UNC Charlotte opens big lead on Jordan
Slow day challenges Central Regional field
RALEIGH, N.C. – It seems the only things tighter than Lake Jordan’s grip on local bass were the lips of those who caught some during day one of the FLW National Guard College Fishing Series Northern Regional Championship.
Many of the 20 teams entered day one with strong game plans formed around encouraging practice day results. However, with a little cold spell pushing through the area and cooling the lake a couple of degrees, Jordan became awfully stingy. Only five teams caught their 6-fish limits, three caught just one fish and two blanked in the first round.
Leading day one was UNC Charlotte’s Joe Kinchen and Tyler Teer, who caught a team limit of 15 pounds, 3 ounces and established a margin of 3-8. These anglers actually talked a good bit, but they were guarding
with the details. Goes with the territory for leaders of tough tournaments. Here’s what we got:
Teer said he and his partner are fishing baits that they’re certain no other competitor is using. They have a morning pattern and an afternoon pattern that turns on as the sun heats the water. There’s a specific combination of elements that made their presentation so effective, but that’s as far as he’d go with the explanation.
Kinchen adds: “What we’re throwing is a little unusual for this time of year. We’ve narrowed it into certain types of areas with certain cover and certain depths. We’re going behind guys who are some of the best fishermen we know and we’re catching big fish right behind them. We literally watched a team leave a spot, we pulled in behind them and caught a keeper.”
Running just about the entire lake, the leaders fished a variety of spots from two to 10 feet, with one of their keepers taken in 25 feet.
“It’s pretty scattered out but there’s one little thing that’s the reason why they’re there,” Teer said. “The little ones are on a variety of (habitat) but the big ones seem to be keying on a few particular areas.
“We got on a good bite today. We didn’t catch a lot of fish, but each one was a good fish.”
As Kinchen recalled, the team limit eluded them until late in the day. “We had five fish with about 15 minutes to go and Tyler had one left to catch. He made a decision and said `Let’s go fish these rocks,’ and that’s where he got his last one.”
Kinchen particularly hit paydirt with a trio that weighed 9-3 before adding Teer’s three. Kinchen’s biggest – a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth – weighed more than the weights of 12 teams.
Dziwulski and Beverly seeking second Regional title
Defending 2009 Northern Regional champions Ben Dziwulski and Kevin Beverley bagged five fish and put NC
State in second place with 11-11. With all of their keepers coming later in the day, the anglers struggled through a slow start.
“It was pretty stressful all day,” Beverley said. “We had to grind it out today. Most of our prefish time was an afternoon bite. We really don’t have a morning bite – we’re still trying to find one, actually. But our afternoon bite turned on for us. It’s just a matter of the high sun warming up the water and moving the bait around.
“I think what hurt us today is that the little bit of a cold snap we had kind of shut the fish down. But I think tomorrow, and if we make it to (Saturday’s final round), the fish will adjust and everything will be back on track.”
Also remaining vague on bait details, Dziwulski admitted to using a spinning rod today, but he wasn’t ready to confirm a pure finesse presentation. He did say that, while he and Beverley are happy to hold a high position, they’re not pleased with their day’s productivity.
“We’re super confident in our pattern, but we’re supper disappointed with what we weighed in today,” Dziwulski said. “I broke one off today that was bigger than the 4-pounder I had.”
Christopher Newport on point for third
Ryan Ingalls and Joe Wilkerson of Christopher Newport caught their team limit and took third place with 11-8. The anglers targeted mostly main lake points in about 10 feet and caught their fish on crankbaits and spinnerbaits.
Ingalls said he and Wilkerson ran several spots, but they left many untouched for day two. Their productivity started early and they caught fish throughout the day.
“We had bites all day and we had a limit by 11 a.m.,” Ingalls said. “I had a fish on my last cast of the day.”
Of the day’s conditions, Ingalls said: “I thought the weather helped us. I think the wind helped position the baitfish on the points.”
Ingalls shared one for the blooper reel. Apparently, Wilkerson snagged a large chunk of wood and when he
tried to sling it into the boat, he snapped his rod in half. So, the rule for day 2: Net all large chunks of wood.
Fourth place Bumgarner and White claim another spot for NC State
Claiming another top-5 position for host school NC State University, Jeff Bumgarner and Will White reeled in five keepers for a fourth place weight of 9-13. White, who missed his limit by one fish lamented several lost fish.
“I had a really rough day – I kept popping them off,” he said. “I switched over to a (heavier) hook because I bent three of them all the way open on big fish.”
In fifth place, Carson Rejzer and Jody white of Virginia Tech caught 9-9.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top-10 leaders at the Western College Regional Championship:
6th: John Reading and Adrian Avena of Chestnut Hill College, 9-4.
7th: Wyatt Blevins and Michael Freas of Virginia Tech, 9-1
8th: Tyler Beam and Eric Self of UNC Charlotte, 8-4
9th: Matthew Conners and Tyler Vaughn of Radford University, 4-12
10th: Wil Dieffenbauch and Brent Dodrill of Fairmont State University, 4-3
Day two of FLW National Guard College Fishing Series action continues at Friday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 7:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) at Ebenezer Boat Ramp located at 2882 Beaver Creek Road in Apex, N.C.