MORGAN CITY, La. – On a day when flood watches and warnings covered most of southern Louisiana, pro Anthony Gagliardi managed to catch five bass weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce to lead the $900,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by Lay’s on the Atchafalaya Basin. The region experienced sporadic heavy rain throughout the day Wednesday, but Gagliardi persevered and found a productive pattern. Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers are competing for first-place awards of $100,000 and $20,000, respectively.
The basin’s water level is several feet higher as compared to this time last year when the FLW Tour first visited the Morgan City area. A water-level change of several feet may not make a significant difference in many fisheries, but on the flat swamplands comprising the Atchafalaya Basin, a slight increase in water level can flood thousands of additional acres allowing bass to disperse in newly flooded vegetation.
“It feels pretty good to be in this position right now,” said Gagliardi, who has fished the FLW Tour as a co-angler and pro since 1999. “I had a pretty rough tournament here last season and ended up 101st after placing 45th on opening day. I definitely don’t want a repeat of that performance this year.”
With a solid pattern at hand and no other boats in his productive area, it looks as though Gagliardi is well on his way to the second top-10 finish of his career, the first coming on Lake Okeechobee in 2002. He caught all of his bass, including a 5-pounder, on a 1/4-ounce, black and blue jig that he was flipping to sparse grass in a canal where he believes bass have congregated to spawn.
“All of the bass were either on a cypress tree or a laydown in areas where the grass was thin,” he said. “There is a slime coat over most of the water though, which makes it hard to fish.”
Rounding out the top five pros were Tom Monsoor or La Crosse, Wis. (five bass, 16 pounds, 6 ounces); Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas (five bass, 15 pounds, 3 ounces); 7 UP pro Shad Schenck of Waynetown, Ind. (five bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces); and Fred Roumbanis of Auburn, Calif. (five bass, 14 pounds, 8 ounces).
Just 14 ounces separate the next five pros, so every ounce will count Thursday as anglers strive to make the top-10 cut.
Land O’Lakes angler Judy Israel of Clewiston, Fla., leads the Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces that she caught while fishing with pro Tony Defilippo of Lake Ann, Mich., who landed five bass weighing 12 pounds, 3 ounces to finish the day in 25th place.
Israel is the leading female money winner in FLW Tour history and the second woman to crack the top 10 in FLW Tour competition (ninth place, Jan. 29, 1999, Lake Okeechobee, Fla.). She caught her bass Wednesday by flipping a 1/4-ounce, black and blue Gambler craw.
Leon Williams of Fairdale, Ky. (three bass, 7 pounds, 13 ounces); Ken Murphy of Meridian, Miss. (three bass, 6 pounds, 15 ounces); Terry Chapman of Cornelius, N.C. (three bass, 6 pounds, 14 ounces); and Kevin Langill of Gastonia, N.C. (two bass, 6 pounds, 11 ounces) rounded out the top five co-anglers.
One pound, 4 ounces separate the next five co-anglers.
A total of 603 bass weighing 1,447 pounds, 4 ounces were caught Wednesday, and 100 percent of the fish were weighed in alive. Thirty-seven pros and 104 co-anglers turned in zeros, and just 37 limits were caught. Despite vastly different conditions, these numbers are similar to last year’s catch when 620 bass, including 43 limits, crossed the stage on opening day. Last year’s leading weight on opening day was 17 pounds, 2 ounces, just 1 ounce heavier than Gagliardi’s catch.
Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas, won the pro Snickers Big Bass award with an impressive 8-pound largemouth worth $750. Ron Clifton of Rainbow City, Ala., collected the co-angler Snickers Big Bass award of $500 with a 5-pound, 11-ounce bass.
The four-day tournament is the second of seven FLW Tour events that culminate with the $1.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship and Outdoor Show in Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 11-14, where the winning pro earns the sport’s largest cash award, $500,000, and fishing fans are treated to hundreds of displays featuring special offers on everything from crankbaits to bass boats.
Coverage of the Atchafalaya Basin tournament will be broadcast to 65 million Outdoor Life Network subscribers on the “FLW Outdoors” television program. A tournament preview featuring bass-fishing legend Hank Parker will air Feb. 29 at 1 p.m. Eastern time and March 4 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Fishing fans can watch the tournament weigh-in with hosts Carlton Wing, Taylor Carr and Charlie Evans March 7 at 1 p.m. and March 11 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Tournament veteran Larry Nixon will host a tournament wrap-up March 14 at 1 p.m. Eastern time and March 18 at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
Anglers take off at 7 each morning from Belle River Park Landing in Belle River except for Friday, when takeoff is at 8. Thursday’s weigh-in will be held at Belle River beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 973 Highway 90 E. in Bayou Vista at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. The Fun Zone will open Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
The full field competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Friday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in. The 10 pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails are the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997.