Quick Bites: FLW Tour, Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes, Day 3
Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes, Knoxville, Tenn.
Final round, Saturday
Dudley left out … David Dudley, the all-time leading money winner with FLW Outdoors, narrowly missed having a crack at yet another huge payday. Dudley finished 11th, 11 ounces out of the top 10. “I knew if I made it, I’d be 10th. I knew if I missed it, I’d be 11th,” he said. Dudley continued: “The thing that eats me up about this one, if I could have made it in, I feel I could have potentially won. That’s what bothers me more about this 11th place over any other 11th place.” Dudley’s undoing was his day-one performance. He knew he had some good sight-fish located, but the conditions early Thursday morning weren’t ideal. Instead, he ran upriver and began blind-casting stumps. He was catching fish like crazy, but most weren’t even keepers. The sun eventually came out, but Dudley failed to leave enough time to get back to his sight-fish. In hindsight, the Castrol pro said he should have followed his instincts and gone immediately back to his sight-fish once it was light enough. “It’s tough to leave when you’re catching that many fish, but it would have been the right decision.”
Smallmouth bite fizzles … With the exception of a single fish here and there, the 17- and 18-pound sacks of smallmouths completely disappeared on day three. The primary beneficiary of this trend was pro leader Mark Davis, who has dialed in to a successful prespawn pattern. Day-two leader Derek Jones caught two nice smallmouths and claims he saw three others on bed. But other than that, the TVA smallies lived up to their reputation of being unreliable. If anyone is going to catch Davis, who has nearly an 8-pound lead, they better hope a new wave of fish move to the bank.
Gags goes stump pullin’ … 2006 Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year Anthony Gagliardi will go to any measure to catch a 4-pound bass. Yesterday, that involved pulling a giant stump onto the deck of his boat. Gagliardi had spotted a nice fish on bed and instantly hooked up with the fish, who in turn wrapped itself around the base of a big tree. The Folgers pro couldn’t reach his line, so instead he decided to pull up the stump with the help of his co-angler partner. “We each grabbed a branch and pulled like crazy,” said Gagliardi. “We got the stump into the boat, but we brought a ton of mud and debris with it.” Once the stump was on the deck, Gagliardi unwrapped the line and successfully handlined the fish into the boat. “That whole ordeal took a full five minutes, and the fish never came off. I bet that stump weighed 100 pounds. After we were done, I had to sit down and catch my breath. But for a 3-12, it was absolutely worth it.” Indeed it was, as the Prosperity, S.C., pro finished 16th and earned $12,000. “In situations like that, so many things can go wrong. I’d say you actually land that fish one out of every 10 times, maybe less.”
Morgan makes the best of warmer weather … Much like Clark Wendlandt on Lake Travis, all eyes were on Andy Morgan this week as the tour visited his home waters. Morgan finished 48th and earned an awesome check for $10,000, but it wasn’t the result he had in mind when the schedule first came out. “I never caught them good when it was warm out,” said the Dayton, Tenn., pro. “Earlier in practice when it was colder, I caught several 5-pounders. I just had to start over from scratch. Everything you know about March fishing you can throw out the window.” Morgan was prepared for an early spring bite with water temperatures in the mid-50s. “If it would have been cold, I was going to fish deep. If it would have been cold, I bet you would have seen three or four locals in the top 10.” While disappointed in how the weather turned, Morgan said there was nothing he could do about it. “Once it warmed up, I had no advantage.” On day two, Morgan caught a 2-pounder with about five minutes left in the day. “I put that fish in the livewell and said, `That’s a $10,000 fish.'”
Quick numbers
5: Number of pros who cracked the 10-pound mark on day three.
100: Percent of bass released alive by both the pro and co-angler fields on day three.
7: Number of five-bass limits registered on day three by the pro field.
16: Estimated shoe size of Davis, the pro leader.
6: Estimated weight, in pounds, of Davis’ kicker bass.
1: Number of five-bass limits registered on day three by the co-angler field.
9-8: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of Jones’ day-three catch. Jones caught over 37 pounds during the two-day opening round.
2: Number of FLW Tour victories for co-angler champion Terry Chapman.
Sound bites
“I lost three about that size right there.” – Fourth-place co-angler Ryan Valentine, referring to his 4-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth.
“I lost my hat and got bit by a hornet.” – Co-angler John Barrett, who insisted he still had a good day.
“I get more nervous trying to catch a fish than I do up here.” – Chapman, on being onstage in front of thousands of people.
“I took a gamble. I left a 4 1/2- or 5-pounder there for tomorrow.” – Las Vegas pro Than Le.
“Maybe it’s that orange he’s wearing.” – Keith Lebowitz, giving his possible explanation for Davis’ incredible day.
“You see that Yamaha shirt I’m wearing? Jerreth Bain gave me that shirt, and he told me it was good luck. He’s not getting that shirt back.” – Davis, giving his explanation on his awesome day-three performance.
The final 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.