MURRAY, Ky. (June 11, 2009) - Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., weighed in a five-bass limit that weighed 24 pounds, 3 ounces during the first day of competition at the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes and ended the day with a slim 6-ounce lead. The event features anglers from all across the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan.
"There's a lot of good fish out there," said Nixon, who is third on the all-time career money list at more than $2.7 million. "There's a lot of good holes. It's just hard to get to them for all the boats around. If you can get to one that's nobody's on and the fish are really in there, just hang on to your rod and reel, I can tell you that."
Nixon remained tight-lipped about his methods that produced, although he did admit he caught them on the bottom. Nixon said he hit six or seven spots during the course of the day and estimated he caught another limit of fish during the day that would have weighed 19 pounds.
"I caught enough big fish in practice to know if I did everything right I could catch 30 pounds," said Nixon. "My problem today was I was culling too many 4-pounders. I'd leave a spot and go somewhere else and catch another big one. I didn't want to burn them all up. You can't sit there and gamble on another one to cull when you've already got 25 pounds.
"I feel pretty good about it," Nixon added. "If things went right, I could win this one pretty easy. I know what the big ones are doing and I can make them bite."
Rounding out the top five places are Terry Bolton of Jonesboro, Ark. (five bass, 23-13); Jimmy Milsaps of Canton, Ga. (five bass, 22-1); Travis Fox of Springdale, Ark. (five bass, 21-15); and Keith Williams of Conway, Ark. (five bass, 21-12).
Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., earned the day's $750 Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 13-ounce bass.
Overall there were 676 bass weighing 2,037 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 153 pros Thursday. The catch included 112 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for $2 million Forrest Wood Cup, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa., where they could win as much as $1 million - the sport's biggest award.
Eddie Laster of Morton, Miss., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 20-13 followed by Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., in second place with five bass weighing 19-14.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Lynn Baciuska Jr. of Afton, N.Y. (five bass, 19-0); Scott Gibson of Wiggins, Miss. (five bass, 18-15) and Rodney Brown of Eddyville, Ky. (five bass, 18-11).
Mike Reid of Gilbertsville, Ky., earned the day's $500 Folgers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 7-pound, 15-ounce bass.
Overall there were 462 bass weighing 1,185 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 139 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 50 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. each day from Kentucky Dam Marina located at 466 Marina Drive in Gilbertsville. Friday's weigh-in will also be held at Kentucky Dam Marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday's weigh-ins will be held at the Regional Special Events Center at Murray State University located at 1401 State Route 121 North in Murray, Ky., beginning at 4 p.m.