Quick Bites: FLW Lake Ouachita, Day 3
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Ouachita, Hot Springs, Ark.
Friday: Pro semifinals, Co-angler finals
Oh man, this is going to be fun … Not since Slick Willy and his gang left town has Hot Springs seen such a collection of heavies in the spotlight. The top 10 pro anglers fishing the final round at Lake Ouachita Saturday include the FLW Tour’s all-time leading money winner, the 2001 Angler of the Year and the only pro ever to defend his title in consecutive years on the same lake. I’m talking, of course, about Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., (leading money winner with $734,850), Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., (Angler of the Year) and Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, (won back-to-back titles at Memphis in 1999 and 2000). No need to say it, but these three pros represent a veritable triumvirate of bass fishing’s elite right now. And they face off against each other in tomorrow’s one-day shootout for $110,000. If you’re into competitive bass fishing (and you must be if you’re reading this), it doesn’t get any better than this.
Big money + big anglers = big-time competition … It’s not just the big three who will be lighting up Lake Ouachita tomorrow; they are surrounded in the top 10 by other big hitters with big fishing resumes. Combined, the final-round field has 48 FLW top-10 finishes among them, six victories (three by Clunn, two by Klein and one by Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn.) and over $2.2 million in winnings. By the numbers, here are the veteran finalists’ vital stats on the FLW Tour:
Klein – 9 top-10s, 2 wins, $412,685 in career winnings
Powers – 6 top-10s, 1 win, $206,800
Clunn – 15 top-10s, 3 wins, $734,850
Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn. – 3 top-10s, $104,970
Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. – 3 top-10s, $63,900
Paul Elias of Pachuta, Miss. – 3 top-10s, $104,680
Curt Lytle of Suffolk, Va. – 3 top-10s, $77,500
VanDam – 4 top-10s (three were runner-up finishes), $213,950
The other two finalists, Kenneth Strickland of Oak Ridge, N.C., and Shad Schenck of Waynetown, Ind., are fishing in their first FLW final round.
A close call for Clunn … Clunn would have led the field today if not for one unfortunate mishap he had on the water. As he was making his 15-mile run back to the boat ramp for weigh-in, he turned around and saw that his livewell lid was open. He looked inside and saw that his second-biggest fish was missing – it had jumped out somewhere along the way. Needless to say, he was not happy about it. “I just forgot to lock it down,” Clunn said. “It was just a controlled variable that I didn’t control. I was lucky that they didn’t all jump out because I have no idea how long it was open. It’s one of those cheap lessons in life and I can guarantee that I won’t do it again.” Clunn estimated that the lost fish weighed around 2 ¾ pounds and, if he had weighed it in, would have pushed his fourth-place weight of 8-3 past Klein’s leading weight of 9-1. But Clunn said he felt fortunate just to make the cut after the incident. “Maybe I used one of my nine lives today,” he said.
Five times a bridesmaid … Co-angler T.R. Fuller of Auburn, Ala., knows what it’s like to play second fiddle. His runner-up finish today was the fifth time in five years that he has finished in second place on the FLW Tour. He also has three other top-10s, but no wins. But Fuller feels anything but empty after having come so close so many times without a win. “It’s a heap better than third place,” he said. “As long as it’s in the top five – especially against 20 other guys (as opposed to last year’s 10-person co-angler finals) – I feel really good.”
The pound barrier … One of the main reasons the five-fish limit count has been down this week, besides the sketchy weather, is the 16-inch minimum length limit for largemouth bass on Lake Ouachita. Anglers are catching lots of fish, but many of them are frustrating 15-inchers. It also doesn’t help that the fish haven’t come up to the banks yet to spawn. “There are a lot of good fish in the lake, but it’s hard to catch a 16-incher,” said VanDam. Added Lytle, “We’re fishing for the minority of the fish in the lake right now.”
Sound Bites
“This is the prettiest lake I’ve ever been on – and I’ve been all fishing all over the world, so that’s saying something.”
– Pro Tom Mann Jr., on Lake Ouachita.
“I was so zoned into the fish these last four days that I felt like I was sleeping with the fish.”
– Pro Shad Schenck, who is in fact a very lively person, choosing a slightly morbid metaphor to describe his success this week.
Quick Links, Day 3:
Klein climbs into FLW lead at Lake Ouachita
Hendricks hauls in top co-angler honors
Photos
Results
Press release