Quick Bites: FLW Tour, Lake Okeechobee, Day 4
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Tour Stop #1
Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Fla.
Day 4, Final Round
Only one with four … With the victory in today’s final round, David Fritts became the first and only angler ever to win four FLW tournaments. His first three victories all in came in 1997, when he won FLW events at Lake Eufaula, Ala., Kentucky Lake, Ky., and the Tour Championship at Lake Ferguson, Miss. For the Lexington, N.C., pro angler, today’s win couldn’t have been any sweeter. “You know, it’s been since 1997 that I’ve had this feeling,” he said.
Don’t miss this one on ESPN … The final-round showdown between two of pro bass fishing’s heaviest hitters, Fritts and Michigan’s Kevin VanDam, was one of the more dramatic finishes in FLW history. Both pros sat with one fish left. Fritts’ accumulated weight for four bass was 10 pounds, 11 ounces. VanDam’s weight was 10 pounds, 3 ounces for four fish. Fritts unleashed his final, 6-pound, 5-pound bass for a total of 17-0. That left VanDam in need of nearly a 7-pound fish to win. It was a difficult, but not impossible – especially for VanDam, who had already weighed in a 7-pound, 1-ounce bass earlier in the week – task. But when he brought his final fish to the scale, it did not make the weight. It weighed in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces and VanDam finished with a total weight of 16-1. Fritts pumped his fists as he achieved his fourth career FLW victory. The capacity crowd roared in appreciation.
Van-tastic … While Kelley Williamson may have only weighed in a total of 4 pounds, 3 ounces for fifth place today, he did win the Energizer Keeps on Going award for being the finalist who came from the farthest back on day one – 35th place – to make the top five. Not only that, the Purdy, Mo., native became only the second angler ever to make the top five in just his first FLW tournament. The first one to do it? It was one of Williamson’s competitors today, the powerful VanDam, who placed second at the FLW event on Lake St. Clair, Mich., in 1999. What’s more, VanDam has only ever fished in a total of two FLW tournaments, and he has finished in the top five in both of them. Impressive.
And the Bait of the Week award goes to … The Model A Bomber #7 crankbait. At least three finalists owned up to using the same type of crankbait to catch their fish during the week, including third-place finisher Kim Stricker of Howell, Mich. Stricker fished essentially the same area the whole tournament, slowly working his lure over the rocks in a rim canal on Lake Okeechobee. “I really got to know the exact little rocks at my spot,” he said.
Quick Number:
55-7: The total, in pounds and ounces, of the heaviest total weight after the first three days. It was caught by fourth-place finisher Mark Hardin of Canton, Ga.
Sound Bites:
“I know I’m probably breathing a little hard right now, folks, but if you had a fish like this one, you’d be breathing hard, too. I don’t know how my line is staying together with this one. This is a giant! Please get in the net.”
– David Fritts, addressing the TV camera, the fish and anybody else within earshot as he battled for several tense minutes to land his biggest bass of the day.
“Now that’s what you call snap, crackle and a-poppin’!”
– A jubilant Fritts, who fished from the Kellogg’s boat today, after he finally landed the 6-pound, 5-ounce fish.
Quick Links, Day 4: