ELLIJAY, Ga. — Fred Roumbanis feels like he’s back in California, fishing for spotted bass like he did when he was learning to be a tournament bass angler. That’s how much he feels at home on northwest Georgia’s Carters Lake. And it shows. For the second day in a row, Roumbanis caught a limit of spotted bass on a lake that is proving to be extremely stingy for almost everyone else in the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Classic Bracket.
“This is just going back to my roots,” Roumbanis said. “This whole week has been all about what got me into Bassmaster tournaments to begin with, and the Elite Series.
“I actually forgot I was on a whole different lake today than what I grew up fishing. I felt like I was back at Lake Shasta or Oroville or Folsom, fishing for spotted bass. It reminds me of all of them. The way I’m fishing is exactly how I fished there.”
Roumbanis noted that he finished second and won a boat in the 2005 Bassmaster Western Open at Lake Shasta. That money helped fund his entry into the original Elite Series season the next year, where he finished second on Texas’ Lake Amistad in the first-ever Elite Series tournament.
This week, Roumbanis is fishing for a berth in what would be his fifth Bassmaster Classic. The 39-year-old angler, who turns 40 on Nov. 6, has won $1.2 million in B.A.S.S. tournaments. There’s a California connection to Roumbanis being here this week. If fellow California resident Jared Lintner hadn’t won the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Championship last Saturday on Table Rock Lake, Roumbanis would be in Russellville, Ark., where he now calls home. (Lintner, by the way, was third at the Western Open on Shasta in 2005.)
Roumbanis is taking full advantage of the unexpected opportunity. He earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament by catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce yesterday. Wednesday in his three-hour morning session he caught another five-bass limit, although these five weighed only 6-13. However, that still tied for big bag on Day 2.
Roumbanis will go into Thursday’s three-hour afternoon session with a 6-13 lead over 12 th -seeded Scott Rook, who zeroed Wednesday.
“I slowed way down, and I’m not a guy that fishes slow,” said Roumbanis, in mentioning a key to his success. The other key is his Garmin Panoptics Livescope electronics.
“I’ve always been able to use my electronics to see bait and see fish,” he said. “But never before have you been able to see the bait shift, see it change directions and see clouds of bait get punched by a fish. It just lets you know there’s activity.
“Spotted bass can be so finicky. They don’t always eat. But if you can physically watch them eat and see them get into a competition for food, you can throw anything and catch them.
“That’s what I’m paying attention to. When I notice that, I feel like I’m going to get a bite and my confidence goes way up. That’s how I caught every single one of my fish today.”
Roumbanis can’t get much more confident than he is on Carters Lake now. Even though he’s got a big lead over Rook in their match, Roumbanis needs to continue to build on the solid foundation he has laid so far. If he tops Rook Thursday, when the two-day weights are combined, he will face the winner of No. 6-seeded Gerald Swindle and No. 7-seeded Mike McClelland in a six-hour/winner-goes-to-the-Classic match on Friday.
Roumbanis has been smiling since he got to Carters Lake. That grin didn’t wane one bit Wednesday. He feels like he’s living a dream – a California dream.