ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. – Team Timex pro Eric Holt, 33, of Galena, Mo., captured the lead in the $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Martin with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 25 pounds, 6 ounces after an improved day of fishing Thursday.
Holt caught a 14-pound, 3-ounce limit of largemouth bass under sunny skies by flipping a jig to shallow-water cover. The catch was enough to give him the lead after finishing in seventh place on a cold and windy opening day. He must now place in the top five during Friday’s semifinal round to advance to Saturday’s finale for a shot at winning $100,000 in the tournament presented by Snickers Cruncher Bar.
“I probably could have laid off them a little,” said Holt, who expects even more bass to move into shallow water Friday as the lake continues to warm. “But you can’t take any chances when you are fishing against guys of this caliber.”
Wal-Mart FLW Tour newcomer Aaron Martens, 28, of Castaic, Calif., took second after the two-day opening round with a total of 10 bass weighing 25 pounds. Martens, who is fishing Lake Martin for the first time, is catching exclusively spotted bass. “If this was an all spot tournament, I would have a good chance to win,” he said. “But since it’s not, I don’t know if I can come up with enough weight to win.”
Opening day leader Ricky Shumpert of Lexington, S.C., who like Holt is catching largemouth bass, landed in third with nine fish weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces. Fourth and fifth place belonged to Greg Carpenter of Royal, Ark., (10 bass, 20-12) and Jerry Rhyne of Denver, N.C., (nine bass, 20-00).
Larry Martoglio of Winchester, Ky., earned $750 for catching the heaviest bass of the day. The bass, which weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces, also earned him $1,000 from Pepsi as the biggest bass of the opening round.
Weights from the first two days of competition are erased Friday for a one-day semifinal round featuring the top-10 pros and top-10 co-anglers. Each pro is competing for a spot in Saturday’s five-angler final round where they will again start from zero. Co-angler competition ends Friday with the winner receiving $15,000.
Hoot Gibson of Bryant, Ark., topped the Co-Angler Division Thursday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Gibson caught four of his bass weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces Wednesday when he claimed 11th place. Willie White of Powder Springs, Ga., finished the round in second with seven bass weighing 16 pounds, 4 ounces followed by Chris Rand of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in third with nine bass 15 pounds, 14 ounces.
Jimmy Cox of Bono, Ark., claimed the co-angler big bass title and $500 with 4-pound, 15-ounce bass.
The original field of 350 anglers included four of Japan’s top bass pros who were competing in their first Wal-Mart FLW Tour event as part of an international angler exchange that will send several American anglers to Japan in the fall for one of the country’s premier bass tournaments. Bass fishing is wildly popular in Japan and visiting American anglers are often treated like rock stars according to pro Bernie Schultz of Gainesville, Fla., who recently returned from a Japanese trade show.
Seiji Kato, who is fishing as a co-angler, was the highest finishing Japanese competitor with seven bass weighing 12 pounds, 4 ounces. He made the top-10 cut in seventh place.
Overall, 846 bass weighing 1,349 pounds, 4 ounces were caught Thursday including 69 five-bass limits. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive. If the Wal-Mart FLW Tour maintains a 98 percent live release rate through the 2001 season, Energizer will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Competition continues at 8 a.m. Friday at Wind Creek State Park in Alexander City and the weigh-in begins at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located on Highway 280 West in Alexander City. Saturday’s takeoff from Wind Creek State Park starts at 6:30 a.m. followed by the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart at 3:30 p.m.
A Family Fun Zone featuring fishing seminars, free product samples, interactive displays and children’s games will open in the Wal-Mart parking lot starting at 3 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.