BFL All-American
Berlo Leads Tight Day 1

Photo: FLWOutdoors.com Northern Virginia's Shayne Berlo only leads by 3 ounces in what will be a low-weight tournament.

Virginia's Shayne Berlo had a better-than-average limit, and his 12-01 was enough to put him at the top of the standings. But he's only 3 ounces ahead of New Jersey's Mark Schafer, who brought in a limit of 11-14.

FLW Tour pro Dave Lefebre had 11-02 for 3rd place, North Carolina's David Wright is 4th with 10-10 and South Carolina's Donald Hinson is in 5th with 10-09. A third of Hinson's weight was his 3-09 kicker that was the big fish of the day. Missouri's Wes Endicott is in the 10th place cut spot with 5 at 9-06.

Berlo Saved Some

Sustained winds of around 15 mph blew all day, and some contenders thought that might have helped those who weren't taking advantage of spawning bass. It might have helped Berlo, who "was just pitching and flipping. All (his) fish were caught in water about 3 to 6 feet deep," he noted.

He said he got the bites he was looking for today, and is confident about being able to catch another good bag tomorrow. Even though he had the big weight today, he "was able to save some spots for tomorrow," he said.

Schafer Confident and Excited

Schafer is catching his fish off deep docks using worms and jigs, but is "doing something nobody else is doing" to get them to bite. "Nobody is actually fishing around where I am," he said. "It's a 1/8- to 1/4-mile-long stretch that everybody drives by, but doesn't stop to fish. I hooked two good fish in practice yesterday and shook off more, so that was enough to get me to start there today."

He caught around 15 keepers, but most were just 12-13 inches and didn't help. "I lost one about 2 pounds and missed one that I saw that was big, about 4-5 pounds," he said. "She'll be there tomorrow."

He's happy about being in a position to make the cut, and thinks it will take 19 pounds to make the Top 10. On tomorrow, he said: "I'm positive I can catch a limit, but I don't know how big. It's fishing – you never know for sure. But I've got an area with a lot of fish in it. I'm just fishing down one side and up the other, fishing both banks."

> In the morning his bigger fish came from one side of the area, while in the afternoon they flip-flopped to the other side. "I have no idea why," he said.

> Schafer's co-angler, local Scott Boatright, is leading the backseaters with a limit at 10-06.

Lefebre Sight-Fishing

Even though he's a tour pro, Lefebre isn't taking this event lightly. He said he has a lot of respect for his competition in this event, and noted that several anglers he knows personally are good fishermen. But as in any event he enters, he's fishing to win, and in this case he's sight-fishing for spawning bass.

"They're about as spooky as they can get," he said. "I missed several good ones (because) they're not taking the bait well. You have to blind-cast to the bed. I'll go up to look and be sure he's there before I waste time fishing the bed, but all I see is his tail as he leaves. Then I'll pull out and cast from a distance. I can't see the bed at all."

A bunch of boats are in the same area he's fishing, but he didn't see anybody else sight-fishing there. "There's no pressure on my fish," he noted, "and a lot are in there. The problem is, besides them being so spooky, that the days are a little short for sight-fishing. We go out at 7:30 and come in at 2:30. The sun doesn't really get right until around 11:30 or noon, when it clears the trees."

He thinks it will take around 18 pounds to make the cut. "I would have said 22-23 yesterday, due to all the big fish that are shallow, but they turned out to be very hard to catch," he added.

> Lefebre is the only active tour pro fishing this event, but several former participants in tour-level events are among the 43 contestants.

Endicott Flipping

Endicott, in 10th, caught his 9-06 limit flipping a homemade 5/16-ounce jig in two primary areas, and caught 15 keepers today doing that. "I'm catching a lot of small fish," he said. "I just needed a 2 1/2-pound kicker. I had one that was kind of roaming around in there today that I didn't catch. He'd look at the lure, but I never got him to bite. He'll be there tomorrow."

Back in February he made the 5-hour drive from Missouri for a scouting trip. The lake was 10 feet low, and he found a main-lake point next to a creek channel that had brush on top. It was dry, and he took pictures and marked his map. "I caught 4 fish on that point today," he noted. "I think tomorrow I might start there with a mojo rig and light line. We missed several fish on a jig
there today."

He's confident he can catch a limit tomorrow, and thinks he'll need 17-18 pounds total to stay in the Top 10.

