TRI-CITIES, Wash. (Sept. 20, 2007) - Pro Charlie Weyer of West Hills, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces Thursday to capture the lead in the FLW Series Western Division bass fishing tournament on the Columbia River with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 29-1.
"I'm pumped up and jazzed," said Weyer, who jumped eight places in the standings on the second day of competition. "I checked in 20 minutes early today."
Weyer has reason to be excited. He said he's fishing a spot that is holding quality fish and has shown no signs of letting up during the first two days of competition. His co-angler on day 1, Jay Bradshaw of Fresno, Calif., caught 11 pounds, 5 ounces, good for an eighth-place showing. Weyer managed to boat 13 pounds, 15 ounces on day 1 to claim the ninth spot on the pro side. "I found these fish in the pocket on the rockpiles and grass using a tube," Weyer said. "The first day of the tournament, I couldn't catch them. A couple of my buddies told me about a different color. I had it, but I just wasn't throwing it in this tournament. I switched, and they're just killing the tube and the Carolina rig now."
Weyer said he had been employing shad-colored baits, but made the switch to more natural colors such as watermelon and green pumpkin. The change resulted in eight keepers throughout the day, including a 4-pounder on his second cast. Weyer focused on fishing the tube shallow early in the morning and moved out further on the rockpiles as the day progressed and the fish reacted to fishing pressure.
Weyer said he made a run of about 50 miles downriver to catch his fish. Weyer plans to stick with the strategy he has utilized during the first two days of competition and exploit the spots he found during practice.
"I locked through both days," Weyer said. "I'm going to lock through again if the weather permits. Even if it doesn't, I'm still going to go. You have to lock through. It's the only chance you have to make the top 10. That's the quality of fish that's down there."
Weyer now holds a 2-pound, 5-ounce lead over second place pro Clayton Meyer of San Diego, Calif., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 26-12 during the first two days of competition.
Rounding out the top five pros are Ken Wick of Star, Idaho (10 bass, 26-5); Mitch Ratchford of Kennewick, Wash. (10 bass, 25-4) and Jason Hickey of Weiser, Idaho (10 bass, 24-8).
John Neudorfer of Spokane, Wash., earned the day's $428 Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 724 bass weighing 1,251 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 170 pros Thursday. The catch included 115 five-bass limits.
Brian Stafford of Fairfield, Calif., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 25-3 followed by Justin Lucas of Folsom, Calif., in second place with 10 bass weighing 22-4.
"When things are going right, they really go right, and when things are going wrong, they really go wrong," said Stafford, who used his second-day weight to improve from second place after the first day of competition. "So you really savor the times when things go right."
Stafford said he caught four of the fish in his limit in 1 ½ hours by drifting a Carolina rig. When the water calmed during the day and cloud cover moved in, Stafford switched tactics and threw a Zara Spook.
"My first cast with the Spook, a big one blew up on it, so I followed up with another cast and caught my big keeper to finish my limit," Stafford said. "Later on, I culled a 13- and a 14-incher with a couple of 3-pounders."
Stafford caught five bass weighing 13-00 while fishing with pro Ratchford on Wednesday and five bass weighing 12-3 while fishing with pro Earl Dalton of Jackson, Calif., Thursday.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Van Vu Dung of Los Angeles (10 bass, 20-9); Wade Headrick of Draper, Utah (10 bass, 20-1) and George Roth of Weiser, Idaho (10 bass, 19-14).
Mike Marsh of Vale, Ore., earned $269 for the Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 7-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Rick Correa of Sherwood, Ore.
Overall there were 501 bass weighing 789 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 158 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 46 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are competing this week for a top award of $25,000. Like the pros, the top 30 co-anglers from both FLW Series divisions after four qualifying events are complete will advance to the East-West Fishoff for a shot at the $2 million, 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Columbia Point Marina located at 660 Columbia Point Drive in Richland, Wash. Friday's weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2801 Duportail St. in Richland, beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday's weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Wal-Mart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the Fujifilm trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.
In FLW Series competition, the entire field competes for the first three days, and co-angler competition concludes on day three with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.