Three’s not a crowd for Fralick

Co-angler Killingsworth clobbers ‘em

MANY, La. – It was a day of unlikely statistics at the Stren Texas Division tournament on Toledo Bend, but numbers don’t lie and those they benefit don’t ask questions.

Let’s start with the Pro Division. It’s unlikely that an angler with only three fish will top the field, and it’s even more unlikely that such a sack will contain a pair of 8-pounders. Don’t tell that to Martin, S.D. pro Jamie Fralick who leads with 17-6. (His third fish, a dinky spot was probably pretty nervous about sitting in a bag with two fish that could have easily eaten him.)

For a co-angler, it’s uncommon to finish within 2 ounces of the pro leader. Again, don’t make that statement to Brett Killingsworth of Rowlett, Texas, who placed first in his division with 17-4.

Looking even deeper, division leaders occasionally win the day’s Big Bass award, but rare is the occurrence when pro and co-angler leaders both capture this coveted distinction. Today was such a day, as Fralick’s 8-pound, 5-ounce largemouth and Killingsworth’s 8-8 bested all others in their respective divisions.

Fralick caught his fish on a Fat Free Shad crankbait in about 12 feet over a roadbed. As he recalled, the day that began with the promise of fireworks quickly fizzled and left him thankful for early numbers.

“I had the three fish I weighed in by 9 o’clock and I thought 20 pounds was going to be easy,” he said. “But I just struggled to get bit from then on. I don’t know what happened.

“That spot was kind of a small spot and I stayed there for about an hour until they quit biting. I had caught a lot of fish flipping grass in the south end of the lake and I went down there and fished the grass for six hours today. I had three bites and never caught one.”

After more than a week of wet weather, Toledo Bend actually saw a couple hours of solid sunshine today before clouds overtook the sky by late morning. Fralick said he was encouraged by the change, but it never panned out for him.

“With the sun coming out for the first time in almost two weeks, I thought the grass would be the thing to go do. But once I committed to running down there, I didn’t have enough time to adjust. I just kept hitting new stuff and never got on them.”

Reneau flips into second

Del Rio, Texas pro Tim Reneau spent his day flipping grass and put together a solid limit weighing 16-13 to finish second, just 9 ounces off the lead. Reneau fished a 1-ounce jig with a Strike King Rage Craw trailer in 12 to 14 feet of water. Despite his success, he said his day was no cake walk.

“Actually, only 30 minutes went right,” he noted. “I was just covering a lot of grass as fast as I could. I was just trying to generate one bite to excite the area. That’s what happened and I caught (all my fish) in about 30 minutes.”

The key, Reneau said, was a quick presentation with lots of repetition.

“When I’m fishing grass, I go really fast – I don’t leave the bait in there. When it hits the bottom, I jump it one time, and if they don’t hit it, I reel it in and do it again.”

Third place Robinson

Although he regrets moving when he should have stayed put, third-place pro Robert Robinson of Mobile, Ala., at least got himself dialed in for day two. Bagging a limit of 15-8, he caught all of his fish on a Little Gator jig with a green pumpkin trailer in about 15 feet of water – the pattern he now knows he should have trusted.

“I have never worked so hard for five fish in my life,” Robinson said. “I worked my butt off for those fish.

“I caught my biggest fish first thing this morning and then caught another good one that I weighed in today. Then I left the spot and tried to go finish a limit up. I came back about 11 o’clock and finished my limit (on the original spot). I should have never left. I knew the big fish were there, but I panicked because I was expecting to have a limit by 9 o’clock and I only had two fish in the boat.”

Glen Freeman of Converse, La., placed fourth with 15-5 and Scotty Villines of Ponca, Ark., was fifth with 14-12.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 pro leaders at the Stren Series Toledo Bend event:

6th: David Truax of Beaumont, Texas, 14-9

7th: Bud Pruitt of Houston, Texas, 14-0

8th: Jeremy Guidry of Opelousas, La., 13-5

9th: Bert Thompson of Benton, La., 12-14

10th: Robert Collett of Zapata, Texas, 12-11

Blast in the grass puts Killingsworth in co-angler lead

Brett Killingsworth’s division-topping 17-pound, 4-ounce bag gave him a lead of 3-13. Dragging Texas-rigged plastics through the grass in 4 to 20 feet at the south end of the lake was his ticket to success, but covering plenty of water was essential.

“We hit probably 14 spots and I was fishing with Harold Allen – one of the best fishermen on the lake – so every spot we went to was potentially a good spot,” Killingsworth said. “We’d hit each one, catch one or two and hit the next one.

“Our weigh-in was 3:50 and we had four each at 3:40. Harold went to a spot that was very close (to the check-in boat) and we both caught a keeper in about two minutes.”

Second place went to Will Welch of San Angelo, Texas who caught a limit weighing 13-7. Rick Parker of Kauman, Texas, followed in third place with 10-7. Myong Yu of Port Arthur, Texas, had 10-1 for fourth place and Benny Aylor of Round Rock, Texas, took fifth with 9-6.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the Stren Series Toledo Bend event:

6th: Harry Holloway of Dayton, Texas, 9-6

7th: Timothy Achee of Hemphill, Texas, 9-1

8th: Don R. Dickenson of Pineville, La., 8-8

9th: Robbie Chenault of Richardson, Texas, 8-2

10th: David Underwood of Waco, Texas, 8-0

Day two of Stren Series action on Toledo Bend continues at Friday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 7:15 a.m. (CT) at Cypress Bend Park, located at 3462 Cypress Bend Drive, Many La.