Pro Tour News

Pro Tour News-Lake Ouachita FLW Tour Stop / Clear Lake EverStart

3/13/05 Namiki Get's The Picture When the dust finally settled today, Toshinari Namiki had what it took to win the FLW Tour stop at the Ouachita River. Struggling today, he had just three fish that weighed 10-07, but it was the quality of those fish that ultimately paid off.

Namiki, as well as most of the field on the final day made the nearly one hundred mile run to the Arkansas’ Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge. The water up North in the Felsenthal Pool was more stable, and the run paid off. Earlier in the week, Namiki said he had a secret bait, and today revealed that it was a black and blue tube jig, hardly a secret, but during a week that was dominated by heavy handed techniques involving jigs and spinner baits, the tube was a slightly less predictable technique.

The Final Standings From The Ouachita:

1st Toshinari Namiki, Japan 8 30-14
2nd Matt Herren, AL 10 27-12
3rd Jason Kilpatrick, AL 9 23-09
4th Mickey Bruce, GA 8 23-06
5th Mike Hawkes, TX 7 22-15
6th Alvin Shaw, NC 8 22-10
7th Darrell Robertson, OK 10 21-06
8th William Davis, AL 8 17-00
9th Bobby Lane, FL 6 16-02
10th Jeremiah Kindy, AR 8 13-01

3/13/05 D-O-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N! Was there any doubt that Sieg Taylor wasn't going to go out today and slay the dragon that is Clear Lake? He had only done for three straight days. Sure, he could have fallen today, but he was in a self-described zone. Today he had his worst day, only averaging 5 pounds per fish as he weighed in 20-13 to give him 45-03 over the two day championship round and his first major victory. The Clear Lake local, used a crank bait in the "ghost" color, to light up Clear Lake. Jimmy Walker of San Diego, CA brought 26-05 to the scales today, but that is the kind of day that Sieg Taylor had each day this week.

With only a four fish limit this week and the numbers of big bass produced by Clear Lake, there is little doubt that Clear Lake is one of, if not the most amazing bass factories in the country. Had anglers weighed in five fish limits, virtually every record for stringer weights would have been broken this week, as Sieg Taylor caught 94-11 for his four days of fishing, for only 16 fish. Had Taylor been able to weigh in one more four pounder each day, (which by the way, he was culling out,) He would have approached the 110 pound mark.

The Final Standings From Clear Lake

1st Sieg Taylor, CA 8 45-03
2nd Jimmy Walker, CA 8 40-13
3rd Fred Rex, CA 8 36-07
4th Jimmy Reese, CA 8 33-02
5th Jerry Ballesteros, CA 8 31.00
6th Brent Lyon, NV 8 28-06
7th Bernie Guant, CA 8 28-05
8th Tom Kilduff, AZ 8 26-08
9th Jon Stelic, CA 8 26-03
10th Rus Snyder, CA 8 22-09

3/07/05 Luke, The Force Is With You, Clausen Takes Over PBA-AOY Race. We bet Luke Clausen has never heard that before! But we also know that Luke has never been the leader of the ProBassAnglers.com-Angler Of the Year Race either. Clausen who took the world by storm last year when he won the FLW Tour Championship certainly appears to have the steady hand neccessary to survive not one, but both tours. He is the first angler to break the "600 point mark, (601.06.)

Declines Lead Gains-25 anglers fell in the PBA-AOY standings this week, while 16 gained. The trend was down ward on the leader board. Kelly Jordon, first last week, is now second, and after leading two weeks ago, David Walker fell one spot again this week into 3rd place. Andre Moore, continues his post Florida slide, down to 14th, Moore, undoubtedly wishes all tour events could be in Florida.

Several anglers made some big moves up this week, Morizo Shimizu has moved up dramatically as of late, (38th to 22nd this week.) Mike Iaconelli, "The Primal Screamer," moved an astonishing 13 places (28th to 15th,) on the heals of his top six finish at Clarks Hill. Dion Hibdon is up 11 spots, (34th-23rd,) while Gary Yamamoto (20th-12th) and Larry Nixon (24th-16th,) each moved up 8 places based on their strong performances at this week's BASS Tour Stop.

3/13/05 It's Going To Be A Photo Finish! Make that a "Fuji Film-Photo Finish." The second round of the FLW Tour stop at the Ouachita River got under way today, and it is close going into tomorrow's final day. Toshinari Namiki, qualified for the final cut by just getting in, at the tenth place position. Today, Namiki caught his biggest limit of the tournament, (20-07) weighing just six pounds less then he did for the entire first two days, (26-6.) First round leader, Matt Herren also had a big day, bringing a limit that weighed 18-01 to the scales which should make things interesting tomorrow.

