GALLATIN, Tenn. – Team Yamaha pro Brent Chapman of Shawnee, Kan., took the No. 1 spot heading into the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s semifinal round on Old Hickory Lake with a five-bass, 16-pound, 4-ounce catch that boosted his two-day, opening-round total to 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 3 ounces Thursday.
In opening-round action Wednesday, Chapman landed five bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces to secure ninth place on a day when Rob Kilby of Hot Springs, Ark., caught the heaviest one-day stringer of the year – five bass weighing 23 pounds, 1 ounce. In fact, opening day on Old Hickory was good for most of the pro field. It produced 470 fish weighing 1,039 pounds, 14 ounces in the Pro Division, making it the third most productive day of the year. Only days one and two on Florida’s fabled Lake Okeechobee topped it.
Day two of the $550,000 Old Hickory tournament presented by Snickers was nearly as good for the pros as 450 bass weighing 1,010 pounds, 9 ounces were brought to the scale. It was an unfortunately day, however, for local pros David Womack of Gallatin, Tenn., and Yamaha’s Rusty Rust of Hermitage, Tenn. After finishing second and third respectively Wednesday, Womack and Rust fell to 26th and 25th place respectively. Womack zeroed Thursday and finished with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces. Rust managed just two small keepers that boosted is two-day total to seven bass weighing 19 pounds, 1 ounce.
Kilby slipped to No. 10 Thursday after spending a leisurely day on the water scouting for new areas and backup patterns. “I knew I didn’t really need to catch anything, so I took it easy,” Kilby said. His opening day total carried him through to the semifinals.
Frank Ippoliti of Mount Airy, Md., climbed from fourth place into second with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 29 pounds. Chad Grigsby of Colon, Mich., jumped from a ninth-place tie into third with 10 bass weighing 27 pounds. And Donald Eaton of Covington, Ga., scrambled from 25th place into fourth with 10 bass weighing 25 pounds, 3 ounces. Basil Bacon of Springfield, Mo., rounded out the top five with nine bass weighing 24 pounds, 14 ounces after finishing 19th Wednesday.
“I’m feeling really good right now,” said Chapman, who is catching his fish on a jig in 5 to 15 feet of water. “I thought it would be extremely tough, but I’m tickled to death. I’ve caught more fish this tournament than the previous two times I’ve been here.”
Weights are cleared for the top 20 pros and co-angler advancing to Friday’s semifinal round. Only the top 10 pros will advance to Saturday’s final round where weights are cleared and anglers fish for a $110,000 cash first-place award. Co-angler competition ends Friday with the winner earning $15,000 cash.
Co-angler Danny Strand of Champaign, Ill., is the No. 1 seed heading into the final day of co-angler competition with a two-day total of six bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces. Jason Abram of Bluff City, Tenn., qualified second with seven bass weighing 16 pounds, 3 ounces, and Katsutoshi Furusawa of Tokyo advanced in third with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces.
Strand earned co-angler big bass honors and $500 Thursday with a 6-pound, 6-ounce bass. Pro Steve Kennedy of Hoover, Ala., earned big bass honors and $750 with a 6-pound, 15-ounce largemouth. He also split the $1,000 Snickers big bass award for the opening round’s heaviest bass with Womack, who landed a 6-pound, 15-ounce largemouth Wednesday.
Competition continues at 8 a.m. Friday at Bull Creek Marina in Gallatin. Friday’s weigh-in begins at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin. Saturday’s final takeoff from Bull Creek starts at 6 a.m. followed by a 2 p.m. weigh-in at Wal-Mart.
A Family Fun Zone in the Wal-Mart parking lot opens at 3 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday. The Fun Zone offers fishing enthusiasts a chance to meet some of the nation’s top anglers, collect autographs and receive expert fishing advice. There are also children’s games to entertain the family. Admission to the Fun Zone and weigh-ins is free. Weigh-ins and a portion of the Fun Zone are housed inside a heated or air conditioned tent in case of inclement weather.