Quick Bites: FLW Series Western, Clear Lake, Day 2

Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division

Clear Lake, Kelseyville, Calif.

Opening round, Thursday

Welcome to the world, Addison Jones … It’s official: FLW Series Tournament Director Chris Jones and his wife, Beth, are parents. Addison Jones, the newest member of the FLW Outdoors family, was born at 8:12 a.m. Central time Thursday and weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces. Congratulations are in order for Chris and Beth. In a heartfelt gesture, the anglers pooled together a few dollars and got the Jones family a $300 Wal-Mart gift card. Sounds like diapers are on the Western bass contingent for a while.

Yelas still alive, barely … Despite missing the third Western Division event on the Columbia River, Yamaha pro Jay Yelas still has an outside chance at qualifying for the East-West Fishoff. Yelas started the tournament 68th in the points. Only the top 30 in each division advance to the fishoff, which will qualify 30 anglers to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup. Yelas is in eighth place at the current tournament with a two-day total of 39 pounds, 14 ounces. If he maintained his current pace, he would earn roughly 190 points and finish the season with a total of approximately 530 points. Had he fished the Columbia River event, he would be a virtual lock to reach the fishoff. So the obvious question is why didn’t he fish it? “I was ready to go, but my heart wasn’t in it,” said the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year on the FLW Tour. “Coming off the Forrest Wood Cup, you feel like you’re going into the offseason. I think it’s healthy for a fisherman to have a little offseason. At this point in my career, I’m looking to spend as many days with my family as possible. It would be nice to qualify through the (FLW) Series, but it never did cross my mind until now.” Yelas said he hopes to qualify for the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup through the more conventional method – the 2008 FLW Tour. “My biggest goal in fishing is to win the Forrest Wood Cup. That’s the only major title I haven’t won.”

First limit … Sixteen-year-old Patrick Touey of Nipomo, Calif., participating in the first tour-level bass-fishing tournament of his life, caught a five-bass limit Thursday. His first tournament creel weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces. Even more impressive were his mannerisms onstage. Like a savvy veteran, Touey told FLW Outdoors CEO Charlie Evans that he “stuck them pretty good today.”

The 13-pound bass … Co-angler Andrew Sanchez caught the Snickers Big Bass on day two: a monster that weighed 13 pounds, 2 ounces. The fish measured 28 ¼ inches long and had a girth of 20 ¼ inches. Officially, it is the fourth-heaviest bass in the history of FLW Outdoors. It is also the heaviest fish ever caught at an FLW Outdoors-administered event on Clear Lake. “That was a baby present for Chris Jones back home,” said Sanchez. “He’s been like a brother to me.” Sanchez said he made the cast of a lifetime at 10:55 a.m. After five separate drag-screaming runs, the Antioch, Calif., native and his pro partner, Shaun Bailey, saw it was a bass and not a carp or a catfish. “I brought her in real slow, just keeping pressure on her.” After roughly 10 minutes of fighting the fish, Bailey scooped it up, and the celebration was on. “We were jumping around like we caught the home run ball from Bonds. I must have jumped 2 feet off the deck.” For the record, the fish was caught on a Carolina-rigged double-wide Sweet Beaver in California 420 color in 17 feet of water. “I named her Clear Lake Claire,” added Sanchez.

AOY update … With two days in the books, the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race in the Western Division is far from settled. Heading into the final qualifying event, Clayton Meyer held the lead with 571 points over three events. Trailing Meyer was Randy McAbee with 567 points, Brent Ehrler with 564 points, Gary Dobyns with 548 points and Andre Moore with 543 points. Meyer is currently in 93rd with 27-13, McAbee is third with 42-8, Ehrler is 20th with 35-7, Dobyns is 26th with 34-8, and Moore is 11th with 39-3. Unofficially, McAbee has taken the lead, while Ehler is second, and Moore is third. Meyer has slipped to fifth, and Dobyns has retained fourth. If the tournament were to end Thursday, McAbee would have 765 points, Ehrler would have 745, Moore would have 733, Dobyns would have 723, and Meyer would have 679. For this to change, it would take another good day from Ehrler, and McAbee would have to stumble.

Quick numbers:

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

11-8: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the Snickers Big Bass in the Pro Division, caught by Kelly Kellogg.

23: Number of times the Jones family was wished well by Western Division anglers.

4-3: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of Chris Zaldain‘s lead over second-place pro Brett Hite.

Sound bites:

“I’ve been searching all over this lake, and I just can’t seem to get the big bite.” – pro Mike Phua, who caught 18 pounds, 5 ounces on day two.

“You’re not supposed to be able to fold the bag four times.” – Weighmaster Robbie Floyd, poking fun at Zachary Holwerda‘s catch of 2 pounds, 2 ounces.

“They’re out there, they’re around me; I just got to get the right ones to bite me.” – pro R.J. Bennett.

“I dumped a big one today that weighed about as much as Chris’ new baby.” – Wal-Mart Open champion Tim Klinger.

“I kept pulling around my pros after I got hung up.” – Leading co-angler Justin Lucas, describing the strength of his 8-pound Berkley fluorocarbon.

Friday’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7:30 a.m. Pacific time from Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa located at 8727 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville.