Quick Bites: FLW Tour Lake Murray, Day 3

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Lake Murray, Columbia, S.C.

Semifinal round, Friday

A re-Ward-ing experience … Co-angler winner Charles Ward and his family exhibited one of the most emotional responses to victory in recent memory, with Ward’s son Clay amusing the crowd with an excited cell-phone call on stage to his sister. The win packed an emotional punch not only because it was Ward’s first victory but also because he grew up in Columbia and now resides in nearby Greer. “It’s so exciting,” said Ward, who two years ago took second place at Lake Champlain. “When I was on the stage, I got so emotional. My dad was a Baptist minister, and when we’d move, the first thing he would do is find the people who would fish with me. I’ve been fishing since I was 13.” Most of that fishing has been done right here on Lake Murray, a lake Ward says he still fishes at least once a week. Like they say, there’ s no place like home.

In a pickerel … All week, competitors have crossed the stage talking about all the pickerel they’ve been catching. One co-angler, Rob Newell, quipped that he would probably fare quite well if FLW Outdoors would start a pickerel tournament. Today was no different, as pickerel stories once again peppered conversation at weigh-in. “They’re like a pike, and they’ve got teeth like an alligator,” explained Clifford Pirch, who currently sits in the No. 5 spot heading into the final day. “Today I set my hook, and it was like somebody cut my line with a pair of scissors.” These line-eating nuisances are also annoying because when the hook first sets, anglers are often tricked into thinking they have a bass on the line. “They’re a pain,” Pirch said. “It’s a big part of your day out there.”

A veteran rookie … No. 5 co-angler Mike Devere has been making a name for himself since the early 1980s along the bass-fishing trails. His resume dates back to the old Operation Bass/Red Man Tournament Trail days, and he has fished 112 tournaments in the past 11 years alone. So how in the world is he just now a rookie on the FLW Tour? It’s a pinnacle that was 10 years in the making – more than 20, if you count every year he has fished FLW Outdoors events. “When they first started the FLW Tour (in 1996), they tried to get me to sign up, and I didn’t,” Devere recalls. “Then it got so backed up that I couldn’t get in. I hesitated a little bit, and I hesitated way too long.” So Devere kept plugging away, putting together solid seasons in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League as both a boater and a co-angler and in the Stren Series from the back of the boat. Finally last year, Devere ended the season ranked No. 2 in Stren Series Northern Division points and earned another chance to fish the FLW Tour, a full decade after he first turned down a slot. “It’s awesome,” he said of bass fishing’s big leagues. “It’s just hard to believe how things have progressed.”

Cooling off on Lake Murray … Though Brennan Bosley still managed to bust the 20-pound mark on day three, the top-10 pro weights were noticeably lower after a two-day opening round that brought at least 11 20-plus-pound bags plus several that came very close. As usual, there are as many explanations for the bite freeze as there are anglers left in the tournament. No. 6 pro Jeremiah Kindy blames the fishing pressure, though truth be told, he is as befuddled as anyone as to why the hot bite cooled. “I’m not really sure why, because I got to fish wherever I wanted,” he said. “The fish have been beaten up.” No. 9 pro Terry Segraves thinks the answer is blowing in the wind. “The wind blowing out of the north really spurred the fish to bite,” Segraves said. “Today it blew the wrong direction, and everybody lost track of where they were.” As it stands now, Bosley is only 1 pound, 15 ounces ahead of No. 2 Anthony Gagliardi, who brought in a hefty 19-pound limit. But with humongous stringers still swimming out there on Lake Murray, Bosley pretty much summed it up when he said, “You could zero today and still win the tournament.”

Thrift takes points lead … With co-angler competition now concluded, the co-angler points have been tallied, and rising star Bryan Thrift took the points lead by just one point over Fred Martin. Ten points behind Martin is Sondra Rankin, who took the runner-up spot behind Ward during the co-angler finale. Thrift has scored two consecutive top-10s this season, his rookie year on the FLW Tour.

Quick numbers:

2: Ward’s margin of victory over Rankin, in pounds.

2: Number of top-10 cuts Judy Israel has made in three tournaments in 2006, including the Stren Series. She finished eighth this week on the co-angler side.

2: Number of times No. 4 co-angler Andy Montgomery has fished Lake Murray despite living only a couple of hours away.

9-5: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the big bass brought in by opening-round leader Tim Carroll, who ended the day in third with 14-11.

1000: Amount, in dollars, given to the FishAmerica Foundation in Carroll’s name. Five hundred dollars is donated to the FAF in honor of each day’s leader, and Carroll led days one and two.

4: Number of pros who caught a five-bass limit on day three.

Sound bites:

“You remember the days fishing with Anthony Gagliardi to get over days like this.” – Israel, who caught more than 18 pounds on day one when she fished behind Gagliardi. Today she only caught one weighing 2-6.

“I wish I’d gone to the bathroom before I got up here.” – Ward, who had to wait for four more co-anglers to weigh in before he was crowned the winner.

“If you don’t mind, I’d really like to sleep til about noon.” – Bosley, whose fish have not been turning on until about 1 o’clock in the afternoon.

“You catch 40 pounds in two days, you don’t change a whole lot.” – Segraves, on sticking with his productive opening-round pattern that brought him 40-14 in two days. He mustered only one weighing 3-12 on day three.

“He’s probably calling Wal-Mart, to see if they’ll cash this check.” – Ward, speculating on who his son Clay might have called while on stage after his dad’s victory. Ward’s check totaled $40,000.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. EST at Jakes Landing, located at 220 Jakes Landing Road in Lexington, S.C.