Berry makes it three in a row

Art Berry of Ramona, Calif., used a 10-pound, 6-ounce catch to maintain his overall lead in the Pro Division for a third-consecutive day. Photo by Gary Mortenson. Angler: Art Berry.

January 31, 2003 • Gary Mortenson • Archives

Hite comes on strong in Pro Division, Griffith claims top spot in Co-angler Division

PEORIA, Ariz. – Art Berry proved once again that he is the man to beat. Using a catch of 10 pounds, 6 ounces, Berry continued his amazing run at the $200,000 EverStart Western Division tourney at Lake Pleasant, failing to relinquish the overall lead in the Pro Division for a third consecutive day.

“It went real well for me today,” said Berry. “I caught my limit in the first hour of fishing and the five fish I brought to the scales were the first five bites I had today. It’s just an incredible feeling. I’m kind of in a zone right now. I know exactly what the fish are doing.”

As he has done throughout the tournament, Berry targeted suspended bass on submerged timber.

“I did the same thing I’ve done all week,” said Berry, who hails from Ramona, Calif. “Once I caught my limit, I just protected my area for the rest of the day. I could have had a bigger stringer, but I kind of pulled back. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

Not surprisingly, Berry said he couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s finals to get underway. After all, how many opportunities do you get to win a first-place award of $60,000 in cash and prizes?

“Tomorrow is going to be one of the most exciting days of my career,” he said.

Mystery message?

If tomorrow turns out to be one of the most exciting days of Berry’s career, today almost certainly has to be one of the weirdest. Although Berry had fished the same exact location for the first three days of the tournament with little variation, today he found something at his prime fishing spot that he’d never seen before.

“When I got to my spot, I looked down under the boat and I saw something strange,” he said. “When I looked closer, I realized that someone had tied a sign under the water on one of the submerged trees. I couldn’t believe it. I pulled it up and read it. It said, `The Berry Bush … Keep Out!! Good luck Art!!’ I still have no idea who put it there.”

Hite presents strongest challenge to Berry’s reign

While Art Berry has been busy grabbing the headlines for the first three days of tournament action, Pro Brett Hite of Phoenix, Ariz., has been quietly making up ground on the leader. Using a catch of 10-pounds, 6-ounces, Hite equaled Berry’s total in today’s competition, serving up the only real challenge to the California native to date.

“This is exactly where I wanted to be,” said Hite. “This is my home lake and I’ve won more money on Lake Pleasant than I have on any other lake. I’ve saved a lot of spots for my last two days. It’s working out perfectly. This has been my game plan all along. I’m really pleased.”

Although Hite technically qualified for the finals in second place by virtue of the tie-breaking procedures, it’s clear that the Arizona native won’t be flying under the radar screen any longer.

“I had some boat problems on the first day and I didn’t have as good of a start as I would have liked,” said Hite. “But I’m one of the only guys who has gotten stronger every day. I got my limit in about 2 hours this morning and I have a lot of good fishing spots left. I’m pretty confident I can catch 10 to 12 pounds tomorrow.”

Hite said that he has been targeting creek channels with soft plastics, using a drop-shot technique in 30 to 45 feet of water.

Best of the rest

Tim Klinger of Boulder City, Nev., grabbed the third qualifying position with a catch of 8 pounds, while Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., finished the day in third place with a catch of 6 pounds, 15 ounces.

Phil Strader of Glide, Ore., qualified in fifth place with a catch of 6 pounds, 5 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were: Larry Cross (sixth) of Calimesa, Calif., with a catch of 5 pounds, 14 ounces; Gary Boyd (seventh) of Reseda, Calif., with a catch of 5 pounds, 14 ounces; Jim Jeffords (eighth) of Hillsboro, Ore., with a catch of 5 pounds, 13 ounces; Scott Reason (ninth) of Covina, Calif., with a catch of 5 pounds, 11 ounces; and Brent Ehrler (tenth) of Redlands, Calif., with a catch of 5 pounds, 10 ounces.

Griffith takes over lead in Co-angler Division

In the early part of November, Jon Griffith found out that he had been laid off from his job. However, while most people would have viewed those developments as a negative, Griffith decided to look at it as a golden opportunity to test his skills as a professional angler.

“I decided to use the opportunity to see if I could make it as a professional fisherman,” said Griffith, who used a 7-pound catch in today’s competition to snatch the overall lead in the Co-angler Division heading into Saturday’s finals. “I’m just amazed at how everything has turned out. This is one of the best days of my life. I can’t wait until tomorrow.”

Griffith, who has been landing the majority of his catch on flukes and jerkbaits, said he is cautiously optimistic about his chances tomorrow.

“The first two days I fished shallow and today we went deep,” said Griffith, who resides in Mesa, Ariz. “But tomorrow I’m going out with Art Berry and I know we’re pretty much going to be fishing shallow again. And that’s where I’m most comfortable. This is my home lake, so hopefully everything will work out. If it does, it will be my biggest win ever.”

Best of the rest

In second place, with a catch of 6 pounds, was Jason Billmaier of Las Vegas, Nev. Jim Wickam of Morristown, Ariz., netted the third qualifying position after landing a total catch of 5 pounds, 13 ounces.

Fourth place belonged to day-two leader Gary Collins of Moorpark, Calif., with a catch of 4 pounds, 15 ounces. Dallas Merrick grabbed the fifth spot after registering a catch of 3 pounds, 11 ounces.

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were: Todd Holverson (sixth) of El Cajon, Calif., with a catch of 3 pounds, 9 ounces; Darrell Hagood (seventh) of Wilton, Calif., with a catch of 3 pounds, 4 ounces; Joe Patz (eighth) of Peoria, Ariz., with a catch of 3 pounds, 4 ounces; Steve Amata (ninth) of Payson, Utah, with a catch of 3 pounds; and Dan Powers (tenth) of Weaverville, Calif., with a catch of 3 pounds.

Finalists in both divisions will have their weights zeroed before the start of tomorrow’s competition.

Tomorrow’s final takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. at Pleasant Harbor Marina, located at 8708 West Harbor Boulevard in Peoria, Ariz.