2003 Wal-Mart FLW Tour year in review
It was a year of unexpected weather, fluctuating water levels and some mighty big bass. The Angler of the Year took it down to the wire yet again. Rookies stole some veterans’ thunder. And, as always, the cash rewards just kept pushing the limits.
As we head into the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship at Virginia’s James River, here’s a look back at the season and what it took to win on tour in 2003.
Lake Okeechobee: Fisher overcomes Florida deep freeze, lost camera boat
An Arctic cold front and bitter winds sort of defeated the purpose of heading to the Sunshine State for the 2003 FLW Tour’s season opener in January. Cool temperatures in the opening round turned downright cold as day three rolled around with the mercury topping out in the low 30s at takeoff. A bitter northwest wind came in to blow all but three finalists out of contention Friday, and by Saturday it came down to a war with the elements as well as a mental miscue that nearly cost Georgia’s Pat Fisher the tournament.
Despite the conditions, the Big O produced its customary parade of big Florida largemouths in the opening round. Florida’s own Mike Surman posted an imposing mark to beat for big bass – for the day as well as for the year – when he landed a 9-pound, 14-ounce largemouth on day one, only to have it topped by Tennessee’s Andy Morgan and his 9-15 big bass on day two. Not only were they the two biggest bass caught on tour this season, Surman’s full stringer on day one weighed 27 pounds, 6 ounces and at the time ranked sixth on the FLW Tour’s list of all-time heaviest stringers.
By day three, however, the conditions had turned exceptionally nasty and the 10-boat field had trouble just catching one bass, much less five.
“I was fishing floating (grass) islands, and it was so windy that my spot literally blew away,” said finalist Scott Dobson of Michigan, who blanked on Friday. “I only got two bites all day. The conditions were rough.”
Kentucky’s Dan Morehead and Florida’s Rick Couch led the day, both with just 12 pounds, 11 ounces. The only other pro left in contention was Fisher, who came in off the windswept lake with 10-6.
By day-four Saturday, the up-and-coming Fisher had a hot spot and a plan to push for his first FLW title. Unfortunately, his plan didn’t include having to throw back a perfectly good 3-pound bass. Having arrived at his shallow-water grass mats early, he started flipping a worm and caught a 3-pound bass quickly. The catch was so quick, in fact, that his camera boat hadn’t yet arrived to film the action, much less see it – a clear violation of the rules.
“After I caught that fish, I called (tournament director) Bill Taylor to ask where my camera boat was,” he said. “(Taylor) told me not to fish until the camera boat got there. I then told him I had already caught a 3-pounder. He said to throw it back into the water because I wasn’t allowed to fish without a camera boat. Those were the rules. I couldn’t believe it.”
Still, the aptly named Fisher remained focused and proceeded to catch a nice limit of 4- and 5-pound bass totaling 21 pounds, 14 ounces. His final-round total of 32-4 bested runner-up Couch by over 8 pounds.
“It feels awesome,” Fisher said. “This is what I’ve worked for for seven years. I always knew that I had the potential to win one of these things. I really feel like I finally graduated today.”
Atchafalaya Basin: Elias comes back on the bayou
In February, the FLW Tour left behind the familiar expanse of Lake Okeechobee and entered the unfamiliar tidal backwaters of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin for the first time. The maze of Cajun canals west of New Orleans proved to be as welcoming – and productive – a venue as possible for FLW pros, especially Mississippi’s Paul Elias, who made a return to the winner’s podium after a five-year hiatus from tour-level success.
The first two days saw a number of limits and several healthy, 5-pound largemouths topping out the scales. Pennsylvania’s Dave Lefebre, an FLW rookie, led the opening-round charge out of the bayou with over 31 pounds of fish. But the flipping bite was in full force on the Basin, and Lefebre was joined in the finals by several other more well-heeled flipping fanatics like Texas’ Gary Klein and Tennessee’s Dwayne Horton, as well as Elias.
On Friday, Elias surged ahead of the other nine finalists by mining a 200-yard stretch of deeper water that had become isolated as a prime holding pen for bass due to falling water levels. At the location, which he saved until the final round, he mainly used a spinner bait, and he hooked into more than 17 pounds of bass to take a 2-pound lead, then fretted about his chances of returning to his hard-to-reach hot spot on Saturday.
