Cop rocks
California policeman lands 6-pounder, wins 2005 Chevy Open co-angler title
LA PLATA, Md. – Pat Wilson is as steady as they come from the back of the boat, but he’d be the first to tell you that he owes his victory in the 2005 Chevy Open almost entirely to Gary Yamamoto. Anchored by a nice 6-pound kicker bass, Wilson’s limit weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces earned him $40,000 as the Co-angler Division champion at the Potomac River Friday.
“This is why I came out here from California, to try and make the top 10 and try to win this thing. So I’m pretty happy,” said Wilson, who’s a police officer from Penngrove, Calif.
Wilson doesn’t fish a lot of FLW Outdoors events, but when he does, he generally excels at them: He has 12 top-10 finishes overall, including three BFL Western victories and two EverStart Series top-fives to go with his first FLW Tour win this week. Still, he knows that, at this one, he owes the credit to his pro partner Friday, Yamamoto.
“I only had two fish, about 5 pounds, at 1:30 today,” Wilson said. “Gary laid his rod down and helped me to get that big fish. That just shows you what a great person he is.”
After that, Yamamoto then helped Wilson fill out his limit by again laying down his rod later in the day. Even though Yamamoto – as legendary as they come in the bass industry – already had a solid limit, it was still a very selfless gesture in the heat of his battle for $200,000 in pro competition.
“I already had eight keepers, and that was a pretty good day,” Yamamoto said. “When he caught that 6-pounder, he only had three keepers, so we went to help him out.”
Wilson caught most of his fish on a drop-shot armed with a 6-inch Aaron’s Magic Roboworm. He also caught one on a frog.
“I caught six keepers and they were all quality,” Wilson said. “I didn’t lose any fish, and most of them came drop-shotting the Roboworm, which is the same thing I threw at Clear Lake (in EverStart Western competition, where he finished fifth in 2004).”
The co-anglers had a strong final round in general on the Potomac Friday. Eight of the 10 finalists caught five-bass limits, and none of those eight had less than 9 pounds.
Another Californian, Jason Cordiale of Orinda, finished second with a limit weighing 12 pounds even. He earned $20,000.
“I had a great week,” Cordiale said. “Today, it was just jigs and brushhogs, and I caught eight keepers. This place is just like my home, the California Delta.”
Kent McPhail of Lubbock, Texas, finished third and collected $10,000 with a limit weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces.
Fourth place and $9,000 went to opening-round leader Roger Hester of Walnut Cove, N.C. His limit weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces.
Fred Martin of North Little Rock, Ark., rounded out the top five co-anglers with a weight of 9 pounds, 13 ounces. He finished fifth and won $8,000.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finishers at the Potomac River:
6th: George Polosky of Alliance, Ohio, five bass, 9-10, $7,000
7th: Johnny Taylor of Kodak, Tenn., five bass, 9-3, $6,000
8th: Chris Koester of Winston Salem, N.C., five bass, 9-0, $5,000
9th: Merle Wells Jr. of Hammond, N.Y., two bass, 4-10, $4,000
10th: Chad Hicks of Rockville, Va., three bass, 4-3, $3,000
Final round Saturday
Day four of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open at the Potomac River, the pro finals, begins as the field of 10 boats takes off from Smallwood State Park in Marbury, Md., at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and the $200,000 Pro Division winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.