ROGERS, Ark. (April 7, 2006) - Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas, grabbed a 1-pound, 7-ounce lead over Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., Friday in the Open bass fishing tournament on Beaver Lake thanks to a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces. If he retains his lead Saturday, Fukae will pocket $200,000 and notch his second tour win of the season.
"I don't feel any pressure at all," said Fukae, who won $100,000 at the FLW Tour season opener on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Fla. "If the fish bite, I'll catch them. If they don't, that's fishing."
Fukae, the tour's 2004 Angler of the Year, used a 3/32-ounce Shaky Head jig rigged with a Yamamoto green pumpkin worm. He fished the popular finesse bait around standing timber in the upper reaches of Beaver Lake.
Powers is nipping at Fukae's heels with a five-bass limit weighing 9 pounds, 12 ounces to advance as the No. 2 seed. His pattern of crawling a Bomber Long "A" through timber in 70 feet of water may appear to be slipping, but Powers believes it will hold.
"You can't fish a topwater bait in three-foot waves and catch fish," said Powers, who placed second in the 2004 Open. "All I need is for the wind to quit blowing a tad. If it calms down, I can win."
Third place pro Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., is happy with his limit of 9 pounds, 9 ounces, but he doesn't think he has enough fish left to claim the $200,000 winner's check tomorrow.
"I'm tickled to death to make the top-10 cut," said Rose, who is in his eighth year competing against the world's best bass anglers. "I've been keying in on smallmouths, but I'm not getting the bites I want. I'm only good for about 10 pounds a day and hopefully that will get me a top-five finish."
Rounding out the top five pros are Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C. (three bass, 5-7) and Mike Wurm of Hot Springs, Ark., (three bass, 5-5).
Richard Strother, 62, of Tyler, Texas, captured the co-angler title and $40,000 Friday with three bass weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces. He caught two of his fish on a Spot Remover jig and a Zoom finesse worm, but it was his third fish that propelled him to the top of the leaderboard.
"My angler [Thomas] was fishing a big mud flat with very little cover," said Strother, who fishes the Texas Tournament Trail as a pro. "I was throwing a Rat-L-Trap and got hung up on a bush. I pulled on it really hard three times because I never ask my pro to go get a bait. Anyway, the bait popped loose, and that's when my big bass hit."
A retired telephone company employee, Strother said that a good portion of his $40,000 will go to pay his tithe and the rest will go in the bank. He plans to fish the rest of the FLW Tour and is looking forward to the Kentucky Lake tournament May 10-13.
Despite catching the only limit in the Co-angler Division, Derek Moyer of Alexandria, Va., finished second with five bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces.
Tyson co-angler Pamela Wood of Bono, Ark., finished in third place with two bass weighing 4 pounds, 2 ounces, making her the highest placing female angler in the tournament.
"This is just confirmation that I'm doing what I should be doing," Wood said. "I just hope that I encourage more women to get involved with the sport. There are no barriers."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Chad Parks of Memphis (one bass, 3-3) and Paul Addi of Las Vegas (two bass, 2-9).
Overall, 50 bass weighing 85 pounds, 5 ounces, including four five-bass limits, were caught Friday by the 10 pro and 10 co-angler finalists.
Fukae earned the "Tyson Powerboat of the Day" award along with his partner Wood. The award goes to the pro and co-angler who weigh the heaviest combined catch. Both anglers received $500 thanks to a combined catch of 10 bass weighing 15 pounds, 5 ounces.