Quick Bites: FLW Tour, Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes, Day 1

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes, Knoxville, Tenn.

Opening round, Thursday

Movin’ on up … When the 2007 FLW Tour schedule was announced, most of the anglers figured this would be a tough, prespawn tournament with cold temperatures keeping these Tennessee river fish scattered. A recent warming trend, complete with a high temperature of 91 degrees Tuesday, changed all of that, as a massive wave flocked to the bank. The recent warmup likely improved the overall catch considerably on day one as 96 pros managed a five-bass limit. Many anglers reported spotting both females and males that were “locked on” beds with buck bass scurrying around in defense. “This is unprecedented!” exclaimed Fujifilm pro Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn. “In all my years of living here, I’ve never seen a warmup like this. She went from winter, right past spring, to summer without ever checking up. If you had told me three weeks ago that we’d be fishing for bedding bass in this tournament, I’d said you were crazy.” At about 2 p.m., the sun finally peeked out and provided perfect sight-fishing conditions as temperatures reached the upper 70s with just a slight breeze. Stay tuned, as tomorrow’s forecast once again calls for intermittent periods of sunshine.

Slippery sucker … Than Le had an incredible opening day on the Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes, catching a five-bass limit that weighed nearly 19 pounds. Anchoring that limit was a giant largemouth bass, although Le had a heck of a time corralling the fish onstage. Le’s kicker escaped his grasp three separate times, as the Knoxville crowd enjoyed the comedic relief. When the fish finally got placed on the scale, it weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces.

Toshi’s protege … Onstage today, fifth-place pro Frank Meyer described himself as former FLW Tour winner Toshinari Namiki’s protege. While Namiki no longer fishes the FLW Tour, his equipment lives on, as Meyer is using Namiki’s line, rods and baits. Namiki and Meyer were practice partners for the past two years, as Meyer fished from the back of the boat as a co-angler. The two became friends when Namiki accidentally got locked out of his hotel room in Clewiston, Fla. Meyer came to lend a helping hand, and now Namiki is returning the favor as Meyer steps up to the pro side. Despite being on separate continents, the two stay in constant contact, especially during the week of a major tournament. “We speak the same language,” said Meyer. “Fishing.”

Favorites fall flat … Local anglers typically have their home-lake advantage wiped away when the spawn is in full swing. Why? The secret prespawn honeyholes are all but empty, as bass begin to nest in warmer water. Simply put, any angler with a good set of eyes can spot a bedding bass on a bank. Catching them is an entirely different story, but the idea is that the spawn, by and large, levels the playing field. For the most part, this trend continued today as many of the pretournament favorites found themselves in the middle of the pack. Dayton, Tenn., pro Andy Morgan is 25th with 13-5; Sevierville, Tenn., native David Walker is in 49th place with 10-9; Knoxville angler Jack Wade is 51st with 10-6; Strader is 74th with 8-15, as is Knoxville native Ott Defoe.

Thrift lurking for AOY lead … It’s early. In fact, it is extremely early, both in the tournament and in the season, but it looks as though Bryan Thrift may become the new leader in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race at the conclusion of this event. Thrift finished second to pro winner Aaron Hastings at the season-opening FLW Tour event on Lake Travis. This time around, Thrift is in 13th place with 14 pounds, 10 ounces, while Hastings is 105th with 7-15. Thrift claims he might struggle tomorrow though, as he caught his two biggest fish off the beds today, possibly leaving the cupboard bare. Darrel Robertson has a good crack at taking the lead as well, as he finished eighth on Travis and is currently in 11th place. “This tournament trail is a marathon, not a sprint,” said Hastings, the official AOY leader.

Quick numbers

6-1: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the heaviest bass caught today by pro Tommy Martin.

99.5: Percentage of fish released alive by the pro field.

100: Percentage of fish released alive by the co-angler field.

60: Number of pros who cracked the 10-pound mark on day one.

70: Temperature, in degrees, of the surface water near the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp, perfect for spawning bass.

19-6: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the five smallmouth bass caught by pro leader Chad Grigsby.

10-7: Current $10,000-check weight, in pounds and ounces.

Sound bites

“Someone got to my smallmouth spot before me.” – Wade, the local pro from Knoxville. “He was about a half-mile ahead of me, and I bet he brings in a huge sack of smallmouths.”

“It’s a humbling sport; tomorrow I’m going to go where I haven’t been.” – Shallow-water specialist George Cochran, who caught a single fish for 1-10.

“Tennessee and Kentucky have a reputation for being slow, but these fish are smart.” – Chevy pro Jimmy Houston, who insisted the Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes bass knew when to stop growing to avoid the 14-inch minimum length.

“Man, I’ve been waiting for this for a while.” – Second-year pro Derek Jones, who finished the opening day in seventh place with a limit weighing 17 pounds even.

“I probably caught 60 fish today, but several of them were 12 or 13 inches.” – Pringles pro Chip Harrison, who finished the day with 11 pounds, 14 ounces.

“Yeah, it’s a good day when it takes two hands.” – Grigsby, on catching five giant smallmouths, one of which broke off twice before he finally landed it.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. Eastern time from the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp located at the junction of highways 321 and 444 in Lenoir City, Tenn.