Quick Bites: FLW Kentucky Lake, Day 4

Fritts can’t reprise ‘97 wire-to-wire victory, Jones’ road scholars are in tow, and Hackney’s married to Kentucky Lake

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Kentucky Lake, Benton, Ky.

Final round, Saturday

No fifth for Fritts … Pro David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., is an FLW fisherman of great distinction. During the FLW Tour’s second season in 1997, he won an unprecedented three tournaments out of seven: first at Lake Eufaula, then Kentucky Lake and finally the championship at Ferguson Lake. At the latter event, Fritts achieved the rare feat of winning wire to wire – that while under the pressure of fishing alongside the greatest anglers of that time. By the end of Friday’s weigh-in this week at Kentucky Lake, he was poised to do it again, having led the pro field the first three days of the tournament. In the end, however, Fritts found himself in fourth place despite having fished a remarkable tourney. “You’ve got to be lucky to win,” he said after the final weigh-in. “Things don’t always work out like they’re supposed to.” Fritts missed winning his second wire-to-wire FLW tourney by less than 3 pounds, but his legacy on the tour is still sterling. No other pro has won four FLWs; it is quite possible that Fritts is the only angler to win an FLW wire to wire; and he’ll always be acknowledged as the “Crankbait King.”

Have family, will travel … Pro Alton Jones doesn’t bring his work home with him; he brings his home to work. The Jones family – including his wife Jimmye Sue, his 12-year-old son Alton and two daughters, 9-year-old Kristen and 6-year-old Jamie – travel together along the FLW Tour throughout half the year. That means the children are home-schooled, when you count the road as their home away from home in Waco, Texas. As Jones puts it, “When I’m on the road half the time, that makes them road scholars.” One advantage for the Jones children – said Jimmye Sue, who is also their teacher – is that they get to go on a lot of field trips. “They’ve been on a lot of miles,” she said. In fact, the younger Alton has been in 34 states, which is more than most adults see. “He loves to fish with his dad,” she said. “He fishes every chance he gets.” It’s not easy keeping a traveling family organized, Jimmye Sue said, “but I guess we have a system down.” And the kids aren’t road-weary. “They’re excited,” she said. “They love going.” And the best part is summer vacation, because mom makes sure studies stay on course with a regular school year. It’s stated frequently in the industry that fishing is a family-friendly sport. Indeed.

$37,000 anniversary present … Though pro Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., missed what would have been his first FLW Tour win by only 5 ounces, his payday for second place may still help buy him a ticket out of the doghouse. Hackney married his wife in May 1999, but she doesn’t share his love of this incredible fishery. “Ever since I’ve been married … I’ve been here on my anniversary. So my wife doesn’t really like Kentucky Lake.” Here’s hoping Hackney’s $37,000 check will help change her mind or that it will at least serve as a welcome – yet slightly belated – anniversary present.

Quick numbers

5: Number of FLW Tour pros who have won their first FLW title in 2004. Today’s Kentucky Lake winner, Anthony Gagliardi, has made it five for five so far this season with two events left to go, including the championship.

2: Number of FLW pros fishing in this week’s top 10 who are also among the tour’s top 10 money winners. They are David Dudley, who tops the list, and Fritts.

1: Numbered rank in the 2004 FLW Tour points standings achieved by first-year FLW pro Shinichi Fukae after today’s fifth-place finish on Kentucky Lake.

Sound bites

“I do it all the time – whenever I can. In fact, I do it sometimes when I shouldn’t do it.”

– Fritts, the “Crankbait King,” on his trademark style of bass fishing.

“We’ve been here two times, and I’ve never seen Barkley Lake. I don’t even know what it looks like.”

– Event winner Gagliardi when asked today if he fished Kentucky or Barkley. Many of the anglers who fish here switch between the two.