Hoernke leads Red River semis
Co-angler Barber catches biggest sack of the day
NATCHITOCHES, La. – Sean Hoernke used the smallest boat but caught the biggest sack of bass in the semifinal round of EverStart Series Central Division pro competition Friday. Hoernke grabbed a narrow, 1-ounce lead over second-place Randy Osborne with a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 11 ounces.
“Everything went pretty well on me today,” said Hoernke, who hails from Euless, Texas. “I had a little backwater area where I knew I could make the cut (yesterday). I found one other area that I knew had some fish in it, so I switched areas today and (the fish) are still there.”
Focusing on shallow-water cover, Hoernke alternated techniques Friday between flipping soft plastics and throwing a spinner bait. The key, though, was the little 17-foot aluminum boat he’s been using all week. Most pros in these events fish out of a crafts 18 to 22 feet long with big motors, but Hoernke knew he was coming to bayou country and opted for a more mobile ride.
“It’s more accessible to get into the small backwater,” he said of his boat, which has just a 50-horse Yamaha motor on it. “I left the 21-footer at home, but now I think I might be at a disadvantage fishing out of the little boat (in the finals). I almost went home last night to get my bigger boat, but it’s four hours away.”
Friday, the big fish became harder to come by after two hard days of big-time tournament action on the Red River fishery. Because Hoernke’s main fishing areas are so out-of-the-way, they remained productive for him.
“If it wasn’t for those two good areas, I wouldn’t be here. It’s tough as nails out there,” he said. “But they’re there. It’s just a matter of catching them.”
Second-place Osborne caught a limit weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces. The pro from Mount Sterling, Ky., found himself atop the leaderboard after what could be construed as a string of luck.
Osborne qualified for the semifinals in 20th place. While he was tied in weight with 21st-place finisher Bob Weaver of Lawton, Ky., Thursday, Osborne advanced to Friday by virtue of the tiebreaker (biggest one-day weight in the opening round).
Not only that, Osborne practiced for three days prior to this event in the river’s Pool 5, which ultimately proved inaccessible to EverStart anglers once the tourney began because engineers shut down the lock to the pool.
“I lost three days of practice on Pool 5, so I moved down to Pool 3. Actually, I was still sort of practicing the first two days,” Osborne said. “I just squeaked by, but I love the Red River right now.”
Like Hoernke, Osborne alternated his techniques Friday, except he switched from flipping plastics to throwing a crankbait.
Jerry Hester of Coushatta, La., landed in the third qualifying spot for the finals with a five-bass weight of 11 pounds, 5 ounces. While no award is given for big bass the final two days, he weighed in a nice 5-pound, 3-ounce kicker.
“Today, I used a trick worm all day and slowed down,” he said. “The first two days I was shallow. Today I was deep.”
John Sappington of Wyandotte, Okla., came in fourth with a limit weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces.
“This is my kind of fishing: summertime, river-fishing with hot weather and a lot of cover,” he said. “I made just two passes down my best stretch and caught (my limit), so tomorrow I’m going to hammer them.”
Slade Dearman of Onalaska, Texas, rounded out the top five pros with a limit weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces.
Rest of the best
The rest of the top 10 pros qualifying for the final round are day-one leader Danny Gulledge of Hamburg, Ark., (sixth place) with a weight of 10 pounds; Bobby Graves of Mount Ida, Ark., (seventh) with 9-5; opening-round leader Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., (eighth) with 9-4; Lendell Martin Jr. of Nacogdoches, Texas, (ninth) with 8-14; and Roger Stegall of Iuka, Miss, (10th) with 8-2.
All 10 pro qualifiers caught five-bass limits Friday.
Pro points title still up for grabs
While Jackie Davis of Willard, Mo., just missed the cut Friday in 11th place, he remains in the hunt for the Central Division standings title. He’ll have to wait and see, however, what Powers does Saturday. Davis leads Powers by 10 points, but Powers controls the standings destiny. Powers has to win the tournament to win the standings title.
“I’ve made the top 20 in every (Central Division) tournament, so I can’t complain about anything,” Davis said.
Despite their tight race, Powers, who has already won an FLW tournament on the Red River and top-fived at the last two Central Division events, gave Davis his due Friday: “Jackie Davis has been the most consistent bass angler on this side of the EverStart Series. If it comes down to it and he doesn’t win the points title, it’s not right.”
Barber bags biggest stringer of the day, leads co-anglers
Harry Barber of Madisonville, Ky., not only led the co-anglers in the semifinals, he led all anglers with a five-bass weight of 12 pounds, 1 ounce. He even out-fished his pro partner Friday, Gerald Guin of Castor, La., who caught just two bass weighing 4-7.
“It depends on your partner, I guess,” Barber said. “I was just flipping around timber.”
Another Guin, Mark Guin of Crossett, La., (no relation) took second on the co-angler side with a five-bass weight of 9 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I’ve just been flipping behind my partners,” he said. “I’m fishing slow and just watching what my partner does.”
Lady angler Janice Arnold of Gentry, Ark., placed third in the Co-angler Division with a five-bass weight of 8 pounds.
“It’s been a fun week on the Red River. There are a lot of ways to catch bass here,” she said.
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists are Ed Watson of Derby, Kan., (fourth place) with a five-bass weight of 7 pounds, 8 ounces; day-one leader Chris Darby of Mount Ida, Ark., (fifth) with a five-bass weight of 6-10; Fred Martin of North Little Rock, Ark., (sixth) with a five-bass weight of 6-8; Mike Drain of Purcell, Okla., (seventh) with a three-bass weight of 5-8; Lynn Jones of Hernando, Miss., (eighth) with a two-bass weight of 4-10; opening-round leader Gerald Andrews of Benton, Ky., (ninth) with a three-bass weight of 3-11; and Bruce Dale of Jamestown, Ohio, (10th) with a three-bass weight of 3-4.
Final round Saturday
Final-round action begins Saturday at safe light at Morgan’s Landing near Natchitoches. All competitors will restart the day with zero weight. The final weigh-in will be held the Wal-Mart store located at 925 Keyser Ave. in Natchitoches beginning at 4 p.m.
The winning pro is guaranteed $10,000 cash and an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VS Comanche bass boat equipped with EverStart batteries, a Minn Kota trolling motor and Garmin electronics. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, Ranger will award an additional $10,000 cash bonus for a total prize package of $61,900.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash. If the co-angler winner is a registered Ranger boat owner, Ranger will also award a new Ranger 519VS Comanche bass boat.
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