HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (May 29, 2008) - Veteran angler Kim Carver of Milledgeville, Ga., caught five bass weighing 11 pounds, 6 ounces Thursday to grab the opening-day lead in the Bass Fishing League All-American on Lake Hamilton. Carver is one of two boaters competing that have qualified for the championship eight times. He is the only angler in the field of 108, however, that has previously won an All-American title.
His first All-American win, on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., came almost exactly 10 years ago - May 27, 1998 - three days before his 43rd birthday. Carver hopes to celebrate his 53rd birthday Friday with a top-10 finish and a trip to the final round for a shot at winning his second All-American title.
"I gave myself a nice birthday present in '98, but can I do it again? Who knows?" said Carver, who has earned a record 31 top-10 finishes and nearly half a million dollars in BFL competition since 1995. "I hope so. I'd like to give myself another one hundred thousand dollar birthday."
Carver caught most of his fish on a Zara Spook under overcast skies. "I'm just going down the bank," he said. "You'll catch one off a piece of wood. You'll catch one off a dock. You'll catch one out of a patch of grass. There is really no rhyme or reason where the next one is coming from."
While a veteran sits atop the leader board, second-place challenger Kevin Snider of Elizabethtown, Ky., squeaked into the All-American in a Wild Card slot after loosing track of time in the final qualifier of 2007 and slipping to 77th place - a disastrous turn of events that knocked him out of regional contention. Undeterred, Snider fished the Chevy Wild Card on Wheeler Lake and finished fourth out of a field of 325 boaters to advance to his first All-American. He now trails Carver by just 1 pound, 7 ounces after catching five bass weighing 9-15 Thursday.
Snider caught most of his bass on a homemade 5/8-ounce, watermelon-color jig fished on points in approximately 17 feet of water.
Rounding out the top-five boaters are Terry McWilliams of Greenfield, Ind. (five bass, 9-14); Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla. (five bass, 8-14) and Shayne Berlo of Vienna, Va. (five bass, 8-10).
Berlo also caught the day's heaviest bass in the Boater Division, a 4-pound, 1-ounce largemouth, to win the Snickers Big Bass Award of $500. Overall, 225 bass weighing a total of 292 pounds, 10 ounces were caught by 53 boaters Thursday. The catch included 32 five-bass limits.
Robert Crosnoe of Inverness, Fla., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces. He was fishing with boater Scott Hamrick of Denver, N.C., who is currently 45th with four bass weighing 3-7.
Rounding out the top-five co-anglers are Billy Cain of Jackson, Ga. (four bass, 8-4); Blake Wilson of Prattsville, Ark. (five bass, 8-3); Kenneth Hunnicutt of Jacksonville, Fla. (five bass, 6-8) and Tim Austin of Williston, Vt. (five bass, 6-6).
Cain caught the day's largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a 5-pound, 2-ounce largemouth, to win the Snickers Big Bass Award of $500.
Overall, 143 bass weighing a total of 170 pounds, 10 ounces were caught by 48 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits.
Anglers from 26 states are competing in the 25th annual All-American for a top boater award of $140,000 and a top co-angler award of $70,000. These anglers represent the best of more than 37,000 competitors who strive to make it to the championship each year.
Only the top-10 boaters and top 10 co-anglers following Friday's weigh-in will advance to Saturday's final round, where the heaviest three-day total weight will determine the winners.
Boaters control boat movement and fish from the front deck against other boaters while co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers. Boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired each day.
Takeoffs start at 7 a.m. each day from the Fish Hatchery Ramp located at 350 Fish Hatchery Road in Hot Springs. Weigh-ins each day start at 4 p.m. at Summit Arena located at 134 Convention Blvd in Hot Springs.