their mouth," he said.
Biffle's answer was to find fish around stumps on Thursday. Friday he said he added a rattle to his bait and found fish "under anything viney hanging in the water." Saturday the rattle wasn't needed. "They were in that stuff early but later on they were on the laydowns," he said. "If you got on a laydown you'd pick 'em up off of that."
Day 3 Pro Angler Results
| Tourney |
|
No. |
Big Bass |
Total |
total
|
| 1. |
Tommy Biffle |
5 |
4.25 |
15.96 |
46.45
|
| 2. |
Mark Tyler |
5 |
|
12.64 |
38.75
|
| 3. |
Mark Rose |
5 |
|
12.51 |
38.64
|
| 4. |
Steve Kennedy |
5 |
|
11.47 |
36.61
|
| 5. |
Jason Christie |
5 |
4.20 |
12.93 |
35.19
|
| 6. |
Greg Vinson |
5 |
3.90 |
11.02 |
32.67
|
| 7. |
Chris Jones |
5 |
|
8.41 |
31.96
|
| 8. |
Harold Allen |
5 |
|
8.30 |
30.75
|
| 9. |
David Hendrick |
3 |
|
5.36 |
26.25
|
| 10. |
Mike McClelland |
1 |
|
2.51 |
25.68
|
PAA Series Angler of the Year
Final Standings
Total points
|
| 1. |
Gary Clouse |
486.52
|
| 2. |
Steve Kennedy |
465.70
|
| 3. |
Mark Rose |
461.54
|
| 4. |
Greg Vinson |
461.31
|
| 5. |
Mike McClelland |
460.55
|
| 6. |
Gary Yamamoto |
450.78
|
| 7. |
John Crews |
446.27
|
| 8. |
Matt Reed |
443.80
|
| 9. |
Russ Lane |
440.19
|
| 10. |
Bobby Lane |
414.56
|
Original Print Headline: Biffle takes PAA series win
Kelly Bostian, 918-581-8357
kelly.bostian@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Wagoner angler Tommy Biffle holds the PAA Tournament Series trophy Saturday at the final weigh-in outside Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow. KELLY BOSTIAN/Tulsa World
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