Quick Bites: Wal-Mart Open, FLW Tour Beaver Lake – Day 1

The Wal-Mart Open throws anglers a huge curveball, a rookie makes his mark, and an angler waxes nostalgic about all things Beaver Lake

2007 Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Wal-Mart Open

Rogers, Ark.

Opening round, Thursday

Beaver Lake bafflement … OK, so everyone knew coming in that this year Beaver Lake would fish a whole lot differently than any of the past Wal-Mart Opens. Anglers were also well aware that, unlike past years when the tournament was held in late March or mid-April, a mid-May tourney would force anglers to find quality postspawn patterns instead of the prespawn and sight-fishing patterns that usually dominate. However, the one thing anglers didn’t count on was finding a bite so difficult that the entire field would nearly set a record for day-one Beaver Lake futility. So what exactly happened out there on the water today? Let’s hear it from the anglers themselves. “Most of the fish are suspended right now,” said FLW Tour pro and perennial top-10 Beaver Lake finisher Clark Wendlandt. “Usually, with these types of conditions, you can catch them on topwater baits. But it’s just not working. And I’m not sure why. It just is. I really don’t know what’s going on.” FLW Tour pro Kevin Vida also finished the day scratching his head. “It’s crazy,” said Vida. “The bass are in postspawn mode and transitioning to their summer spots, but they’re really acting weird. They’re not really biting, just flashing at the baits. They’re also starting to school and heading to deep river channels, but the bite is really tough right now. I was fishing slowly today, but that didn’t work. So tomorrow I’m going to try and fish really fast and hope to get some reaction strikes. I can’t make them eat anything, so I might as well try to make them react.”

Beaver Lake 1, anglers 0 … Just how tough was it out there today? In total, only eight pros caught 11 pounds or more, two pros landed 12-pound-plus stringers, and only day-one leader Andy Montgomery netted a catch in the 13-pound range. Last year at this point, anglers had recorded five stringers over 14 pounds, three in the 15-pound range and even one 16-pound bag. In total, anglers weighed in 35 stringers greater than 10 pounds in 2006, compared to 20 this year. Want more evidence of a tough bite? Even though pro Steve Redding of Plano, Texas, landed a five-fish limit, it only weighed in at a measly 4 pounds, 8 ounces. Forty-three anglers caught two fish or less, while an 8-pound-plus stringer was good enough to make it into the top 25.

Attention all pros, Montgomery has arrived … By any measure, Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., had a 2006 season that most anglers can only dream about. As a co-angler on the FLW Tour that year, Montgomery recorded four finishes sixth place or better (including a second-place overall finish at the 2006 FLW Tour championship). He finished in the top 20 in five of seven events and also walked away with the 2006 FLW Tour Co-angler of the Year title. So, after storming through the Co-angler Division in 2006, Montgomery decided to turn pro in 2007. And if the day-one results on Beaver Lake are any indication, it was a wise choice. Using a catch of 13 pounds, 11 ounces, Montgomery found himself squarely in first place, nearly a full pound ahead of his nearest pro competitor. In short, if the South Carolina native keeps it up, FLW Tour pros aren’t going to forget the name Montgomery anytime soon.

From Beaver Lake with love … While many pros have varying degrees of sentimentality upon returning to Beaver Lake, arguably nobody has as much cause for nostalgia as FLW Tour pro Chad Grigsby. “The Wal-Mart Open is very special to me,” said Grigsby. “I started my career here, and I met my wife (Bridget) here.” As it turns out, Beaver Lake had one more gift for Grigsby during today’s events – offering up enough fish to allow the BFGoodrich Tires pro to land in the top 20 and continue his quest for a Wal-Mart Open title and first-place payday of $200,000.

For the birds … While most anglers were struggling out on the water today, FLW Tour pro Chip Harrison was busy making new friends – of the fine, feathered variety. “I saw my partner laughing at me and I said, `What are you laughing at?’ He said, `I’m laughing about the goose that is going to be sitting in your boat.’ So I look over, and there is a goose sitting on the back of my boat. So I gave him four Pringles, and then he flew away.”

Quick numbers:

1: Total number of limits caught weighing over 13 pounds by full field of 402 anglers.

2: Total number of limits caught in the 12-pound range by full field.

8: Total number of limits caught greater than 11 pounds by field.

1,181-6: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, caught by pros during opening day of competition.

135: Total number of five-bass limits caught by total of 402 pros and co-anglers.

200: Total prize money, in thousands of dollars, to be awarded to first-place pro after Sunday’s weigh-in.

0: Total limits over 10 pounds caught by co-anglers.

Sound bites:

“Fishing is tough, obviously. But it’s one of the best types of tournament to fish, because if you figure out any pattern at all, you’ll have a really good chance to win.” – FLW Tour pro David Walker, commenting on the silver lining behind the extremely difficult fishing conditions on Beaver Lake this week.

“I’d love to see that. I like six digits.” – FLW Tour co-angler Judy Israel, on the very real prospect of surpassing the $100,000 mark in career FLW Outdoors earnings this week.

“Typically, the second day has been a little bit better than me.” – FLW Tour pro Clifford Pirch, hoping to rally on day two in order to keep his top-10 streak alive on Beaver Lake. Pirch, currently in 51st place, has finished in the top 10 at the Wal-Mart Open in each of the last two seasons.

“Beaver Lake is a temperamental lake, and it’s showing it again today.” – FLW Tour co-angler Doug Drummonds, echoing the sentiment of most anglers during day-one weigh-in.

“It’s awesome to be back fishing in my home state.” – FLW Tour co-angler Melinda Mize, on the joys of being able to fish again after coming off a long, hard stint in Iraq as a member of the National Guard.

“They’re die-cast Ranger boats, but if you put them in the water, they turn into full-size Ranger boats.” – FLW Tour pro and television fishing icon Jimmy Houston, joking about the free giveaways offered at Chevy Pro Night.

“It’d be a dream come true.” – FLW Tour pro and current AOY leader Michael Bennett, talking about the prospects of winning the 2007 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title.

“My main thing this week is not to screw up. I really want to go to Hot Springs.” – FLW Tour pro Larry Nixon, talking about the importance of fishing solidly this week in order to stay in the running for one of the automatic invites to the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup, slated for Aug. 2-5.

“I’ll tell you what you need to make the top-10 (cut) tomorrow: nothing short of a miracle.” – FLW Tour host Charlie Evans , teasing perennial Beaver Lake powerhouse Darrel Robertson on his one-fish catch in today’s competition.

Quick notes:

The televised version of this week’s FLW tournament at Beaver Lake can be seen July 1 (part one) and July 8 (part two) at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Fox Sports Net.