CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 19, 2006) - The skies cleared and the temperatures warmed for day two of the 2006 FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Lake Okeechobee, but the fishing grew tougher for anglers casting for a top award of $100,000 cash. When the final bass was weighed in, Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., stood atop the leaderboard with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 9 ounces.
Biffle's 1-pound, 4-ounce lead over defending Lake Okeechobee champion Kelly Jordon of Mineola, Texas, was anchored by a 14-pound, 11-ounce limit Thursday. On Wednesday, Biffle finished the day in third place with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces. He was flipping thick mats in Moonshine Bay both days.
"I really don't have a good spot," said Biffle, who has earned nine FLW Tour top-10s since 1997, including three runner-up finishes and a victory in 2001. "I mark every fish I catch on my Lowrance GPS, because where there is one fish there are usually two or three. The next day, I go back and hit those spots. That's what I've been doing every day."
If not for missing several fish on opening day, Biffle's lead may have been much more commanding. "I lost eight in a row at one point," he said. "I was just being too aggressive pulling them out of the mats."
Jordon, who won the FLW Tour opener on Lake Okeechobee in 2005, is using the same bait that produced for him last season. He caught five bass weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces on opening day to finish fourth and five bass weighing 13 pounds, 9 ounces Thursday to qualify for the finals in the No. 2 spot. His bait of choice: a Lake Fork Craw Tube mated with a 3/4-ounce Lake Fork Mega weight. Unlike 2005, however, when he opted for a Junebug color while fishing in the Monkey Box, he is flipping a Blue Bruiser Craw Tube in Moonshine Bay this year.
"This is my favorite way to fish," Jordon said. "I love flipping mats. I'm fishing the thickest cover I can find."
When asked about his prospects for successfully defending his title, Jordon replied: "I'm not going to even entertain the thought. When you do that, you set yourself up for disappointment. I'm fishing and having fun. I just remind myself that there are a whole lot of guys out there who would like to be in my place doing this for a living, so I enjoy every fish as they come, and I don't worry about the rest."
Rounding out the top five pros are Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas (10 bass, 29 pounds, 10 ounces); Mark Hardin of Jasper, Ga. (10 bass, 28 pounds, 13 ounces); and Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind. (10 bass, 26 pounds, 6 ounces).
Also making the top-10 cut were pros Dale Teaney of Williamsburg, Ohio; Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn.; David Fritts of Lexington, N.C.; Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas; and Keith Pace of Monticello, Ark. Hardin earned the Energizer Keeps on Going Award of $500 for coming from behind to make the cut after finishing 102nd on opening day with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce.
Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., who finished second in the Stren Series opener on Lake Okeechobee earlier this month finished 43rd and earned $10,000 with 10 bass weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces.
Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., earned the day's Big Bass award of $750 in the Pro Division thanks to a 9-pound, 2-ounce bass.
Darrell Stevens of Roseland, Va., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $20,000 with an opening round total of eight bass weighing 18 pounds, 14 ounces. He caught four bass weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces while fishing with Toby Hartsell of Livingston, Texas, Wednesday and four bass weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounce while fishing with Karen Savik of St. Louis Park, Minn., Thursday.
Stevens, the first co-angler to break $100,000 in FLW Tour career winnings, caught his bass flipping reeds with Hartsell and casting a Rat-L-Trap and Kinami Flash with Savik.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C. (10 bass, 18 pounds, 1 ounce); Fred Martin of North Little Rock, Ark. (eight bass, 17 pounds, 1 ounce); Jerry Goble of Sherrills Ford, N.C. (10 bass, 16 pounds, 11 ounces); and James Fredieu of Saint Martinville, La. (eight bass, 16 pounds, 5 ounces).
Also making the top-10 cut were co-anglers Rob McMurray of Troy, Mich.; Lee Teeter of Hickory, N.C.; Tim Johnson of Dallas, Ga.; Randy Clark of Mobile, Ala.; and Ron Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan.
Interestingly, Thrift won the Stren Series tournament on the lake earlier this month while fishing the Pro Division. His final-round total in that event was 10 bass weighing a hefty 36 pounds, 9 ounces.
Jake Deeds of El Dorado, Ark., earned the day's Snickers Big Bass award of $375 in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 9-pound, 2-ounce bass. He also tied with Pirch for the tournament's overall Snickers Big Bass. Both men earned an additional $500 for catching the overall biggest bass of the opening round.
Overall, 1,110 bass weighing 1,887 pounds, 3 ounces were caught Thursday, including 108 five-bass limits.