Tour rookie, Bobby Lane will extend his Angler of the year points lead, as he is the only angler in the top 5 to make the finals, his third straight cut in the three tour events this season.

The Leader Board After Going Into Tomorrow's Final Day:

1st Toshinari Namiki, Japan 5 20-07
2nd Matt Herren, AL 5 18-06
3rd Mike Hawkes, TX 5 16-02
4th Jason Kilpatrick, AL 5 15-00
5th Darrell Robertson, OK 5 12-05
6th Bobby Lane, FL 4 10-12
7th Mickey Bruce, GA 4 9-14
8th William Davis, AL 5 9-10
9th Alvin Shaw, NC 3 9-02
10th Jeremiah Kindy, AR 5 7-10

The Final Standings From Clear Lake

1st Sieg Taylor, CA 8 45-03
2nd Jimmy Walker, CA 8 40-13
3rd Fred Rex, CA 8 36-07
4th Jimmy Reese, CA 8 33-02
5th Jerry Ballesteros, CA 8 31.00
6th Brent Lyon, NV 8 28-06
7th Bernie Guant, CA 8 28-05
8th Tom Kilduff, AZ 8 26-08
9th Jon Stelic, CA 8 26-03
10th Rus Snyder, CA 8 22-09

3/11/05 Life In The Fast Lane, Tour Rookie Makes 3rd Straight Cut, Herren Still Leads, Others Fall. A noticeable slower current may have been the factor in several of day one's top ten falling out of the cut position on day day two. Several anglers noted, (including leader Matt Herren,) that current from the river had positioned their day one fish in predictable positions, and on day two, that current just didn't maintain itself. The story this week however, is tour rookie Bobby Lane, who leads the FLW Angler Of The Year Race and has now qualified for his third straight tour finals, on the weight of his day two performance, 14-04 (28-15 / 7th place.) Regardless how the rest of this week turns out, Lane will extend his FLW AOY lead, particularly since Kelly Jordon, (2nd place, had a poor tournament-164th place with just 6-05.)

Day one leader, Matt Herren finishes the first round in first place, even though his four fish which weighed 11-08, (36-06) was far below the staggering first day weight of 24-14. Herren finishes the first round with a nearly two pound advantage over second place angler Mike Hawkes (34-07) who brought in 17-07 on day two. Jason Kilpatrick of Alabama made the biggest charge to the finals on day two. After only 9-14 on day one, he caught a five bass limit that weighed 19-00 allowing him to make the finals after being in 56th place on day one. Greg Hackney had the day's biggest limit weighing 19-12 for 23-14 after only weighing 4-02 on day one. Hackney finishes in 20th place after being in 141st place after day one. Weights will be zeroed for today's championship round.

The Leader Board After The First Round:

1st Matt Herren, AL 9 36-06
2nd Mike Hawkes, TX 10 34-07
3rd Jeremiah Kindy, AR 10 32-13
4th Mickey Bruce, GA 10 30-03
5th William Davis, AL 10 29-08
6th Darrell Robertson, OK 10 29-03
7th Bobby Lane, FL 10 28-15
8th Jason Kilpatrick, AL 10 28-14
9th Alvin Shaw, NC 10 27-13
10th Toshinari Namiki, Japan 9 26-06

3/11/05 Didn't We See This Picture Yesterday?-Fishing only his second EverStart event ever, Sieg Taylor of Clear Lake, CA. held his lead after the first round of the second FLW EverStart Western Division tour stop of the season. Taylor, who now has eight fish (remember it is California,) has 49-08 after two days and leads Tom Kilduff of Arizona who has 45-03, which included a 9-12 Clear Lake Monster which was also the day's biggest bass. Jon Stelic of CA has 41-08 and is in 3rd place. Brent Lyon of Reno, Nevada has 39-02 for 4th place and Fred Rex of CA finishes the first round in 5th with 38-15.

Weights will be zeroed on Friday for the second round.