Notable

> This year 43 contestants are fishing the All-American instead of 42. Normally six anglers and a wild card from six regionals (7 x 6 = 42) would be fishing. But at last year's wild card, a Top 6 finisher (we don't know who yet) was inadvertently disqualified for being late. FLW Outdoors re-checked their records and found they had made a mistake, so they decided to add the angler (and one more co-angler) back into the All American field.

> Day 1 stats – 43 anglers, 25 limits, seven 4s, seven 3s, three 2s and a 1. No zeroes.

> Unlike other FLW Outdoors events where anglers start from zero when the cut is made, the Top 10 anglers that fish on Saturday will carry their weight over from the first 2 days.

> The last two times the All-American was held on Lake Hamilton (2000-2001), North Carolina's Jeff Coble (not fishing this event) won them both – the only back-to-back winner and just the second to win twice.

> This is the 20th anniversary of the $100,000 prize for the All-American. The first year the tournament was held, in 1983, it was $50,000.

> Some of the Bassmaster Elite 50 anglers who are fishing Dardanelle, about 90 minutes from Hamilton, got their start fishing the BFLs, then called the Red Man trail. Shaw Grigsby won the first $100,000 prize in 1984, Rick Clunn won it in 1985 and O. T. Fears won in 1987.

> Kim Carver of Georgia is fishing his fourth All-American. He won it in 1998 and was 2nd in 1997. He's trying to become the third angler to be a two-time All-American champion – but today he's in 42nd place. He also fished the FLW Tour over 1999-2001.

Day 1 Standings

1. Shayne Berlo -- Vienna, Va -- 5, 12-01
2. Mark Schafer -- Williamstown, Nj -- 5, 11-14
3. Dave Lefebre -- Union City, Pa -- 5, 11-02
4. David Wright -- Lexington, Nc -- 5, 10-10
5. Donald Hinson -- Lugoff, Sc -- 5, 10-09
6. Tony Wilson -- Barbourville, Ky -- 5, 10-06
7. Mike Cooper -- Branson, Mo -- 5, 10-01
8. John Devere -- Berea, Ky -- 5, 9-15
9. Charles Cummings -- Leeds, Al -- 5, 9-07
10. Wes Endicott -- Joplin, Mo -- 5, 9-06
11. Allen Hayes -- Moody, Al -- 5, 9-05
12. Shane Allman -- Sam Rayburn, Tx -- 5, 9-02
13. David Gnewikow -- Antioch, Tn -- 5, 9-01
14. Kevin Chandler -- New London, Nc -- 4, 8-15
15. Tim Johnson -- Dallas, Ga -- 5, 8-12
16. Todd Pearson -- Anderson, Sc -- 5, 7-15
17. Dennis Berhorst -- Holts Summit, Mo -- 5, 7-13
18. Roger Fitzpatrick -- Eldon, Mo -- 5, 7-12
19. Eric Ambort -- Mabelvale, Ar -- 5, 7-10
20. Phil Hennigan -- Center, Tx -- 3, 7-00
21. Miles Johnson -- Beavercreek, Oh -- 5, 6-15
22. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, Fl -- 5, 6-13
23. Adam Wagner -- Cookeville, Tn -- 4, 6-04
24. Kevin Short -- Mayflower, Ar -- 5, 6-00
25. David Williams -- Maiden, Nc -- 4, 5-15
26. Billy Thompson -- Cordele, Ga -- 5, 5-13
27. Robert Walser -- Lexington, Nc -- 5, 5-08
28. Ray Tweedy -- Appomattox, Va -- 3, 5-07
29. Darryl Stewart -- Slocomb, Al -- 4, 5-03
30. Ronnie Webb -- Dewy Rose, Ga -- 5, 5-00
31. Shan Schoenrock -- Carrollton, Al -- 4, 4-15
32. Mark Jordan -- Kevil, Ky -- 5, 4-13
33. Joel Barber -- Brandon, Ms -- 4, 4-08
34. Larry Pearson -- Cramerton, Nc -- 3, 4-04
35. Butch Dobransky -- Canton, Oh -- 4, 3-14
36. Sammy Creech -- Kenly, Nc -- 3, 3-09
37. Robert Dodson -- Harrison, Ar -- 2, 3-06
38. William Frisk -- Holmen, Wi -- 2, 3-02
39. Paul Rossi -- Gonzales, La -- 3, 3-00
40. Robert Burdekin -- Fayetteville, Ga -- 3, 2-14
41. Gary Becker -- Saint Marys, Oh -- 3, 2-11
42. Kim Carver -- Milledgeville, Ga -- 2, 2-09
43. Mark Svendsen -- Doraville, Ga -- 1, 1-07