And the day 1 leader at the FLW Championship on Louisiana's Cross Lake is...nobody. That is, because of the new bracket format, no one person can be leading the tournament.
But you can say about day 1 that the weights were small, few limits were caught, nice slot fish were released, Greg Hackney had the most weight and Group 12 is shaping up to be one of the hottest battles -- and one of the biggest travesties -- of the tournament.
2nd, 3rd and 4th in Bracket 12
The pros' biggest concern about the new bracket format was that people with low weight will move on after two days while people with higher weights will go home. That certainly will happen, and nowhere is that more apparent than when looking at Bracket 12.
Three of the anglers in that bracket -- Alton Jones (5, 12-03) vs. Craig Powers (5, 11-07), and also Pat Fisher (5, 11-04) -- have the second, third and fourth highest weights of the tournament so far. Not only that, 60 percent of the field had weights less than half of Fisher's weight.
But tomorrow Jones or Powers will go home, and after day 3 one of the two remaining anglers in the bracket also will go. Jones said he and Powers "both deserve to continue, assuming we do okay tomorrow. But one of us is going to go to the showers, and some guys who haven't caught anything will be advancing."
"Only one of those (three) guys will advance to the final round, and that's not right," said Jay Yelas, who leads his bracket with 5-10. "It's good for the rest of the field, but from a pure sporting perspective, it's not what you want for a world championship."
The rest of the pros share Yelas' view, but they are stuck with the format -- and then there's the matter of the $260,000 going to the winner. "That's still motivation," Yelas noted.
But They Have A Shot
If there's a silver lining to the predicament of Bracket 12 it's that one of those three anglers has a shot at being 1st or 2nd in total weight after three days, meaning he will fish for the big money.
"With the bracket format, I can't look at Craig or anyone else," Jones said. "The only way you can become the winner of this tournament is to catch (good) weight. In one way our situation is good because Craig and I will put pressure on each other. We both are on fish and we know we need to keep catching fish (to advance).
"There's a good chance one of us will be in that top bracket. And for a lot of guys who might advance, their dreams of being in that top bracket died today because they didn't have much weight. For a handful of guys that dream is still alive."
Jones Knew, Fisher Surprised
Today Jones caught 15 bass: 4 unders, 2 overs, 6 slot fish ("they were beautiful, healthy 2-3 pounders that wouldn't quite measure") and 3 under 12 inches.
"I was expecting to get some bites today," he said. "I very seldom stick many fish during practice so it's hard to say what size fish they were. But I knew I'd get some bites and that it was important to capitalize on them. I never lost a single fish."
While Jones expected his bites, Fisher said "today was a great day. I had more bites today than I did during the 8 days I've been here." Why? "I figured them out today, where they were. I knew what they wanted to bite, but I couldn't find them. They went really shallow on me."
Fisher caught 10 bass: 3 overs, 2 unders, culled 2 and 4 in the slot.
Psychological Effects...
> On the Anglers -- "I threw back some fish in the slot, about 2-2 1/2 pounds," Yelas said. "It was hard. At one time at Lake Eufaula in Alabama they had a 16-inch minimum size. You had to throw back 15-inchers there, but I've never thrown back any fish bigger than that in a tournament. Here you can catch a fish 16 3/4 inches long that weighs 2 1/2 to 3 pounds and you have to throw it back. That's tough to do in a tournament, especially when it's tough. You're out there working and working, you finally get bit and you have to throw it back in."
> On the Fish -- Cross Lake is a small lake that fishes smaller, and has had 48 of the best anglers in the world beating on it for days. With that in mind, Gerald Swindle noted: "The poor fish probably are out there having a beer tonight, we threw at them so much."
Notable
> Not only is there a 14-17 inch slot limit, anglers can only keep four fish over the slot. Today Hackney weighed in 15 pounds 13 ounces -- 5 bass, 4 over the slot.
> Hackney, whose weight was more than triple that of most of the field, actually said that the fishing for him was tougher than it had been in practice. "I feel fortunate because there was a lot of pressure around me," he said.
> Mark Pack's catch of 7-15 was only two fish. Can he find more big ones tomorrow?
> Looks like the "Group of Doom" (Bracket 11) is heading to a Rick Clunn vs. Larry Nixon battle.
> 88 percent of the field weighed in less than 10 pounds.
> One of the weirdest things would have been if two anglers fishing against each other both had zero after two days. Then what? We may never know because it won't happen -- this year.
Weather Forecast
Today was sunny, in the 90s, no clouds, barely any wind. The Weather Channel forecasts a low-pressure system moving in, which might improve the bite.
> Thu, Sep 12 -- Partly Cloudy -- high 93°/low 68°
- Wind: E/NE up to 8 mph
> Fri, Sep 13 -- Partly Cloudy -- 92°/68° - Wind: E/NE up to 9 mph
> Sat, Sep 14 -- Scattered T-Storms -- 91°/71°
Launch/Weigh-In Info
Takeoff is at 7:00 a.m. at the American Legion Boat Ramp in Shreveport. All weigh-ins are at the Wal-Mart store on Pines Road in Shreveport. Anglers will weigh-in Thursday at 3:30 p.m., Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
Day 1 Results By Bracket
Here are the results by bracket. Red means the anglers are within 1 1/2 pounds. Results by weight follow.
Bracket 1
1. Jay Yelas -- 3, 5-10
48. Harmon Davis -- 0, 0-00
24. John Sappington -- 5, 5-05
25. David Fritts -- 1, 1-05
____________________
Bracket 2
47. Marty Stone -- 4, 4-09
2. Kevin VanDam-- 2, 4-07
23. Kevin Vida -- 2, 4-04
26. Jim Tutt -- 2, 2-05
____________________
Bracket 3
46. Takahiro Omori -- 3, 5-08
3. Dean Rojas -- 2, 4-03
27. Chuck Economou -- 5, 5-03
22. Guido Hibdon -- 2, 2-11
____________________
Bracket 4
45. Alvin Shaw -- 5, 4-11
4. Clark Wendlandt -- 3, 4-06
21. Tommy Biffle -- 4, 7-04
28. Tracy Adams -- 3, 6-01
____________________
Bracket 5
5. Sam Newby -- 4, 6-02
44. Scott Martin -- 2, 3-05
29. Wes Thomas -- 3, 3-03
20. Joel Richardson -- 0, 0-00
____________________
Bracket 6
43. Randy Blaukat -- 2, 2-07
6. Mike Wurm -- 2, 2-06
19. Dion Hibdon -- 3, 9-01
30. Keith Williams -- 5, 7-14
____________________
Bracket 7
42. Gerald Swindle -- 3, 5-06
7. David Dudley -- 0, 0-00
18. Chris Baumgardner -- 3, 2-15
31. Roger Crafton -- 0, 0-00
____________________
Bracket 8
41. Mark Pack -- 2, 7-15
8. Bernie Schultz -- 5, 6-06
32. Dale Teaney -- 2, 2-11
17. Gary Klein -- 2, 2-07
____________________
Bracket 9
40. Bill Chapman -- 4, 10-00
9. Andre Moore -- 1, 1-10
16. Aaron Martens -- 5, 5-10
33. Rob Kilby -- 1, 1-04
____________________
Bracket 10
10. Greg Hackney -- 5, 15-13
39. Kim Stricker -- 1, 1-03
34. Brent Chapman -- 5, 10-03
15. Wesley Strader -- 3, 5-13
____________________
Bracket 11 -- "The Group Of Doom"
11. Rick Clunn -- 5, 9-09
38. Paul Elias -- 2, 2-03
35. Larry Nixon -- 5, 5-14
14. Tom Mann Jr. -- 1, 1-06
____________________
Bracket 12
12. Pat Fisher -- 5, 11-04
37. Stanley Mitchell -- 2, 2-00
13. Alton Jones -- 5, 12-03
36. Craig Powers -- 5, 11-07
Day 1 Results By Weight
This is how today's results would look if re-ordered by weight.
1. Greg Hackney -- Bracket 10 -- 5, 15-13
2. Alton Jones -- Bracket 12 -- 5, 12-03
3. Craig Powers -- Bracket 12 -- 5, 11-07
4. Pat Fisher -- Bracket 12 -- 5, 11-04
5. Brent Chapman -- Bracket 10 -- 5, 10-03
6. Bill Chapman -- Bracket 9 -- 4, 10-00
7. Rick Clunn -- Bracket 11 -- 5, 9-09
8. Dion Hibdon -- Bracket 6 -- 3, 9-01
9. Mark Pack -- Bracket 8 -- 2, 7-15
10. Keith Williams -- Bracket 6 -- 5, 7-14
11. Tommy Biffle -- Bracket 4 -- 4, 7-04
12. Bernie Schultz -- Bracket 8 -- 5, 6-06
13. Sam Newby -- Bracket 5 -- 4, 6-02
14. Tracy Adams -- Bracket 4 -- 3, 6-01
15. Larry Nixon -- Bracket 11 -- 5, 5-14
16. Wesley Strader -- Bracket 10 -- 3, 5-13
17. Jay Yelas -- Bracket 1 -- 3, 5-10
17. Aaron Martens -- Bracket 9 -- 5, 5-10
19. Takahiro Omori -- Bracket 3 -- 3, 5-08
20. Gerald Swindle -- Bracket 7 -- 3, 5-06
21. John Sappington -- Bracket 1 -- 5, 5-05
22. Chuck Economou -- Bracket 3 -- 5, 5-03
23. Alvin Shaw -- Bracket 4 -- 5, 4-11
24. Marty Stone -- Bracket 2 -- 4, 4-09
25. Kevin VanDam-- Bracket 2 -- 2, 4-07
26. Clark Wendlandt -- Bracket 4 -- 3, 4-06
27. Kevin Vida -- Bracket 2 -- 2, 4-04
28. Dean Rojas -- Bracket 3 -- 2, 4-03
29. Scott Martin -- Bracket 5 -- 2, 3-05
30. Wes Thomas -- Bracket 5 -- 3, 3-03
31. Chris Baumgardner -- Bracket 7 -- 3, 2-15
32. Dale Teaney -- Bracket 8 -- 2, 2-11
32. Guido Hibdon -- Bracket 3 -- 2, 2-11
34. Randy Blaukat -- Bracket 6 -- 2, 2-07
34. Gary Klein -- Bracket 8 -- 2, 2-07
36. Mike Wurm -- Bracket 6 -- 2, 2-06
37. Jim Tutt -- Bracket 2 -- 2, 2-05
38. Paul Elias -- Bracket 11 -- 2, 2-03
39. Stanley Mitchell -- Bracket 12 -- 2, 2-00
40. Andre Moore -- Bracket 9 -- 1, 1-10
41. Tom Mann Jr. -- Bracket 11 -- 1, 1-06
42. David Fritts -- Bracket 1 -- 1, 1-05
43. Rob Kilby -- Bracket 9 -- 1, 1-04
44. Kim Stricker -- Bracket 10 -- 1, 1-03
45. Harmon Davis -- Bracket 1 -- 0, 0-00
45. Joel Richardson -- Bracket 5 -- 0, 0-00
45. David Dudley -- Bracket 7 -- 0, 0-00
45. Roger Crafton -- Bracket 7 -- 0, 0-00
