McCall masters opening round at Sam Rayburn

McCall top pro for second day straight, Hudnall leads co-anglers into top-20 cut in Stren Central event

JASPER, Texas – The temperature was colder and the wind was stronger, so the field of Stren Series Central Division anglers fishing Sam Rayburn Reservoir just fished that much harder Thursday to close the opening round of the event. And for a second day straight, local fisherman Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas, persevered in the Pro Division.

McCall, also a veteran pro on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, said Wednesday that the inclement weather had actually turned his fishing around after an underwhelming practice period. That trend continued today as he brought in another five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces for a two-day opening-round total of 34-3.

Of catching nearly half his day-one weight today, he said, “That was my intention: to go out and stay off all my big-fish water, but still make the cut.”

McCall said he fished shallower today, targeting keepers, but added that he still managed to lose a big bass in one of the areas he fished. He “covered a lot more water today” and caught his fish on a Gambler Swebo Worm, a Gambler Swimblade and a Rat-L-Trap.

According to McCall, he still has about 20 spots left in his Sam Rayburn “milk run” that he has saved for Friday’s semifinal-round fishing.

By the end of Thursday’s weigh-in, only the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers were called in for a meeting to discuss the remainder of the tournament. Each division will be cut again Friday to 10 anglers apiece, who will then compete Saturday in the finals.

Garza grabs second

Pro Art Garza of nearby Buna, Texas, produced one of the day’s heaviest stringers, a limit weighing 16 pounds, 7 ounces, to give him a two-day total of 33-14.

“I went to an area that I knew held a lot of fish,” Garza said, adding that getting there was his biggest challenge. “It’s kind of hard to get around out there today.”

Garza said he “was just fishing slow, pulling a Carolina rig.” He said he had his limit by 11:30 a.m., so he was able to just try to help his co-angler catch fish after that.

Third slot belongs to Dolezal

Placing third in the Pro Division was Jerry Dolezal of Bullard, Texas. The five-bass limit he brought to the scale Thursday weighed 13 pounds, 10 ounces, bringing his two-day total to 33-1.

Though Dolezal doesn’t live quite as close to Sam Rayburn as McCall or Garza, he’s far from a stranger to this East Texas fishery. He said he avoided his best areas today in hopes of saving some potential lunkers for tomorrow.

“I just wanted to make the cut,” he said.

Barely over a pound separated the opening round weights of the current top three pros in this week’s Stren Central event, but each of these anglers – along with all the others who made the top-20 cut – will lose his even the slightest advantage when weights are zeroed for semifinal-round competition.

Hopkins hails ride back to weigh-in, has fourth place

McCall may be the hometown favorite in this week’s event, but pro Ron Hopkins Sr. of Mounds, Okla., has become the sympathetic favorite of those in contention for the win. Anglers talked throughout Thursday’s weigh-in about the spine-crushing conditions of boating on Sam Rayburn in today’s wind-swept swells. And those are just the watery flare-ups that are to blame for Hopkins crashing into fourth place boatless.

Hopkins and his co-angler partner, Gary Whitely, had been fishing this morning in Angelina River at the upper end of the reservoir, “flippin’ wood,” and decided to head back closer to the launch site at about noon. Hopkins had already pulled in his limit, which weighed 11-11, giving him a two-day total of 30-12.

“On the way back, we hit those 6-foot swells,” Hopkins said, which caused his engine to buck hard, shearing two bolts off the jack plate and rendering the boat unusable. He had to anchor it in the mouth of Lucas Creek.

Pro Harrold Allen, who Hopkins credits as being “a really great guy,” saw the stranded anglers and gave them a ride back to the launch site about 30 minutes prior to the start of the weigh-in. As of the weigh-in, Hopkins said he didn’t know what he was going to do about getting another boat to fish in the semifinals and that he “might have to forfeit.” But with the kindness of anglers like Allen, who fish the Stren Series, it seems doubtful that someone won’t find a way for Hopkins to finish out the tournament.

With a fully rigged Ranger boat being part of the first-place pro prize, Hopkins should sure use a shot at the win. With the way he’s been fishing this week, he definitely has as good of a chance as anyone to claim victory.

Huckaby in fifth

Trent Huckaby of Fort Stockton, Texas, climbed three places from Wednesday to finish today’s two-day opening round in fifth place. His five-bass limit from today weighed 12 pounds, 8 ounces to give him a two-day total of 29-12.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros competing on day two in the Stren Central event on Sam Rayburn:

6th: Keith Combs of Temple, Texas, two-day total of 29-5

7th: Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, 28-10

8th: Toby Hartsell of Livington, Texas, 27-13

9th: Charles Simmons of Waco, Texas, 27-10

10th: David Truax of Beaumont, Texas, 27-8

Simmons earned $725 for the Snicker’s Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 13-ounce bass.

Hudnall heat-seeker in Co-angler Division

Maybe the number 13 isn’t unlucky after all. Phillip Hudnall of Newkirk, Okla., held that slot after Wednesday’s opening day of competition on Sam Rayburn, only to rocket a dozen spots up the co-angler leaderboard into first place today. Hudnall’s five-bass limit weighed 14 pounds, 7 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 25-7.

“Today, we were fishing the middle arm of the lake over a big hydrilla flat in about 6 to 8 feet of water,” Hudnall said, after fishing with pro Guy Adams. “I was throwing a 6-inch watermelon candy Zoom Trick Worm, but I also threw a hand-poured fluke for one cast and caught a 5-pounder. I’m hoping that lure produces for me tomorrow.”

Local co-angler Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas, may be on his way to a 15th top-10 finish in FLW Outdoors competition if he continues to fish Sam Rayburn like he has over the opening round. Rogers finished the round in second place today with four bass weighing 24 pounds, 10 ounces, giving him a two-day total of 24-10.

Rogers said he caught his bass flipping in about 1 to 2 feet of water today in Hawks Creek, about 30 miles away from the launch site.

Closing out the opening round in third place is co-angler Emmet Barnett of Waldron, Ark., who caught a limit weighing 15-2 Thursday for a two-day total of 22-6.

Holding down the fourth position in the Co-angler Division is Pittsburg, Texas’ Gilbert Herald, who caught four today worth 11-9 for a two-day total of 21-12.

Despite zeroing today, Wednesday’s co-angler leader – local Bill Guillory of Jasper, Texas – still had plenty of weight at 21-2 to not only make the cut but retain a position in the top five.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers on day two of the Stren Central event on Sam Rayburn:

6th: Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., two-day total of 20-8

7th: Bill Gift of Alix, Ark., 20-2

8th: Jeff Snyder of Royse City, Texas, 18-13

9th: Billy Yelverton of Baton Rouge, La., five bass, 17-11

10th: Tom Medlock of Licking, Mo., five bass, 17-9

Terry Brandhorst of Waterloo, Iowa, earned $245 for the Snicker’s Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 7-pound bass he caught.

Stren Central action resumes Friday at 6:30 a.m. Central when 20 boats launch onto Sam Rayburn Reservoir from Umphrey Family Pavilion outside of Jasper, Texas.