Quick Bites: Ranger M1, Day 2

2002 Ranger M1
Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Mobile, Ala.
Opening round, Thursday

Right at (sweet) home in Alabama … Opening-round leader Rowdy Ricky Shumpert hails from Lexington, S.C., but he loves fishing in `Bama. His two biggest checks prior to this week in FLW Outdoors tournaments came from Alabama events – $20,000 for a second-place finish at the 2001 EverStart Championship on Pickwick Lake and $16,000 for fourth place at the 2001 FLW Tour stop at Lake Martin. Even if he blanks tomorrow, Shumpert already has already made at least $6,000 here on the delta and stands to make a cool $900,000 – with sponsor bonuses – if he should pull off a win. But don’t ask him about the money. He said he stays focused on the fishing. “I’m not worried about the money, period,” he said. “It’s not an issue. I started out with the goal to beat 150 other anglers. Now I’ve got to beat 20 (in tomorrow’s semifinals).” And he seems confident that he has a shot to do it. “I feel like I’ve got the capability to catch the fish,” he said. “The fish might quit biting, but I’m not going to run out of fish in my area. It’s a big area.”

Dudley do right … Another pro trying not to ponder the huge cash prize is Manteo, North Carolina’s David Dudley. “I’m just as excited for this one as I am for a five-dollar tournament. The intensity level is the same. I’m just in it for the competition,” he said. Today Dudley – who finished in fifth place in the 1999 Ranger M1 – increased his stake in this competition by coming up with the biggest five-bass stringer of the tournament so far – 15 pounds, 11 ounces – and moving way up to second place from his 35th-place performance on day one. “I figured out where they were holding,” he explained. “If you don’t place (the bait) on the right limb or drop, you just won’t get a bite.” His day-two weight crushed the next closest stringer by almost 4 pounds. Can he maintain his dominating ways over the next two days? “I’ll never say that I can go and catch them again tomorrow because you just never know,” he said. “But I will say that I feel confident.”

Quite a Deal … Co-angler Ryan Deal of Haubstadt, Ind., caught more fish in one day, Wednesday, than everybody else in his division could manage in two. Deal maintained his lead in the Co-angler Division without catching a keeper bass Thursday. The 10-pound, 7-ounce weight he posted yesterday was more than enough to keep him atop the leaderboard in this tough-fishing event.

Co-angler comebacks … Co-angler Michael Robinson came all the way back from tied-for-last place with zero fish Wednesday to fifth place Thursday. He caught the day’s biggest sack for the co-anglers with four bass weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces. … Also bouncing back today from zero-fish performances on day one were co-anglers John Howard (four bass, 6-10, eighth place) of Alexander City, Ala., and Jimmy Lankford (two bass, 5-4, 19th place) of Henry, Tenn. Lankford also happens to be the only angler competing Friday who happens to fish from a wheelchair.

Biffle baffled … Wagoner, Okla., pro Tommy Biffle looked like he was sitting pretty yesterday with a 10th-place weight of 10 pounds, 10 ounces. Many were watching him to do well this week because he won the FLW event at nearby Biloxi, Miss., last year and this tournament seems to favor his flipping technique. But he blanked today, placed 31st and missed the cut. What happened? “I thought I had a good area to win this thing,” he said. “I knew the fish were there, but yesterday they were biting really funny. Today I just couldn’t get the bites.”

Stumped … Another tourney favorite, pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., also missed the cut in 110th place, but not because his fish weren’t biting. “I had 9 pounds in the bag yesterday, but I hit a stump and sat in the water until 6 o’clock,” he explained about his zero Wednesday. “I was on the right type of fish. I just needed two days to catch them.” If he had been able to make it back and weigh in around 9 pounds Wednesday, he might have made the cut. He caught 2 pounds, 5 ounces today and the cut weight was 12-15. It would have been close.

Quick Number

12: Number of five-bass limits caught by the entire 300-angler tournament field Thursday. Like Wednesday, they were all caught by pros.

Sound Bites

“I think I will win this tournament.”
– Yesterday’s pro co-leader Jerry Bohannon, exhibiting the suitable level of confidence needed to win a million-dollar bass tourney. He qualified for the semifinals in 10th place.

“I can speak English very little, but I can catch fish.”
– Pro Masaki Shimono, one of Japan’s best-known anglers. The only Japanese pro fishing the M1, he finished the week in 45th place.

“No. I have enough of a time with English.”
– Co-angler Asa Godsey, who fished with Shimono Thursday, responding to the question of whether he picked up any Japanese language skills to communicate with his pro.

Quick Links, Day 2: