It was a given that the majority of the field would catch a limit each day at the Norman FLW Tour, and there wasn't much of a weight differential that separated anglers who had a good tournament from those who fared just so-so – or even rather poorly.
A 2-pound average per fish over the first 2 days was worthy of a
paycheck. A 2 1/2-pound average resulted in a chance to fish the final 2 days for the top prize.
One oversized bite a day could put a big charge into an otherwise ordinary bag. Then again, several that were just slightly better than the norm served the same purpose.
The anglers who got those types of bites usually had something working in their favor – they found quality fish that others had overlooked, threw a different bait, or discovered a pattern that held up in various places around the lake. In the case of one Top-5 finisher, local knowledge was critical.
2nd: Jay Yelas
> Day 1: 5, 14-02
> Day 2: 5, 10-12 (10, 24-14)
> Day 3: 4, 7-01
> Day 4: 5, 16-06 (9, 23-07)
Texas veteran Jay Yelas relied on a 6-inch Basstrix swimbait throughout the tournament. He didn't get a lot of bites, but his average weigh-in fish exceeded the all-important 2 1/2-pound standard.
"I was rigging it weedless and skipping it under docks and around houseboats," he said. "Everything I weighed in came off of the docks.
"I don't think the fish had seen that particular bait before, and that was also a big factor."
His last-day stringer was the best of the tournament and the only one that topped 16 pounds. If not for a lackluster day 3 (when he weighed just four fish), he might've outdueled winner Larry Nixon, or certainly gotten a lot closer than the 3 1/2-pound final margin.
> Swimbait gear: 6'6" heavy-action Team Daiwa worm and jig rod, Team Daiwa Fuego casting reel, 17-pound Berkley Trilene XT line, unnamed 6/0 hook with 1/16-ounce weight strip on shank, 5- or 6-inch Basstrix swimbait (threadfin shad).
> A Berkley Frenzy Popper, a spinnerbait and a Berkley Power Worm produced one weigh-in fish each.
> A day before the tournament, he received 90 Basstrix swimbaits via overnight mail from Oroville, Calif. "I really owe a lot to Chuck Rice at Oroville Outdoors. Just the shipping (cost) for that was about $90."
Main factor in his success – "Just sticking with the swimbait. It's a big-fish lure and most of the time it'll produce a better grade of fish."
Performance edge – "My reel. Sometimes I had to skip that bait 20 feet, and you need a reel that'll allow you to do that (without backlashing). I could get it probably 5 feet farther back than I could with a normal baitcaster."
Vic Vatalaro fished the same general area as winner Larry Nixon.
3rd: Vic Vatalaro
> Day 1: 5, 13-04
> Day 2: 5, 12-14 (10, 26-02)
> Day 3: 5, 10-13
> Day 4: 5, 12-03 (10, 23-00)
Ohio's Vic Vatalaro achieved his first FLW Tour Top 10 by fishing in the same general area as Nixon (a stretch of pockets located above the Highway 150 bridge). He caught his fish on a Zoom Super Fluke and a jig.
"I think I was catching a mixture of pre- and post-spawn fish," he said. "They were either on their way up or their way down, and I think the post-spawners were staging before going into their full-on summer pattern.
He was baffled as to why he couldn't stay within 2 pounds of Nixon on the final day, but then he spoke with the Arkansas legend at the launch prior to weigh-in.
"He told me that with the north wind, the only way to catch those fish was to stay 50 feet off the bank and make really long casts. I'd been power-fishing a jig and only throwing it as far as I could flip it.
"I told him that was something I'd never forget."
> Fluke gear: 6'6" medium-heavy G. Loomis SJR 783 rod, Daiwa Steez 2500 spinning reel, 8-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 3/0 Gamakatsu round-bend, offset-shank worm hook weighted with two Storm Suspend Strips, Zoom Super Fluke (white).
> The main purpose of the Suspend Strips was to make the bait fall more horizontally. "It went in flat, and I worked it fast and deep."
> Jig gear: 7' heavy-action G. Loomis MBR 844 rod, Shimano Chronarch SuperFree casting reel, 14-pound Gamma Edge, 1/2-ounce homemade banana-head jig (green-pumpkin), 6-inch Mizmo Lizard trailer (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Purposely staying away from bed-fish and just going fishing in key areas. I knew I could get a heavier bag for five fish on non-spawners."
Performance edge – "The Gamma line. I won a Stren on it and the more I use it, the more impressed I am with it. I'm getting more bites and landing more fish."
Local ace Hank Cherry didn't need much practice time to formulate his strategy.
4th: Hank Cherry
> Day 1: 5, 13-13
> Day 2: 5, 13-00 (10, 26-13)
> Day 3: 4, 6-12
> Day 4: 5, 15-11 (9, 22-07)
Rookie Hank Cherry lives in nearby Maiden, N.C. and fishes more than 100 tournaments a year on Norman. He had no trouble enticing fish on jigs and swimbaits during an abbreviated practice period.
"I practiced with a Japanese guy for about 3 half-days," he said. "We probably shook off 140 fish during that time."
He fished a lot of different pockets, but focused his efforts on the three docks in each that were closest to the main lake.
"I was looking for shad, and I'd try to get the (bass) to follow my bait by swimming a jig. Then after I'd found them, I'd slow down and fish the spot thoroughly."
> Jig gear: 7' medium-heavy All Star titanium rod, Pflueger Supreme casting reel, 20-pound P-Line Fluoroclear line, 1/2-ounce JymSu jig (white or brown), JymSu chunk trailer (white or green-pumpkin).
> Swimbait gear: Same rod, reel and line, Deps Silent Killer swimbait (crystal trout).
Main factor in his success – "Just knowing how the post-spawn fish relate to the pier floats. Those are usually what I key on this time of year."
Performance edge – "The line – it's just incredibly strong. I was dragging it over rails and ropes and all kinds of stuff."
Scott Suggs got onto a good pattern on his first practice day.
5th: Scott Suggs
> Day 1: 5, 11-06
> Day 2: 5, 13-13 (10, 25-03)
> Day 3: 5, 11-04
> Day 4: 5, 9-00 (10, 20-04)
Arkansas' Scott Suggs got onto a pattern during his initial practice day that held up throughout the tournament.
"My first day here I caught a good stringer off certain stumps and docks," he said. "So I went and checked on a map to see what might be different about them, and I noticed they were all in these V-shaped drains running right up to the docks.
"I don't know why (the drains) were there, but they broke up the contour of the rest of the lake. It was underwater structure that couldn't be seen from the surface."
He caught his fish on a shakey-head worm from between the legs of the Vs.
"If I got outside of those lines, I couldn't get bit."
> Shakey-head gear: 6'10" medium-heavy Shimano Crucial rod, Shimano Sustain spinning reel, 8-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/4-ounce hand-poured jighead with Mustad hook, 7" Mister Twister worm (green-pumpkin).
Main factor in his success – "Finding those stumps inside the contours."
Performance edge – "My Solar Bat sunglasses were probably my biggest advantage. There was a lot of red clay and the water was churned up, so it wasn't easy to see those stumps."
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