“The fish are there because the water dropped,” he said. “If my boat comes off plane at any point, I’m done.”
But Elias wasn’t done. He skimmed back across the narrow canal to his honey hole on Saturday and proceeded to catch another stringer just short of 17 pounds to win his first FLW title.
The fan turnout for that final weigh-in on the Delta was immense. They cheered wildly for Elias, who hails from the Mississippi part of the Gulf Coast, as he took home his first tour-level victory since 1998.
“It’s been almost five years since I won a major tournament, and it really starts playing with your head after a while,” he said. “I’ve been close so many times before, and that’s why this victory is so sweet.
“This is the best victory I’ve ever had. It’s even better than winning the Bassmaster Classic because I had my family here to see it.”
Lake Murray: Rookie Elliott outguns the veterans
Lake Murray in March was everything FLW pros had hoped it would be and more. Despite extremely low water levels and rainy weather on the South Carolina impoundment, the tournament turned into a prespawning-bass blockbuster that set new FLW records and launched a rookie pro out of North Carolina into the limelight.
The opening round, to say the least, was an eye-popper. Million-dollar pro Jay Robertson out of Oklahoma set a new FLW Tour opening-round weight record when he recorded a 10-bass mark worth 49 pounds, 8 ounces and led by almost 9 pounds. Georgia’s Stanley Mitchell caught a jaw-dropping stringer that weighed 28-1 on day two, edging into the finals with the third-heaviest five-bass weight ever caught on tour.
Further illustrating Lake Murray’s enormous bass quarry, all four of the big-bass awards handed out the first two days – pro and co-angler – went to fish that weighed over 9 pounds. The biggest was co-angler Greg Scott’s 9-10 on day one.
“The average size of the fish here is just unbelievable,” said Texas’ Clark Wendlandt, who finished in 31st place.
While true, the tournament changed complexion in the final round. Gone were the 9-pound kickers and in were strings of hefty 4-pounders that put an all-star field of finalists on a collision course Saturday. Legendary Larry Nixon of Arkansas led on Friday with a four-bass weight of 17 pounds, 15 ounces, heading a heavyweight list of contenders that included the likes of Robertson, former Bassmaster Classic winner Mitchell, AOY contender Dan Morehead and the ever-intimidating Rick Clunn. Also in the mix were young guns like Wesley Strader, John Crews, Bud Pruitt and an unknown out of North Carolina named Chris Elliott. Most of them had caught between 11 and 17 pounds on day three and sat comfortably within striking distance of the leader heading into Saturday.
By the final day, however, the weather had turned extremely cold, wet and windy, which made the fishing miserable and diminished the previously impressive catch weights coming out of Murray.
“I think these are the worst kind of conditions for fishermen,” said Strader, who caught just one bass Saturday and finished in 10th place. “You lose mobility and you get fatigue in your hands because you can’t grip anything.”
Said Mitchell, who finished second: “It’s a wonder anybody caught anything at all. Those were the toughest conditions I’ve ever fished in.”
Emerging from the maelstrom was the 27-year-old newcomer, Elliott. Using a spinner bait, he landed a total of 14 pounds, 8 ounces in the murky conditions, including a kicker bass that weighed over 7 pounds. He launched past the likes of Nixon and Clunn with a two-day total of 30-9 to win his first FLW title. Prior to the week, Elliott had only three Wal-Mart BFL top-10 finishes and was fishing in just the third FLW tournament of his career.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was 12 years old,” Elliott said. “I can’t believe it really happened. It hasn’t sunk in yet. … I’m just overwhelmed.”
Beaver Lake: The Man asserts his dominance
He’d been threatening to do it all season long, and by the time the FLW rolled into northwest Arkansas for its customary April stop on scenic Beaver Lake, Kentucky’s Dan Morehead had evidently decided it was time to validate his No. 1 ranking in the standings by winning the Wal-Mart Open. It was time to show why he’s called “The Man.”
