LAPLATA, Md. (June 22, 2005) - For pros and co-anglers chasing berths in the Forrest L. Wood Championship, the 2005 FLW Tour season has boiled down to four days of intense bass-fishing competition on the Potomac River in the Open - the tour's final qualifying event. And just to make things a little more intense, the Potomac yielded a near-record catch of 1,706 bass weighing 3,917 pounds, 2 ounces.
The only tournament in FLW Tour history to produce more bass was the 2004 stop on Lake Champlain, where anglers caught 1,811 fish. That same event set the tour's weight record at 4,481 pounds, 3 ounces. Lake Champlain also holds the No. 2 spot in overall weight with 4,082 pounds, 6 ounces crossing the scale in 2002. The 2002 Champlain tournament slipped to third in number of bass, however, with 1,638 fish, trailing Wednesday's incredible catch on the Potomac by 68 fish. All 200 pros and 196 co-anglers competing Wednesday caught bass, including 180 limits in the Pro Division and 95 limits in the Co-angler Division. All of which proves that Charles County is home to some of the best bass fishing in the nation.
Jerry Williams of Conway, Ark., made the most of a fantastic opening day to take the early lead with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 4 ounces followed by Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, in second with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces and Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., in third with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces.
"I had no idea what I was going to do today," said Williams, who has earned five FLW Tour top-10 finishes, including four in his 1998 rookie season. "It took a while to figure things out, but after that, we caught a lot of fish. My third spot held all of the bigger fish, and they really turned on when the tide started out. After that, I culled three or four 3-pounders."
Williams caught the majority of his bass by flipping a jig to grass in 2 feet of water.
Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La. (five bass, 18 pounds, 4 ounces) and Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla. (five bass, 18 pounds, 1 ounce) rounded out the top five pros.
Danny Correia of Marlborough, Mass., earned the day's Big Bass award of $750 in the Pro Division with a 6-pound, 9-ounce largemouth. Angler of the Year points leader and JT Kenney of Frostburg finished a disappointing 70th place on opening day with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 14 ounces, leaving the door wide open for Hackney, Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., and Toshinari Namiki of Hachioji-City, Japan, to take the title from him.
Coming into the event, Gagliardi, Hackney and Namiki trailed Kenney by 2, 16 and 23 points, respectively, in the No. 2, 3 and 4 positions. After opening day, however, Hackney holds a 66 point lead on Kenney. Namiki now holds a 57 point lead on Kenney and trials Hackney by 9 points. And Gagliardi holds a 36 point lead on Kenney, but trails Hackney and Namiki by 30 and 21 points, respectively. Tides can change rapidly on the Potomac, however, so the race is still up for grabs.
In the Co-angler Division Chris Koester of Winston Salem, N.C., leads the field with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces. He fished with Lawry's pro Jason Kilpatrick of Satsuma, Ala., who caught five bass weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces and is currently 129th on the pro side.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Robert Blosser of Poynette, Wis. (five bass, 15 pounds, 15 ounces); Terry Chapman of Cornelius, N.C. (five bass, 15 pounds, 3 ounces); Thomas Greene of Germantown (five bass, 14 pounds, 9 ounces); and Dino Caporuscio of Coto De Caza, Calif. (five bass, 14 pounds, 7 ounces).
Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas, claimed the Snickers Big Bass award and $500 in the Co-angler Division with a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass that he caught while fishing with pro Robert Karbas Jr. of Wake Forest, N.C., who is currently in 18th with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 11 ounces.
More than 98 percent of the bass were released alive.
Anglers will take off each morning from Smallwood State Park in Marbury at 6:30 a.m. Thursday's weigh-in will also be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 40 Drury Drive in LaPlata beginning at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.