Quick Bites: FLW Tour, Pascagoula River, Day 1
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Tour Stop #2
Pascagoula River, D’Iberville, Miss.
Day 1, Opening Round
Don’t worry, today any fish was a good fish … In the spirit of today’s small catch weights, we lead with a photo of Kentucky pro angler Terry Bolton and his prize catch of the day. This (ahem) whopper weighed in at an underwhelming 14 ounces. It was a prize for him for two reasons: 1) It was the only fish he weighed in; and 2) it was the lightest single fish weighed in by itself on the pro side today. The prize fish landed Bolton in dead last place, 126th, of the pros who brought fish to the scale on day one. Thanks goes out to Terry for being a good sport and posing for this photo.
Proof that every FLW event is unique … By every angler’s account, today was a tough day of fishing. When asked how he caught his two fish weighing 3 pounds, 7 ounces, pro Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Mo., replied, “Far apart.” And that about summed it up. Whether it was due to the unusually cold southern Mississippi winter, the rising tidewaters or today’s fog delay, the big ones were just too elusive for most of the competitors. The story is in the numbers: The leading weight for the pros was Chris Daniels’ 13 pounds, 14 ounces, which is the lowest leading weight at an FLW event in recent memory. For the pros, 6 pounds, 11 ounces was good enough for a 10th-place finish on day one; for the co-anglers, a mere 3-3 placed 10th. Not only that, only 19 five-bass limits were brought to the scale in the Pro Division and none in the Co-Angler Division. But don’t feel bad for these anglers. As the saying goes, things are rough all over, so conditions here are placing a premium on strategy and mental toughness as all the competitors approach tomorrow and the first cut in the face of smaller catch weights. Besides, things are looking to pick up. The weather forecast is calling for a warming trend, which could coax those big bass out of hiding over the next couple of days.
Martin stifled, but confident … Here’s a contrast for you: Last year the winner of the FLW Pascagoula event, Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., caught 10 pounds, 5 ounces of fish in his first day of fishing. Today he weighed in zero. It was no secret that Martin made lengthy runs to Mobile Bay in Alabama to catch his winners last year. But, in an effort to eliminate the dangerous runs across the Gulf of Mexico, tournament officials have restricted this year’s event to the Pascagoula, Tchoutacabouffa and Biloxi rivers only. However, Martin vigorously denied that the restriction was the reason for his zero today. “It doesn’t bother me, not going to Mobile Bay,” he said. “It’s all relative when it’s a tough tournament. I just didn’t fish well today. I missed one on the first cast that I knew was there. And the guys who are leading this tournament, they don’t make mistakes. But I still feel confident that I can catch 8 or 10 pounds here.”
A Little goes a long way … It’s official. For the first time ever, a female angler has topped the leaderboard in an FLW tournament. Beverly Little of Greensboro, N.C., caught four bass for 5 pounds, 13 ounces to take sole possession of first place on the co-angler side. It just goes to show that, when the bite is small, it doesn’t hurt to be a Little. Or something like that.
Quick Numbers
0: Number of co-anglers who weighed in a five-fish limit today.
99: Number of co-anglers who weighed in no fish today.
9: Difference, in pounds, between the pro leader’s catch weight on the first day of last month’s FLW tournament on Lake Okeechobee, Fla., and today’s leading weight. David Walker hauled in an impressive 22 pounds, 14 ounces of those hefty Florida bass last month while Chris Daniels led the way today with 13-14.
Sound Bites
“This is for the Energizer award.”
– Pro Kim Carver, sardonically describing his fishing strategy for the week. He weighed in one fish for 15 ounces today, putting him in 125th place – and making him a virtual lock for the Energizer “Keeps On Going” award should he somehow make the final round.
“I’ve fished with shiners before that were bigger than the two fish I caught today.”
– Pro Tom Mann Jr., describing his 1-pound, 15-ounce total catch weight today.
“They might have weighed 18 or 19 pounds originally, but they probably lost weight on that ride back.”
– FLW host Charlie Evans, responding to pro Jerry Williams’ quip that his fish probably weighed 18 or 19 pounds. Williams, who made a hundred-mile run one-way to get to his fish, weighed in a total of 4 pounds, 10 ounces.
Quick Links