GALLATIN, Tenn. – Yamaha pro Marcel Veenstra of Brighton, Mich., hauled in five bass Wednesday that weighed 23 pounds, 9 ounces to lead opening day of the four-day, $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Old Hickory Lake. The tournament, which is presented by Snickers and hosted by the Forward Sumner Economic Council and Sumner County Tourism, will award the winning pro $100,000 cash following Saturday’s final-round weigh-in. Veenstra leads the 200-angler pro field by a 3-pound, 6-ounce margin.
Old Hickory proved to be stingy with its fish Wednesday, doling out only 28 five-bass limits, all of which were caught on the pro side. Anglers struggled against relatively cold air temperatures, a tough 14-inch minimum size limit and quite a bit of fishing pressure, but Veenstra prevailed – much to his surprise.
“I was hoping for just 13 pounds a day,” said Veenstra, who is fishing his second season on the FLW Tour. “I just came from another event where I zeroed, and I was dejected and came here on a mission. It was the first time I had zeroed in eight or nine years in a major tournament. I was upset and had to refocus and get the momentum to swing my way.”
Veenstra caught his tournament-leading limit on a Johnson jig, a Bandit crankbait and a Rat-L-Trap, one of the day’s most productive lures. He quickly caught his kicker fish, a 7-pounder, on the 3/8-ounce Johnson jig.
“When I caught that 7-pounder, my first fish, there was not a boat in the area,” Veenstra said. “But I definitely have company in a lot of my spots, and that’s a concern. I found a few things between the lake and the river, and I feel confident that I have fish in my areas, but it is so tough to catch fish that I’m not even sure I can catch one tomorrow. I won’t get a bag like that again. I’m just looking for five bites.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla. (five bass, 20 pounds, 3 ounces); Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla. (five bass, 19 pounds, 13 ounces); Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. (five bass, 18 pounds, 15 ounces); and Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C. (five bass, 17 pounds, 2 ounces).
Quint Bourgeois of Knoxville leads the Co-angler Division thanks to a four-bass catch weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce that he landed on a Gambler Ninja Jig. Two hundred co-anglers are in the hunt for a top award of $15,000 cash.
“It’s gotten a lot colder, and that made a big difference,” said Bourgeois, the 2003 FLW Tour Co-angler of the Year. “It made me slow down, so I threw that light jig. I’ve been fishing little bluff banks in creek channels.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Derek Moyer of Alexandria, Va. (three bass, 9 pounds, 10 ounces); Miles Johnson of Beaver Creek, Ohio (three bass, 9 pounds, 2 ounces); Greg Gulledge of Monticello, Ark. (three bass, 9 pounds, 1 ounce); and Mike Boyles of Ozark, Mo. (three bass, 7 pounds, 12 ounces).
Veenstra and Mark Goines of Shady Point, Okla., tied for Snickers Big Bass honors in the Pro Division with a 7-pound bass that earned each of them $375. Moyer claimed $500 and the Snickers Big Bass in the Co-angler Division with a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Following Thursday’s competition, the field will be narrowed from 200 competitors per division to 10, and weights will be cleared for Friday’s competition. Co-angler competition concludes Friday based on the heaviest one-day weight, and pros continue competition Saturday with the winner determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
Anglers are also competing this week for valuable points that determine Land O’ Lakes Angler of the Year standings and the field for the 2004 FLW Tour Championship, set for Aug. 11-14 in Birmingham, Ala., on Logan Martin Lake. The $1.5 million championship presented by Castrol awards the winning pro $500,000 cash, the sport’s largest prize.
Yamaha pro Dean Rojas of Grand Saline, Texas, entered the Old Hickory event with a scant two-point lead over Shinichi Fukae of Osaka, Japan, in the Angler of the Year race. Rojas continued his hot streak Wednesday with a five-bass catch weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces to put him in eighth place heading into Thursday’s competition. Fukae, however, did not fare as well, bringing in only two bass weighing 4 pounds, 2 ounces to land in 101st.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. Two hundred points are awarded to tournament winners, with 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points.
Bull Creek Ramp in Gallatin hosts daily takeoffs at 7 a.m. except for Friday, when takeoff is at 8 a.m. Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held at Bull Creek beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin beginning at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. The Fun Zone will open Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
Coverage of the Old Hickory Lake tournament will be broadcast to 65 million Outdoor Life Network subscribers on the “FLW Outdoors” television program. A tournament preview featuring bass-fishing legend Hank Parker will air March 28 at 1 p.m. Eastern time and April 1 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Fishing fans can watch the tournament weigh-in with hosts Carlton Wing, Taylor Carr and Charlie Evans April 4 at 1 p.m. and April 8 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Tournament veteran Larry Nixon will host a tournament wrap-up April 11 at 1 p.m. Eastern time and April 15 at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
The winner of the FLW Tour stop on Old Hickory Lake will also be featured on “FLW Outdoors Presented by Wal-Mart” on Sunday from 9-11 a.m. Eastern time. The cutting-edge radio program hosted by Keith Lebowitz and Tony Casillas is broadcast live on the World Wide Web at FLWOutdoors.com. The show is also broadcast throughout Texas and parts of Oklahoma on Fox Sports 1190 AM KFXR in Dallas. Listeners who would like to ask a question of any show guest can e-mail the question to [email protected].
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails are the EverStart Series, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997.
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