Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Tour Stop #2
Pascagoula River, D’Iberville, Miss.
Day 3, Semifinal Round
He Divis and he taketh … Co-angler winner Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., has made six top-10 appearances in Operation Bass tournaments in the last three years. Three of those were on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour. In all three of his FLW top-10s, Divis has fished with Rick Clunn on Friday, including today. Somehow, these two as a pair can’t seem to lose, and it has historically been Clunn who has benefited most from the match-up. The two previous events where they were paired for Friday fishing happened last year at Beaver Lake, Ark., and Pickwick Lake, Ala., both of which Clunn eventually won. But today it was Divis’ turn. When he met Clunn this morning for takeoff, the Ava, Mo., pro legend told him that he had called his wife the night before to tell her he was again paired with Divis. She replied, “It’s time for him to win this one.” Once again, a woman’s intuition prevails.
The lightweight king … So you think Divis’ 1-pound, 14-ounce stringer today was a light weight for a winner? He came close to doing the same thing in 1999, when he won the EverStart Eastern tournament on Beaver Lake, Ark., as a co-angler with a final-round weight of 2-14. It was also his only other Operation Bass tournament victory.
As resourceful as they come … It’s hard not to put your money on Clunn in the final round. And not just for the superstitious reason that he has never lost when paired with Divis in the semifinal round of an FLW event. This tough-fishing tournament is tailor-made for Clunn, who specializes in the mental aspect of bass fishing. He said that, while it is a more complex type of water to fish, the tidal waters of the southern Mississippi river system do not intimidate him. “It’s not true that you have to fish tidal waters a certain way because the water’s moving a certain way,” he said. And today he exhibited the same sort of confidence that showed up at the end of last year when he won two tournaments and placed second in another, in Memphis. “I’m confident, but my confidence is different because I don’t have the same sort of fish to rely on. Believe it or not, I prefer these types of tournaments because it forces the angler to use all his resources.” Plus, Clunn explained that toward the end of the day his fishing pattern changed and that he “kind of understand(s) what the fish are doing here now.”
A benchmark performance for women … Co-angler Beverly Little of Greensboro, N.C., caught one bass weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces today and finished the tournament in third place. It set the record for highest place ever achieved by a female angler on the FLW Tour. How’d she do it? She fished today using a Zoom lizard, the same bait that led her to four fish weighing 5-13 and the lead on day one. “I fished with what I got to the dance with,” she said.
Close, but no cigar … In almost another FLW first, co-angler Andrew Arnold of Princeton, Ky., fell just 11 ounces short of capturing consecutive FLW co-angler titles. Last month he won the Co-Angler Division on Lake Okeechobee, Fla. Today he weighed in 1 pound, 3 ounces of fish, which put him in second place for the Pascagoula River tournament.
Quick Numbers
5-4: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of all the fish brought to the scale today by the co-angler finalists.
6-12: Total weight brought to the scale today by pro leader Johnny McCombs.
Sound Bites
“I pulled a David Dudley.”
– The first thing pro Chuck Economou said after he slipped and fell into the water off the bow of his boat during videotaped action. Last year, pro angler Dudley pulled the same stunt while ESPN cameras were rolling.
“There’s a little bridge up there I’m not even sure was in Mississippi.”
– Co-angler Fred Hill, who made a run with his pro partner Jim Carnell that took them well over a hundred miles out of Biloxi Bay, through the Gulf of Mexico and back up the Pascagoula River to an indeterminate spot far, far inland.
“Slowly but surely I’m creeping up on the record for most top 10s without a win. So I’m getting a little worried.”
– Pro Marty Stone, who finished in eighth place. He has a remarkable nine top-10 appearances on the Operation Bass circuit, but has only finished as high as second.
Quick Links: Day 3