Quick Bites: Chevy Open, Detroit River, Day 1

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Detroit River, Trenton, Mich.

Opening round, Thursday

AOY watch … Dayton, Tenn., pro Andy Morgan (926 points) came into this event with a 24-point lead in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year race, but after an incredibly disappointing 175th-place finish today, that buffer may not be enough to bring it on home. Next in line is pro Glenn Browne (904) of Ocala, Fla., but amazingly, he had a worse day than Morgan, sliding all the way down to 190th. “I thought if I could go out and really catch `em today, I could blow this thing out of the water,” said Browne, who only managed to boat three bass. “But I really blew it. I kind of had a black cloud over my head today.” The Berkley pro was on fish, as evidenced by the sizable catch of his co-angler, Chad Parks of Olive Branch, Miss., whose 16-pound, 2-ounce limit was good for 36th place. But Browne only managed three keepers. “I think Luke (Clausen) and Bryan Thrift are going to be the ones to watch now,” Browne said. Clausen (880) is third in the points as of now, but finished a respectable 59th today; Thrift (870) is right behind in the race and may be the best-positioned for the AOY win after his 33rd-place effort today. Though Thrift has the upper hand momentarily, wild point swings, massive comebacks and huge sacks are part of pro bass fishing – especially on a fishery like this – and none of the leaders has a home-water advantage here.

Detroit Bass City … That’s right folks, in addition to its vaunted history as the epicenter of the American auto industry and as one of the country’s most storied cities when it comes to producing popular music, Detroit now holds another distinction: bass producer extraordinaire. Day one of the Chevy Open broke an FLW Tour record for overall catch. With 5,137 pounds, 6 ounces of bass being reeled in, today’s catch breaks the previous one-day catch record set at New York’s Lake Champlain in 2006 by 262 pounds, 1 ounce.

Pundit roundup, locals edition … Local advantage takes on a whole new meaning when the FLW Tour visits massive Lake Erie, as the big-water experts have lots of experience handling the 6-foot rollers that can sweep other boats off prime smallmouth spots. But the Detroit River also links up to smaller Lake St. Clair, where anglers can actually fish a whole day without a massive supply of Dramamine. FLW Fantasy Fishing’s pundits, who relied heavily on locals for their picks, were dealt some surprises today, while some names fared as predicted. 2007 Chevy Open champion Steve Clapper (100-percent endorsement by pundits) is in the hunt to start the tourney, ending the day in 18th place; Trevor Jancasz (100 percent) sits respectably in 41st. But Art Ferguson III (100 percent), already having earned two top-10s on Tour this year, dropped the ball on his home waters on day one, winding up tied at 130th. Tied at 84th, Kevin Vida (80 percent) didn’t have the day he wanted; Scott Dobson (60 percent) probably won’t call home tonight about his tie at 68th. Vic Vatalaro and Bryan Coates (both 60 percent) lived up to the credit their fantasy supporters gave them by ending the day as the leader and runner-up, respectively. And while Joe Balog (60 percent) is still hanging in there, tied at 46th, Michael Trombly (60 percent) was the biggest surprise of the day, leaving his fantasy fans hanging with a tied-up 172nd-place finish.

Balog beats the buzzer … Balog, who hails from nearby Harrison Township, Mich., was a late entry into the Chevy Open. And though he likely breathed a sigh of relief when he was called into duty from the waiting list last Friday, he said it’s tough to endure the waiting game for a tour-level event like this, especially when official practice opened the day after he got the call. “It makes it really difficult to prepare for the tournament,” he said. “It’s a sick feeling. All your buddies are getting their tackle and equipment ready … and you’re doing it too, but not knowing whether you’ll even fish. I don’t know if I’ve ever had stress like that in my whole life.” If Balog keeps up his current pace, he’s on track to earn at least $10,000, which should help relieve some of the stress.

Fishing legend turns 62 … One of the true greats of the sport, Guido Hibdon of Sunrise Beach, Mo., turned 62 today. He is a past Bassmaster Classic winner, two-time BASS Angler of the Year and winner of the 2007 FLW Series event on Lake Champlain, to name just a few of his achievements. Hibdon has only ever had one true career: tournament bass fishing. It all started in 1977 when he entered a BCA tournament. “I ended up winning the darn thing,” he said. “I didn’t even know how to trim the motor.” Immediately after his early success, the future icon of bass fishing called on another legend of the industry. “As soon as I won that tournament, I talked to Forrest Wood, and the rest is history,” said the longtime Ranger owner. “I hope they never quit making them; if they quit, I guess I’ll quit tournament fishing.” For the sake of the sport, let’s hope those boats keep rolling off the line.

Smallmouth candy … The smallmouth bass population of lakes Erie and St. Clair are hooked on Berkley Gulp – literally. One angler after another sang the praises of this line of soft baits today, telling stories of how the smallies find it irresistible. 2004 Forrest Wood Cup winner Clausen of Spokane, Wash., said, “The Berkley Gulp Goby is just an amazing bait; those smallmouth come from miles away to eat it.” And pro Tim Johnson of Dallas, Ga., added, “I want to thank Berkley because they make awesome baits.” But ninth-place co-angler Diane Delagarza of Garland, Texas, took it a step further: “If you’re not fishing with Berkley Gulp, you might as well go home.” The local smallmouth population may have a Berkley Gulp problem, but it’s no problem for the 400 anglers fishing here this week.

Quick numbers

200: Estimated number of dollars spent on fuel by pro Jack Gadlage of Benton, Ky., on Thursday; he made an 80-mile run one way to fish near Huron, Ohio, but only brought one bass back to the scale.

99.2: Percentage of bass released alive so far this year on the FLW Tour, thanks in part to the fine work of the Berkley Release Team.



31: Number of years Guido Hibdon has been a tournament bass angler.

4: Number of casts it took co-angler Pamela Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark., to land the two largemouths that rounded out her limit at the end of the day. She thanked pro partner Jim Tutt for stopping to show her the largemouth hot spot where the Detroit River meets Lake Erie on their way back to weigh-in.

2: Number of muskies caught by pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala., as they chomped down on smallies he was reeling in.

80: Estimated weight, in pounds, of those two muskies.

Sound bites

“I can talk to these fish … and I asked them, `How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Berkley Gulp Goby?'” – pro Monte Knight, telling a story to FLW Outdoors President Charlie Evans, to which Evans replied, “And what did they say?” Knight: “Just one.”

“I guess I probably had the worst tournament day I’ve had in a long time … probably in a couple years.” – Morgan, who is currently leading the AOY race, but may have left the door open by finishing 175th today.

“This year I had a quadruple-good practice. I want to win this lake more than I want to win the championship – that’s how much this lake is ticking me off.” – Past Forrest Wood Cup winner and recent Loudoun-Tellico champ David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., expressing his frustration with this Detroit-based fishery, where he’s never finished as high as he’d like (66th today), despite solid practices.