Quick Bites: Forrest Wood Open, Lake St. Clair, Day 3
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Tour Stop #6
Lake St. Clair, Detroit
Day 3, Pro Semifinals, Co-Angler Finals
Hey, Junior, how about some pointers for dear old Dad? … Pro qualifier Mickey Bruce of Buford, Ga., admitted he had trouble keeping up today with bass that are in transition here at Lake St. Clair. Still, he managed the second-best five-fish weight with 12 pounds, 12 ounces. He’s one to keep your eye on in Saturday’s finals because, despite his dismay with locating the fish today, he is a past winner on the FLW Tour (Lake Lanier, Ga., 1999). Maybe more importantly, winning at Detroit is kind of in his blood. At the last FLW event on Lake St. Clair in 1999, his son John won the Co-Angler Division.
A standard for the ages … Kevin VanDam is only 31 years old and just finished his first full year of competition on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, but already he has accomplished more in one season than most anglers have in a lifetime. The Kalamazoo, Mich., pro was awarded the 2001 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year award today in his home state. This is the first year that FLW standings were calculated strictly by points and, in winning the award, VanDam may have set a benchmark that might not soon be beaten. He scored 1,105 out of a possible 1,200 points possible in the yearly standings, having finished no tournament lower than 29th place all season long.
Pull up a chair … Pro Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., only caught eight keeper bass today, but five of them weighed a combined 14 pounds, 2 ounces and were enough to give him the semifinal-round lead qualifying spot. Having led Thursday’s opening round as well, Nixon knew exactly where to sit and go fishing today. Where? On a chair, naturally. He caught his biggest bass of the day while fishing around a submerged chair in Lake St. Clair. Said Nixon, “A chair is pretty good structure.”
Thirsty for big bass … While $40,000 co-angler winner Kelly Greer of Green Forest, Ark., is an account sales manager with Pepsi, another co-angler, Rick Parnell of Casselberry, Fla., reaped the rewards from Pepsi this week. The beverage producer popped for $1,000 to Parnell for catching the Pepsi Big Bass of the tournament. The 5-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth he caught on day one led all competitors, pro and co-angler, for the biggest fish of the opening round. It also anchored his massive 20-pound, 4-ounce total catch that day, which still stands as the week’s largest stringer in both divisions.
Mind games … Pro David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., despite qualifying for the finals in fourth place by catching five bass weighing 9 pounds, 14 ounces, ran into a frustrating mindbender today. He discovered – like everybody else – that several days of heavy tournament fishing pressure have significantly slowed down the otherwise prolific Lake St. Clair smallmouth bite. “It messes with your mind a little bit,” he said. “You keep thinking about how (well) you were fishing in practice. I just fished a little stupid today.”
Sound Bites
“I think at a certain point I just started going mental out there. I can’t even remember the last time I got skunked in a tournament. It’s not going to happen again because, I’ll tell you what, I don’t like it.”
– Pro Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., expressing his frustration with himself after having caught zero keeper bass in the semifinals. Still, Kreiger took home a handy $21,000 for ninth place.
“They were courteous, though. They stayed at least 20 feet away.”
– Pro Terry Baksay of Monroe, Conn., who said he arrived on Lake St. Clair this morning to find “a 600-boat party right where I was fishing.” He still managed to catch one bass weighing 3 pounds, 5 ounces and placed eighth.
“My big fish spot just didn’t pay off today, but I like my chances.”
– Pro Steve Daniel of Clewiston, Fla., who caught five bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces and eventually qualified for the finals in third place.
“I said to myself: Oh lordy, I’ve done got with the big boys now. I’m in trouble.”
– 2001 Co-Angler of the Year Wesley Burnett of Hot Springs, Ark., who said he didn’t even get one bite during his first day of competition this year, his first year on the FLW Tour.
Quick Links, Day 3: