Quick Bites: FLW Kentucky Lake, Day 1
Bailey bolts into fourth, the lake of 2,000 games, and the five-fish blues
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Kentucky Lake, Benton, Ky.
Opening round, Wednesday
On a bolt and a prayer … Lee Bailey Jr. raised a proud fist Wednesday after weighing his 17-pound, 14-ounce sack of bass that ultimately put him in fourth place heading into day two. However, the expression “up a creek without a paddle” jumped out of the common vernacular and into the real world for the Amston, Conn., pro, nearly stealing his moment of triumph. “There’s a story to those, too,” he told the crowded tent of bass-fishing fans. “I caught these fish at 11 o’clock.” Not too long after landing the impressive fish, Bailey said he noticed his boat “felt a little funny” so he looked back at the motor, which was sitting crooked. “I had one bolt holding my motor on.” He said he and his co-angler, Charles Pearson of Auburn, Ala., went to the marina at Turkey Creek, but nobody was available to fix the problem professionally. Pearson said he prayed they’d make it back in time. In a situation that would make TV’s MacGyver proud, some men in the area were able to provide a quick fix by stabilizing the motor with a bolt from the dock allowing Bailey to head back to weigh-in at about 3 p.m. “It ain’t a pretty ride from there to here in an hour with two bolts holding your motor on,” he said. But the fourth-place finish was a beautiful way to end the day.
Alton’s got game … The dangling carrot of a first-place check for $100,000 is a sweet-tasting possibility for more than just the FLW Tour pros competing for the prize on Kentucky Lake. They have families to support, too. Twelve-year-old Alton Jones of Waco, Texas, accompanied his father to the weigh-in stage Wednesday and acknowledged that his dad’s 15-pound, 5-ounce catch on day one – good enough for 10th place – places him in the running for the money. When host Charlie Evans asked the younger Alton – father and son share the name – how it would be to have his dad bring home such a big paycheck, he replied, “That’d be perfect.” The elder Jones said, “At his age, he’s not calculating in terms of dollars; he calculates in terms of how many Xbox games that will buy.” For the record, that’d be about 2,000 new video games.
The elusive No. 5 … In a moment that would essentially repeat itself numerous times over the course of the day-one weigh-in, Evans asked pro Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., where his fifth bass was to round out a limit. Moynagh said, “I know right where his is because he jumped off, and he was a 4-pounder. (Tomorrow) I’m going to catch him and about four others like him.” Pro Tim Carroll of Owasso, Okla., said of his missing fifth, “Yeah, he got the best of me today.” Pro Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., and co-angler Asa Godsey of Clewiston, Fla., said they had a few chances to round out their limits but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities. When asked if he ever had a shot at reeling in No. 5, pro Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas, answered, “Too many times,” while pro Rock Monteith of Columbia, S.C., looked on the sunny side of the situation. “I’m saving him for tomorrow,” he said. But veteran pro Guido Hibdon of Gravois Mills, Mo., divulged more than he cared to about his cagey fifth fish that kept getting away: “I almost hate to say it. I had about six more on, I really did.”
Quick numbers
44.5: Percentage of the full field of 200 pros who caught a limit of five bass on day one.
6: Percentage of 200 co-anglers who caught a limit of five bass on day one.
Sound bites
“A lot of luck.”
– Co-angler Andy Afflick, who caught one keeper bass Wednesday, responding to the question, “What did you catch it on today.”
“I was like, `Man, what’s going on?'”
– Pro Wesley Burnett describing his thoughts when his co-angler, Roy Altman Jr., went on a four-bass catch streak that included a couple 4-pounders.
“I threw everything in my tackle box.”
– Pro Warren Wyman explaining how he caught his two keepers Wednesday.
“Accidentally.”
– Co-angler Sammy Orr describing how he caught his three keepers Wednesday.
“They freaked out.”
– Pro Tim Klinger relaying what his bankers did when he went to deposit his $200,000 first-place paycheck after last month’s Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake. He added, “All my buddies were loving it; we had a big party.”
“If you’re going to get beat, that’s the way to get beat.”
– Pro Craig Powers describing his second-place payday of $100,000 at the Wal-Mart Open.
“I’ve been all over this lake. I think I even scratched my watch and wound my butt.”
– Pro Bobby Curtis colorfully describing his tenacious but ultimately futile quest to land a fifth keeper.
“He’s a sergeant major. He’s an awesome guy, but every time I got hung up, I had to do pushups.”
– Co-angler David Simmons describing his day on the water with pro James Parker.