Japan's Toshinari Namiki nailed his first tour-level win today at the Ouachita River FLW event in Monroe, La. He did it with only eight fish for 30-14 and beat Matt Herren's 10-fish, 2-day total. While Herren was never lower than 2nd the whole tournament, Namiki slipped into the Top 10 cut at 10th and made the most of it. He led yesterday by 2 1/2 pounds, and won today by 3.



The wind continued to blow under sunny skies, and the fishing got tougher again with just three limits brought in by the 10 anglers. All 10 again locked through into the Felsenthal pool in Arkansas, which limited their fishing time to just over 3 hours.

Jason Kilpatrick climbed from 4th to finish 3rd today with nine fish for 23-09. Veteran Mickey Bruce finished 4th with eight fish that weighed 23-06. Mike Hawkes dropped from 3rd to 5th after he weighed just 2 fish today. His 2-day total was seven fish, 22-15.

The rest of the Top 10 stats are as follows:

6. Alvin Shaw: 8, 22-10
7. Darrel Robertson: 10, 21-06
8. William Davis: 8, 17-00
9. Bobby Lane: 6, 16-02
10. Jeremiah Kindy: 8, 13-01

Both Davis and Lane are FLW rookies, and Lane continues to lead the FLW points and the BassFan.com Rookie of the Year race.

Namiki Numb

"I cannot believe it," Namiki said after his first tour win. "It's great, but I think I don't feel it now, but maybe tomorrow morning when I wake up (I will). It's unbelievable for me to win here in this country (where) there are so many good fishermen."

He brought in only three fish today that weighed 10-07, but his 30-14 was almost 3 pounds more than 2nd place finisher Matt Herren.

"I had to change every day," Namiki said. "The water got muddy and I had to keep moving. I had to work hard and cast many times.

"I still can't feel anything. I am going to Japan tomorrow, so I think I will feel very good on the airplane."

His winning pattern, and patterns for the rest of the top finishers, will be posted soon.

Herren Fished Flawlessly

After leading Days 1 and 2, Matt Herren was 2nd yesterday, and that's where he finished today. He caught a limit every day, but still came up 3-02 short of the winning weight.

"I gave it everything I had," he said. "I fished a clean tournament – I didn't lose any fish – so 1st or 2nd the good Lord has blessed me. It just wasn't my time to win.

"The biggest thing that hurt me was that I had one area I didn't fish today and I should have," he said. "We had only 3 hours to fish and I just ran out of time – I didn't make a move soon enough. There were also some local boats in my area today and it's so shallow that them moving around muddied up the water some.

"I caught my smallest fish of the whole tournament today," he said. "My bites just shrunk on me. I had to weigh three little bitty fish.

"But I'll be back. I'm not quitting until I win one of these things."

Kilpatrick Will Take It

Kilpatrick moved up every day and on the final day he finished 3rd. He weighed three fish today for 8-09 (23-09 total).

"It's not what I was shooting for, but I'll take it for now," he said. "I learned a lot about how to compete and change and roll with the punches in this tournament. You have to live through the changes to learn how to deal with them.

"I feel pretty good overall," he said. "I made a change midday that my gut was telling me to do, but I resisted it for about an hour. When I finally did it, that's when I started catching them. That was the only flaw in the tournament for me.

"I never fished the same water twice, and the last 2 days I fished water I'd never seen before. I was applying what I'd learned and took it to new areas. That's really what we do in practice, so why not fish that way? Great anglers do that, and it takes a lot of courage to fish that way. I feel really good about those things."

He caught most of his fish on a Mizmo tube while the majority of competitors fished jigs.

Bruce Pleased

Bruce caught four fish today for 13-08, which gave him a 2-day total of 23-06 and 4th place. "I feel real good (about that)," he said. "I didn't have a whole lot going in practice, so I'm pleased with my finish.

"But I did have an opportunity to win. I just had four fish yesterday, and I missed a fish today where I caught a 6-pounder in practice. I think it was the same fish. I can't complain, though. I got some good points toward (making) the (FLW Tour) Championship, and the money for 4th place isn't bad either."

He fished cypress trees with a jig in shallow, bowl-shaped bayous. "I made a change today to fish where I caught that 6-pounder. With the short day, I just committed to that area, and I had six bites and caught four of them. Even being 10 pounds back, I had a chance to win, but that's fishing."

Hawkes Had His Chance

Hawkes, who finished 5th with 22-15, caught only two fish today for 6-13. "Today was a real letdown because I didn't execute," he said. "I think probably everybody from 7th place up had a chance to win today, but we all missed or lost fish.

"It was really anybody's ballgame. I'm disappointed that I didn't win.

"Up until about 10:30 this morning I fished a pretty flawless tournament," he said. "Then I broke one off, I missed one, and I had a 3-pounder up and out of a tree and he came off. I think I had the bites to win and lost them. I put myself in the right position to win and things didn't work out, so I'm disappointed.

"The fishery really surprised everybody," he noted. "Nobody expected this kind of fishing. The water just got right as the tournament started. I made a decision to fish for bigger fish, and my average size was around 3 1/2 pounds. I just lost too many today."

Notable

> Day 1 stats – 10 anglers, 3 limits, 2 4s, 3 3s, 2 2s

> Bruce and Alvin Shaw caught the same weight today (13-08).

> Lane on his leading his idols in the FLW points: “At 22 and 23 I was hoping I could fish against them. Now I’m fishing against them and I’m beating all of them.”

Day 4 (Final) Standings



1. Toshinari Namiki -- Hachioji City, To -- 5, 20-07 -- 3, 10-07 -- 8, 30-14 -- $100,000

2. Matt Herren -- Trussville, Al -- 5, 18-01 -- 5, 9-11 -- 10, 27-12 -- $36,000

3. Jason Kilpatrick -- Satsuma, Al -- 5, 15-00 -- 4, 8-09 -- 9, 23-09 -- $25,000

4. Mickey Bruce -- Buford, Ga -- 4, 9-14 -- 4, 13-08 -- 8, 23-06 -- $20,000

5. Mike Hawkes -- Sabinal, Tx -- 5, 16-02 -- 2, 6-13 -- 7, 22-15 -- $18,000

6. Alvin Shaw -- State Road, Nc -- 3, 9-02 -- 5, 13-08 -- 8, 22-10 -- $17,000

7. Darrel Robertson -- Jay, Ok -- 5, 12-05 -- 5, 9-01 -- 10, 21-06 -- $16,000

8. William Davis -- Russellville, Al -- 5, 9-10 -- 3, 7-06 -- 8, 17-00 -- $15,000

9. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, Fl -- 4, 10-12 -- 2, 5-06 -- 6, 16-02 -- $14,000

10. Jeremiah Kindy -- Benton, Ar -- 5, 7-10 -- 3, 5-07 -- 8, 13-01 -- $13,000