Faircloth rallies to cash $102,000 pay day

Todd Faircloth of Jasper has quietly evolved into one of professional bass fishing's heaviest hitters. What makes him especially noticeable is his consistency at the plate.

Only 50 guys get paid at the end of a regular season Bassmaster Elite Series tournament. Faircloth has not missed making a pay day in his last nine at bats.

BASS Photo (enlarge photo) Jasper's Todd Faircloth hoists the hardware after winning his second Elite Series event on Amistad.

Since turning pro in 1999, the 32-year old pro has competed in 114 BASS tournaments. He has finished in the money 76 times. All total, his career BASS earnings add up to nearly $800,000 — not bad for a soft spoken country boy who just likes to fish.

Faircloth's most recent windfall came last weekend in Del Rio, where Elite Series pros completed their Texas swing at the Battle on the Border on Lake Amistad. He won the tournament on the heels of a brilliant, come-from-behind performance that saw him leap from ninth place to first with 12 ounces to spare over second-place finisher Clark Reehm.

Originally scheduled for four days, the tournament was cut to three days after predicted high winds forced the cancellation of the opening round.

Faircloth's accumulative weight for three days totaled 76 pounds, 15 ounces. His cut for his second Elite Series win in three seasons: $102,000. The victory also earned Faircloth valuable points that moved him into second-place in the race for the BASS Anglers-of-the-Year points title.

"It is pretty sweet anytime you can win one of these deals," Faircloth said. "But this one was totally unexpected, because I began the day more than eight pounds behind. I went out that last day just hoping to catch enough to make the top five. It never crossed my mind that I could win the tournament."

Other Texans who placed in the top 50 at Amistad: Gary Klein of Weatherford, 6th; Alton Jones, Waco, 16h; Takahiro Omori, Emory, 20th; Brian Clark, Haltom City, 21st; Elton Luce, Brookeland, 24th; and Zell Rowland, Montgomery, 49th.

Del Rio's Billy Fillmon won the co-angler division with six bass over two days that totaled 33 pounds, 1 ounce. BASS reduced the co-angler daily limit from five fish to three in an attempt to reduce livewell crowding and the reduce the potential for fish mortality.

Campbell notches second in WBT event

Waxahachie's Patti Campbell topped the list of Texas pros who earned checks in the Women's Bassmaster Tour event held April 10-12 on Lake Lewisville near Dallas. Campbell finished second just three ounces behind Alabama's Kim Bain, who won the tournament with 27 pounds, 11 ounces.

Other Texas pros who earned checks at Lewisville: Juanita Robinson, Highlands, 10th; Laura Elkins, Amarillo, 11th; Debra Petrowski, 19th; and Bonnie Johnson, Weatherford, 20th.

NWTF survey shows hunting

lands are on the decline

Though hunters are willing to invest large sums of money and vast amounts of time to improve access to quality hunting spots, a survey recently conducted by the National Wild Turkey Federation indicates the amount of private land available for hunting nationwide is on a rapid decline.

More than 3,100 hunters participated in the NWTF's online More Places to Hunt survey. According to NWTF's Joel Pedersen, roughly 75 percent of the respondents said they were hardcore hunters who spend at least 20 days in the field.

"For some time now, we've known that losing access to private property has been a reason hunters quit hunting," Pedersen said. "But we didn't expect the survey to show that 65 percent of hunters had experienced a loss in private hunting spots — which we consider pretty substantial."

Pederson said nearly 20 percent of survey respondents said they had also noticed a decrease in public hunting property. More importantly, the survey results show that hunters are willing to increase efforts to make more places to hunt.

"Sixty percent of the respondents say they don't hunt on public property because they feel it is overcrowded," said Pedersen.