Katsu cashes in
Tokyo’s Furusawa wins co-angler crown at Old Hickory
GALLATIN, Tenn. – As difficult as it was for the pros to catch fish in Friday’s Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition at Old Hickory Lake, it was downright impossible for most of the co-anglers. Just two out of the 10 co-angler finalists landed keeper bass and, in the end, it was a happy angler from faraway waters who came away with the $15,000 winner’s check.
Katsutoshi Furusawa of Tokyo, Japan, won the Co-angler Division with three bass weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces. He beat the only other co-angler to weigh in fish, Alex Ormand, who caught two bass weighing 3-4.
“It’s very nice,” said Furusawa, who said his cash winnings translate into about 2 million Japanese yen.
But more than the yen, Furusawa – known as “Katsu” on tour – was pretty thrilled about his fishing partner Friday, pro Rick Clunn, who, he said, is “very, very famous” in Japan. He’s fished with the venerable Missouri pro once before, on the first day of the 2003 FLW event at Lake Murray. That day, Clunn led Furusawa to a 10-pound sack and ultimately a top-20 finish for the tournament.
But Friday, Furusawa outfished Clunn by two bass and more than 7 pounds. (Clunn caught one bass worth 2-5.) Furusawa made the cut mainly by using a crankbait in shallow water the first two days. Today, however, he had to go deeper and fish drop-offs with Clunn, who’s famous for fishing at depth. Consequently, he had to vary his bait presentation; he caught each of his three keepers on different baits.
“I used a jig – brown-and-black Eakins; a tube – Omori green-pumpkin with a ¼-ounce sinker; and a crankbait – a No. 5 Shad rap,” said Furusawa, who is still learning to speak English but has a pretty solid grasp of fishing’s technical jargon.
Furusawa is no stranger to strong finishes, either. Since beginning FLW competition in 2002, he already had two top-10s before his win this week. He also made the FLW Championship his first two seasons on tour and has never finished the yearly standings worse than 10th place. Last year, he placed eighth in points. In his first visit to Old Hickory, at the FLW event in 2002, Furusawa won the day-one big-bass award with a 6-pound, 11-ounce largemouth.
A 36-year-old tackle shop salesman when he’s home in Tokyo, Furusawa flies back and forth from Japan to fish the FLW tournaments. He hopes his win at Old Hickory is a step toward his ultimate goal: fishing full-time from the front of the boat in the States.
“I don’t know yet, but I want to be a pro fisherman in the U.S.,” he said, adding that some of his $15,000 in winnings might go toward the purchase of a vehicle and a place to put his stuff in the U.S. so he can pursue that dream.
Ormand second – again
Being the only other co-angler besides the winner to catch a keeper bass, second-place finisher Ormand ($6,000) earned some bragging rights Friday. But it was also a bittersweet victory.
“This is the second time in three tournaments that I’ve finished second,” said Ormand, who hails from Bessemer City, N.C. “It’s getting old.
“I had two good (bass) on that jumped off today, but I had a good time. I had three great partners this week. I had a ball.”
Rest of the best
The rest of the co-angler finalists posted zeroes Friday. They earned their finishes and winnings based on the tiebreaker, which is position after the opening round.
Rounding out the top 10 Co-angler Division finishers at Old Hickory Lake are Keith Pace of Monticello, Ark. (3rd place, $4,000); Quint Bourgeois of Knoxville, Tenn. (4th, $3,000); Larry Dix of Bella Vista, Ark. (5th, 2,500); Billy Yelverton of Baton Rouge, La. (6th, $2,200); Greg Gulledge of Monticello, Ark. (7th, $2,000); Derek Moyer of Alexandria, Va. (8th, $1,800); Johnny Taylor of Kodak, Tenn. (9th, $1,600); and Darrell Stevens of Roseland, Va. (10th, $1,400).
The final day of FLW Tour competition at Old Hickory Lake begins Saturday at 7 a.m. CST as the 10 pro finalists take off from Bull Creek Ramp in Gallatin. The heaviest two-day weight from Friday and Saturday combined will determine the tournament’s $100,000 winner.