Davis Leads Stacked Top 10
Alabama pro catches 22-09 on a day that surpassed initial expectations at Eufaula
A numbers game – that’s the predominant theme among the leaders at the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Quaker State on Lake Eufaula.
The game is not about catching numbers of fish, but rather, running numbers of isolated spots that feature some kind of cover – a single stump, log, brush pile, piece of standing timber or rock is all it takes. The object of the game is to hit as many of these places in a day as possible.
On day one, Clent Davis won the numbers game, running some 30 to 40 such places to catch 22 pounds, 9 ounces. Behind him Troy Morrow (21-8) and Adrian Avena (20-10) are also playing the numbers to stack the odds in their favor.
“I’ve fished this lake all my life, and I have hundreds of these little one-stop places logged in my GPS,” Davis says. “I stop at each one, make a few casts, then I’m gone to the next.
“And it really doesn’t matter what it is,” he continues. “A lot of them are brush piles, and the fish are pulling out to them with the falling water and rising temperatures, so they will probably reload throughout the week.”
Davis says he hit two “wads” of fish during the day, but he defines a wad as being two fish on one piece of cover.
“I never caught more than two off one place,” he adds
Conditions today included air temperatures in the 90s and slick, calm waters, which are now warming up into the 80s. Several leaders, including Davis, say current flow would probably help, but is not a necessity based on the way the fish are setting up.
Key baits for Davis include crankbaits, swimbaits, big worms and big jigs.
“On some of the deeper places the fish are definitely more suspended,” he explains. “On other places, I catch them by dragging a jig along the bottom or fishing a big worm through the cover.”
Despite the number of spots Davis fished today, he says he really didn’t catch that many fish, estimating that he caught eight keepers.
“It’s not like I’m catching a fish or two at every stop by any means,” says Davis. “A lot of stops produce nothing. I just hit a couple of them at just the right time when the fish were actually feeding. And that’s why it’s so critical for me to stay on the move. The more numbers you run, the better your chances of hitting one that has feeding fish on it.”
Top 10 Pros
1. Clent Davis – Montevallo, Ala. – 22-09 (5)
2. Troy Morrow – Eastanollee, Ga. – 21-08 (5)
3. Adrian Avena – Vineland, N.J. – 20-10 (5)
3. Ramie Colson Jr. – Cadiz, Ky. – 20-10 (5)
5. Zack Birge – Blanchard, Okla. – 19-13 (5)
6. Derrick Snavely – Rogersville, Tenn – 19-02 (5)
7. Randy Haynes – Counce, Tenn. – 18-13 (5)
8. Jeff Gustafson – Keewatin, Ontario – 18-12 (5)
9. Scott Martin – Clewiston, Fla. – 18-05 (5)
10. Michael Murphy – Lexington, S.C. – 16-15 (5)
Honeycutt on Top of Co-angler Division
Texan Keith Honeycutt's impressive day-one limit of 15 pounds, 4 ounces puts him in prime position to earn his sixth career FLW win this week at Eufaula. He leads the co-angler division over Nick Loeffelman Jr. by 1-14.
The co-angler competition wraps up tomorrow, with the winner determined by heaviest two-day cumulative weight.
Co-angler Top 10
1. Keith Honeycutt – Temple, Texas – 15-04 (5)
2. Nick Loeffelman Jr. – Valles Mines, Mo. – 13-06 (5)
3. Mike Comeau – Jericho, Vt. – 13-01 (5)
4. Mike Devere – Berea, Ky. – 12-07 (5)
5. Eric Self – Lawndale, N.C. – 12-06 (5)
6. Tom Stark – Angola, Ind. – 12-02 (5)
7. Braxton Setzer – Auburn, Ala. – 11-04 (5)
8. Jerry Reagan – Byrdstown, Tenn. – 10-11 (5)
9. David Hudson – Jasper, Ala. – 10-06 (5)
10. Casey Laughlin – Rowlett, Texas – 10-01 (5)