Quick Bites: Wal-Mart Open, Day 3

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Wal-Mart Open

Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.

Semifinal round, Friday

Moore back for more … No. 2 pro Andre Moore is only 6 ounces out of the lead right now on Beaver Lake, and the last time Moore found himself in the top 10 here, he scored a win. That Beaver Lake victory proved to be lucrative in more ways than one. Not only did Moore earn more than $200,000, but he used that money to help fund his bait company, Reaction Innovations. “When I won this tournament, I was already working on a tackle company,” he said. “But when I won, I was able to finance it really well.” … Moore won the tournament on one of his homemade baits that is now manufactured by Reaction Innovations and widely used by tournament fishermen all over the country. That bait? The Sweet Beaver, named after the site of his first FLW Tour victory. “When I won it, I won it on the beaver tail, so I just named it the Sweet Beaver,” he said.

In good company … Beaver Lake co-angler winner Frank Meyer is no stranger to the FLW Tour top 10. In fact, he’s been there three times before and finished in seventh place every time. Interestingly, he scored a victory the tournament after his practice partner Toshinari Namiki took home a trophy last month on the Ouachita River. Looks like Toshi’s good luck rubbed off. “We used a little pocket interpreter,” Meyer said of their communication methods. He also acknowledged that Namiki did have at least a little impact on his victory. “I borrowed a rod and reel,” he said.

Co-angler points tighten up … This week’s No. 10 co-angler, Tee Watkins, found himself in the No. 1 spot in the co-angler points race, followed closely by another one of this week’s top 10 contenders, Derek Jones, who is behind Watkins by a razor-thin three points. Australian angler Kim Bain is in third, with last year’s Forrest Wood Open champ, Jason Knapp, remaining in the hunt in fourth. 2005 Okeechobee winner, Bob Bjorklund, rounds out the top five.

Girls, girls, girls … With a fifth-place finish this week, Florida angler Mary Parnell became the third woman to score a top-10 finish this season on the FLW Tour. All the women are co-anglers, and Parnell joins Sondra Rankin and Judy Israel on the list of fish-slaying ladies. … Parnell’s finish this week bookends another impressive Beaver Lake accomplishment – she actually holds the Arkansas state record for largest meanmouth bass, caught at the 2003 Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake.

Benton buddies … Jeremiah Kindy and Brennan Bosley, both of Benton, Ark., practiced together this week for the Beaver Lake event and reaped good results: Kindy’s currently in ninth place, while Bosley finished the tournament in 15th. Both are up-and-coming pros with solid finishes under their belts already: Bosley scored a seventh-place finish last year on Kentucky Lake, and Kindy is enjoying his second straight top-10. Explaining his recent surge of success, Kindy said, “I think I just got my mind and heart right, and everything is just flipping.”

Hi, Mouth, my name’s Foot … Texas pro Cody Bird provided some comic relief on stage today when he walked up to the scales with a limit of bass and said, “I’m probably going to go out and catch a limit early, then go for the big ones on bed, because it’s kind of embarrassing to come up here and not have any fish” – right after his good friend and fellow Texas pro Mark Pack did exactly that. When weighmaster Charlie Evans pointed out his verbal faux pas, Bird backpedaled and said, “We’re both from Texas, and we’re good friends. I know he’s a good fisherman.”

Quick numbers:

$1,116,072: Darrel Robertson’s career earnings, helped out by same-year wins at the FLW Tour Championship and Ranger M1 tournament.

40: Total number of top-10 FLW Tour finishes achieved by the pros in this week’s top 10, including their Beaver Lake finish.

2: Total number of FLW Tour wins claimed by this week’s pro top 10. The winners? Darrel Robertson and Andre Moore.

65: Number of FLW Tour events competed in by veteran Alvin Shaw without a victory. He has seven top-10 finishes to his credit, however, including two this season.

1-9: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of co-angler Frank Meyer’s margin of victory over Robert Blosser.

Sound bites:

“It was a beautiful, northwest Arkansas, Banana Boat kind of day.” – Banana Boat pro Kevin Vida, on today’s sunny sight-fishing conditions.

“That’s like a dagger to the heart, boy.” – Jeremiah Kindy’s reaction to his 2-pound, 10-ounce catch today that put him nearly 12 pounds behind the leader.

“This is the way I like to fish, by the seat of my pants.” – Alton Jones, on the unpredictable nature of Beaver Lake bass fishing.

“I don’t know, but you probably couldn’t have found it on the first page.” – No. 4 pro Clifford Pirch, on where he finished on day one. He ranked 105th, but jumped up to first on day two to enter the final round.

“I’m praying for a tornado.'” – Jeremiah Kindy, who is not sight-fishing, hoping for dreary conditions to replace the sunny weather.

The final takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. CDT tomorrow at Prairie Creek Marina, located at 1 Prairie Creek Marina Drive in Rogers.