Quick Bites: FLW Lake Okeechobee, Day 1
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Fla.
Opening round, Wednesday
Nixon nearly sets record … With an eye-popping catch of 28 pounds, 6 ounces, bass-fishing legend and FLW Outdoors TV commentator Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., easily finished atop the pro leaderboard after the first day of competition on Lake Okeechobee. However, his catch didn’t just put him in the driver’s seat heading into tomorrow’s contest. As it turned out, his bounty also represented the third-largest stringer ever recorded in FLW Tour history. “It was a pretty good stringer for me on Okeechobee,” said Nixon in the understatement of the day. “Usually I screw it up here.” Nixon’s amazing catch has only been topped by two other anglers – Jeff Coble (29 pounds, 6 ounces) at Lake Santee Cooper in 1996 and Joe Thomas (28 pounds, 7 ounces) at Kentucky Lake in 1997. For the record, Nixon now claims the largest stringer ever recorded on Lake Okeechobee, beating out Mike Surman’s 27-pound, 6-ounce catch on the “Big O” in 2003.
The other Martin turns a few heads … Although many pundits had predicted a banner day for Scott Martin – the rising star of the FLW Tour who calls Lake Okeechobee his home – it was co-angler Mark Martin of Vidor, Texas, who grabbed the headlines today. Using a catch of 19 pounds, 10 ounces, Martin easily cruised to first place in his division, outfishing his nearest rival by 4 pounds, 8 ounces. “You try to catch a five-fish limit,” said Martin of his steady-as-she-goes philosophy. “So you really can’t complain when you come back with a stringer as large as I did today. It’s pretty exciting.” Just for the record, Scott Martin finished the day in 26th place with a 16-pound, 4-ounce limit.
Stickler stricken with temporary amnesia … Pro Sean Stickler of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., thought he had prepared as well as he could for the opening round of tournament action on Lake Okeechobee. He had a good practice, his boat was in perfect working condition and the weather appeared to be favorable. But when he finally got to his prime fishing location, Stickler realized he’d forgotten one small detail … “I got to my spot and I realized that I didn’t have one fishing rod in the entire boat. I left them tucked in bed in my hotel room. Judy Israel, my (co-angler) partner, bless her heart, lent me one of her rods. But after I hooked a fish and lost it, I decided to turn the boat around and go back and get my stuff.” Fortunately, however, the day was not entirely lost for Stickler. “I wound up catching a limit in two hours.” Stickler, somewhat amazingly, finished the day in 62nd place with a 12-pound, 9-ounce stringer. Israel finished the day in 56th place.
Saggy Baggy groupies on parade … One of the more interesting sidebars from today’s weigh-in undoubtedly belonged to the Saggy Baggy Fan Club (SBFC). Never heard of the SBFC? Well, as it turned out, you’re not alone. The SBFC apparently … well, let’s hear them tell it. “We’re just a bunch of ladies who have adopted (FLW Tour pro) Kim Stricker as one of our own,” said South Carolina native Rosie Miller, the defacto leader of the group. “We just have a really good time with it. We’re from all over – Michigan, New York, Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina – and we came here to cheer Kim on.” According to Miller, the group – the members of which sport brightly colored T-shirts emblazoned with the SBFC moniker – first spied Stricker about four years ago and have been cheering him on ever since. “He’s got the oldest fan club there is.” As for Stricker, he said he loves it. After all, it’s all in good fun. “I love it. It helps us keep in touch,” said Stricker. “They’re great ladies. And I don’t care if they’re saggy or baggy. At least I have a fan club.”
Quick numbers:
2,162-4: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of fish caught by the pros Wednesday.
1,008-1: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of fish caught by the co-anglers Wednesday.
200: The number of pros who caught bass in today’s competition.
200: The number of pros fishing in today’s tournament.
175: Total number of five-bass limits caught by the pros.
15: The number of co-anglers who didn’t record a catch on day one.
3: The number of ounces by which Chad Grigsby lost today’s Snickers Big Bass competition despite weighing in a 9-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass.
Sound bites:
“I have to start arranging to fish out of the back of Larry Nixon’s boat.”
– FLW pro Wesley Strader, immediately after seeing Nixon haul in a 28-pound, 6-ounce catch.
“It missed my truck, but it didn’t miss my boat.”
– FLW Tour pro Johnny Crase of Lexington, Ky., describing what happens when an 18-wheeled tractor trailer comes barreling right at you just before the start of an upcoming FLW tournament.
“They’re shot.”
– FLW Tour pro Karen Savik on what her nerves were like fishing in her first FLW tournament as a pro.
“This is embarrassing. This is the worst day I’ve had since I’ve been down here.”
– FLW Tour pro Bill Chapman on his less-than-stellar performance in today’s competition.
“It’s amazing to see my face in a Wal-Mart.”
– FLW Tour pro David Dudley after seeing Wal-Mart’s new display for his homemade Rabbit Dog Spinnerbait in stores throughout the country.
“At 12:30 p.m., I still had nothing in the boat. I looked up and said, `Lord, 10 percent of nothing is nothing.'”
– FLW Tour pro Bobby Curtis on his careful, yet clever negotiations with the Big Man upstairs. As it turned out, Curtis went on to land a healthy 14-pound, 10-ounce stringer and finish the day in 36th place.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. EST at Roland Martin’s Marina, located at 920 E. Del Monte Ave. in Clewiston, Fla.