Quick Bites: FLW Tour, Lewis Smith Lake, Day 2

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Lewis Smith Lake, Jasper, Ala.

Opening round, Friday

Riders on the storm … At the start of the 3 p.m. weigh-in on day two of the FLW Tour event on Lewis Smith Lake, a considerable thunderstorm blew in, greeting fishermen and fans alike with a good springtime soaking. The storm was part of a line of severe ones that marched across central Alabama today. Some significant wind damage was reported in nearby Cullman, Ala., including downed trees on houses and power outages. Though the rain poured down for a while, everything was safe and sound under the FLW “big top.” The only damage reported was a plethora of soaked rainsuits and a few muddy shoes.

Peacocks in practice … Castrol pro Mike Surman of Boca Raton, Fla., is likely the only pro fishing the FLW Tour event on Lewis Smith Lake that caught a peacock bass during the official practice – that’s right, a peacock bass, as in the colorful imported bass renowned for its ability to thrash topwater lures. But before rumors get started that Lewis Smith has peacock bass in it, let it be clear that Surman was not fishing Smith at the time. “I practiced two days on Smith, and then some big projects came up at work and I had to fly back home to Florida at 3 a.m. Sunday night,” said Surman, who is also an electrical engineer for Siemens Energy and Automation. “After work on Tuesday, I walked down to the pond behind my house, and there were two big peacock bass spawning in the shallows. I couldn’t resist it; I ran back up to the house, grabbed a rod and returned to the lake to catch one from the bank.” Surman finished the Smith Lake event in 161st place with a two-day total of 5 pounds, 14 ounces. “I probably could have used a couple more days of practice, but hey, I’m an engineer first and a fisherman second.

Red-hot Hite cools off … The 2008 season has already been a memorable one for Coppertone pro Brett Hite of Phoenix. Hite dominated the first FLW Tour stop on Lake Toho in March and then turned around and won the FLW Series Western event a week later on the California Delta. For those interested in the accounting on those two wins, Hite pocketed $250,000 in just 10 days. What’s even more amazing is that he won both events, located some 3,000 miles apart, on the exact same lure: a Phenix Vibrator Jig teamed with a Yamamoto swimming Senko, fished over shallow grass. So how did the Vibrator Jig work this week on deep, clear Smith Lake? “Not as good,” laughed Hite. “Actually, I caught three keepers on a shad-pattern Vibrator Jig around some schoolers in practice. But during the tournament, I used an Aaron Martens Scrounger – a kind of finesse ChatterBait-style lure with a clear bill that faces up like a ChatterBait blade. That’s what I caught my three keepers on today. Hite finished the event in 130th place with a two-day total of 8 pounds, 10 ounces.

Baksay backslides … Day-one leader Terry Baksay of Easton, Conn., brought in 14 pounds, 14 ounces yesterday for the early lead but slid back to 46th place today with one 2-pounder. “No excuses,” Baksay said. “The bigger ones just did not bite today. My partner and I probably caught 40 bass today, but we had just three keepers between the two of us. I think the cloud cover probably hurt a little. I was catching them on a jerkbait and a little worm, and the sun definitely helped that bite yesterday.”

Tiebreaks and heartaches … The 10th position in both the Pro and Co-angler divisions at the end of day two were decided by tiebreakers. In FLW Tour competition, ties after day two are broken by the heaviest one-day catch on either of the two days. In the Pro Division, Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash., tied with Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas, for the last top-10 qualifying spot at 22 pounds, 7 ounces. Clausen advanced on the merits of his 12-5 catch on day one, which was bigger than either of Pack’s 11-3 or 11-4 catches. Not only was Clausen relieved, but probably so were the legions of Clausen fans who picked him in Fantasy Fishing. They are now guaranteed an extra 500 bonus points for his top-10 qualification. In the Co-angler Division, Teddy Roberts of Faubush, Ky., and Pamela Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., tied for the 10th qualifying spot at 10 pounds, 13 ounces. Roberts advanced due to his 7-10 catch on day two, which edged out either of Bolton’s 5-0 or 5-13 daily catches.

Quick numbers

.5: Amount, in inches, of rain that fell during weigh-in.

250,000: Amount, in dollars, won by Brett Hite in just 10 days.

22-7: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the top-10 cut in the Pro Division

10-13: Weight, in pounds and ounces, of the top-10 cut in the Co-angler Division.

500: Number of bonus points earned by Fantasy Fishers picking Luke Clausen at Lewis Smith Lake due to his tie-breaking top-10 berth.

3: Number of pros in the top 10 from Rob Newell’s Fantasy Fishing Pundits’ Picks after day two.

2: Number of pros in the top 10 from Brett Carlson’s Fantasy Fishing Pundits’ Picks after day two.