THEODOSIA, Mo. - Tammy Richardson, winner of the 2006 Best Angler ESPY and champion of the inaugural Women's Bassmaster Tour bass fishing tournament, emerged Thursday as the Day 1 leader in the last event of the Tour season.
Though fish were scarce and weights were lean for most anglers, Richardson pulled 6 pounds, 5 ounces of keeper bass from the cool, clear depths of Bull Shoals Lake here. Her creel included three spotted bass and one 2-13 smallmouth, but no largemouth to bulk up her haul.
"I had to fish deep," said Richardson of Amity, Ark. "It's my first time fishing this lake, and I am not used to this type of fishing. Deep for me is 20 to 25 feet, and today the fish were 30 to 40 feet down."
Richardson was just 5 ounces ahead of Mickie Wolfinbarger of Half Way, Mo., whose four fish weighing 6 pounds scored second place. With 5-4, Tammie Muse of North Little Rock, Ark., placed third. In fourth with 4-9 was Teri Neal of Cumming, Ga.; her single fish was the big bass of the day. In fifth with 4-5 was Kris McClendon of Spicewood, Texas.
Not one pro managed a five-fish limit.
For the 95 pros and 95 co-anglers, there's more at stake this week than the title of the Bull Shoals event. Many are keenly focused on improving their standings in the season-long Women's Bassmaster Tour points race. This tournament is the fifth and final one where anglers can accumulate points and the top 12 anglers and co-anglers in those standings advance to the inaugural women's championship, Feb. 22-25, 2007, on Lake Mitchell in Alabama.
Richardson, who won the Neely Henry Lake event in Alabama in April, sits in second place in the points standings, just 33 points behind two-time WBT winner Dianna Clark of Bumpus Mills , Tenn. A win on Bull Shoals for Richardson could also mean enough points to capture the inaugural WBT Angler of the Year title and its prize, a 2007 Toyota Tundra.
But Clark, who was tied for 31st place after Day 1 with 1 pound, knows she must step up her game to keep that first-place spot in the points race. "When you see a field this size with the fish that came in, how can you be down on yourself?" she asked. "I caught a lot of 14 1/2-inch smallmouth today. Maybe tomorrow they'll be bigger."
A smallmouth bass must measure 15 inches to be a legal catch.
The winning pro of the Bull Shoals event gets a Triton boat rig with Mercury outboard valued at $50,000. The event pays a total of about $85,000 to the top 25 finishers in the pro division.
In the co-angler division, coming out on top on Day 1 was Colleen McKay of Worcester, Mass with 3 pounds, 5 ounces. Just 3 ounces behind was Vicki Hester of Rainbow City, Ala., in second. In third was Lila Bass of Austin, Texas, with one fish that weighed 2-7, the big bass of the day on the co-angler side. Tied for fourth with 2-5 were Alabamans Heather Sullivan of Montevallo and Patti Harland of Crane Hill.
The first-place co-angler prize is a Triton and Mercury package valued at $24,000, plus $1,000 cash.
The field will cut to the top six pros and six co-anglers for Saturday's finale. After fishing Bull Shoals Lake, the 12 anglers will trailer to Kimberling City, Mo., for a 3 p.m. CT weigh-in at What's Up Doc Marina.
Location & Field Bull Shoals Lake Theodosia, Mo. Sept. 14-16 95 pros, 95 co-anglers Field cuts to top six for the final day of competition on Saturday Day 1 Big Bass Pro: Teri Neal, Cumming, Ga., 4-9 Co-Angler: Lila Bass, Austin, Texas, 2-7