Frigid conditions once again accosted anglers as they arrived at Beaver Lake and dealt with subfreezing temperatures – even snow – in practice. Many anglers with a history of success at Beaver had trouble at the event because the unseasonably chilly temperatures and earlier tournament time meant the bass were in a prespawn pattern. The normal spawning-bass routine the pros are accustomed to at the Wal-Mart Open didn’t materialize, so crankbaits, jigs and worms on a slow retrieve dominated the tournament.
FLW rookie Russ Moran of Tennessee led the opening round with a total weight of 28 pounds, 8 ounces. And, despite the adverse conditions and even a fog delay on day two, some historically strong Beaver Lake performers did make the cut: Rick Clunn (winner in 2000), Randall Hutson (runner-up in 2002) and Morehead (fourth in 2000).
Then things warmed up as the tournament unfolded and so did Morehead, who had already accumulated two top-10s and one top-25 finish in the first three tournaments of the season. He led day three with a weight of 13 pounds, 13 ounces, but Hutson was hot on his tail with 13-4.
But by Saturday it was all Morehead. He came in with the second-heaviest limit of the tournament – 14 pounds, 7 ounces – pushed his final-round total to 28-8 and blew away the rest of the field by more than 8 pounds. For the moment, Morehead was king of the FLW – and $200,000 richer.
“I’m going to savor this victory, but there’s a lot more work to be done,” he said. “I’m really focusing on that Angler of the Year title and making the Jacobs Cup. Right now, I have the momentum and I’m going for broke.”
As for Hutson, he landed his second consecutive runner-up finish at the Wal-Mart Open, which he admitted was a bittersweet distinction.
“Of course, you’re never satisfied with that,” he said, “but you can’t be disappointed with $100,000 each time, either.”
Kentucky Lake: Blue-collar basser blows up in Kentucky
What the tour saw in low water at Lake Murray, it experienced the opposite at Kentucky and Barkley lakes two months later. Heavy rains in May pushed the water level in the big Kentucky impoundments up to 10 feet above normal pool, and that had anglers scrambling among the abundance of flooded timber in search of big, spawning bass.
The unusually high water forced many of the anticipated frontrunners – like hometown favorite and AOY leader Dan Morehead – to change their plans of attack, and that left room at the top for BFL standout Steve Kennedy of Alabama to mount a charge into his first FLW title.
It became evident on day one that the field would have no trouble landing limits despite the water levels. The hurdle was the 15-inch minimum size limit. Anglers reported catching over a hundred fish a day on Kentucky Lake, but many of them were undersized.
“Your thumb gets tired from catching all these 14-inchers,” Mike Surman said.
Wisconsin’s Tom Monsoor led Wednesday with the day’s only limit over 20 pounds, then Michigan’s Kevin VanDam rebounded from an uncharacteristically mediocre first half of the season by topping the opening round with a hefty two-day total of 37-10.
Day three dawned, as usual, as a fresh start for the finalists, and Kennedy began to break away from the pack. While he already had five BFL victories to his name and a pair of EverStart top-10s, Kennedy had only finished as high as 16th place in his two seasons on the FLW Tour. In fact, he fished the tour in an old Ranger and camped out at every event in order to save money. He changed all that by catching the biggest limit of the week – an enormous 23-pound, 1-ounce stringer – on Friday. He led second-place Davy Hite of South Carolina by almost 4 pounds and positioned himself to take the next step.
“It really blew my mind,” said Kennedy, who used a combination of jigs, crankbaits and Carolina rigs to land his fish. “I’ve been catching all these fish off one spot. I have no earthly idea where they’re coming from. It’s like they’re coming off the bushes and off the main river and stacking up on one key spot. It seems like every time I reel one in, it’s a 5-pounder.”
Hite wasn’t done with the nervous final-round rookie, however. At Saturday’s takeoff, the veteran fired a warning shot across Kennedy’s bow when he said: “You know, the pressure mounts the further you get into this. I wish him the best of luck, but he’s going to have to earn it.”
