Quick Bites: FLW Old Hickory Lake, Day 2

Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Old Hickory Lake, Gallatin, Tenn.
Opening round, Thursday

Hello, new guys … While the top-20 pro field is still stacked with guys who’ve been there before – David Fritts, Kevin VanDam, Dion Hibdon, Aaron Martens and Gary Klein all made the cut, among other repeaters – the top three spots were taken over by pros who’ve never made an FLW cut before. Congrats to Brent Chapman (first place) of Shawnee, Kan., Frank Ippoliti (second) of Mount Airy, Md., and Chad Grigsby (third) of Colon, Mich., who are all having their first taste of FLW semifinal-round competition this week. None of them seem too fazed by it either. For the 29-year-old Grigsby, who is fishing in only his second FLW tournament ever, it’s just another day at the office. “This is just another tournament – with a little more money at stake,” he said. “I don’t feel any pressure; this is what I do. It’s a lot more relaxing than going to an office every day.” I’ll drink to that. … Grigsby attributes his success to a colorfully named, custom lure he’s been using all week. Calling it a “Bite-Me jig,” he said, “They’re just eating it up.”

About-face … While the new guys cranked it up on day two to take over the top three spots, the top three from day one went the other direction. Wednesday’s leader, Rob Kilby of Hot Springs, Ark., and runner-up, David Womack of Gallatin, both zeroed Thursday. In third place Wednesday, Rusty Rust of Hermitage, Tenn., only caught two keepers weighing 3 pounds, 9 ounces Thursday. Rust, who dropped to 25th place with a two-day weight of 19-1, said he had trouble working his boat into logjams and that kept him from reeling in the fish. “I just couldn’t keep them pegged,” he said. Womack, too, fell out of contention into 26th place with 18-15. Only Kilby (10th place) survived the drought Thursday – but his goose egg was by design. He established such a huge lead Wednesday with his enormous 23-pound, 1-ounce stringer – the heaviest one-day weight of the year on tour – that he knew he had some room. “I knew (the cut weight) wouldn’t be over 21 pounds,” he said. “I was out there trying some new things.”

Tougher bite on day two … One of the reasons Kilby may have been experimenting with his technique was the tough bite that anglers experienced Thursday. Countless anglers came in with stories about fish “coming unbuttoned,” or falling off after the hook set. Some of it has to do with the surface debris that anglers are casting into, but pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., who finished in 43rd place, explained further. “This time of year, when they’re spawning, they just take (the bait) and move it off the beds,” he said. “They’re just not biting it very well. It doesn’t matter how sharp your hooks are.”

Teeing off … On Wednesday pro Alton Jones of Waco, Texas, said he got schooled by his co-angler partner. Thursday Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich., said the same thing. Not coincidentally, they both fished with co-angler Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky., on the days they said that. Watkins out-fished Jones by over 3 pounds and Vida by 4 pounds. What gives, Tee? “I just look at what the pro is doing and make subtle changes,” said the modest Watkins. “A lot of it is just luck.” For the record, Watkins has been accused of giving his pro partner a lesson or two before. He burned up the EverStart Series from the back of the boat all last year – claiming three top-10s and third place in the Eastern Division standings – before returning to the pro side this year. Fishing in his first FLW tournament this week, he said he prefers fishing from the back. “I think better from the back of the boat,” he said. “As far as execution, I feel I can fish with anybody and I have a lot of confidence.”

Speaking of cuts … Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., has just made his third cut of the year in five tournaments. In 2001 VanDam made two cuts, but that was when the first cut was set at the top 10 anglers. He never finished worse than 29th place last year. Since he started competing on the FLW Tour in 1999, he has never finished worse than 39th place in any event. What does this mean? If you want to beat your buddies in the Conseco Fishing Challenge, put VanDam on your team. As soon as possible.

Sound bites

“I think he’s going to have an insurmountable lead.”
– Pro Angler-of-the-Year contender Clark Wendlandt, on fellow contender Kevin VanDam, who is vying to become the second angler to win two AOY titles and the first to win them back-to-back. The first two-time winner was Wendlandt. Here’s the math behind Wendlandt’s prediction:

* Coming into this tournament, VanDam was in third place in the standings with 716 points. He can do no worse than 180 points this week (that’s a worst-case scenario where he bonks and finishes in 20th place tomorrow), which would give him a total of at least 896 coming out of here.
* Wendlandt was seventh with 668. Wendlandt scored 159 points for this tournament with his 41st-place finish, giving him a total of 827 with one tournament left.
* The current standings leader, Sam Newby, will fall way out of the top spot due to his 124th-place finish this week.
* Current runner-up Jay Yelas will leave here with a total of 885 points following his 38th-place finish.

Here it is by the numbers (totals following Old Hickory event):

Newby – 800
Yelas – 885
VanDam – 896-916
…
Wendlandt – 827

So, in a nutshell, Wendlandt’s right. It would almost take a complete meltdown at Lake Champlain on VanDam’s part for anyone to catch him. The two who seem to have the best shot are Yelas and Bernie Schultz, who leaves Old Hickory with 856 points.

“It almost makes you want to go home and put everything up for sale on eBay.”
– Pro Jay Yelas, expressing his disappointment with missing today’s cut. Yelas admitted that he was gunning hard to stay in the AOY title hunt this week. He didn’t just miss the cut, he missed a lot of fish Thursday – fish that his co-angler partner Danny Strand caught. Yelas caught four bass weighing 8 pounds while Strand landed five for 16-1 – the biggest co-angler stringer of the day and the second heaviest weight overall. While Yelas was happy with his friend Strand’s success, he pulled no punches in describing his own breakdown. “It was one of the most disappointing days of my career,” said Yelas. “I had a shot at those fish and I just didn’t get them.”

“These are the shallowest-living fish I ever caught. Three of them had flea collars on them.”
– Walking sound bite Gerald Swindle, who evidently caught his four bass in really, really shallow water Thursday.

“I don’t know if it’s enough. Either way, I’m going to take my wife on a date tonight because we haven’t gone on a date for a while.”
– Pro Aaron Martens, clarifying his priorities when asked if he thought he had enough weight to make the cut. He made the cut in 14th place with an opening-round weight of 21-7.

Quick links, Day 2:

Chapman charges into lead at Old Hickory
Photos
Results
Tomorrow’s pairings
Press release