Quick Bites: FLW Lake Ouachita, Day 4
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Ouachita, Hot Springs, Ark.
Pro finals, Saturday
How sweet it is … While 30-year-old Wesley “Sweet” Strader is by no means an FLW rookie, he is just now coming into his own on tour. The Spring City, Tenn., pro has fished the FLW Tour full-time since 1998, but he only began threatening to win last year with his first top-five appearance at Beaver Lake, Ark. This year, however, he is on a tear. In four out of six four-day FLW Outdoors tournaments so far this season, Strader has finished no lower than 17th place. He notched a sixth place at EverStart Lake Okeechobee, ninth at FLW Lake Wheeler, 17th at the Ranger M1 on Mobile Bay, and his first FLW victory came today at Lake Ouachita with four bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces. Now he is a serious threat for FLW Angler-of-the-Year consideration. He’s currently sitting 10th in the standings, and next up is Beaver Lake where, as mentioned above, we already know that Strader can compete. “Everything this year has just started gelling together,” he said. … With his $110,000 top prize, Strader has quickly jumped up to one of the leading money winners on tour. His FLW career total of $214,970 puts him into the $200,000 club with the likes of Kevin VanDam ($253,950) and Craig Powers ($274,368).
VanDam is four for two … VanDam has competed on the FLW Tour for just over two years. In that brief time span he has already accomplished four top-five performances in just 10 tournaments, all of them second-place finishes. The 2001 Angler of the Year and standings leader at the halfway point this season, VanDam has proven that he is the most consistent pro on tour. So how does he feel about gathering yet another runner-up trophy? “I’m just glad to have finished second,” said the pro from Kalamazoo, Mich. “It’s a whole lot better than third, but it’s still not first. You know, it’s getting to the point where it’s not about the money anymore, it’s getting personal. … One thing I’ve learned in this business is that you’re going to lose a whole lot more than you’re going to win. I really fished a perfect tournament. I caught everything I could. It just didn’t happen.”
Focus on the fish … The bass-fishing personalities that greeted Strader and the other young guns at the dock Saturday morning were some of the sport’s most revered – and intimidating. VanDam, Rick Clunn and Gary Klein have all already made names for themselves in this demanding sport, and they all competed against Strader, Powers, Shad Schenck and the rest today for $110,000. How do the up-and-comers deal with the pressure of the situation? They don’t. “I’ve got to stay loose, man,” the easygoing Strader said. “If I get focused on Clunn, Klein and VanDam, I’ll get nervous. It was just me and the fish today.” Schenck, a final-round rookie who finished in fourth place with three bass weighing 8-7, seconded that approach, “Certainly it’s an honor to fish against those people, but you’re really competing against the fish. You’ve just got to keep paying good attention, executing and connecting with the fish.”
Father knows best … Upon running into Bud Strader, Wesley Strader’s father, after takeoff this morning I asked him, “So how’s Wesley doing today?” His response was an unequivocal, “He’s going to win this thing.” Normally, a comment like that from an angler’s father doesn’t carry much weight; they’re fathers, after all, and they’re supposed to say stuff like that. But Bud and I have had the same conversation twice before today, at the M1 and at Lake Wheeler where Wesley made both final cuts, and never before has he said outright that Wesley would win. But he said it today at about 7:30 a.m., and he evidently knew exactly what he was talking about. “Oh, our family’s close,” Bud said. “He said he was on a good bite yesterday. I’m just one proud papa.”
Quick Numbers
6-10: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of Wesley Strader’s kicker largemouth bass in the finals. Said the winner, “If it would have been healthy, it would have weighed a whole lot more.”
48: After today, combined number of FLW Tour top-10 finishes compiled over the years by the pros in the final round.
7: Number of victories held by the Lake Ouachita pro finalists: Clunn (3), Klein (2), Powers (1) and Strader (1).
2.5 million: Collective amount, in dollars, earned by the Ouachita finalists on the FLW Tour over their careers.
Sound Bites
“If he’s got another one like that, I didn’t lose. I got beat.”
– Kevin VanDam, reacting during weigh-in to Strader’s 6-pound, 10-ounce behemoth bass.
“If I could make as much in a lifetime as he made in his career, I’d be all right.”
– Walter Rose, pro Mark Rose’s grandfather, who is a 93-year-old fishing captain who still guides. Mark collected $17,500 for his fifth-place finish this week. His career total is $125,895.
Quick Links, Day 4:
Strader triumphs on Lake Ouachita
Photos
Final results
Press release