Southern Challenge 6/5
-8/2008
Wheeler Lake, Ala.
Battle on the Border 4/10 - 13 /2008
Lake Amistad — Del Rio, Texas
There is a Keelshield Boat there somewhere!
Lone Star Shootout
4/03 - 06 /2008
Falcon Lake — Zapata, Tx.
Co-angler Lawrence Siefert holds the weigh-in bag for his
Elite Series partner on Day One (04/03/08), Ray Sedgwick.
Sedgwick finished in 37th place with 77 pounds, 9 ounces
Citrus
Slam 3/13 - 16 /2008
Kissimmee Chain — Lake Wales, Fla.
Sedgwick second in Bassmaster event
The Post and Courier
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Ray Sedgwick said last week's runner-up finish in the Bassmaster Elite Citrus
Slam has him fired up. Sedgwick finished 1 pound and 11 ounces behind Kevin Van
Dam in the event held on Florida's Harris Chain of Lakes.
Sedgwick, who owns Canal Lakes Resort in Cross, wasn't the only Lowcountry
angler to enjoy a good finish in the event. Rookie Wade Grooms of Bonneau
finished 13th, just eight ounces out of making the top 12 anglers who fish the
final day. Sedgwick earned $32,000, while Grooms pocketed $10,800.
After two Elite Series tournaments this season, Sedgwick is 15th in the
angler of the year standings and looking toward a great season.
"A good start keeps you motivated, keeps your fired up, makes you want
to get your behind out of bed on a rainy morning," said Sedgwick, who has
qualified for three Bassmaster Classics during his career.
"After the mid-part of the season, if you're not in the running you
kinda go through the motions to get the season finished out. You feel the goals
you're striving for are so out of reach, it makes it difficult to get motivated.
"Now, so many doors are open. You're looking at qualifying for the
Classic, a possible shot at the angler of the year. There are so many bonuses in
reach instead of being in the middle of the pack, where I've been the last four
or five years."
Sedgwick (www.raysedgwickfishing.com)
said patience was a big key in the event.
"The tournament far exceeded my expectations from what practice
showed," he said. "I had 50 bites a day in practice but never caught a
fish over two pounds. It was a fun practice, but I couldn't get the big bite.
Fortunately, I caught a bigger fish and that locked me into an area that had
bigger fish."
Among the lures he used to catch his fish were Zoom Z-Nail, Yamamoto and
Senko worms and a Spro Aruka Shad.
"Everyone else was buzzing through the area," Sedgwick said.
"I'm just not a slow fisherman, and that was painfully slow."
Sedgwick jumped to third on Day Three of the tournament with an 18-4 total,
including a big bass of 7-7 that earned him $1,000. His final-day catch of 11-8
was the top weight of the final day, earning him another $1,000 bonus, but not
enough to overtake Van Dam. He said he lost a 4-pound fish that morning that
would have boosted him into first place, but it wasn't something he did or
didn't do.
"The fish just came off," he said. "I got it close enough to
the surface to see it, then it came off."
Grooms said he was happier about Sedgwick's finish than his own strong
showing. He said Sedgwick has been a big help in his fledgling career.
"I lost a 6-pounder that would have gotten me into the final 12, but I
feel sorrier for Ray because he lost a 4-pounder," Grooms said.
Grooms, who finished 106th in the opening event this year, said he has a
strong prayer support group at home who keep him motivated.
"There's a big mental side to this sport," he said. "If you
don't think you can catch fish you probably won't. A finish like this one puts
you in the right mental frame of mind. You know you're capable of doing it. It's
the nature of the sport, that you're going to have ups and downs. I don't get
too down when I finish low, and not that high from finishing at the cut. I know
it's a roller coaster."
Unlike Sedgwick, who has a full contingent of sponsors including Triton,
Mercury and Keelshield, Grooms is still looking for sponsorship. He said it's
difficult to break in, but this week's finish opened some doors.
"I'm 54th in points of 109 anglers, and of the 10 rookies, after having
the worst finish I've had the best fish," Grooms said. "So I'm right
in the middle of the pack of the standings and I'm in the middle of the pack of
rookies."
Sedgwick and Grooms both head out later this week for two-tournament trip to
Texas. They fish on Falcon Lake in Zapata April 3-6, then travel to Lake Amistad
in Del Rio April 10-13.
Reach Tommy Braswell at (843) 937-5591 or e-mail braswell@postandcourier.com.
2nd
Place: Ray Sedgwick
A journeyman pro, Ray Sedgwick has competed in over 150 BASS tournaments in a
career that has spanned over a decade; however, a second place at the Citrus
Slam is the best finish he’s posted in Elite Series competition. “I had no
clue I would be where I finished,” Sedgwick revealed.
“In practice, I could catch 50 fish and not have one of them be better than
two pounds, so I was thinking that eight pounds would be the best bag I could
muster.”
Coming out of the gaits with over 17-and-a-half pounds, Ray was consistently
able to get the right bite at the right time…until Sunday. “I was really
hoping to be able to come from behind and win this thing today,” he said. “I
never got a big bite today though.
“I think I lost a four pounder –
and that would have made a little difference – but I just never got hooked up
with a quality kicker. In the end, that’s what cost me.”
The area that Sedgwick had relied on all week was un-fishable
on the final day due to the winds that raged the small area and turned it into a
mud-filled flat. “My best water was just trashed overnight from the wind,”
Ray allowed. “I had to scramble around, and really just go fishing. I’m
tickled to have what I do because I didn’t like my chances before lunch.”
Unlike VanDam, who relied on one primary bait all week, Sedgwick mixed it up
from day to day. “The first day I threw an Aruku Shad, the second day I
switched to a Senko,” he said. “On the third I day I threw a spinner bait
around a little, and a Senko a little.”
“No matter what it was though, the real key for
me was slowing down around the pads and grass,” Ray added. “When the wind
was calm, you just had to be super slow.”
In the end, a win would have been
great, but a solid finish in the second tournament is a great cancellation. “I
had a good week and did a lot better than what I expected to do after the
practice that I had,” he said. “After I caught a couple of big fish on the
first day, it really forced me to slow down. Otherwise I might have missed the
whole deal.”
2nd:
Sedgwick Might Have Lost Clincher
For Sedgwick, a lost fish today will likely follow him for a while. He failed to
land a 4-pounder that might have been just enough to edge him past VanDam.
About his finish, he said: "I had a good week. I really did a lot better
than I expected. I could get 50 bites a day in practice, and I swear I never
caught a fish over 2 pounds. "I just started fishing real slow, and when I
caught a couple big fish the first day, that slowed me down (even more)."I
just had to mix it up because the wind blew different each day," he added.
"My water turned to chocolate milk, which made it a lot tougher today. And
I lost one 4-pound fish that'll probably haunt me. But everybody loses fish.
That's the nature of it." About his finish, he said: "I'm tickled to
death to finish where I finished. If you've got to get beat, at least I got beat
by the best. My hat's off to Kevin. He's just an incredible fisherman to do it
repeatedly over and over. I have to commend him for the angler that he is. He's
definitely the best."
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