Quick Bites: Chevy Open, Day 1

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Chevy Open

Potomac River, La Plata, Md.

Opening round, Wednesday

Give your breath long-lasting freshness … According to the fairy tale, a girl’s got to kiss a few frogs before finding her prince. At today’s weigh-in, the story was slightly altered – the girl had to kiss a fish, but it was indeed a toad. New Jersey pro Michael Iaconelli landed in third place today, and his girlfriend, Amanda, made him a promise that if he caught a big one today, she’d come on stage and kiss it. After a brief hesitation, Amanda made her way to the podium, where she gamely bussed the bass. “I’m going to go brush my teeth,” she said.

Picking the Potomac … Forget the idea that Southern bass anglers can’t fish a tidal system. All 200 pros brought in at least one bass today, and 196 co-anglers crossed the stage as well. One hundred eighty of the 200 pros caught a five-bass limit, as did 95 co-anglers. The leader, Jerry Williams, busted 20-plus pounds, and the leading co-angler, Chris Koester, caught enough weight to land him in the top 10 on the pro side.

Kenney catapults … All eyes were on J.T. Kenney today at the Potomac River weigh-in, and the view was rather shocking. Kenney holds a razor-thin lead over Anthony Gagliardi in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race,

and with Kenney being a Maryland resident, this race seemed his to win. Though there’s still at least one day of fishing left for Kenney, his day-one results fell far below expectations, as he sits in the 70th spot heading into day two, while Gagliardi finished the day 34th.

Hackney heats up … Kenney’s loss is Greg Hackney’s gain, as the Hack Attack ranks third after day one on the Potomac while sitting in third in the points standings, 16 points behind Kenney and 14 behind Gagliardi. “I didn’t bring in quite what Greg had today,” acknowledged Gagliardi. Hackney, on the other hand, said, “You always want more, but I had a pretty good day.” Not many had more, as Hackney sits only a pound and a half behind the tournament leader with 18 pounds, 12 ounces. No matter what, it’s going to be close – No. 4 point man Toshinari Namiki also fished well today, landing in 13th with 16-6. Namiki is only 7 points behind Hackney.

Four-peat … Looks like Alvin Shaw has been eating his lucky Cheez-Its, because the North Carolina pro is in contention to score a record fourth straight top-10 finish. Fresh off a win on Wheeler Lake, the veteran pro will enter day two on the Potomac in the No. 8 position. “I just turned it around after Toho, and everything’s going for me,” Shaw said. No kidding.

Bubble boys … Though everybody caught them today – literally – some pros are still on the bubble for the top 48 in points, which earns entry into this year’s FLW Tour Championship. No. 48 David Walker didn’t do himself any favors by finishing 106th today, but No. 49 Todd Ary is only in 84th, while No. 50 Luke Clausen is in 126th. Former FLW Tour champion David Dudley entered the tournament ranked 55th but was expected to do well on this tidal system close to his Virginia home. Not so much, though – Dudley is currently in 134th place, though he did catch a limit. Massachusetts pro Danny Correia seems to be the bubble dweller with the best chance, as the No. 53-ranked angler finished 13th with the help of a monster 6-pound, 9-ounce bass.

Quick numbers:

2,335-2: Weight, in pounds and ounces, brought in by the pros on day one at the Potomac River.

2: Number of FLW tournaments with a higher Pro Division weight after day one (Lake Champlain, 2004 and 2002).

180: Number of limits brought in by the pros on the Potomac River.

1: Number of tournaments with a higher number of limits posted by the pros (also Lake Champlain, 2004).

4: Years since pro leader Jerry Williams has earned an FLW Tour top-10 finish.

0: Number of top-10s earned by co-angler leader Chris Koester.

3: Number of times co-angler Bill Rogers has finished in the top 10 on the FLW Tour this year so far. He’s currently in fifth.

5-11: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the bass caught by co-angler Judy Israel out of the back of Angler of the Year contender J.T. Kenney’s boat.

Sound bites:

“Don’t say that.” – Angler of the Year contender Toshinari Namiki, in response to host Charlie Evans’ remark that he could wind up the points champion.

“We tried to find something they wouldn’t bite and couldn’t.” – Pro Alton Jones, on the not-too-picky Potomac bass.

“I finally caught some fish this year.” – Beleaguered pro Clark Wendlandt, who has struggled mightily this season but caught 14-12 today to finish 29th.

“By the looks of that bag, I should have stayed.” – No. 195 pro Lee Bailey Jr., who recently moved from Connecticut to Alabama to be closer to the heavily Southeastern tournament destinations.

“You know when I caught these? With 30 minutes to go.” – No. 13 pro Danny Correia, who was floundering with three small keepers before catching two whopper bass in the final minutes of the day, including a 6-pound, 9-ouncer that earned him $750 as the day-one big-bass winner.

“I thought Champlain was good, but with this place, you don’t have to drive so far.” – Tennessee pro David Walker, on the benefits of fishing a bass factory like the Potomac in Maryland as opposed to New York’s Lake Champlain.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 6:30 a.m. Eastern at Smallwood State Park, located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury.