Eakins jigs his way into first at Pickwick
All 10 pro final-round qualifiers catch limits Friday
FLORENCE, Ala. – The name Eakins carries some weight on the EverStart Series. A lot of anglers use the famed Eakins jig to catch their bass at tournaments, and the man behind the custom bait, Jim Eakins of Nixa, Mo., can often been seen at the podium in the final rounds of tournaments.
But it was Eakins the younger who grabbed the limelight in Friday’s semifinal-round action of the Central Division event at Pickwick Lake. Troy Eakins, Jim’s son, took the Pro Division lead with a five-bass weight of 13 pounds, 12 ounces and will lead all anglers in boat No. 1 in Saturday’s final round.
And, yes, he caught his bass on an Eakins jig. At least that’s what he says anyway.
Eakins, also from Nixa, Mo., worked his namesake jig along chunk-rock banks in 2 to 10 feet of water way up in the back of some creeks Friday. While he said the fishing was still “pretty tough,” he caught 14 keepers to choose from and filled out his limit.
“There are some good fish moving up right now,” he said. “You’ve just got to know how to find them.”
His key fishing location is some 45 to 50 minutes away from the takeoff point at McFarland Park, “downriver towards the dam,” he said. Eakins is working the prespawn bite, which is still a little touchy but has shown signs of improving as the week wears on.
“They’re not there yet, but they’re probably two or three days away from spawning,” he said about the bass he’s targeting.
Tomorrow, with a cold front threatening to bear down on the Shoals area, Eakins plans on doing much the same thing as he’s done all week.
“I’m just going to slow down and try to catch anything that will bite,” he said. “I’d like to weigh in another 13 or 14 pounds tomorrow.”
As for his lead in the semifinal round, he was already looking past that accomplishment Friday afternoon.
“Making the cut’s important,” he said. “But tomorrow’s what counts.”
Newton, Powers go junk-fishing
All 10 pros who qualified for the finals caught a full limit of five bass Friday, and that’s a sure sign that it’s anybody’s game Saturday.
Jonathan Newton of Rogersville, Ala., and Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., used a kind of tag-team approach to land in second and third place, respectively. They’re both fishing in the same farm pond not too far from the ramp, and they’re both avoiding any semblance of a fishing pattern in favor of some old-fashioned river “junk-fishing.”
“It was pretty much just go fishing and catch a few bites,” said Newton, who caught a total of 10 pounds, 12 ounces Friday. He has moved up one place each day this week, coming in fourth place Wednesday, third Thursday and second today – a trend he would obviously like to continue tomorrow.
Newton and Powers, who caught 10 pounds, 10 ounces, both said their junk-fishing consists of targeting a few underwater stumps and being patient.
“Basically, I’m fishing wood cover,” said Newton, who has used a top-water bait, a jig and a spinner bait to catch his fish this week. “The fish are coming up and they’re real aggressive. If you can get five bites, you could have 15 pounds just as easy as 10.”
Powers, who lives on the same Tennessee River a few hours upriver, feels comfortable competing here at Pickwick.
“It’s the same, exact deal (as fishing at home). It’s easy if you figure out where they live,” he said. “Rivers are the most simple fishing in the world because the thing about a river is there are no patterns at all. And when it comes to junk-fishing, that’s what I do best.”
Powers, a past FLW Tour champion, has had a rough go of it early this season, having missed the cut in each of the EverStart and FLW tournaments to date. But he’s looking forward to throwing his homemade plug at some wood tomorrow and making a run at his first title of 2003.
“When the weights are this low, it’s anybody’s game,” he said. “Plus, my confidence is so high right now that I feel I could catch one right here in this parking lot.”
Rest of the best
Also gunning for their first titles of the year are Chad Lynch of Birmingham, Ala., who placed fourth with a five-bass weight of 10 pounds, 4 ounces, and Larry Steeby of Parsons, Kansas, who claimed the fifth spot with a five-bass weight of 9-3.
Rounding out the rest of the pro finalists are Eric Holt of Galena, Mo., (sixth place) with a weight of 9 pounds, 2 ounces; Greg Hackney of Oak Ridge, La., (seventh) with a weight of 8-12: Roger Stegall of Iuka, Miss., (eighth) with a weight of 8-9; Mark Richard of Bridge City, La., (ninth) with a weight of 8-8; and Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas, (10th) with a weight of 7-4.
Barnett tops co-anglers
Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark., led the Co-angler Division with a five-bass weight of 7 pounds, 15 ounces. He was followed by Mark King of Gurdon, Ark., who was the only other co-angler to land five keepers Friday. King caught a total of 7-7.
Barnett, who used a Rogue jerkbait to catch the majority of his bass from the back of pro partner Jim Tutt’s boat, said, “I’m fishing shallow water and not doing anything special. It was really tough. The fish weren’t doing anything, and I was very fortunate just to get a bite.”
Rounding out the rest of the co-angler finalists are Gary Whiteley of Catoosa, Okla., (third place) with four bass weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces; Brian Burch of Florence, Ala., (fourth) with four bass weighing 6-3; Darrell Beasley of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., (fifth) with four bass weighing 5-9; Mark Schuman of Greenwood, Ark., (sixth) with three bass weighing 4-14; day-one leader Shane Phillips of Franklin, Ky., (seventh) with three bass weighing 4-9; Bruce Dale of Jamestown, Ohio, (eighth) with four bass weighing 4-5; Don Houston of Saltillo, Miss., (ninth) with three bass weighing 4-1; and Clark Wolfe of Grove City, Ohio, (10th) with two bass weighing 2-14.
Final round Saturday
Final-round action begins Saturday at 6 a.m. at McFarland Park in Florence. All competitors will restart the day with zero weight. The final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3100 Hough Road in Florence beginning at 4 p.m.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed cash award of $10,000 plus a new Ranger 519VS Comanche equipped with Garmin electronics and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive an additional $10,000 cash bonus from Ranger for a total of $61,900 in cash and prizes. Ranger will also award an additional $3,000 to the winner if he is a Ranger Cup participant, and Garmin will award $1,000 to the winner if his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount Garmin Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash. If the winning co-angler is a registered Ranger owner, he will also receive a new Ranger 519VS Comanche for a total of $27,800 in cash and prizes.
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