HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Dense fog on Lake Ouachita greeted 350 Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers early Wednesday morning, prompting tournament officials to delay takeoff by four hours in the $550,000 event presented by Alpo. The shortened day posed little problem, however, for pro Greg Hackney, Oak Ridge, La., who grabbed the lead with the day’s only five-bass limit.
“I was just hoping for three bites to keep me in the hunt,” said Hackney, who landed his 15-pound, 8-ounce catch on a jig while fishing 25- to 30-foot deep drops. “It feels good to have the weight so I don’t have to make up ground Thursday.”
Hackney, a former Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League standout with 11 top-10 Arkie Division finishes, now leads 175 Wal-Mart FLW Tour pros as they cast for a $110,000 first-place cash award in the third stop of the $5.1 million 2002 season.
Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., is sitting in second place with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Team Conseco pro Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., (four bass, 11 pounds, 7 ounces) in third; Jim Nolan, Bull Shoals, Ark., (two bass, 10 pounds, 13 ounces) in fourth; and Team Yamaha pro Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas, (four bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces) in fifth.
Nolan earned pro big bass honors and $750 with an 8-pound, 9-ounce largemouth that ranks as the heaviest opening-round bass this season. Nolan also holds the all-time Wal-Mart FLW Tour record for largest bass – an 11-pound, 14-ounce largemouth he caught during the 1996 stop on the Santee Cooper Lakes in South Carolina. If his big bass holds up Thursday, Nolan will receive the Snickers Big Bass award and an additional $1,000. At the end of the seven-tournament season, Snickers will award another $5,000 to the angler who caught the heaviest opening-round bass at any Wal-Mart FLW Tour event.
Co-angler T.R. Fuller, Auburn, Ala., leads his division with three bass weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces followed by Bobby Hendricks, Bullard, Texas,(three bass, 7 pounds, 3 ounces) in second and Don Carpenter, Anniston, Ala., (three bass, 6 pounds, 1 ounce) in third.
Todd Lee, Jasper, Ala., landed co-angler big bass honors and $500 with a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass that also put him in seventh place.
The Co-angler Division features 175 competitors fishing from the back of the pros’ boats for a top award of $15,000 cash. Anglers in both divisions must place in the top 20 Thursday to qualify for Friday’s semifinal round. Co-angler competition wraps up after the semifinals, while the top 10 pros advance to Saturday’s finale.
A recent cold front dropped water temperatures on Lake Ouachita into the mid 40s for the start of competition and shut down many of the lake’s usually productive grass beds, forcing some anglers to re-evaluate their strategy. If water temperatures climb back into the 50s, however, anglers expect bass to move into the shallows in mass. That could lead to a big-bass shootout at Saturday’s final weigh-in, which will be broadcast live to more than 84 million households on PAX TV starting at 3 p.m. EST Saturday.
A total of 226 bass were caught Wednesday, all of which were weighed in alive. If the tour maintains a 98-percent live release rate throughout the season, Energizer will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Competition on Lake Ouachita continues at 7 a.m. Thursday at Mountain Harbor Resort off Highway 270 East in Mt. Ida, Ark., followed by a 3 p.m. weigh-in. Friday’s semifinal-round takeoff from Mountain Harbor starts at 7 a.m. followed by a 5 p.m. weigh-in at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Albert Pike Blvd. in Hot Springs. Saturday’s takeoff begins at 6:15 a.m. followed by a 2 p.m. weigh-in at Wal-Mart.
A Family Fun Zone in the Wal-Mart parking lot starting at 3 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday will offer fishing enthusiasts a chance to meet the nation’s top anglers, collect autographs and receive expert fishing advice. There are also plenty of children’s games to entertain the family. Admission to the Fun Zone and weigh-ins is free. Only anglers who do not qualify for the semifinal and final rounds will be available in the Fun Zone. Weigh-ins and a portion of the Fun Zone are housed inside a heated or air conditioned tent in case of inclement weather.