Quick Bites: FLW Series Lewis Smith Lake, Day 1

Wal-Mart FLW Series

Lewis Smith Lake, Jasper, Ala.

Opening round, Wednesday

Bilge pumps work overtime … What a lousy way to start a tournament. Shortly after takeoff this morning, the rain started to fall, and it basically refused to let up all day. In total, more than 2 inches of rain fell in the Jasper area, with heavy downpours consuming much of the late morning and early afternoon. While cloudy skies and precipitation can sometimes translate into good fishing, that wasn’t the case today as only seven pros caught five-bass limits. On day one, it looks like the bilge pumps worked harder than the livewells. Let the muddy-water excuses begin.

Lee’s soaking wet … Co-angler Todd Lee had an eventful day to say the least. Early in the morning, one of his favorite cranking rods got pinned in a dock. The rod eventually came free, but in the process it fell to the bottom of a shallow-water area. While bending over to retrieve it, Lee completely fell into the water headfirst. “I guess I’m top heavy; I’ve been soaking wet since 8:30 this morning,” Lee said. Since he was already wet, he figured he’d stay in the water until he found his favorite rod. “Thank goodness it was in the 60s today, or I wouldn’t have made it. It’s been a long time since I fell in, and I hope it’s a long time before I fall in again. I hope it happens in June next time.” The local Jasper angler found the rod and went on to catch three bass that weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces, good enough for second place in the Co-angler Division. Lee’s biggest fish, a 4-pound, 13-ounce largemouth, also tied for the Snickers Big Bass award.

What is that? … Pro Mike Auten undoubtedly caught the day’s weirdest looking fish. At first glance, you would assume Auten’s kicker bass was a smallmouth. In fact, it was a largemouth bass – just a long, skinny, curvy, dark-colored largemouth. If not for the sheer size of the fish’s maw, you would swear the 15th-place pro had the day’s only smallie. Take another look for yourself. Either way, Auten was just happy to have the fish as it anchored his 8-pound, 5-ounce catch. The Benton, Ky., native landed the sick-looking bass with only 15 minutes left in his day.

Points, points, points … If it hasn’t been drilled into your head yet, get ready for an all-out assault. At the recent Stren Series Championship, five pro anglers and five co-anglers qualified for the 2007 $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark. If you thought that was significant, this event will qualify 30 pros and 25 co-anglers for the Cup, the richest tournament in the history of professional bass fishing. Moreover, the winning pro will earn $1 million if he or she is the registered owner of a Ranger boat. Overall, the 2007 Cup will feature qualifiers from the FLW Series, FLW Tour, Stren Series, Bass Fishing League, The Bass Federation (TBF) and Ranger owners’ tournaments. So when you see an angler in high spirits after catching two bass that weighed 4 pounds, he’s really adding his points in his head.

Heart of bass country … There’s a good reason FLW Outdoors continually visits the Birmingham, Ala., area for its major fishing tournaments. Perhaps no community embraces the sport of professional bass fishing the way greater Birmingham does – not only in terms of fans, but also in terms of volunteers. Thanks for embracing us with Southern hospitality, and we’ll keep visiting until you turn us away.

Quick numbers

4-13: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the heaviest bass brought in today, caught by co-anglers Todd Lee and Chad Parks (tie).

0: Number of keepers weighed in today by points leader Clark Wendlandt.

7: Number of five-bass limits caught by the entire pro field.

1: Number of five-bass limits caught by the entire co-angler field.

54: Number of pro anglers who zeroed on day one.

128: Number of co-anglers who zeroed on day one.

55: Number of anglers who will qualify for the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup at the conclusion of this event.

Sound bites

“I don’t know if I can catch 3-15 in three days.” – Pro Chip Harrison, lamenting the tough fishing on Smith Lake.

“I Bill Taylor’ed it.” – Eighth-place pro Keith Monson, describing his day-one technique of covering a lot of water with a jig.

“If I laid in there, it would be a whole lot more than 67 pounds.” – Pro Jacob Powroznik, after being accused by Tournament Director Chris Jones of manipulating the scale.

“I wore three rain suits, and I’m still wet.” – Pro Lendell Martin Jr.

“I caught four fish on four different lures.” – Pro Danny Pierce, who caught 7-10 Wednesday.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. Central time from the Lewis Smith Lake Dam.