Kitchens is cooking
Georgia native leads FLW Tour Championship co-anglers
RICHMOND, Va. – It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it – fish from the back deck in the 2003 FLW Tour Championship, that is. There’s not a half-million bucks for the winner, there’s little limelight, and the working conditions are extreme.
The job: catch fish behind the best 48 pros in the nation.
But these 48 co-anglers don’t mind one bit. In fact, they love it. And few of them would rather be anywhere else in the world this week.
That’s especially true for John Kitchens of Smyrna, Ga., who leads the co-angler division with three bass weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces.
With only three bass in his bag, Kitchens estimates that two were in the 4-pound class.
“I had five bites today, but I only boated three of them,” Kitchens said. “Fortunately, they were the right three.”
Kitchens has practiced on the James River for five days and has seen a lot of the water and experimented with different lures.
“In five days of practice, I only caught four keepers, so I really was not expecting much,” he said. “About the only thing I figured out is that small baits work best here. I caught my fish on a Zoom Finesse worm.”
Despite his near 4-pound lead Kitchens, who fished with Stratos pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., today, says he won’t feel safe until he catches at least one keeper tomorrow.
Hudson in the hunt
Co-angler David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., did what he does best today: go to a tough tournament, pull out his Zoom finesse worm, and eke out a limit of 13-inchers from the back deck.
Hudson caught the only five-bass limit in the Co-angler Division and they weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces for second place.
“If it’s a tournament where everybody is catching big bags, I seem to struggle,” he laughed. “But when I get in these ultra-tough tournaments like this I like it – I seem to do well.”
Hudson caught a total of 11 fish today and six were keepers.
“I had a really good day,” he said. “I caught one on a Storm Sub-Wart crankbait and a couple on a spinnerbait, but most of what I weighed in came on the Zoom finesse worm. I fished with Shad Schenck and he was fishing fast and covering water. When the boat would slow down enough I’d pick up that finesse worm and catch one.”
Small and Lackie share third
Joe Small of Marion, Ark., and Alton Lackie of Germantown, Tenn., had identical bags of bass today. They both weighed in four bass for 4 pounds, 13 ounces, which tied them for third.
Greg Lineberry from nearby Galax, Va., is in fifth with three bass weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces.
Rest of the best
Michael Brown of Rocking Face, Ga., is in sixth with four bass weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces. Stanley pro Mary Parnell of Casselberry, Fla., is in seventh with a single bass weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces. Darrell Stevens of nearby Roseland, Va., is in eighth with three bass weighing 4 pounds even. David Brunaugh of Carbondale, Ill., is in ninth with three bass weighing 4 pounds. And Jason Abram of Bluff City, Tenn., is in 10th with three bass weighing 3 pounds, 15 ounces.
Parnell’s lap pattern
Stanley co-angler Mary Parnell is the only female angler in the FLW Tour Championship. She currently sits in seventh place thanks to a large 4-pound, 5-ounce James River bass that nearly jumped in her lap when it lunged after her bait.
“My pro had to borrow a boat and it didn’t have a back seat,” she explained. “So when my back started hurting, I sat down on the deck with my back against the back of the seats and I started casting out behind the boat. I was throwing a red Yum grub and was reeling it in fast to make another cast and suddenly this big bass pounces on it right at the boat. When it hit, it threw water in the boat and all over the motor.”
Co-angler cut Thursday
The Co-angler Division will be cut to the top 24 tomorrow. Currently, 24th place is 2 pounds, 2 ounces.
Day-one links:
Photos
Results
Pro Division brackets
Thursday’s pairings
Press release
`Heavyweights’ title hopes disappearing with the tides’
‘Championship Bites: FLW James River, Day 1’