And earn it he did. Kennedy never let up on the final day – and neither did his honey hole – as he caught the second-heaviest weight of the week with a limit weighing 21 pounds, 13 ounces. His final-round total of 44-14 was heaviest caught on tour all season and beat Hite by more than 10 pounds.
“My hands still hurt from catching all of those fish,” an emotional Kennedy said. “But it’s worth it. This is something I’ve wanted to do for the last 10 to 15 years. And to accomplish what I did over the last two days, and to do this in an FLW final, it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Wheeler Lake: Martens’ muscle and Morehead’s AOY hustle
While everybody expected great things out of Dan Morehead on his home waters the previous month, the AOY leader knew that the true test would come at Wheeler Lake in June. His 55th-place finish at Kentucky Lake wasn’t the clincher performance he needed at home, so he felt the pressure as the FLW rolled into the familiar confines of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama for the last regular-season event of the year.
Day one lent unexpected excitement to the AOY drama that seemed so destined to go Morehead’s way just two months prior. The points leader posted a 106th-place performance Wednesday, and the two leading contenders to snatch the title away, North Carolina’s David Dudley and Clark Wendlandt, gained ground on the points leader. Not only that, Oklahoma’s Tommy Biffle shot back into contention by leading the first day with an 18-pound, 13-ounce limit.
Fortunately for Morehead, the weights were tight all the way up and down the opening-round leaderboard. Just 10 pounds separated him from the tournament leader, and he didn’t flinch on day two. That Thursday he went out, caught a solid stringer weighing 11-10 and secured his first Angler of the Year title despite the late push by Dudley, Wendlandt and Biffle.
Morehead, seemingly more relieved than anything, said: “To be honest with you, it’s been a long week, a hard week. I’ve been out in the hot sun for 15 hours a day. Today was a trying day. I just did my best to stay focused. … I look at it this way: I had the chance to catch 90 bass in the rounds I’ve fished this year and I caught 85 of them, so it hasn’t been a bad year by any means.”
Meanwhile, Biffle stayed hot on Thursday. He caught the largest stringer of the week with 19 pounds, 4 ounces and held onto the lead heading into the finals.
Quietly, the pro top 10 took off onto Wheeler Lake Friday, many of them headed toward the famous Decatur Flats. In the field were Biffle, Kevin VanDam, Missouri’s Dion Hibdon, Florida’s Scott Martin, local favorite Timmy Horton and the California drop-shot king, Aaron Martens.
It didn’t take long for Horton to show why he chose to fish this tournament on his home waters, his only FLW tournament of the season. He turned it on after the weights were reset to zero for the finals and led Friday with a limit weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces.
But, unlike previous FLW finals throughout the season, the leader had a lot of company heading into Saturday. Three other finalists – VanDam, Martin and Martens – sat within 5 pounds of Horton. True to form, the Wheeler competition would remain tight to the end.
So came Saturday, and it was a nail-biter. Arkansas’ Keith Williams caught the biggest limit of the day with 17 pounds, 4 ounces, but his 7-pound weight Friday meant he would only finish in third place. VanDam lobbed a 13-pound sack up on the board but finished fourth, while Martin’s hopes were dashed by a 7-pound bag and a fifth-place finish.
So it came down to Horton and Martens, the 2002 FLW Wheeler Lake runner-up who was looking to redeem an uncharacteristically subpar 2003 season. Horton posted a limit, but it weighed only 9 pounds, 2 ounces. When Martens came to the scale with 12-6, he overtook the local by 11 ounces with a total weight of 25-10.
It was the first FLW win for the California kid.
“I really had a tough year, and I just couldn’t seem to get anything going all season,” he said. “But everything turned out perfectly today. It’s awesome. I’ve been so close the last five years (to winning a title), and I started to get to a point where I thought it was never going to happen. This is the greatest moment of my bass-fishing life.”
James River: Destiny awaits
The top 48 field is set, the anglers are in Richmond, and it’s go-time for the 2003 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship. A half-million dollars and imminent renown awaits the one pro bass angler who has the mettle to power through the brackets and make his mark on the testy James River.
Who’s it going to be? Stay tuned to FLWOutdoors.com all week to find out. Whatever happens, it’s going to be fun.