The Leader Board

1st Sieg Taylor, CA 8 49-08
2nd Tom Kilduff, AZ 8 45-03
3rd Jon Stelic, CA 8 41-08
4th Brent Lyon, NV 8 39-02
5th Fred Rex, CA 8 38-15
6th Jimmy Reese, CA 8 38-03
6th Jerry Ballesteros, CA 8 38-03
7th Rus Snyders, CA 8 37-13
8th Bernie Guant, CA 8 36-03
10th Jimmy Walker, CA 8 34-10

3/10/05 Anglers At Ouachita River "Herren Things." The FLW Tour Stop at the Ouachita River got started yesterday, amidst angler complaints that the muddy, swollen waters were difficult at best. Don't tell Alabama Pro, Matt Herren as he brought an amazing sack weighing 24-14 to scales on day one to take a commanding lead over 2nd place pro David Walker who brought an equally impressive bag to the scales weighing 20-01. What is so astounding about these weights? This tour stop is in Louisiana and Arkansas, not Florida. The bass in the Ouachita are Northern strain and while they can get big, typically a good limit on the Ouachita would be in the 13-15 pound range, with many pros predicting as little as 12 pounds per day could put you in the finals.

As it turns out, 15-13 is in the cut position after the first day (William Davis and Alvin Shaw,) and 12 pounds would have you in 30th place. The top ten at the Ouachita after day one:

1st Matt Herren, AL 5 24-14
2nd David Walker, TN 5 20-01
3rd Takahiro Omori, TX 5 19-13
4th Todd Ary, AL 5 18-07
5th Keith Pace, AR 5 17-12
6th Todd Faircloth, TX 5 17-06
7th Mike Hawkes, TX 5 17-00
8th Jeremiah Kindy, AR 5 16-08
8th Dan Morehead, KY 5 16-08
10th William Davis, AL 5 15-13
10th Alvin Shaw, NC 5 15-13

3/10/05 BASS-A-Thon Underway At Clear Lake-Despite New California Fish and Game Regulations prohibiting the practice of culling, The 2nd FLW Western EverStart series event got started at California's Clear Lake on Wednesday. Rather than going with a "no-cull event," FLW officials were given the option of having a four fish limit with culling, which is how the tournament is being conducted.

Despite being able to weigh in only four keepers, Sieg Taylor of Clear Lake, California brought a bag of Clear Lake mammoths to weigh in scales, four fish weighing 30-05, which places him in 3 place in the ProBassAnglers.com "Weight Watchers" contest, as the 3rd biggest single day weight of the season. It should also be noted that San Diego angler, Donnie Vachon, caught the day's biggest bass, an 11-02 monster, which places him in 2nd place in the ProBassAnglers.com "Heavy Weight" contest for the biggest bass weighed in a pro tournament this year. Big bass seem to be on the move this week at Clear Lake, as the Lake is in full, blown, pre spawn move. Look for more fire works this week.

The Leader Board

1st Sieg Taylor, CA 4 30-05
2nd Jimmy Walker, CA 4 24-09
3rd Rus Snyders, CA 4 23-11
4th Jimmy Reese, CA 4 23-10
5th Bernie Guant, CA 4 22-11
6th Jerry Ballesteros, CA 4 22-05
7th Matt Lowery, CA 4 19-13
7th Bob Myskey, CA 4 19-13
9th Clint Johanson, WA 4 19-11
10th Tom Kilduff, AZ 4 19-05

3/08/05 What's A Limit Of These Guys Worth? You want to know what the Ouachita River looks like? Imagine your morning hot chocolate, throw in some Cypress trees, add some swamp rats and you start to get the picture. The above photo was provided by Art Ferguson III, our tour correspondent and it gives you some idea about what the pros fishing the FLW Tour Stop at the Ouachita River will be faced with this week. You can read Art's ProTourJournal to get an idea of what pre fish has been like.

Bradley Stringer is not fishing this week's FLW Tour Stop, but he did win the BASS Open Championship on the Ouachita back in December. ProBassAnglers.com got a hold of Bradley to find out what pros at this week's event can expect. "I caught all of my tournament winning fish in the Bayou D’Arbonne area. I never really saw the actual river, D'Arbonne is about 25 miles of really good looking water, I was lucky that I never had to look elsewhere."

"The river system has mainly wood as cover. There is some grass, but what you have down there is a lot of flooded Cypress forests and other hard wood. Most of the back water involves a creek or road bed kind of rolling through a forest. Finding that creek or migration route is the important part, and then looking at the trees that line the edges of the creek allows you a chance to begin looking for the fish. You can't just look at the flooded forest and start fishing, there is just too much good looking cover. The creeks themselves provide the structure that the bass will use. The trees on the edges will be the cover that will be most productive."

"Getting to the banks will also be important. The spawn could be on, so finding some back water where you can get to the bank would also be a good place to begin your hunt. There are also a lot of flooded ponds and beaver dams that don't appear on any of the maps. Fishermen, lucky enough to find the right ponds could do very well."

"While there is always a chance that someone can catch a big bag, I don't see it happening every day of the tournament. I believe that if you can average 13-14 pounds you would make the top ten cut. A 12 pound limit would be very respectable here."