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D^Iberville, MS. .... Dense early morning fog, once again, weighed heavily on the minds of anglers Friday as they faced the third delayed start in as many days of competition at the $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour bass event in D^Iberville. Four of the 10 remaining pros leaving D^Iberville City Marina waited until the last possible second before deciding to make a long, rough trip back to the Pascagoula River.
The decision was a fateful one as three of the pros who opted to make the long run failed to qualify for the final round of competition. In contrast, four of the six anglers who opted to fish the Back Bay of Biloxi for the first time advanced to the final day of competition for a shot at $100,000 cash. Minimizing travel time to optimize fishing time turned out to be the right choice despite having to fish in relatively untested water.
"The wind was blowing real hard this morning, so I was afraid of the waves," said Johnny McCombs of Morris, Ala., who led the pro field with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. "I never fished the bay in my life before today. I was just trying to see if I could catch one."
McCombs landed in 41st place on opening day with two bass weighing 3 pounds, 11 ounces then advanced to Friday^s semifinal round in third place with a two-day total of seven bass weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces. He mounted the tourney^s greatest comeback thanks to a 14-pound, 10-ounce limit on day two. The catch, which ranks as the heaviest of the tournament so far, included a 7-pound, 14-ounce largemouth.
Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla. (five bass, 6-5); Dale Teaney of Williamsburg, Ohio (five bass, 5-12); Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. (four bass, 4-12); and Chuck Economou of Redington Beach, Fla. (two bass, 4-11) comprise the remainder of the pro field.
Co-Angler Frank Divis, Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., claimed top honors in his division and collected $15,000 with two bass weighing 1 pound, 14 ounces. Divis caught one bass weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces on opening day followed by one bass weighing 14 ounces on day two before qualifying for the final day of co-angler competition in ninth place.
Andrew Arnold of Princeton, Ky. (one bass, 1-3); Beverly Little of Greensboro, N.C. (one bass, 1-3); Fred Hill of Roxboro, N.C. (one bass, 1-0); and Daniel Workman of Oakwood, Ga., rounded out the top five co-angler spots. Workman placed fifth based on his opening round catch weighing 7 pounds. Little^s third place finish is the highest ever for a woman angler on the Wal-Mart FLW Tour.
Catch weights for anglers in both divisions were erased Friday and will be cleared again Saturday for the final round of professional competition in which the day^s heaviest weight wins.
Overall, 817 bass weighing 1,151 pounds were caught during the first three days of competition, including 31 five-bass limits. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
Competition continues at 6:30 a.m. Saturday at D^Iberville City Marina followed by the final weigh-in at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 3615 Sangani Blvd. in D^Iberville. A Family Fun Zone featuring fishing seminars, free product samples, interactive displays and children^s games will open in the Wal-Mart parking lot starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Sponsors of the 2001 Wal-Mart FLW Tour are ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Black & Decker, Chevrolet, CITGO, Coleman, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, Kellogg^s, Land O^Lakes, Lowrance, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Plano Tackle Systems, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers Cruncher Bar, Timex, US Bank, Visa, Wal-Mart, Weed Eater, Wrangler and Yamaha Outboards
Uploaded: 2/17/2001
Uploaded: 2/17/2001