Quick Bites: Wal-Mart Open, Day 4
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Wal-Mart Open
Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark.
Pro finals, Saturday
Moore with less … Andre Moore just won $210,000 and, at least as far as Saturday was concerned, he spent no money at the store beforehand buying the bait to do it. The 29-year-old from Scottsdale, Ariz., caught all of his winning fish on his own homemade lures. He calls the baits “Reaction Innovations,” and in the finals he used a split-tail grub and a small tube, green and watermelon-colored, to target Beaver Lake’s spawning bass.
Bushwhacking … Runner-up Randall Hutson, who hails from Washburn, Mo., just over the state line, calls Beaver Lake his home lake. And he readily admits that he has struggled here at the Wal-Mart Open in the past. His previous best was a 29th-place finish in 1998 and he fell as far as 139th place in 1999. In 2000 he finished 106th and in 2001 moved up to 59th. But Hutson, who did win the Forrest Wood Open on the Connecticut River in 1998, said this year was different. “The fish were on the bed and up in the green bushes better for me,” he said. “My fish were a whole lot shallower.” Hutson said the high water on the lake that pushed the fish up into the trees helped out his cause, if not the paint job on his boat. “Yeah, my boat would come in full of dead, broken limbs from crashing through that stuff. It was quite an experience.” There’s nothing like a $105,000 check to take the pain out of those scratches.
Maybe it’s time to consider a “Co-angler’s Comrade” award … Rob Harty, a pro from Sachse, Texas, who took home his best-ever FLW finish in third place, was happy about his performance at Beaver Lake, but he was prouder of another accomplishment. His three co-angler partners for the week all made the cut and fished in the co-angler finals. They respectively placed 10th, 13th and second on the day each fished with Hardy. His day-one co-angler partner, Ken Kiersey of Owasso, Okla., (10th on day one) finished the tourney in 17th place; his day-two partner, Donald Tross of Newport News, Va., (13th on day two) finished in third place; and his day-three partner, William Drown of Roseland, Fla., finished in second place. Having all three of his partners make the cut was Harty’s richest reward this week. “I’m glad I made the money ($54,500 for his own third-place finish), but the amateurs who fished with me were all successful,” he said. “I take great pride in that. When I go out my intent is to get me a limit AND to get them a limit.” … Harty said he felt no pressure fishing in his first FLW finals. A former newspaper publisher from the Dallas area, he said fishing a tournament is nothing compared to the life he recently gave up. “Pressure is having to go to press at 2 a.m. so the papers can be delivered at 5 a.m. when the paper’s not ready and the press is broken,” he said.
He’s still king of Beaver Lake … Clark Wendlandt‘s run at a three-peat came to an end with his fourth-place performance Saturday. The two-time Wal-Mart Open champion from Cedar Park, Texas, caught five spawning bass by sight-fishing today, but at a collective 8 pounds, 11 ounces they fell 2 1/2 pounds short of making history. While he was happy to clinch his fourth-straight top-10 finish at Beaver Lake, the competitive Wendlandt was disappointed that he came up short of victory. “I feel good about it,” he said, “but without that fog delay, I definitely would have had 10 pounds or more.” Wendlandt said that he had one more good fish on the spawning beds that could have put him over the top, but he ran out of time.
About time … Anglers and observers were initially concerned that today’s two-hour fog delay would put a serious dent in the fish totals and weights for the televised final round. But six pros came in with a full five-bass limit and only one failed to catch a fish, which was a pleasant surprise considering competitors only had about four hours for fishing. The reason: mating season finally arrived in full force. “Man, they all moved up on the beds overnight,” said Al Gagliarducci, a pro who drove a camera boat Saturday.
Quick Numbers
4,150: Total amount, in dollars, that Andre Moore earned competing in FLW Outdoors tournaments prior to 2002.
220,000: Amount that Moore has earned since the beginning of the 2002 season. In addition to his $210,000 this week at Beaver Lake, he earned a combined $10,000 for two solid finishes at lakes Okeechobee and Wheeler (24th and 20th place, respectively).
6: Moore’s current rank in the FLW season standings. Moore, in his first full season on tour, is currently ahead of such heavyweights as Clark Wendlandt (7th), Rick Clunn (12th) and Gary Klein (21st) as well as all three prior 2002 winners Wesley Strader (19th), Larry Nixon (35th) and J.T. Kenney (62nd).
Sound Bite
“If you’d told me that I’d come to Beaver Lake – a sight-fishing tournament – and said that I would make the top 10 by throwing a spinner bait, I would have said you’re crazy.”
– Tenth-place Jeffrey Thomas, who used a slightly different tactic than most anglers this week. While he didn’t catch any keepers Saturday with his spinner bait, Thomas said he “felt great” just to make his first finals.
Quick Links, Day 4: