NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (June 2, 2011) - Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark. and Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio each crossed the stage Thursday with a five- bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 2 ounces to lead day one of the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on the Potomac River. Nixon and Vatalaro now hold a 2-pound, 11- ounce lead over Michael Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, N.J. who caught five bass weighing 17-7 in a tournament featuring over 300 anglers from all across the United States and Canada.
"I caught a lot of fish today," said Vatalaro, who shares the lead with Nixon. "But I just couldn´t seem to cull. I got my biggest fish early in the morning and couldn´t get any more big ones to bite. I was basically fishing a 100 foot by 50 foot area all day long. After I got my limit by about 9 a.m., I just tried to guard the area for tomorrow. I have a couple of other spots to go to, but I tried them late today and one was muddied up because of the high winds and the other had a lot of traffic on it so I am hoping the area I fished today will replenish itself and hold out another day.
"Grass is key," Vatalaro went on to say. "There seem to be a couple of points in the weeds that I am keying in on. The bass seem to be schooling there so it should replenish for tomorrow. The tide was high when I was catching my big fish. I like the high tide for the type of fishing I am doing. Mostly I was using a worm and a Weedless Wonder jig.
"Tomorrow I have an early draw so I am going to race to my spot and grind it out. Hopefully I´ll be able to bring in another good limit," Vatalaro added.
Wind was a big factor in today´s tournament. Several anglers reported three foot waves coming in making it difficult to fish the grass. Others complained that the wind muddied up much of their waters making it more difficult especially in the shallow areas. Iconelli, who sits in third place and said he was all out to win the tournament, added that the wind blew out the tide which is something you never want to see.
"I was a little surprised that I brought in a 20-pound sack," said Nixon. "I had a couple of pretty good practice days so I knew the potential was there.
"The wind was terrible so I pretty much haunted one area most of the day," Nixon added. "It was a typical tide pattern, lots of grass on a hard bottom. I just hope the wind goes down tomorrow, then you´ll really see some nice bags brought in."
Nixon said there is no privacy on the river so he remained very tight lipped about the baits he was using and the exact location he was fishing.
Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on the Potomac River are:
4th: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., five bass, 17-4
5th: Bobby Lane, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 17-3
6th: Aaron Hastings, Middletown, Md., five bass, 16-15
7th: Clifford Pirch, Payson, Ariz., five bass, 16-1
8th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 16-0
9th: Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas, five bass, 15-14
10th: Cory Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, five bass, 15-10
Takahiro Omori caught the Big Bass weighing 5-10 on the pro side to win $500.
Overall there were 653 bass weighing 1655 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 152 pros Thursday. The catch included 103 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four 2011 FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.
James Schneider of Watervliet, N.Y., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 16-7 followed by Kenny Kash of Indian Head, Md., in second place with five bass weighing 15-12.
"I really had to adapt to the wind," said Schneider. "The combination of high wind and high tide really helped me out today. The wind helped blow the bait fish in with the tide so I tried to capitalize on that strategy. I was mostly throwing a chatterbait in a little deeper water. It was tough, I hope I can do it again tomorrow."
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 15-10
4th: Cory Leonard, Castalia, N.C., five bass, 14-8
5th: Melvin Smitson, Baltimore, Md., five bass, 14-1
6th: Skip Bennett, Mt. Vernon, Ill., five bass, 13-15
7th: Anthony Moscato, Aberdeen, N.J., four bass, 13-6
8th: Charlie Evans, Gilbertsville, Ky., five bass, 12-15
9th: Brian Stack, Nanjemoy, Md., five bass, 12-13
10th: Ben Due, Mauston, Wis., five bass, 12-10
Danny Bucher of Spring City, Tenn., caught the Big Bass weighing 5-11 in the co- angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 348 bass weighing 816 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 124 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 22 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four 2011 FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.
Anglers will take off from National Harbor Marina located at 137 National Plaza in National Harbor at 6:30 a.m. each morning. Friday´s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday´s final weigh-in will also be at the marina beginning at 4 p.m.