Pringle breaks out to early lead
Texas pro opens TTT Championship with division-topping 19 1/2 pounds
MANY, La. – Once Jerry Pringle started popping them, he couldn’t stop. The China Spring, Texas, native overcame a tough opening day of fishing at Toledo Bend Reservoir to catch five bass weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces and lead the Pro Division by over 2 pounds heading into Sunday’s action in the 2001 Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail (TTT) Championship.
It was generally rough going for many competing in the first day of bass action Saturday. Anglers brought in surprisingly few five-fish limits, with just 15 limits on the pro side and four on the co-angler side.
A couple key factors led to the relatively low catch weights today. Anglers had to deal with record-low water levels on Toledo Bend Reservoir as well as contend with heavy weekend fishing pressure here on the east Texas impoundment. At least one other local bass-fishing tournament is being held on the same water this weekend.
Still, a few pros did manage to find some good-sized largemouths. Pringle, a 48-year-old contractor who placed third in the TTT regular-season standings, took advantage of a cluster of early-morning bass feeding in about eight feet of water midway up the lake. Using a crankbait, he caught his limit of fish within 10 minutes of arriving at his location and never looked back.
“That’s how wadded up they are right now,” Pringle said, referring to the low water’s effect on the bass. “The fish are so clustered. All I’m throwing is moving baits.”
His quick limit put him convincingly ahead of the next-closest pro, Randy Qualls of Winkler, Texas, who caught five bass weighing 17 pounds, 2 ounces and placed second. Following the top two, the contenders’ weights dropped steadily down to fifth place: Stan Burgay (3rd place) of Timpson, Texas, caught five bass weighing 16-0; Jerry Green (4th) of Coahoma, Texas, caught five bass weighing 14-1; and Charles Simmons (5th) of Waco, Texas, caught five bass weighing 13-3.
With the championship set as a two-day combined-weight event, Pringle knew how important it was to put on a strong performance on day one. Since he outdistanced the rest of the field by a pretty solid margin today, he’s feeling confident about his chances to take home the possible $70,000 first-place prize tomorrow – but not too confident.
“I’m pretty thrilled to be in the position I’m in right now,” he said. “But it’s not over. I’ve been in this position before.”
Mainly, he’s concerned about that pesky fishing pressure. Today, Pringle was lucky to go out with the first flight of boaters, which led to his quick limit. Tomorrow, however, he has a later boat number, and he’s concerned that he might have company by the time he gets there.
“The fish are there,” he said. “If I don’t get beat to them, I can catch another limit.”
Tullis leads co-anglers
In the Co-angler Division, where contenders are fishing for a possible $40,000 first-place prize, Mark Tullis of Conroe, Texas, took the driver’s seat on day one with a five-bass weight of 16 pounds, 1 ounce.
Following Tullis in second place was regular-season points leader Justin Hale of Nacogdoches, Texas, who weighed in 14 pounds, 15 ounces despite only catching two keeper bass. Needless to say, they were both monsters. While they weren’t weighed individually, the largest bass appeared to be in the 9-pound range.
“This young man can catch fish,” said TTT tournament director Bill Taylor.
Rounding out the top five on the co-angler side were Mike Power (3rd place) of Cibolo, Texas, with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce; Joe Contreras (4th) of Waco, Texas with four bass weighing 12-8; and Chad Brooks (5th) of Houston with five bass weighing 10-9.
The second and final day of TTT Championship action begins tomorrow, Sunday, when all 51 boats take off from Pendleton Marina outside of Hemphill, Texas, at 7 a.m. Sunday’s weigh-in, presented by Pepsi and Frito Lay, begins at 3:30 p.m. at the Wal-Mart in Many, where $195,000 in total cash prizes will be at stake.
Day-one related links: