Quick Bites: Wal-Mart Open, Day 4

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Wal-Mart Open

Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.

Final round, Saturday

A $100,000 fish … No. 2 pro Darrel Robertson was in good spirits at the close of Saturday’s weigh-in despite losing the winning fish on his last cast. Robertson did weigh in five, but he had a chance to trade a 14-ouncer for a 2-pounder. Fate would have none of it. Robertson estimates that his boat ride to check-in took about six minutes, and when his cameraman announced he had six minutes left, Robertson made one final cast and hooked what would have been the winning fish. In a moment reminiscent of Jim Bitter’s heartbreaking lost Classic fish, Robertson’s 2-pounder hit the deck, bounced off the windshield and back into the water. … Nevertheless, if you’re ever going to finish second in a major tournament, this is the one you want, as the second-place pro wins $100,000, the amount given to the winner in non-Open events. Robertson is hoping to get back into the cattle trade and estimates he needed about a hundred grand to do it.

Doing it the hard way … No. 6 pro Cody Bird had to fight hard to land his biggest fish today, which he says weighed about 2 1/2 pounds. He stepped on his rod earlier in the day, and it later snapped when he had the fish on. “I think I must have stepped on it, because I’m always all over the boat, freaking out,” he said. “I set the hook and the handle broke off. I went to handlining it.” Finally he got it in the boat and eventually earned $28,000 for his total catch of 16 pounds, 7 ounces over two days.

Beavers and possums … Cody Bird’s Beaver Lake prowess has largely gone unnoticed, although in six attempts, he has never finished lower than 18th, and he’s finished in that position twice. He has scored three top-10s here, including this week’s sixth-place finish. He likens Beaver Lake’s composition to that of one called Possum Kingdom in Texas. “I grew up about an hour from a lake a lot like this one,” he said, referring to Possum Kingdom. “Also, it’s usually sight-fishing here” – Bird’s most favored technique.

Fantasy world … No. 5 pro Kevin Vida thinks he had a good-luck charm heading into this week’s tournament. “I had three different people, friends of mine, call me and say they picked me in the FLW Fantasy Challenge,” he said. “I went, `Geez, holy smokes, I’m getting three people to call me, and I’ve never had anyone call me.’ It must’ve been good luck.” Indeed, this was Vida’s first-ever top-10 performance on Beaver Lake and his third career FLW Tour top-10.

New king of the hill … Maryland pro J.T. Kenney replaced Bobby Lane at the top of the points board thanks to Kenney’s 20th-place Beaver Lake performance, compared to Lane’s finish in 96th. Lane fell to fourth, while Matt Herren moved up to second and Brent Chapman sits in third. … Making the transition more interesting is the fact that Kenney and Lane are roommates on the road. “The conversations in the room might change a little bit,” Kenney said. “It’s game on at this point,” replied Lane.

Feast or famine … For Andre Moore, it’s either all or nothing on Beaver Lake. The fact that it was his second win was much ballyhooed, but when he’s not winning here, his numbers are pretty dismal. In 2004, he finished 78th, and in 2003, he took 95th. The difference could be the time of year – in 2004, the event was held about two weeks earlier than usual, and in 2003, it was held about a week earlier. The time frame of Moore’s two wins, however, are in mid-to-late April during a hot spawning bite, just the ticket for the Arizona pro to swoop in and claim $200,000.

Quick numbers:

9: Number of consecutive years that the Wal-Mart FLW Tour has visited Beaver Lake.

9: Number of pros with more than one FLW Tour win. Joining Andre Moore are Scott Martin, Dan Morehead, Larry Nixon, David Fritts, Clark Wendlandt, Rick Clunn, Gary Klein and Steve Daniel.

9: Number of ounces separating Andre Moore and Darrel Robertson.

21: J.T. Kenney’s point lead over Matt Herren.

81: Percentage of Andre Moore’s career earnings that have been won on Beaver Lake alone.

Sound bites:

“I was in shock when I won before. This time they said, `He’s the favorite,’ and I was like, `Oh, God.'” – Two-time Beaver Lake winner Andre Moore.

“Does anybody have a spare bedroom? I want to move here.'” No. 9 pro Jeremiah Kindy, who wouldn’t have to move far – he’s from Benton, Ark., a town about 226 miles from the tournament host city of Rogers, Ark.

“It kind of made me angry to admit that I got beat by a technique I’m not familiar with.” – Jason Kilpatrick, who finished eighth despite a lack of sight-fishing prowess.

“The trouble is, there’s a bunch of short males, like me and you.” – Cody Bird to weighmaster Charlie Evans, on fishing for Beaver Lake’s fat females but having to get past the short males.

“Go ahead and stab it in me, Darrel.'” – Andre Moore to Darrel Robertson as Robertson weighed in his last fish. It needed to be 2-9 to pass Moore but weighed in at 2 pounds even, much to Moore’s surprise.