Quick Bites: FLW Series Lewis Smith Lake, Day 2

Wal-Mart FLW Series

Lewis Smith Lake, Jasper, Ala.

Opening round, Thursday

Complain and you shall receive … Tournament Director Chris Jones hit the nail on the head when describing pro angler Craig Powers. On day one, Powers moaned and moaned on stage about fishing hard all day and catching only one keeper. In fact, Powers was just happy that pro Koby Kreiger, his roommate, had caught some fish because the two split earnings. Apparently, Jones has heard Powers moan before because he called his bluff beautifully. Jones predicted that Powers would start over with a new game plan and catch them strong on day two. What happened? Powers refused to throw the increasingly popular football-head jig as well as the Shaky Head and went topwater fishing. The result was a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds even – the second heaviest limit of the tournament thus far. “What I figured out is that sometimes you’ve got to stop thinking and just start casting,” said Powers. “I just went out and done what I wanted to. I’ll sell every football-head jig I have for $2.” So the next time you struggle on a stingy lake, try the Craig Powers method.

Cruce family cashes in … Local pro Michael Cruce had a difficult opening day on his home lake, but that didn’t deter him the least bit. On day two, the Bremen, Ala., native rebounded with four nice bass weighing 12 pounds, 9 ounces. If Cruce keeps that up, he’s looking at a payday of at least $10,000. But he isn’t the only member of the family getting paid from FLW Outdoors this week. Two of his grandchildren have been putting in long hours too. Brooke and Bryden Williams, ages 7 and 10, have been helping the tournament staff by pouring Rejuvenade in the anglers’ bags after they weigh in. Young Bryden in particular has been working his little tail off, and occasionally the heavy buckets have gotten the best of him. Despite being soaked from head to toe, Bryden was remarkably polite to each and every angler as they came through the line. Bryden and Brooke each received $20 for helping out. Come to think of it, that might be the best $40 FLW Outdoors has ever spent.

So much for worse … It’s been said before, but it is worth mentioning again – never trust a fisherman. That rang true again today as many pros insisted the angling would get even worse. On day two, FLW Series pros caught over 690 pounds of bass, compared with roughly 600 on day one. So far the theme of the tournament has been suspending fish. Many of the spotted bass that were caught deep are no longer holding tight to brush. If the sun comes out tomorrow as predicted, the spot bite could turn on. In contrast, the largemouth bite was much improved Thursday as most of the heavy bags consisted of bucketmouths. Pro leader Sean Hoernke described it as a perfect fall largemouth day. “We had low pressure, cooler temperatures and cloud cover, which made the fish really active and supershallow.” That might change as the cold front continues to progress. Typically, largemouths are the most finicky a day or two after the cold front arrives. Ah, the life of the professional angler – always changing, always adjusting.

AOY update … With only one day left of the opening round, it is time to bring out the calculators and do some munching and crunching in regards to the FLW Series Angler of the Year race. Before the tournament began, the AOY award looked like a slam dunk for Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt. But that has all changed as Wendlandt has only managed one small bass over the first two days. His closest competitor, David Dudley, has fared much better with a two-day total of 10 pounds. Dudley sits in 46th place while Wendlandt is all the way back at 151st. Despite trailing at the start of the event by 36 points, Dudley has unofficially taken a 69-point lead over Wendlandt. The third-ranked pro, Jacob Powroznik, is 116th, and fourth-ranked Andy Morgan is 111th. Even Dave Lefebre, who trailed Wendlandt by 69 points coming into the event, has legitimate AOY aspirations. Much will be determined tomorrow as a 10-pound stringer on a tough lake translates into a ton of points. Stay tuned, and we apologize for any shoddy math.

Quick numbers

16: Weight, in pounds, of the heaviest five-bass limit of the tournament, caught by pro Rusty Salewske.

1: Number of keepers weighed in today by Wendlandt, the official points leader.

0: Number of bass weighed in, in unreleasable shape by the entire pro field.

6: Number of five-bass limits caught by the entire pro field.

0: Number of five-bass limits caught by the entire co-angler field.

46: Number of pros who have a two-day total in double digits.

5: Number of co-anglers who have a two-day total in double digits.

4-15: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the heaviest bass of the tournament, caught today by pro Gerald Swindle.

Sound bites

“I’m just glad to be in; it was cold out there.” – 12th-place co-angler Shane Patterson.

“She knows I’m sucking again today.” – Pro Woo Daves, referring to his wife, Patty, who watches weigh-ins on FLW Live.

“We had a good time catching all those killer fish. It just kills me to have to have to throw back those 14-inchers.” – Pro Mary Divincenti, who doesn’t appreciate the 15-inch minimum length limit on Lewis Smith Lake.

“The biggest misconception in bass fishing is that you have to have cloudy skies to fish topwater.” – Powers, revealing his plans for day three.

“That’s the unique thing about Smith Lake; nothing ever works two days in a row.” – Pro David Fritts, who fell from fourth place to 21st.

“I don’t think three a day will be enough.” – Chad Grigsby, who currently sits 24th in the Pro Division.

“Honestly, if I get a single bite tomorrow, I’ll be real happy. I got lucky today.” – Second-place pro Salewske.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. Central time from the Lewis Smith Lake Dam.