Martin madness

National Guard pro sacks 20-11 for early lead in Tennessee; Ft. Loudoun-Tellico fishes much better than expected

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Wal-Mart FLW Tour weigh-in at Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes had barely gotten underway this afternoon when it became readily apparent that all of the pre-tournament poor-mouthing about “tough” fishing conditions was a charade.

Within the first few minutes, Castrol pro David Dudley dropped 20 pounds, 2 ounces worth of Fort Loudoun bass into the scales to get things rocking.

That was quickly followed by a run of 15- and 16-pound limits. Then came a couple of 17-pound bags. Local favorite Andy Morgan of nearby Dayton showed off a 19-pound, 7-ounce limit to his hometown crowd.

But the day was not over.

Just before weigh-in ended, National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston brought the heavy artillery – a five bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 11 ounces to take the lead away from Dudley.

So much for the predictions of 14 pounds being a leading catch and 12 pounds a day earning a top 10.

After the scales closed, it took 15 pounds, 5 ounces to be a top-10 contender and a 12-pound catch fetched 30th place in the Pro Division.

In all fairness, though, many pros confessed to not hooking many bass during practice and as a result had no idea what they were on. With so many anglers prowling the same ledges during practice, hooking a 5-pounder would be like sending up a flare signaling everyone to the hot spot.

Also, as leader Scott Martin pointed out, the day off on Wednesday had a profound effect on letting the fish settle down.

“I think the day off yesterday was the key to the better bags today,” Martin remarked. “It let the fish settle down and reposition on the right places again; the break did the most good here compared to any other tournament we’ve fished so far this year.”

Martin, like a majority of the competitors, fished on Fort Loudoun today. He mentioned that he moved around a lot and had most of the places to himself, which was “a big help” given all the pressure on the lake.

His leading limit included two big smallmouths.

“I caught two big largemouths and a nice smallmouth early this morning up shallow, which was a huge bonus for me,” he said. “I was mostly looking for bait – shad up around some kind of structure – that’s where the active fish were.”

Martin then moved out deep but noted that his deep patterns were not as good due to low current flow.

“I didn’t camp on or guard anything,” he said. “I moved around quite a bit and hit a lot of different water. If I can get 10 or 12 pounds tomorrow, I’ll lay off. Managing fish is a big factor on a lake like this. I don’t want to burn up anything that I can use later in the tournament.”

Dudley second

David Dudley’s 20 pounds, 2 ounces left him in the second place position after day one and by the time the Virginia native hit the bank this afternoon, his jaws were locked up tight.

“All I’m going to say is that I’m cranking ledges,” Dudley said. “Other than that, I’m not going to say a whole lot. I’ve got boats all around me – most of the boats are over there in Loudoun where I’m fishing and I don’t want to spill too much this early. GPS units and electronics are too good and these guys can figure out what I’m fishing if I say too much.”

Dudley did have an early boat number – 24 – which may have helped him get on his spot early, though he would not even reveal if that was a factor.

Morgan third

For those who picked Andy Morgan to win in their Fantasy Fishing picks this week, get ready for a very exciting couple of days.

Morgan’s 19-pound, 7-ounce catch put him in third place – right where the current Angler of the Year leader wants to be.

“I’m pretty pleased with this catch,” Morgan stated. “This tournament has been wearing on me pretty hard and everything went as well as it could have today.”

Morgan noted that he is fishing very subtle stuff that he has learned in his vast experience on these waters over the years. But perhaps his best news is that he has yet to touch some of his best places.

“I took particular note of the way Kevin VanDam won that Kentucky Lake event last week and that inspired me,” Morgan said. “He purposely saved some places for the finals and that’s what you have to do to win these tournaments these days – especially in the summer. You have to formulate a strategy that involves saving something.”

Morgan’s strategy went to the lengths of practicing from a different boat earlier in the week so as to not be recognized when checking his best water.

“There are too many good fishermen out here,” he added. “The GPS units and electronics we have are incredible at revealing places. If you don’t go to the lengths and play strategy, you’re not going to win.”

Powers fourth 17-10

Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., holds down the fourth place position with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces.

Powers is known for his shallow water prowess with a Pop-R so you know if he is fishing out deep, the ledges are hard to beat.

“Pretty much everything I caught came out deep,” laughed Powers when asked about his topwater bite. “Late this afternoon, I did go shallow with a topwater and missed a couple of giants. But for the most part, I’m ledge fishing.”

Powers spent most of the day sharing a ledge with Yamaha pro Terry Bolton.

“All I can tell you is Terry is first class when it comes to sharing water like that,” Powers said. “We worked the same place for several hours without a single problem.”

Green fifth

Jerry Green of Del Rio, Texas, played the ledge game as well today to reel in 17 pounds even for fifth place.

He and his co-angler – Dennis Price, who leads the Co-angler Division – camped on one spot for most of the afternoon and the action got better as the day wore on.

“I’m dragging plastics and jigs on Power Tackle rods,” he said. “We probably caught 10 keepers a piece and never missed a fished.”

Big bass

Stacey King of Reeds Springs, Mo., caught the big bass in the Pro Division on day one weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 pros in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes after day one:

6th: Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 16-7

7th: Norman Seat of Branson West, Mo., five bass, 16-6

8th: Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., five bass, 16-3

9th: Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 15-5

9th: Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 15-5

Price leads co-anglers

Dennis Price of Tinley Park, Ill., leads the Co-angler Division of the FLW Tour event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces.

Price shared a boat with fifth place pro Jerry Green today.

“Jerry is a great guy who is around a lot of fish – I wish I could draw him again tomorrow,” Price said. “I did not catch a fish until about 11 o’clock and then I boated nine or 10 and ended the day with a good 4-pound kicker.”

Shawn Carnahan of Chandler, Ariz., fished with Folgers pro Scott Suggs to sack up 11 pounds, 9 ounces for second place.

Also tied for second is Doug Weiser of Springdale, Ark., who caught 11 pounds, 9 ounces pitching a Berkley 10-inch Power Worm behind pro Sam Newby.

Fresh off a Beaver Lake FLW co-angler win, Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., is in fourth place with 11 pounds, 4 ounces.

Rounding out the top-5 co-anglers is Brian Gage of Gray, Tenn., with 11 pounds even.

Big bass

Tyrone Phillips of Little Rock, Ark., caught the big bass in the Co-angler Division on day one weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the Wal-Mart FLW event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes after day one:

6th: Michael Neal of Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 10-13

7th: Pamela Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., five bass, 10-1

8th: Frank Divis of Fayetteville, Ark., five bass, 9-14

9th: James Christian of Dickson, Tenn., five bass, 9-13

10th: Tyrone Phillips of Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 9-7

Day two of the FLW Tour event on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes will begin Friday at 6:30 a.m. at the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp east of Lenoir City, Tenn., at the junction of highways 321 and 444.