Female co-angler advances to top 10
D’IBERVILLE, Miss., -Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., emerged from another foggy day on the Pascagoula River with three bass weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces to claim top honors going into Friday’s semifinal round at the second $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop of 2001. Co-Angler Beverly Little of Greensboro, N.C., also advanced despite not catching a fish.
Biffle used a jig to capture the lead with at two-day total of eight bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce. He said that all of his bass Thursday were caught within 30 minutes following a “long, long” ride up river. Biffle was in second place going into Thursday with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces that he caught from the same location.
“I know that it will be out of the water,” said Biffle, explaining that falling water where he is fishing will likely expose a gravel wall that will make entering his preferred spot difficult at best. “Have you ever seen that Burt Reynolds movie where they jump the boat. Well, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m either going to make it in or get stuck, bad.”
Chuck Economou of Redington Beach, Fla., landed in second place with a two-day total of eight bass weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces, and Johnny McCombs of Morris, Ala., mounted the tourney’s greatest comeback to claim third place with seven bass weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces. McCombs jumped from 41st place thanks to a 14-pound, 10-ounce limit on day two. His catch, which ranks as the heaviest of the tournament so far, included a 7-pound, 14-ounce largemouth that earned him $750 as the day’s biggest bass and $1,000 as the Pepsi big bass for the two-day opening round.
The original field of 175 pros has been narrowed to the top 10 for the semifinal round of competition. Pro anglers are now competing for a spot in the five-angler final round Saturday. Weights from the first two days of competition are erased, so each angler is fishing for the heaviest one-day catch. The top five pros will start from zero again Saturday and fish for the heaviest one-day weight to determine the winner of $100,000 cash in the tournament presented by Pepsi and Frito Lay.
Daniel Workman of Oakwood, Ga., topped the 175-person Co-Angler Division Thursday with a two-day total of four bass weighing 7 pounds. Two of the bass weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces were caught on opening day when Workman claimed sixth place. Tommy Szwankowski of Hope, Ga., occupied the No. 2 qualifying spot with four bass weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces followed by Jim Blake of Lincoln, Neb., in third place with six bass 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Co-Angler competition ends Friday with the winner collecting $15,000 cash.
After leading her division on opening day, Little is still in the running despite coming up empty on day two. She claimed the fifth qualifying position on the strength of her opening day catch of four bass weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces. Her lead Wednesday was an FLW Tour first. This is the second time in as many tournaments this season that a female angler has advanced to the top 10. Tammie Muse of North Little Rock, Ark., and Wanda Rucker of Cocoa, Fla., finished 9th and 10th respectively at the FLW Tour season opener on Lake Okeechobee, Fla.
David Greeter of Augusta, Ga., claimed the co-angler big bass title and $500 with a 2-pound, 8-ounce largemouth.
Overall, 376 bass weighing 527 pounds, 13 ounces were caught Thursday including nine limits. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive. If the FLW Tour maintains a 98 percent live release rate through the 2001 season, Energizer will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Competition continues at 8 a.m. Friday at D’Iberville City Marina and the weigh-in begins at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 3615 Sangani Blvd. in D’Iberville. Saturday’s takeoff from the D’Iberville City Marina starts at 6:30 a.m. followed by the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart at 3 p.m.
A Family Fun Zone featuring fishing seminars, free product samples, interactive displays and children’s games will open in the Wal-Mart parking lot starting at 3 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.
Sponsors of the 2001 Wal-Mart FLW Tour are ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Black & Decker, Chevrolet, CITGO, Coleman, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, Kellogg’s, Land O’Lakes, Lowrance, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Plano Tackle Systems, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers Cruncher Bar, Timex, US Bank, Visa, Wal-Mart, Weed Eater, Wrangler and Yamaha Outboards.