Wednesday’s gone with the wind
Weather clears at Ouachita for Thursday’s FLW action
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It’s a whole new ballgame for the second day of competition at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event in the Ouachita Mountains. A warm southerly breeze cleared the air over Lake Ouachita this morning, ensuring that the 350 anglers made it out of Mountain Harbor Marina right on time at 7 a.m. for a full day of tournament fishing.
Yesterday’s top weight – the day’s only five-bass stringer, caught by Greg Hackney of Oak Ridge, La. – weighed 15 pounds, 8 ounces. But most anglers caught significantly fewer bass due to a shortened day of fishing caused by a fog delay that kept anglers off the lake until 11 a.m.
Anglers and fans are expecting a different scenario today given the conditions. Catch weights will increase, and they could increase significantly. The weather is warming, and that could provoke big bass into moving up towards the shallows to begin the spawn. Dock talk indicated that more than one 20-pound stringer could come across the scale Thursday afternoon.
With the potential increase in catch weights, anglers are looking for the top-20 cut weight to hover around 13 pounds over two days for the Pro Division and 7 pounds for the Co-angler Division.
FLW action continues at today’s weigh-in, scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. at Mountain Harbor Resort located off Highway 270 East. Following today’s competition, the top 20 pros will advance to the semifinal round and the top 20 co-anglers will compete in that division’s finals Friday.
Vital statistics
Sunrise: 6:24 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 55 degrees
Expected high temperature: 74 degrees
Water temperature: 49 degrees
Wind: From the south at 15 to 20 mph
Relative humidity: 83 percent
Day’s outlook: A mix of clouds and sun
Day-two links: