Velvick Bests the Rest at Wildcard Qualifier
Today the 2007 Wildcard Qualifier wrapped up resulting in 10 more anglers qualifying for the 2008 Elite Series field. The event took place on Lake Okeechobee in Florida. With a little over a 1 lb lead going into the third and final day, Byron Velvick of Del Rio, Texas claimed the victory with a three day total of 40.08 lbs.
Velvick, who did not qualify for the 2008 Elites through the 2007 regular season standings, needed to place in the top 10 to regain entry for the 2008 Series.
After sharing most of the same water on days 1 and 2 with second place finisher Keith Phillips, the two were forced to move to their back-up areas on day 3 due to weekend warrior pressure in the same area. Velvick’s fall back areas proved more productive than Phillips as Velvick caught 11.0 to Phillips 9.13 lbs. Velvick’s caught his fish using a Gambler worm, Berkley Power worm, River2Sea Tungsten Vibe , and a Bill Lewis Ratt-L-Trap. Velvicks most productive lure of the bunch was his worms in a Redbug color.
Even though the 10 qualifiers have gained entry into the 2008 Elite Series, they still have a limited amount of time to come up with a deposit and payment for the events. Most anglers will try and put together a team of sponsors to back them financially, others may take the loan route in hopes of winning enough money throughout the season to pay-off their loan and accrue enough to compete the following year. If they do not qualify for the 2009 season, chances are they didn’t do well enough to make the money they needed ultimately eliminating them from the equation of competing in 2009 anyway. BASS will release the final 2008 Elite Series Field in mid December. Stay posted to GettingReel.com as updates become available.
10 who Qualified for the 2008 Elite Series:
Byron Velvick
Keith Phillips
John Cox
Corey Waldrop
Elton Luce Jr.
Wade Grooms
Rick Ash
Randy Allen
David Sherrer
Bobby Myers
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POSTED IN: BASS, BASS Elite Series, BASS Opens, Miscellaneous
2 opinions for Velvick Bests the Rest at Wildcard Qualifier
Rich
Dec 1, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Looks like Mary finally knocked some sense into Byron ;) LOL!
http://bassinblog.richlindgren.com
Leo
Dec 2, 2007 at 4:26 pm
I had a buddy who’s wife got p’d at him one day so she started to kick over and stomp on all off his tackle boxes. She then picked up one of his CB’s and threw it at him. His triple grip hook stuck into his eyelid past the barb. Don’t ask! Two days later he fished a small open on Lake Harris and won. Maybe I should go have a horse kick me in the balls before every one of my tournaments.
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