Thirstin’ Howell
Stockton pro reluctantly leads opening round at California Delta; Folkestad overtakes Berry for Western standings title
OAKLEY, Calif. – Gary Howell doesn’t fish many EverStart Series tournaments, but he tends to do well in those that he does. The second-year pro from Stockton, Calif., led the charge out of the opening round of Western Division competition at the California Delta Thursday with a two-day total weight of 39 pounds, 1 ounce.
After posting a nice 23-pound, 1-ounce limit on day one, Howell went out and caught another good, five-bass weight of 16 pounds even on day two. The weight carried him past Wednesday’s pro leader Bernie Gaunt of West Sacramento, Calif., who placed second with 38-15, and will send Howell out in boat No. 1 for Friday’s semifinals.
But that’s not exactly what Howell wanted to hear Thursday afternoon.
“That is not a good thing,” he said about earning the top spot. “There are too many good fishermen behind me looking up.”
The merits of leading an EverStart tournament after the first two days are debatable; after all, everybody’s weights are cleared for the final two days. Still, Howell’s leading weight indicates that he’s on fish at the delta this week, and he just hopes that trend will continue.
“Today, I caught them flipping a tube and then, as soon as the clouds came out, I threw a little crankbait just below the surface,” he said, adding that he caught his limit on day one using a Senko. “I was waiting for that cloud cover all morning.”
Like everybody at the delta, Howell is battling the tide to find the bite. He said that he needs a low tide because he’s fishing in heavy vegetation.
“It’s pretty hard to see what you’re doing in the grass until the water drops,” he said. “I’m not catching very many fish. That’s the problem. I’m catching about 10 a day and, tomorrow, I just hope that the ones that bite are good ones.”
If history is any indication, he might just find some more good bass on the delta over the next two days. The last two seasons, Howell has only fished the California Delta and Clear Lake tournaments in the Western Division. Last year he finished in the top 25 in both of those events, including a sixth-place finish at the delta.
“I’ve got a full-time job,” he said. “I can’t travel all over. In fact, I had to work last night.”
Gaunt throttles back, still claims second
After his near-record-breaking performance on day one, Gaunt knew he had some wiggle room on day two. So he caught a smaller limit weighing 10 pounds, 2 ounces Thursday, but held onto second place by virtue of his 28-13 sack the day before.
Much of Gaunt’s efforts today were focused on finding back-up patterns in case his main fishing spot doesn’t hold up tomorrow.
“It all depends on the wind,” he said. “If it blows pretty bad, I might be coming in 20th place. I found some back-up patterns, but they’re not producing the kind of fish I need.”
Folkestad third, unofficially claims Western points title
Unlike Howell, Mike Folkestad of Yorba Linda, Calif., is fishing the high tide. Using a variety of bait presentations – from throwing a crankbait to pitching Senkos and a Zoom Brush Hog to drop-shotting Roboworms – he claimed third place in the Pro Division with a two-day weight of 36 pounds, 15 ounces.
“I’m fishing staging areas where they come in and go back out,” he said. “By 11:30 I had all my fish and quit. It’s a pretty big area, and it was easier to fish today because we didn’t really have any wind.”
Folkestad has made every cut out of the opening round in Western Division competition this year. By making the cut Thursday, he secured first place in the final yearly standings. While it is still unofficial until the conclusion of the tournament, Folkestad will be the 2004 Western points champion. He came into the tournament 27 points behind Art Berry of Hemet, Calif., but Berry finished at the delta in 48th place Thursday. Even if Folkestad blanks Friday, he would finish the tournament 28 places ahead of Berry and would win the standings by 1 point.
The standings race was close and came down to today. Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., was also in the running, tied with Folkestad coming into the week. But Ehrler missed the cut Thursday by a mere 3 ounces and two places, thus assuring Folkestad of the title.
“It puts extra pressure on you when you start thinking about Angler of the Year,” Folkestad said before Thursday’s results were in. “Coming into the tournament, I didn’t think that I had a chance, but that’s fishing. Brent stumbled and now Art stumbled, but I guess that’s what makes it fun.”
“Unfortunately, I was never on (fish) this week,” said a gracious Berry. “I just congratulate those two guys. To be Angler of the Year, you’ve got to catch them every day of every tournament all year long.”
Young Bennett fourth
Michael Bennett, a 19-year-old pro from Roseville, Calif., placed fourth in the opening round with a two-day total of 35 pounds, 9 ounces. He languished with just 13-14 on day one, but picked it up and caught a limit weighing 21-11 on day two.
“It was a great day. I was done fishing by 9:45,” he said. “I was just flipping and catching a lot of spawning fish that I can’t see – and some postspawn fish. The tide is getting better for me day by day.”
Cagle fifth
Pro Bob Cagle of Yuba City, Calif., placed fifth with an opening-round weight of 35 pounds, 7 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day two at the California Delta are defending champion Gary Dobyns of Yuba City, Calif., with an opening-round total of 35 pounds, 4 ounces (6th place); Mike Saso of Elk Grove, Calif., with 35-4 (7th); Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., with 33-3 (8th); Jason Cordiale of Orinda, Calif., with 33-2 (9th); and Nick Grebb of Roseville, Calif., with 32-13 (10th).
All 10 of the top pros caught limits both days of the opening round.
Chuck English of Las Vegas, Nev., caught the Pro Division big bass – a 9-pound, 15-ounce largemouth – worth $500.
Weaver holds onto top co-angler spot by “fishing foam”
Buoyed by his enormous 23-pound, 4-ounce leading stringer on day one, Bob Weaver of Lawton, Okla., held onto first place in the Co-angler Division after catching a small limit weighing 8-8 on day two. His two-day total was 31-12.
Weaver fished with Dobyns Thursday, who took full advantage of not having to worry about helping his co-angler make the cut. Even if Weaver had caught nothing today, he still would have made it in 10th place.
“All I did today was fish his foamy water all day,” said an obliging Weaver, indicating that he didn’t fish any water that Dobyns hadn’t already fished first. “My pro just smiled and said, `Just sit back there and eat your sandwiches,’ which I was happy to do.”
Second place went to co-angler Reese Randall of Payson, Ariz., for an opening-round weight of 30 pounds, 2 ounces.
Gary Wilson of Tracy, Calif., placed third for the co-anglers with a weight of 27 pounds, 11 ounces.
Gary Haraguchi of Antioch, Calif., placed fourth with 26 pounds, 12 ounces.
James Gross of Kingman, Ariz., placed fifth with 26 pounds, 4 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers after day two at the California Delta are Kyle Clement of Anderson, Calif., with an opening-round total of 26 pounds, 2 ounces (6th place); Don Shimatsu of Glenn Ellen, Calif., with 25-9 (7th); Dan Colgan of Claremont, Calif., with 25-6 (8th); Judy Cheney of Tucson, Ariz., with 24-4 (9th); and Matt Lowery of El Cajon, Calif., with 22-15 (10th).
Clement earned the $200 Co-angler Division big-bass award thanks to a nice 9-pound, 6-ounce largemouth.
Day three of Western Division competition at the California Delta begins as the semifinal-round field of 20 boats takes off from Big Break Marina in Oakley at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time. Anglers’ weights are reset to zero for Friday, and both fields will be cut to the top 10 anglers apiece for Saturday’s finals based on tomorrow’s weight.