Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Murray, Lexington, S.C.
March 15-18
Don’t tell me they’re not athletes … Pro angler Koby Krieger of Osceola, Ind., the fourth-place finisher at Lake Murray, was placekicker for Indiana State University’s Division I football team back in his college era. But his glory days are still in front of him: he placed fourth at Lake Murray and even led the field going into the final day. It was the second final-five appearance of his young FLW career.
Throwing a wildcard … JM Associates, the production company that creates the Wal-Mart FLW television program for ESPN, and Operation Bass decided to test a new format for the exciting final-five pro weigh-in on day four in Lexington. A wildcard angler was added to the usual fish-by-fish shoot-out format of the weigh-in. First, the four day-three anglers in second through fifth place weighed their fish. Then, the winner of that shoot-out went head-to-head with the wildcard, which was the leader from day three, Kreiger. In Lexington, Kreiger faced Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas, in the head-to-head, but couldn’t muster enough bass to top Wendlandt’s weight of 14-6. Look for the wildcard format to continue heightening the thrill of upcoming FLW weigh-ins.
A weight worth the wait … Fifth-place co-angler Doug Caldwell of Kane, Pa., did not catch a fish on the first day of competition. In fact, he didn’t catch anything until the end of the second day when he hit on a ravenous cluster of bass shortly before weigh-in. He caught over 14 pounds of fish in five minutes, including day two’s big bass at 8-4. Said Caldwell, “Like they say, it ain’t over `til the fat guy quits casting.”
And the Saint Angler award goes to … Pro Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas. On day three, the top-10 finalist released a hefty five-pound bass immediately after he caught it. The fish would have fit nicely into his stringer for the day, but Klein let him go after he apparently hooked him by the gills. FLW rules state that, while sight fishing, a fish hooked anywhere but by the mouth must be released. Tape replay showed that Klein’s hook location was borderline between the mouth and the gills. An honest fisherman, Klein let him go. “You know, the PGA players have to police themselves. I figured we better do the same thing,” he said.
First time for Mom … The mother of young pro phenom Scott Martin, Mary Ann Martin of Clewiston, Fla., caught her first-ever five-fish stringer in an FLW tournament on day one at Lake Murray. At the weigh-in, the effusive co-angler thanked her pro partner for the day, Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C., saying, “I had the greatest partner in the world. He let me work on one fish for an hour.” Asked if she caught the pesky Pisces, Martin gushed, “Darn right I did!” Martin placed fifth in the Co-Angler Division that day and finished in 12th for the tourney.
The firsts were flyin’ … Also on day one, lady pro Shirley Crain of Van Buren, Ark., snagged her first limit of fish on the FLW Tour. Congrats to both her and Martin.
They will survive … While FLW Lake Murray saw a lot of full stringers weighed in during the tourney – a total of 1,302 bass for 4,601 pounds – the anglers and Operation Bass event staff did a bang-up job getting those fish back in the water alive. Only one fish was lost to the great lake in the sky. In three tournaments this year, it was the first fish Operation Bass has lost. That puts the survival rate for fish caught in FLW tournaments this year at 99.97 percent. Operation Bass consistently maintains a 98-percent live release rate.
Stat of the tournament:
Three of the final five pro anglers at Lake Murray won FLW tournaments last year. Mickey Bruce won at Lake Lanier near Atlanta, Gary Klein took the Mississippi River tourney near Memphis, and Clark Wendlandt won at Beaver Lake near Bentonville, Ark. Wendlandt also took the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title in 1997. Not too shabby.
Sound bite of the tournament:
“Not really. It all goes into the same account anyway.”
– Co-angler finalist Mary Parnell, who took home $1,800 for eighth place, when asked if she and her co-angler husband, Rick, are competitive during tournament time.