Quick Bites: FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee, Day 3
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Okeechobee, Clewiston, Fla.
Semifinal round, Friday
Luck of the draw … Co-angler finalists Tim Johnson and Darrell Stevens have a lot more in common besides an Okeechobee top 10 – both men fished with the same partners in the opening round. On day one, Johnson fished out of the back of pro Karen Savik’s boat, while Stevens was paired with Toby Hartsell. On day two, Stevens fished with Savik, and Johnson went with Hartsell. All pairings are random, making the flip-flopped pairings and subsequent top-10s a pretty remarkable coincidence. … How did the pros fare? Hartsell finished 165th on the pro side, and Savik took 119th place. “These guys – if you can’t learn from them, you’re either stupid or stubborn for not knowing they can teach you,” said Savik, who dropped her original fish-catching plan when Johnson and Stevens began catching fish on alternate methods. “They teach you a lot.”
Thrifty business … North Carolina co-angler Bryan Thrift came out of apparent nowhere in 2005 to rank second in Stren Series Southeast Division points standings. Emboldened by his success, he switched to the pro side for Stren Series competition in 2006 and quickly won his first tournament from the front of the boat. That tournament was on Lake Okeechobee a mere two weeks ago, and he fished this week’s FLW Tour Okeechobee event from the co-angler side and finished sixth. “I was starting to think I’d win every tournament you had this year, but that didn’t work out,” Thrift joked. All joking aside, Thrift is as amazed as anyone over his quick vault to success. “I decided to move up to the pro side and everything worked out,” he said of his Okeechobee Stren success. “I couldn’t believe the fish I was catching. Everything worked out well.” … Thrift also fared well in 2005 Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League competition, earning a trip to a regional. In only 14 FLW Outdoors events, Thrift has won three events – all Strens – and earned seven top-10s.
Back in action … Right now, pro Mark Hardin is sitting pretty in the No. 5 position heading into day-four competition. But a year ago, things weren’t looking so good for the veteran pro. On his way to the 2005 Okeechobee FLW, the pain Hardin had been feeling on his right side began to intensify. He thought it was just a pulled muscle, but when he stopped in south Georgia to fill up his tank, he had no sooner taken the change back from the cashier when he collapsed on the gas-station floor. It wasn’t just a pulled muscle; it was appendicitis. “I came to, and (the cashier) said, `The ambulance is on its way,'” Hardin remembers. “I was in the hospital for three or four days, and then I stayed at Stanley Mitchell’s until I felt like riding in a vehicle, because they cut me pretty bad.” (Mitchell, a fellow pro, lives not far from where Hardin collapsed.) Thus Hardin began 2005 in the hole, and his season never gained any momentum. However, the 2006 season could shape up differently, as Hardin has already scored his first top 10 since 2004.
The hard way … No. 7 pro Tommy Biffle is from the old school of bass fishing, and his fish-catching methods on day three proved that newfangled fancy tackle isn’t always necessary to get bass in the boat. “I did it the old-fashioned way,” Biffle said of the fish he wound up handlining into the boat today. “I was flipping 65-pound braid, and it broke off in the reel. I grabbed the braid (in the water) and just hoped there was something on it.” There was – hooked on the end of the free-floating line was Biffle’s biggest bass of the day. “I grabbed the net and got him,” Biffle said, making it all sound easy.
Like father, like son … Kansas pro Brent Chapman is well-known as a top-notch tournament angler, but what many may not realize is that his dad is no slouch either. Ron Chapman took home $9,000 as the No. 3 co-angler on Lake Okeechobee, while his son took 70th place on the pro side. But as far as Ron is concerned, he’d rather it be Brent on the final-round stage. “I’d always rather he did better, because he does this for a living, and I just do it as a hobby,” Ron said. “I’d give anything to trade places. I’d rather him make the cut, but I had a blast.” … This was Ron’s first appearance in an FLW Tour top 10.
Quick numbers:
2: Number of co-anglers who caught a limit on day three.
1-3: Keith Pace’s lead over No. 2 Kelly Jordon, in pounds and ounces.
2: Number of top-10 pros with a Mineola, Texas, address – Jordon and Shinichi Fukae.
13-6: Distance, in pounds and ounces, between No. 1 Pace and No. 10 Sean Hoernke.
4: Number of FLW Tour victories recorded by No. 4 David Fritts, a record.
10: Number of times the FLW Tour has opened its season on Lake Okeechobee.
Sound bites:
“I still have that bad taste in my mouth because I can’t seal the deal.” – No. 6 pro Chad Grigsby, who has scored four FLW Tour top-10s, including this week’s, in one year but has yet to take home the trophy.
“It’s good to weigh in first. You always lead.” – Chapman, who was the first to weigh in today by virtue of finishing the opening round in 10th. He quickly surrendered the lead to eventual winner Johnson.
“I had him, but he got off. He looked up at me and waved the tail.” – Runner-up co-angler Fred Martin, on the one that got away. Martin brought in one bass shy of the five-bass limit on day three.
“I caught another one, and I caught another one, and he picked up a Rat-L-Trap.” – Johnson, on teaching the legendary Fritts a lesson after hauling in a limit on a Trap. Fritts apparently listened – his limit weighing 12-12 put him in fourth.
“I’m not trying to scare anybody, but I saw two more like that.” – Pace, who leads the field thanks in part to an Okeechobee bass of very impressive size.
“Earlier this week I probably could have driven my Chevy truck over it, it was so dirty.” – Fritts, on the dirty water mucking up Lake Okeechobee. Clear water has been at a premium all week.
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.