Empire Chase, July 31-Aug. 3, Lake Erie/Niagara River tributaries, Buffalo, N.Y.

With more than an 8-pound advantage on the final day, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kotaro Kiriyama of Moody, Ala., capitalized on a successful week of fishing deep and finding bait fish, winning the Empire Chase this past Sunday with 93 pounds, 6 ounces overall for the four-day tournament on Lake Erie and the Niagara River.

Kiriyama's first career victory as a pro earned him a $100,000 first-place prize and included two days' worth of bonuses for Berkley Big Bag honors (25-0 Saturday, 25-9 Sunday) and Purolator Big Bass honors - for a 5-15 smallmouth Saturday and a 5-8 smallmouth Sunday that tied Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, for Big Bass. Kiriyama earned a total of $114,500.

Kiriyama came to America when he was 18 because, he said, his father encouraged him to find a profession that would keep him out of trouble, which he seemed to find in his native Japan as a wily teenager. He dedicated the win to his ailing dad, who was watching Sunday's final weigh-in via the live Webcast on Bassmaster.com.

"He told me to go to America and see what you want to do with your life," Kiriyama recalled. "This is what I want to do."

Kiriyama proved to be amazingly good at catching Lake Erie's smallmouth this week. After a runner-up finish to Edwin Evers a year ago here, the 37-year-old Moody, Ala., resident came back, determined to expand on what he did last year.

And, most important, to do it before time ran out on his father. Kiriyama's father, Takashi, now 65, is terminally ill in Narita, Japan, with stage-four kidney cancer.

"This means everything," Kiriyama said of Sunday's victory, his first in eight years on the BASS tour, where he has recorded four second-place finishes.

Kiriyama turned what had been a close race Friday into a runaway Sunday. On Day Two, he was fourth among five anglers bunched within 1 pound, 10 ounces at the top of the leaderboard.

He began to separate himself from the field Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds. It was the heaviest limit over the last two years of Bassmaster Elite Series competition on Lake Erie.

Sunday, even with the pressure on him, Kiriyama proved to be even better than the day before, earning Berkley Heavyweight Bag honors for the event with five smallmouths weighing 25-9.

Kiriyama used a Jackal drop-shot Crazy Ninja Worm in some of the deepest water of the tournament -- from 30 feet to as much as 80 feet -- to target suspended fish. A crucial component for the Japan native's success was finding bait fish on which the smallmouth were feeding.

PRO DIVISION: 1, Kotaro Kiriyama, Moody, Ala., 20 fish, 93 pounds, 6 ounces, $114,500; 2, Aaron Martens, Leeds Ala., 20 fish, 85-1, $30,000; 3, Edwin Evers, Talala, Okla., 20 fish, 84-8, $25,000; 4, John Murray, Phoenix, Ariz., 20 fish, 79-14, $18,000; 5, Michael Iaconelli, Runnemede, N.J., 20 fish, 79-7, $18,000; 6, Todd Faircloth, Jasper, Texas, 20 fish, 77-11, $16,000; 7, Gary Klein, Weatherford, Texas, 20 fish, 73-10, $15,000; 8, Shaw E. Grigsby, Gainesville, Fla., 20 fish, 73-8, $14,500; 9, Glenn DeLong, Bellville, Ohio, 20 fish, 73-3, $14,000; 10, Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, 20 fish, 71-12, $15,500; 11, Rick Morris, Virginia Beach, Va., 20 fish 71-1, $12,500; 12, Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 20 fish, 70-4, $12,300

TOP N.C. ANGLER: 28, Marty Stone, Fayetteville, 15 bass, 49-11, $10,000

NON-BOATER DIVISION: 1, Tim Creighton, Buffalo, N.Y., nine fish, 38 pounds, 14 ounces, $25,500; 2, Marcos Malucelli, Fort Mill, S.C., nine fish, 35-5, $10,000; 3, Dave Elder, Tuscaloosa, Ala., nine fish, 34-12, $5,500; 4, Craig Daino, Central Square, N.Y., nine fish, 34-0, $3,500; 5, Marlon Whoolery, Fairchance, Pa., nine fish, 33-0, $3,000; 6, Mike McGrath, Niagara Falls, N.Y., nine fish, 32-14, $2,500; 7, Scott Kahabka, Batavia, N.Y., nine fish, 32-7, $2,250; 8, David Ottman, Oswego, N.Y., nine fish, 32-6, $2,000; 9, George Acord, Lancaster, Pa., nine fish, 32-1, $1,750; 10, Larry Butler, New Haven, Vt., nine fish, 32-0, $1,500; 11, Larry Triplett, Parker, Co., nine fish, 31-13, $1,250; 12, Joe Lucarelli, New Hampton, N.H., nine fish, 31-9, $1,000.

TOP N.C. CO-ANGLER: none

TV: 9 a.m. Saturday, ESPN2

ELITE SERIES SCHEDULE: Thursday-Sunday, Champion's Choice, Oneida Lake, Syracuse, N.Y.

BASSMASTER OPENS SCHEDULE (qualifying series): Southern Open Division, Oct. 16-18, Lake Guntersville, Guntersville, Ala. Central Open Division, Sept. 25-27, Kentucky Lake, Paris, Tenn.; Oct. 30-Nov. 1, Lake Texoma, Denison, Texas

INFORMATION: (407) 566-2208, www.bassmaster.com

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