Tubes And Bent Props Propelled Namiki To Top

Toshinari Namiki scored his first tour-level win Saturday at the Ouachita River FLW event. This is his third year on the FLW Tour, and his only other Top 10 FLW finish was earlier this year at the Lake Okeechobee FLW. Okeechobee's a natural lake, but the Ouachita is a river – and a changing one at that. The entire tournament – from practice through the final day – tested his ability to adjust.

The water had been several feet high a week before the tournament, which flooded the woods for miles. As practice wound down, the water fell rapidly. The falling water drove strong currents in the main river, and strong currents that poured out of the woods into the bayous too.

Competitors were allowed to lock out of the Monroe pool (where anglers launched) and over half the field – including Namiki – elected to lock upstream into the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas.

That pool stabilized first, and current was back to normal flows by the start of the Top 10 rounds on Friday. And by that time the effects of two cold fronts – one in practice and another on the first tournament day – began to wear off. The sun warmed the water, the mud cleared out and all seemed well.

But another factor came into play for the Top 10 contenders, and it came in the form of wind. Friday produced 20 to 30 mph winds, which made the light bites all but undetectable. The wind slowed some on the final day, but was still a factor as it continued to bow lines and roil up shallow fishing areas. Several competitors, including Namiki, had to change water.

Overall, the bite was best on the first day of the tournament, but slowed as the competition wore on – a common occurrence in multiple-day contests. He adjusted and caught just enough to overcome a steady performance from 2nd-place finisher Matt Herren. Namiki nipped Herren by 3-02.

Here's how he did it.

From Blades to Tubes

> Day 1: 5, 13-04 (21st)
> Day 2: 4, 13-02 (9, 26-06, 10th)
> Day 3: 5, 20-07 (1st)
> Day 4: 3, 10-07 (8, 30-14, 1st)

Namiki, who speaks limited English, said the areas he fished were shallow-water spawning flats in the Felsenthal Pool. He fished cypress trees and buckbrush, and made so many casts in the tournament that his arm was sore.

"In practice I caught more fish on spinnerbaits and jigs," he said. "It got tougher in the tournament, so I used the tube. Conditions changed every day.

"Probably 90 percent of my fish came on the tube, but I also caught some on a spinnerbait. It was very difficult (fishing) because there were so many stumps."

Another competitor had mentioned that he felt "like a pinball" bouncing off stumps as he made his way to, from, and through his fishing area. It was the same for Namiki. "I had to replace my prop every day – thank you Yamaha," he said. "It ran strong even with a bent prop. Because of them (Yamaha) it was no problem."

He found that almost all his bites came on the initial fall of the tube, so he sped up his coverage of his area. There was no point taking the time to soak or shake a lure in place once it hit the bottom. He used a generic-brand black tube and chose a dark color due to the dirty water color.

The key fish of his tournament was the 7-pounder he caught on Friday, which anchored his 20-07 sack. Unofficially, it was the largest caught in the tournament. (Editor's note: FLW Outdoors does not award a big-fish prize on the final 2 days of competition.)

Gear Notes

> Tube Gear: Team Daiwa rod, Team Daiwa reel, 58-pound Sunline braided line, 4/0 Fina hook, 5/16-ounce weight, generic black tubebait.

Notable

> Main factor in his success – "I found a good stretch that held good fish, and I kept moving. I didn't fish slow, since most of the fish hit it on the fall."

> Not only did Namiki make the cut, but one of his bass did too – it sliced his hand with its fin as he removed it from his livewell on Saturday.

> The win pushed Namiki to 7th in the FLW points. He fished the FLW Tour Championship in 2003 (32nd) but missed it last year when he ended 94th in the points.

> The FLW Tour's next event (Beaver Lake) is a month away and he left yesterday for his home in Japan.

> He fished BASS events prior to joining the FLW Tour. His first BASS event was the 1995 New York Invitational (St. Lawrence River). He also fished the Top 100s in 1996 and later, the Top 150s. His best BASS tour-level finish was 10th at the 1996 Maryland Top 100 (Potomac). He fished the Bassmaster Classic in 1997 (34th).