Quick Bites: FLW Tour, Wal-Mart Open, Day 1
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Wal-Mart Open
Tour Stop #4
Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.
Day 1, Opening Round
Outer limits! … Today, pro Carl Svebek of Sam Rayburn, Texas, who finished third at last year’s Wal-Mart Open, described Beaver Lake this way: “I don’t think any other lake is as nice as this one.” His was the most succinct expression of a very popular sentiment at today’s weigh-in. Many anglers came in praising not just the beauty of Beaver Lake, but its bounty. The reason: 125 of 175 pros weighed in five-fish limits on day one. That means 71 percent of the pro field came in with full sacks of fish. The only other FLW tournament to notch as many one-day limits as Beaver Lake today was the 1999 stop at Michigan’s Lake St. Clair where an astounding 153 pros weighed in full limits on day one.
Crowded at the top … As a result of all those five-fish limits, day one saw one of the tightest top-10 lists in terms of weight in recent memory. In the Pro Division, separating first from 10th place – all of which were full five-fish stringers – is a mere 1 pound, 15 ounces. However, if you discard leader Mark Pack‘s anomalous weight of 13 pounds, 9 ounces, the difference between second-place Cody Bird‘s 12-1 and 10th-place Dion Hibdon‘s 11-10 is a mere 7 ounces. What’s more, the difference between second place and 20th place is a scant 1 pound, 7 ounces. What this means is that the pressure is on for tomorrow’s day two, where so many competitors are still in contention for the top-10 cut. Every ounce will count.
Little big bass … While they brought fish in in bunches, the anglers didn’t really bring them in that big. Third-place pro Randy Howell of Trussville, Ala., took today’s Big Bass award in his division with a largemouth that weighed a mere 3 pounds, 12 ounces – a fish that could have been used as bait at other FLW tournaments, like the one earlier this year at Lake Okeechobee where David Walker of Cannon, Ky., weighed in a Big Bass at 9 pounds, 10 ounces. Howell’s fish was even defeated by North Carolina co-angler Brantley Peoples‘ Big Bass today weighing 4 pounds, 3 ounces. Howell wasn’t complaining, however. His big little largemouth netted him $1,250 for the award – or over $333 per pound on one bass.
Back-of-the-boat authority … In a sport where 175 competitors start the tournament from the same position, how is that one co-angler, David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., consistently ends up at or near the top at day’s end? He’s that good, that’s how. Hudson, who leads the Co-Angler Division after today, placed first in last year’s FLW co-angler standings and won the Co-Angler of the Year award. In five years on the tour, Hudson has seven top-10 final-round appearances, including a 10th-place finish at Beaver Lake last year. While he is currently ranked 93rd in the 2001 standings, he has never finished a season ranked below 21st. In fact, he has finished the season ranked out of the top 10 only once, in 1998 when he placed 21st.
He knows how to handle Hawgs … Fishing in his first FLW tournament ever today was co-angler Brad Dunn of Fayetteville, Ark. Dunn, when not dunking jigs for bass in clear Ozark waters, is a full-time assistant coach with the University of Arkansas Division I men’s basketball team under head coach Nolan Richardson. Dunn, whose Razorbacks won the national championship in 1994, caught four fish weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces today and placed a respectable 44th.
Sound Bites:
“I was just casting it and bringing it back.”
– Thirteenth-place pro Kelly Jordan of Mineola, Texas, relying on the obvious to describe how he caught his fish today.
“I was just following him and catching the ones he left behind.”
– Jordan’s co-angler partner for the day, 27th-place Mark Whitaker of Memphis, Tenn., employing an even more evasive response to describe how he caught his fish.
“I wish I wouldn’t have caught that last one. I might need it tomorrow.”
– Second-place pro Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas, rethinking his strategy in the opening round’s tight race. He only caught a total of six keeper fish today.
Quick Links, Day 1: