Quick Bites: FLW Lake Toho, Day 1
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Lake Toho, Kissimmee, Fla.
Opening round, Wednesday
Deja vu … There was something familiar about Wednesday’s weigh-in at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Toho – five of the top 10 anglers from the tour’s previous tournament on Lake Okeechobee currently rank in the top 30, and three of them are in the top 10. Making a run for two consecutive top-10 performances are Chad Grigsby (third place), Bobby Lane (fourth) and Greg Pugh (10th).
Hail to the chief … Pro J.T. Kenney of Frostburg, Md., showed once again that this snowbird knows where to find the big Florida bass. Kenney was the pretournament pick of choice before the Okeechobee tournament (he finished 14th), and he set a new EverStart Series record there in January with a one-day catch that exceeded 32 pounds (he finished second). Kenney is now king of the hill on Toho with a day-one weight of 23 pounds, 10 ounces.
Home sweet home … FLW Tour rookie Bobby Lane continued his hot streak on day one at Lake Toho, ending the day in fourth place with a crowd-pleasing limit weighing 21 pounds, 14 ounces. Lane wowed the crowd last month on Okeechobee at his first-ever FLW Tour event by finishing the tournament in fourth place. It can’t hurt that Lane, a Lakeland, Fla., resident, considers Toho his home lake.
She’s still Judy from the Bronx … Co-angler Judy Israel received an interesting phone call following the debut episode of the new “FLW Outdoors” TV show on Fox Sports Net. The day the program aired, Israel was contacted by a schoolteacher from her native Bronx, New York (Israel now resides in Florida). After seeing the show’s profile on female anglers, the teacher invited Israel to speak at a meeting of his local bass club – a rarity in New York City. “I’m not the only one from the Bronx who likes bass,” Israel said.
Senko, anyone? … The most uttered word on the weigh-in stage on day one was undoubtedly “Senko,” as angler after angler revealed to weighmaster Charlie Evans that they caught their bass on Gary Yamamoto’s signature bait. “Well, I’ve sold some of those,” joked Yamamoto, who currently sits in 64th on the pro side.
Fair-weather friends … Anglers seem divided on the issue of Toho weather conditions. Some anglers favor the current warm and sunny climate, like No. 32 Alton Jones, who said, “When the weather gets warm, they bite.” Others, like Scott Martin, who is currently in 95th place, are hoping for more clouds and wind. They may get their wish: Tomorrow’s forecast is for partly cloudy skies and wind, with the low temperature falling dramatically into the 30s.
Nut case … Rookie co-angler Trevor Jancasz, who currently sits in the No. 5 spot, owes his lofty berth to his mother and a certain party snack. Jancasz’s mom gives him lucky chestnuts that he rubs for good fortune. Today it worked: Jancasz hauled in a 9-pound, 7-ounce bass.
Quick numbers
1575-12: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of fish caught by the pros Wednesday.
633-9: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of fish caught by the co-anglers Wednesday.
192: The number of pros who caught bass in today’s competition.
200: The number of pros fishing in today’s tournament.
103: Total number of five-bass limits caught by the pros.
10-4: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of pro Sam Newby’s bass that earned day-one big-bass honors in the Pro Division.
9-7: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the bass caught by Trevor Jancasz that claimed co-angler big-bass honors.
1: Number of ounces that separate current pro leader J.T. Kenney from second-place pro Warren Wyman.
Sound bites
“I hit some black ice on the bridge and did a Dale Earnhardt.”
– Pro Joel Richardson, who was involved in a fairly serious car accident on the way back to snowy North Carolina after the Lake Okeechobee event.
“I don’t catch a lot of those `Oh, son!’ fish.”
– Veteran pro Charlie Ingram, bemoaning his lack of big fish on Lake Toho. Ingram is currently in 89th.
“That’s not really Cajun country. They’re kinda Yankees.”
– Pro Sam Swett, remarking on the upcoming FLW Tour event on the north end of his native state of Louisiana. Swett won an FLW Tour event last season on the Atchafalaya Basin, deep in Cajun country.
“I got a little white flag in my boat I’m going to wave tomorrow.”
– Pro Harmon Davis on his bad luck fishing for Florida bass. Davis caught four bass Wednesday that weighed a paltry 4 pounds, 14 ounces.
“They can’t understand each other. Kevin VanDam’s talking Yankee, Hank Parker sounds like he’s got bubble gum in his mouth, and all Bill Dance cares about is his Social Security check.”
– Legendary angler Jimmy Houston, who spent the last two days filming an insurance commercial with VanDam, Parker and Dance.
“Looks like it’s only going to be 35 pounds short of your 45-pound world record.”
– Weighmaster Charlie Evans to pro Dean Rojas, who is famous for catching a world-record-holding 45-pound-plus stringer on Lake Toho. Rojas’ day-one stringer totaled 12 pounds, 6 ounces.
Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. EST at Kissimmee Lakefront Park, located at 101 Lakeshore Blvd. in Kissimmee, Fla.