Quick Bites: FLW Ouachita River, Day 4 - Major League Fishing

Quick Bites: FLW Ouachita River, Day 4

Image for Quick Bites: FLW Ouachita River, Day 4
Toshinari Namiki, 38, becomes the first Japanese pro to win an FLW tournament since Takahiro Omori did it in 2001. Photo by Jeff Schroeder. Angler: Toshinari Namiki.
March 12, 2005 • Jennifer Simmons • Archives

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Ouachita River, Monroe, La.

Final round, Saturday

Making the cut – literally … One of Toshinari Namiki’s winning bass got the last laugh Saturday, slicing Namiki on the palm when he pulled it out of the livewell to take to the scales. The injury just added to what Namiki was already suffering from, which is a severely sore arm from casting. “I cast too much this tournament,” Namiki said. “I hurt.” … Namiki said he is heading back to his native Japan tomorrow, where he plans to visit a hospital.

Made a run for it … Most, if not all, of the final 10 pros locked up the river to Arkansas, a trip of over a hundred miles, to catch their bass. Why the long run? No. 2 pro Matt Herren explained that the reason was to find stable water conditions. “The Monroe pool fell every day,” Herren said, adding that the water he fished today in Arkansas had also fallen a bit.

Bobby Lane finished ninth with 16-2 and retained his stranglehold on the AOY points race.Lane maintains lead … Bobby Lane opened up a commanding lead in the Angler of the Year race, maintaining his No. 1 spot, 51 points ahead of No. 2 pro J.T. Kenney. Kelly Jordon entered the tournament in the No. 2 spot but fell to 34th. Herren’s second-place run on the Ouachita propelled him to the No. 3 spot, and Dave Lefebre and Brent Chapman round out the top five.

Lesson learned … No. 3 pro Jason Kilpatrick earned his best career finish on the FLW Tour this week and took home some valuable lessons from the Ouachita. “I’ve learned more about competitive fishing this week than I have in my whole career,” Kilpatrick said. “What I learned about following my instincts will give me courage in the future.” Kilpatrick said he made the decision to leave fish-holding areas and find new water in hopes of getting more strikes, a risky move that paid off in the end.

Sixth-place Alvin Shaw caught the other leading, 13-pound, 8-ounce stringer - a five-bass limit - and finished with 22-10.Tough bite … Only two anglers caught more bass today than they did yesterday, proving what a difficult playing ground the Ouachita River was for anglers on day four. Mickey Bruce moved up from seventh to fourth and Alvin Shaw jumped from ninth to sixth. Interestingly, both anglers caught bass in the 9-pound range yesterday and caught the exact same weight today – 13 pounds, 8 ounces.

Quick numbers:

10: Namiki’s finish after day two. Namiki earned a trip to the finals in the last qualifying spot and went on to win the tournament.

3-2: Namiki’s margin of victory, in pounds and ounces.

3: Number of pros who caught a five-bass limit Saturday. Namiki was not one of the three.

4: Number of second-place finishes in Herren’s FLW Outdoors career.

Jeremiah Kindy finished 10th with 13-1.Sound bites:

“You can’t pick which ones bite.” – Jeremiah Kindy, observing the need to not only get bites but big bites if you want to win a tournament.

“Without the BFL and EverStart Series steppingstone system, I wouldn’t be here.'” – FLW Tour rookie and No. 8 pro William Davis, who advanced to the FLW Tour via the EverStart Series.

“At 22 and 23 I was hoping I could fish against them. Now I’m fishing against them and I’m beating all of them.” – Rookie points leader Lane, on competing against his fishing idols.

“I thought, `Magic lure? Good anglers catch fish.'” – Kilpatrick, commenting on eventual winner Namiki’s reliance on a “magic” bait he would not disclose. Kilpatrick went on to say he later wished he had that secret lure.

“I can’t imagine when they’re my age what the sport’s going to be.” – Herren, looking forward to seeing what state the ever-growing sport of bass fishing will be in when his teenage sons are grown.