Quick Bites: FLW Tour Lake Norman, Day 2

Wal-Mart FLW Tour National Guard Open

Lake Norman, Concord, N.C.

Opening round, Friday

Cherry picking … Pro leader Hank Cherry may have the local knowledge, but hometown know-how won’t get you very far when you’re stuck in the middle of the lake. Cherry ended day two atop the pro leaderboard thanks in large part to his Thursday catch of 13 pounds, but without the help of fellow pro Clay Dyer, it’s likely not a one of those bass would have been weighed in. “I got up the river, and I had some mechanical failure,” Cherry said. “I called (tournament director) Bill Taylor because I wasn’t sure how to handle it. He said, `You’ve got to call somebody from the tournament.’ I knew if I called Clay, he’d come get me, because that’s just the kind of guy he is.” Ever the sportsman, Dyer did indeed come to his friend’s aid, probably at the expense of his own fish. He finished last on the pro side and caught only 3 pounds today. “Clay said, `Yeah, I’ll come get you, but give me a minute,'” Cherry said. “Thirty minutes later, he called back, and said, `Are you okay?’ Five minutes later, he said, `I’m putting my stuff up and coming to get you.’ I don’t think he fished the whole day. He spent the rest of the time hauling me around.” … Note to Dyer: That was nice of you and all, and perhaps the good feeling of a good deed is reward enough. But you should know that Cherry can’t make any less than $25,000 in this tournament, so come Sunday evening, it might work out well for you to place yourself in Cherry’s line of sight!

Little big bass … Just as Cherry may or may not owe Dyer some money, we think Jacob Powroznik should also be on the receiving end of some cash after noticing his friend Gabe Bolivar’s big bass – after Bolivar had already walked off the stage. And sat in a golf cart for a ride back to the water. “I walked off, and Jacob said, `That’s a pretty good fish,'” Bolivar said, adding that he never thought to weigh it since it was only in the 4-pound range. What Bolivar evidently did not realize, though, is that numbers were down in every way on Lake Norman today, and his 4-15, while not worth getting a replica of, was certainly worth $1,000 as the Pro Division big-bass winner. In fact, Bolivar was so unimpressed with his bass that he was incredulous after weigh-in upon learning it had indeed held up and did win the big-bass award. “I’ve got to give him a couple hundred bucks,” Bolivar said of Powroznik.

Changes at the top … With a 72nd-place finish on Lake Norman, Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year points leader Dave Lefebre will not end the week king of the hill. Coming into this week’s event, Lefebre led Darrel Robertson by only eight points, and Robertson finished 19 spots ahead of Lefebre on the leaderboard. “It was tough,” Lefebre said. “The fish I was on in practice, I never did catch. It was disgusting.” … Also disgusted is Mark Davis, who was in third place in Angler of the Year standings heading into this week’s tournament. He finished 90th, and while the season is only halfway over at the conclusion of this tournament, he feels he may have kissed his AOY chances goodbye. “I really need those points for Angler of the Year, but I may have blown it this tournament,” Davis said … The latest points tally will not be available until Sunday night following the final weigh-in, but one to watch is Michael Bennett, currently in fifth place in the points standings and ninth in tournament standings. Bennett will live to fish another two days, racking up precious points in the process.

That’s just ducky … Co-angler Thomas Vickers of Lincolnton, N.C., weighed in only one bass today, but it’s unfortunate for him that a bass was all he was allowed to weigh in. After all, his catch today also included a duck. “We crossed paths at the wrong time,” Vickers said of the duck. “We were fishing a dock, and that duck was lying on that dock, taking a nap. I made a cast, and I guess he got scared and decided to fly.” You can probably guess what happened next. “I hooked him, but we got him in the boat and unhooked him,” Vickers said. “He swam off and seemed pretty happy – a lot happier than he was when he was hooked.” Looks like no harm, no … fowl.

Freefalling … Numbers took a dive on day two at Lake Norman, and the top 10 lists show it. Seven of yesterday’s top 10 pros as well as seven of yesterday’s top 10 co-anglers tumbled down the leaderboard, failing to make the cut and thus losing the chance to fish in the final rounds. Among those not making the top 10 are day-one pro and co-angler leaders Jeremiah Kindy and Robert Horick. Kindy’s day-one catch of 15-6 dropped to 8-6 today, and he ended up 17th, though he was characteristically sunny. “I had an awesome day,” he said. Horick had tougher luck, as his leading day-one catch of 12-3 was followed up today with a single-bass catch weighing 1-11 that put him in 40th on the co-angler side. “It was a very different day than what I had yesterday,” Horick said. “What I was doing completely quit.”

Open pockets … This week’s tournament on Lake Norman is the National Guard Open, and according to FLW Outdoors president and CEO Charlie Evans, it’s the first event of its kind. “Last year we had two Opens and four qualifiers, and the National Guard stepped up and we now have three Opens and three qualifiers,” Evans said. “That means more money for our competitors. This is the first $1.5 million tournament, as last year the Opens were only $1.25 million, so it’s up $250,000. This is also the first qualifier in the history of the sport to pay $1.5 million.” Evans also noted that this week’s event is the first to pay $4,000 to 100th place, a check that went to Danny Correia of Marlborough, Mass. Unfortunately for Pat Fisher, not only did he finish 101st, just out of check range, but he also tied Correia, a tiebreaker Correia ultimately won. Enjoy your paycheck, Danny, and hang in there, Pat!

Vic in the thick … Sitting pretty in the No. 3 spot is pro Vic Vatalaro, well known to many for his frequent high finishes in the Stren Series and the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League. In fact, Vatalaro has 12 top-10s, including five victories, on his FLW Outdoors resume. What’s so special about the fact that he’ll be fishing tomorrow on Lake Norman is that after all of that success, this is Vatalaro’s first time to make an FLW Tour top-10 despite this being his fourth season to fish the big leagues. “I’ve fished the Tour for four years and have never made a top-10,” Vatalaro said. “It’s a big thing for me. It made me nervous today.” What, you, nervous? Indeed, Vatalaro got the shaky nerves today knowing how close he was and how close he came two months ago, when he ultimately took 15th at Lake Travis. “Yesterday I had 13 pounds and was in 23rd place, and I knew I had to have a limit and some weight,” he said. “I tried to hurry up for a limit to get that out of the way and probably wasted three hours doing that.” He also lost a few fish in the process, which he attributes to nerves. But he recovered and ultimately caught 12-14 to land in third after day two. “After that, I flipped and fished for big fish the rest of the time,” he said.

Quick numbers:

8.5: Number of hours that top-10 co-angler Alessandro Debbi of Italy had to sit on a plane to get to this tournament.

2: Number of movies he watched while en route.

3: Ounces separating No. 10 pro Larry Nixon from the first man out of the cut, No. 11 Mark Hardin.

4: Number of pros and co-anglers fishing the final rounds who hail from the tournament host state of North Carolina.

1,374: Number of bass caught today by pros and co-anglers.

1,511: Number of bass caught yesterday.

Sound bites:

“I fished here in the early ’90s, and there were not enough bass to fill a spa.” – Pro Bud Pruitt, on Lake Norman’s incredible comeback.

“No.” – Pro Terry Baksay’s young son, when asked if his dad fished well today. Baksay ended up 189th with 11 pounds over two days.

“Looking at the scoreboard, I think I’ve got a shot.” – No. 2 pro Jim Moynagh with the understatement of the day, as he looked at today’s lower weights while determining whether his day-two haul would be enough to get him into the top 10.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. Eastern time at Blythe Landing, located at 15901 NC Highway 73 in Huntersville.