Quick Bites: FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee, Day 1
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Fla.
Opening round, Wednesday
On her guard … Today was both a monumental and sentimental day for rookie co-angler Melinda Mize, who made her FLW Tour debut while she awaits her impending military deployment. Though she is not allowed to give specifics, Mize will soon be leaving the country to serve for at least a year as a member of the National Guard. The military branch is among the new members of FLW Outdoors’ stable of sponsors, and as such Mize approached the stage appropriately dressed in a National Guard team shirt. “I don’t know the exact dates, but I will be deployed soon,” she said. “Today was sad, but it was great to participate one last time.” Knowing her FLW Tour days are numbered gave the young co-angler a positive outlook despite today’s cold and rainy weather. “I kept saying, `I’m not cold; this is fun!'” Mize said. “These are memories I’m going to take with me over there.” … Once her duty is served, Mize plans to waste no time getting back into the swing of things along the competitive fishing trails. In fact, she is thinking of creative ways to stay competitive even when she can’t be on the water. “I’m definitely going to hit it hard when I get back – I’ll have to make up for lost time,” she said. “I’m going to have a rod shipped to me so I can practice my casting. Maybe I’ll learn how to cast with my left hand. I’ll have a lot of time.”
Winds of change … Hurricane Wilma’s devastating effects on Lake Okeechobee and, more specifically, the tournament host city of Clewiston, Fla., has been well-documented in the days leading up to this week’s FLW Tour event. When the storm hit back in October, most people believed the town could not possibly be ready for a major tournament by January. Luckily for this week’s competitors, pro Scott Martin felt otherwise. Martin’s family runs Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina, where the FLW Tour kickoff is traditionally held. The marina suffered enormous amounts of damage, but by the time competitors and staff began rolling into town, it was certainly ready to handle a 400-competitor event. “The hurricane had 120-mph sustained winds, and the eyewall stayed over Clewiston the length of the storm,” Martin said. “Every building in the marina was damaged. We lost one hotel building, and 180 boat slips were blown away. The storm hit Oct. 26, and we had a meeting Nov. 1. I said, `As bad as this place looks, we’ve got to get ready for the FLW.'” And so they did, despite the objections of a host of naysayers, not the least of which was the contractor. “The contractor said we couldn’t do it – he said it was a five-month job,” Martin said. “But we focused on what was important, and we just pulled it off.”
Father’s day … Pro Carl Svebek ended day one in the 19th position with a 13-pound, 6-ounce limit that was enough for sixth place at the time he weighed in. Svebek’s success is remarkable not only because of the fact that he had no practice time but even more so because of the reason why – his father passed away rather unexpectedly just this past Friday. “I flew to Texas for the funeral and missed all the practice,” Svebek said. “I got back in time to register, and I just went fishing. I kept him in my heart all day.” … Indeed, Svebek felt he surely had someone watching over him today, as Okeechobee is typically not Svebek’s strong point. But his impressive day-one stringer gave him not only confidence but a reason to share his father’s legacy. “I know he was out there with me today,” he said. “I was very fortunate to catch the fish I caught. I just hope that it will encourage other fathers and grandfathers to take their kids fishing. He always saw to it that he brought me along.”
Corn Flakes, anyone? … Two former Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cover boys (otherwise known as anglers of the year) appear to be using this week’s tournament as a launch pad back into the FLW Tour’s upper ranks. 2002 Angler of the Year Jay Yelas has not fished an FLW Tour event since May 2003 and came back in a big way today with a limit weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces, good for 12th. In 2004, Shinichi Fukae set the bass-fishing world on fire by becoming the first angler to hold AOY titles in two countries – the United States and Japan. However, his 2005 season fell far short of remarkable, as he fell from first to 99th in the rankings. No one was counting him out for good, though, and Fukae brought in a healthy sack of bass today weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces, good for 22nd. “Not bad,” Fukae said.
A royal scandal … Maryland’s J.T. Kenney had the well-deserved title of Okeechobee King heading into this week’s event after posting four top-10s here in two tournament trails since 2002. He has also spent time guiding here and recently relocated to the state of Florida, making him a no-brainer choice as one to watch this week. He missed out on the Stren Series tournament here a couple of weeks ago, but everyone assumed he’d be among the ones to beat once the FLW Tour came to town. Turns out, not so much … King Kenney ended day one 190th among 196th pros with two bass weighing 2 pounds, 2 ounces. Ouch. At least he had a good attitude about it, quipping on stage, “I’m not going to stand up here and bellyache.”
Quick numbers:
6: Number of pros who did not catch fish on day one.
8-13: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the heaviest bass caught on day one, brought in by pro Sean Hoernke.
5: Number of years that Dean Rojas’ world-record stringer of 45 pounds, 2 ounces has held up. The anniversary was yesterday.
3,085: Number of miles driven by pro Clint Johanson from his home in Benton City, Wash., to Clewiston, Fla.
55: Number of miles that pro leader Mike Hawkes ran his boat on day one.
3: Number of billboards in the Richmond, Va., area featuring the back of pro John Crews’ head. Crews is featured in a jewelry ad alongside his wife, Sonja.
Sound bites:
“The monkey went to the other side of the lake.” – Last year’s Okeechobee winner Kelly Jordon, who took victory in the overcrowded Monkey Box section of the lake. This year’s hot spot is undisputedly the Moonshine Bay area.
“I need me some good drugs right now.” – Veteran pro Guido Hibdon, lamenting his exhaustion after fighting with an 8-foot flipping stick all day.
“I think the Florida bass are like the Florida people – they like the sun.” – Pro Pete Gluszek, on why Okeechobee bass are harder to catch on cloudy, rainy days like today.
“Praying, crossing my toes …” – Mize, describing her day-one fish-catching methods. She caught two weighing 2 pounds, 2 ounces.
“Karen and I got married about 11:15, because that’s about the time we started arguing.” – No. 8 co-angler Tim Johnson, with a tongue-in-cheek description of his day fishing behind pro Karen Savik.
“I thought there were 199.” – Pro Chad Grigsby, attempting to estimate the number of boats trying to fish Moonshine Bay.
“I thought the wind was blowing; it was just him jerking.” – Co-angler Bruce Dale, who still caught a limit despite fishing behind Fukae on day one.
“I saw some fish this week I could have put a saddle on.” – Co-angler Walter Hairston Jr. on Okeechobee’s legendary hefty bass.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. EST at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina, located at 920 E. Del Monte Ave. in Clewiston, Fla.