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Kissimmee, FL
– Saturday saw the type of weather Florida is famous for; perfect conditions for the ten remaining anglers in the Wal Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Toho. Just 20 anglers; 10 pros and their co-anglers, were fortunate enough to enjoy the pristine conditions. Local anglers also took the opportunity to get out on the water, but surprisingly, they were not a factor in outcome.
The qualifying rounds bore witness to tough conditions and sporadic weights from the pros. One pro, Carl Svebeck, III was able to stay consistent through the first half of the tournament posting matched bags in the 17 pound range. He entered Saturday as the top competitor, but was only able to bring a small limit to the scales and will enter the final day in third.
Ron Shuffield, a fan favorite, also managed to record decent weights on days one and two, but the
pro only boated two keepers on Saturday and his weight of 6-02 down shifted him to 7th.
Day one leader, Brett Hite brought in the biggest limit of the tournament on day three to take a commanding lead. After posting 22-06 on Thursday, the combination of managing his water and a few missed fished almost kept Brett from being around on the weekend. Brett started Saturday from the 5th position, but his huge limit of 25-02 on Saturday has given the Arizona angler an almost insurmountable lead with just one day remaining.
Rest of the Best
Randy Hadden won Big Bass honors both of the first two days, but his small limit of 5-04 put him in 9th for Sunday’s final round.
Dan Morehead boated a limit totaling 13-05 and is Hite’s closest competitor at almost 12 pounds back.
Overall, only six competitors caught a five fish limit. Just two bags busted the double digit mark and only one angler (Morehead) is within 12 pounds of the lead.
Co-anglers, Bryan Talmadge and Todd Lee both brought six pounds to the scales on day three, the final day of competition for the back-seaters. According to FLW rules, day three tie breakers are based on day two standings. As a result, Bryan Talmadge walked away with the $20,000.00 first prize. Spencer Shuffield boated just one fish on Saturday and finished in 6th on the co-angler side.
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Hite is Running Away in Florida
“It would be better if the wind would lie down and the sun would get up. I could see the little lanes in the grass better.” That was Brett’s comment after day two when he only weighed in 6 ponds, 8 ounces. Brett got his wish as the weather was a perfect sunny, calm day. He went out and caught the tournament’s biggest weight (25 pounds, 2 ounces) on Thursday. |
“I’ve used one rod all tournament and I’m fishing two different areas,” Brett said. “I left the fish around one o’clock. There are a lot of big fish in these areas.” Brett has relied on one bait, the Chatterbait, to dredge up big Florida bass from small lanes in the grass. “I didn’t miss any fish today. I didn’t hit them (fish) that hard today so hopefully there is still something left.”
Morehead in Second
Dan Morehead, from Paducah, Kentucky, has two tour victories and with a win this weekend he will surpass the million dollar mark in career earnings. However, he has to climb Arizona’s Mount Hite to do so.
“I did the same thing today as I’ve done all tournament,” Morehead said. “Tomorrow, I might throw a top water bait trying to get a big bite.” Dan has relied on a watermelon colored fluke tied to 15 pound fluorocarbon line, worked slowly around hydrilla clumps to amass most his weight this week.
“The conditions were completely different today. With the slick conditions, my fluke bite went away, I picked up a Horny Toad and caught three keepers and lost one.” |
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Morehead plans to stick to his strategy, but will change areas once he gets a limit. “I want to hold on to second and with Brett having such a big lead, I would really have to luck on to something.”
Svebek, III in Third
The endearing Arkansan was the most consistent angler during the first two days; Carl could only manage 9-03 ponds on Saturday. “I caught a lot of fish today,” he said. “I had a limit in the first 45 minutes.”
Carl stuck with the Sweebo worm rigged wacky style and doesn’t plan to change. “The pressure is off now with Brett having such a big lead. I’m going to treat it like any other day and just go fishing.”
Fukae
Fourth
Shin Fukae went through his tackle
today throwing a Carolina rig,
jerk bait and other assorted
tackle until he settled on a
finesse tactic. “I caught seven
keepers today,” he said through
an interpreter. “I have
confidence in the area. I saw some
big fish caught by locals
today.”
Shin’s finesse bait was a
prototype Gary Yamamoto stick bait
rigged on line light with a split
shot. His primary tactic has been
the Carolina rig, but with the
conditions changing he has had to
adapt. “I need the wind. I will
check the weather and decide how
to fish tomorrow.” |
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Morgan Looking for Big Fish
Andy Morgan came to the scales thinking he would be in last place. “I’m in fifth, but I’ve got a landslide to climb,” he said. “I’ll sling it around tomorrow, moving to new areas.”
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Morgan caught an early limit pitching a Zoom Trick Worm, but left in hopes of finding a bigger bite. “Maybe I should have stayed and culled a few times. I could have been in third.”
He will cover more water on Sunday, but knows it will be hard to overcome Brett’s lead. “I don’t think he (Brett) caught a lot of fish today, but they were the right size. They will only let you weigh in five.” “Culling only gets your hands wet,” Morgan joked when asked about catching a lot of small fish. |
Thrift Still Looking for a Big Bite
Bryan Thrift is one of four anglers that did not weigh a limit on Saturday. Fishing a combination of a jerkbait, crankbait and dragging a Carolina rig. “I’m fishing hydrilla edges and I have two groups of fish that I’m targeting.”
Thrift has stayed in Toho for the first three days but plans to move if necessary. “The water is warming up and those big fish have to move up. I will spend 15 minutes on each place and then think about going down to Kissimmee. I have a spot down there that I found in practice, but I haven’t been back to it yet.
Day
Three Top 10
| Pl. |
Pro
Angler |
Hometown,
State |
| 1 |
BRETT
HITE |
PHOENIX,
AZ |
5 |
25-02 |
| 2 |
DAN
MOREHEAD |
PADUCAH,
KY |
5 |
13-05 |
| 3 |
CARL
SVEBEK III |
SILOAM
SPRINGS, AR |
5 |
9-10 |
| 4 |
SHINICHI
FUKAE |
MINEOLA,
TX |
5 |
9-04 |
| 5 |
ANDY
MORGAN |
DAYTON,
TN |
5 |
6-15 |
| 6 |
BRYAN
THRIFT |
SHELBY,
NC |
4 |
6-11 |
| 7 |
RON
SHUFFIELD |
BISMARCK,
AR |
2 |
6-02 |
| 8 |
PAT
FISHER |
BUCKHEAD,
GA |
4 |
5-14 |
| 9 |
RANDY
HADDEN |
JACKSONVILLE,
FL |
5 |
5-04 |
| 10 |
SHAD
SCHENCK |
WAYNETOWN,
IN |
3 |
4-03 |
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