Quick Bites: FLW Ouachita River, Day 3
Davis wins a tournament he almost didn’t get to fish, Namiki goes from worst to first, and Lane catches the wrong kind of 12-pounder
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Ouachita River, Monroe, La.
Semifinal round, Friday
Davis sneaks in … Co-angler winner James Davis Jr. can thank Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail director Robert Vannerson for the $20,000 check he earned Friday on the Ouachita River. Davis, a TTT regular, called Vannerson Tuesday night and told him that if a co-angler was needed, he was available. Davis entered the tournament off the waiting list and soundly defeated co-angler heavyweights like Todd Lee and Roy Altman Jr. … The victory was sweet redemption for the jovial Davis, who lost a TTT event on Lake Amistad late last month by a mere ounce. “My wife told me, `I’m tired of hearing you talk about that 1 ounce. Just let it go,'” Davis said.
Wells doing well … Finishing second on the co-angler side was Hammond, N.Y., angler Merle Wells Jr. Wells tanked at the season opener on Lake Okeechobee, finishing 117th, but made the top 10 on Lake Toho and has thus graced the weigh-in stage on the final day in two consecutive tournaments. Wells has fished EverStart Series and Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League events in the past and has accumulated three career top-10s, two of which came within the last month.
Worst to first … Toshinari Namiki landed in the No. 1 spot heading into the final day for the top 10 pros after squeaking into the finals in the last qualifying position. Namiki’s day-three catch of 20 pounds, 7 ounces is not that far off his total from days one and two, when he caught 26-6. Like Wells Jr. and Bobby Lane, this is not Namiki’s first trip to the top 10 in 2005. He finished fourth at the season opener on Lake Okeechobee.
Darrel barrels through … Darrel Robertson earned a reputation as one of the sport’s legendary sticks when he won $600,000 at the Ranger M1 tournament the same year he won the FLW Tour Championship back in 1999. In the past few seasons, however, Robertson’s performance has fallen off a bit, and he hasn’t earned a championship berth since 2001. Although he faltered at the first two events of the season, Robertson seems to be headed for a comeback after recently posting a top-10 finish at the EverStart Series event on Sam Rayburn before earning this week’s top-10 on the Ouachita River. With 14 career top-10s and two wins, no doubt Robertson is well on his way to regaining his mojo.
One of a kind … Turns out Lane’s incredible rookie run of three consecutive top-10 finishes is a first on the FLW Tour. Anglers have posted three top-10s in one year, but never three in a row. His performance this week on the Ouachita River further solidifies his lead in the Angler of the Year points and also gave him some much-needed validation. “I am living a dream,” Lane said. “The thing was, can Bobby Lane catch them out of Florida? I wanted to prove that I could. I’m going to be the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year.” … Lane sits in the No. 6 spot heading into day four but is nearly 10 pounds behind the leader, Namiki. Lane caught only four bass today, but did catch a 12-pounder, although the wrong kind. “I caught a giant mudfish today that weighed around 12 pounds,” he said.
Quick numbers:
2-6: Span, in pounds and ounces, of Namiki’s lead over No. 2 pro Matt Herren.
7: Approximate weight, in pounds, of Namiki’s biggest bass of the day.
4-8: Co-angler Davis Jr.’s margin of victory, in pounds and ounces.
12-13: Pounds and ounces separating No. 1 pro Namiki and No. 10 pro Jeremiah Kindy.
0: Number of day-three leaders in the last five regular-season FLW Tour events that have gone on to win the tournament.
Sound bites:
“Better get him a La-Z-Boy.” – Bruce Dale suggesting someone get Davis Jr. a seat, since his 13-pound, 4-ounce sack was going to take a while to overcome.
“I didn’t eat, I didn’t drink, and that’s what I came up with.'” – Runner-up co-angler Wells Jr., whose final-round jitters did little to help his cause.
“It was a different experience, with everybody looking at me and all.” – Rookie pro William Davis, experiencing an FLW Tour top 10 – and all the cameras trying to shoot it – for the first time.
“That’s Jeremiah Johnson Kindy, and he’s going to do it.” – Proud mama Judy Kindy, mother of the No. 10 pro.
“I’m going to sleep tonight thinking about what I need to do to win. No offense to Toshi, but he’s going to go to sleep tonight thinking about what he needs to do to keep from losing.” – Jason Kilpatrick, preferring to be the chaser instead of the chased.
“With my secret bait, I can catch 20 pounds easy tomorrow.” – Namiki, in response to Kilpatrick’s statements.
“Short day? It only takes five casts to get five bites.” – Lane, preferring the optimistic view of tomorrow’s shorter fishing time.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. CST at Forsythe Park, located at 2401 Sycamore St. in Monroe, La.