A day for big numbers

Owens looking to seal the deal on Choke Canyon

CALLIHAM, Texas – Kelly Owens isn’t being greedy – he’s being realistic. Despite entering the final round of the EverStart Texas Division event on Choke Canyon Lake with a 12-pound lead, he wants another big sack to make sure he does not lose the top spot he’s held for two days.

Starting the event with 25 pounds, 1 ounce on day one, he added 28-2 yesterday and pulled away from the pack by a huge margin. Today, however, conditions are ripe for big sacks and Owens’ closest competitor, Louisiana pro Kevin Lasyone, sacked up 24-11 yesterday and another big day could give him a serious shot, should Owens stumble. This, plus local weekend pressure provides plenty of motivation for Owens to go hard `til the final whistle.

“I want 25 pounds because Kevin Lasyone is going to catch `em today,” Owens said. “If the locals will leave him alone, he’s going to catch `em.”

Owens has caught all of his fish on a Norman gel coat series Deep Little N crankbait with a chartreuse back and white sides. He’s targeting a little drain in a creek at the lake’s south end. Mornings have seen the brought the best action.

“I’ve lived there for two days so we’re going to go back there and see what it’ll do. Hopefully, it loaded up again,” Owens said. “I think it will (replenish) because we didn’t hurt the spot yesterday. But you never know how these fish are.”

Working in everyone’s favor is a nice weather forecast that includes light wind, plenty of sunshine and warming temperatures. Day one saw a 1 1/2-hour fog delay followed by steady 20-mph winds as a cold front blew into town. Yesterday brought clear, cool conditions with the typical post-frontal frustration of high pressure and bluebird skies. Despite the typically adverse conditions, anglers caught good fish on day two. Final round conditions appear ideal for advanced prespawn movement.

“In talking to the other top-10 guys, I think a lot of these fish are starting to move up, so I may have to change a little bit during the day, but if I can execute, I think I’ll have a good chance, so we’ll just see what the day brings.”

Lasayone has been catching his fish on Texas-rigged Yum Dingers – the 6-inch and 7-inch models in green pumpkin and green pumpkin purple. He has fished the same spot, tied up to the same tree for two days. Notably, he pinpointed a specific target zone accidentally.

“I’m casting out from the bank, toward the middle,” Lasyone said. “I had gotten a few bites flipping the grass and I wanted to have a little area to flip, so I was tied up to a tree with my trolling motor up to let everybody know I was anchored. I cast toward another boat to let the guy know I was anchored and caught a 7-pounder. I’ve been blessed ever since.”

In third place, Trinity, Texas pro David Curtis will return to the spot he fished on day two. Curtis described the spot as the end of a ridge that intersects with a grass line. Prespawn fish are using this spot as a staging area and Curtis hopes to tempt a good limit of big ones with a Carolina-rigged 10-inch Berkley Power Worm in blue flake.

“I’m not moving the boat more than 20-30 yards because the fish are in a specific spot,” he said. “There’s a nice school of fish on that spot, so hopefully, we can catch some of them.”

Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt made a huge move on day two and boosted a miserable day one weight of 4-15 with the tournament’s second largest stringer – a 27-pound bag that lifted him from 55th place to fourth with a 31-15 total. Tutt credits his big comeback to his decision to throw a chatterbait with an orange Speed Craw.

“I was worried about getting off to a bad start for the season because the first day was obviously not so good,” Tutt said. “But I made the right move at the right time and I’m really excited to go out today. I wish I had a little better chance of winning because Kelly is so far ahead, but this is Choke Canyon and there are a lot of big fish here, so I’ll just see what I can do.”

Tutt said the key to his chatterbait success is making long casts, allowing the bait to sink to the bottom and then slow rolling it. He’s targeting a drain that runs parallel to a grass line.

Russell Cecil, of Willis, Texas starts the day in fifth place with 30 pounds. He caught only three keepers on day one, but with a weight of 12-10, he was clearly around some good ones. Today, he’ll throw a lipless crankbait and a square bill crank.

Logistics

Weigh-ins will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. daily. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

Pros will fish for a top award of $35,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with 200-horsepower outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger 177TR with 90-horsepower outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.

The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.

The EverStart Series tournament on Choke Canyon is being hosted by the Three Rivers Texas Chamber of Commerce.

Saturday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 7:29 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 35 degrees

Expected high temperature: 59 degrees

Water temperature: 56-57 degrees

Wind: S-ESE 5-8 mph

Humidity: 20 percent

Day’s outlook: Sunny