Jeane’s 17 strong at Pickwick
FLW Tour rookie leads first day of finals
FLORENCE, Ala. – Defiant in the face of a chilly north breeze that kept him from fishing his best locations, Wal-Mart FLW Tour rookie George Jeane Jr. led a star-studded top 10 in the first half of final-round action at Pickwick Lake Friday. His five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce was a standout catch on a surprisingly fruitful day on the Tennessee River.
Most pros had some trouble with the wind today, a steady 15-mph north breeze that blew a lot of them off their fishing spots. Still, despite all the talk about how tough the fishing is on the river right now, a good number of bass came to the scale. All 10 pros caught at least one fish, and four of them managed to eke out limits.
Jeane – a Stren Series veteran out of Evans, La., with a number of top-10 finishes on that circuit under his belt – said he also had difficulties with the wind. However, he managed to work a deepwater largemouth pattern on Pickwick Lake and said he caught most of his fish on a black-and-blue jig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Super Chunk trailer.
“I couldn’t fish any of the good spots I found in practice,” he said. “I’m hoping the wind will let me fish a little bit more tomorrow.”
Though not his favorite areas, Jeane worked channel swings by Pickwick Dam on the far end of the lake Friday, dropping his jig deep into water anywhere from 18 to 25 feet. He plucked enough good, big largemouth bass off the rocky bottom to establish a 2-pound, 7-ounce lead over second-place Rob Kilby.
He said chillier temperatures did nothing to deter those deeper largemouths from biting. Nor did the prospect of facing FLW veterans and past champions like Kilby, Dave Lefebre, Dan Morehead and Tommy Biffle have much of an impact on the first-year FLW pro.
“They haven’t moved anywhere,” he said. “I’m fishing pretty deep, so I feel really confident. I feel like I can catch 10, 11, or 12 pounds tomorrow, and I can win it. I don’t get intimidated. I just go out, fish like I can fish, and that’s the way I’ll go.”
Kilby limits, takes second
The leader the previous two days, Kilby came back relatively strong again on day three. The pro from Hot Springs, Ark., caught a limit weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces for second place.
While his catches have remained consistently decent all week, particularly his 20-pound sack on day one, Kilby said he hasn’t really fished the same areas from one day to the next.
“I’m fishing a pattern all over the river, actually,” he said. “I caught those fish the first day in Wheeler Lake, and I haven’t gone back. Yesterday, I tried fishing a few areas that I knew about in Wilson to try and get that going. I’m going back (to Wheeler) tomorrow.”
Morgan runs to third
Also catching a limit despite the wind was Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn. His five bass weighed in at 13 pounds, 4 ounces and gave him third place heading into the final day, but he had to earn it Friday.
“I kind of had to run around today,” said Morgan, who said he caught the bulk of his keepers in Pickwick Lake on a War Eagle jig with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer. “I’ve got to cover a lot of spots to catch my fish, and that wind made it a little tough.”
Moynagh fourth
Though he didn’t catch a kicker smallmouth today, Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., managed to boat a limit of largemouths and took the fourth spot for the pros with a weight of 11 pounds, 2 ounces.
“My biggest fish I’ve been catching out of deeper water,” said Moynagh, who caught a fair share of his bass Friday in water around 5 feet deep. “Overall, though, I haven’t been catching a whole lot of smallies. But I do need that kind of fish to make up the difference.”
Walker fifth
The only pro to run up to Wheeler Lake Friday, David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., grabbed the fifth position with a four-bass catch of 10 pounds, 9 ounces.
“I know that tomorrow I’m going to go back up to Wheeler,” he said. “I really believe that I can catch a 17-pound stringer up there.”
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros heading into Saturday’s final-round action at Pickwick Lake:
6th: Brennan Bosley, Benton, Ark., three bass, 9-4
7th: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., four bass, 8-5
8th: Lefebre, Erie, Pa., two bass, 5-11
9th: Morehead, Paducah, Ky., two bass, 3-5
10th: Biffle, Wagoner, Okla., one bass, 2-8
Final round Saturday
Day four of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition at Pickwick Lake begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from McFarland Park in Florence at 7 a.m. Central time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and the $100,000 Pro Division winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.