Difficult to catch on first day of Central Open

BELLE RIVER — Water, water everywhere and fish were hard to catch — except for Mark Smith and a handful of other anglers gathered at the Belle River Public Launch for Thursday’s first round of the Bassmaster Central Open.

Smith made the trek into south Louisiana’s water from West Monroe and brought in the five-bass limit weighing a healthy 14 pounds, 6 ounces for a lead over Texas’ James Biggs (13-11).

David Cooper, who spent the day with Gonzales angler Wade Leblanc, holds the Co-Angler Division lead at 13-5. Cooper is from Vidalia and is more than a pound up on second-place Matt Guerin (11-8) from Zachary.

As is the case with most multi-day tournaments, mum’s the word on fishing locations, lure choice and presentation.
That tight-lipped approach was more in evidence Thursday when anglers faced the high and still-rising water — most of it extraordinarily muddy for mid-fall south Louisiana tournaments — in the Atchafalaya Spillway and nearby waters.

It didn’t faze Smith who said, muddy, rising water is “…all we’ve got up there (north Louisiana)…this type of fishing suits me to a T.”

It was natural that Smith sealed his lips on location, but admitted to pitching baits around flooded cypresses in shallow water. He said he culled three “keeper” fish to get to his best five of the day. The state’s minimum bass size is 14 inches in this area.

All Cooper and Leblanc said was they worked a small stretch of bank “…slow, painfully slow all day.”

For Smith and Cooper, the fight to stay stop the leaderboard continues today. Weigh-in begins at 2:20 p.m. at the launch south of Pierre Part.

The story inside the story this week is that this third 2009 Central Open event will decide the last two berths for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic.

Pierre Part’s Cliff Crochet is in sixth place in the open’s overall standings and said he needed a solid performance and help from the standings leaders to make the Classic. He brought in five bass weighing 9-11 Thursday. That’s good enough for 19th place.

Standings leader Todd Castledine (570 points) was in 54th place (5 pounds, 2 ounces). Second-place James Niggemeyer (569 points) was 43rd after the first day, but has already qualified for the Classic though the Bassmaster Elite Series.

Stephen Johnson (560 points), third in the standings, is 67th after the first day, while Jerrel Pringle (546 points) is 76th.

Touring pro Todd Faircloth holds the fifth spot, but is not in the field after qualifying for the Classic on the Elite side.

Crochet has 503 points and is ahead of Chris McCall (501), Bradley Hallman (497), Kris Wilson (495), Gary Key (483) and nine-time Classic qualifier Edwin Evers (481), who needs one of the top two spots to keep his Classic appearance streak intact. Evers leads that pack: He’s in 10th place (10-14). Wilson isn’t in the field.

“Today (Thursday) started as a make-it-or-break-it day and tomorrow is the same,” Crochet said. “I’ve got nothing to lose. I have to have a good day.”

Crochet said he caught 10 first-day fish and explained that it was an area with “…decent water. Where I am is more about the area, than it is a pattern (of catching fish). There’s not good water, but its better than other areas I’ve found.”

When it came to areas, Biggs said he hit is his best place after a 140-mile run.

“I’ve got four good spots there and I fished only two,” Biggs said. “Each place has good bass.”
After today’s weigh-in, only the top 30 in the Boater and Co-Angler divisions will move to Saturday’s final day. The field is launching at 6:15 a.m.

CENTRAL OPEN RESULTS

BELLE RIVER — Thursday’s first-day top 30 from the Bassmaster Central Open in Boater and Co-Angler division with fisherman, their hometowns, number of bass weighed in parentheses (five-bass daily limit) and total weight in pounds and ounces, and first-day big-bass leaders in both divisions:

BOATER: 1, Mark Smith, West Monroe (5) 14-6. 2, James Biggs, Bedford, Texas (5) 13-11. 3, Duane Pittman, Prairieville (5) 13-1. 4, Gary Klein, Weatherford, Texas (5) 12-5. 5, Kyle Fox, Lakeland, Fla. (5) 11-14. 6, Steve Gulloto, Plaquemine (5) 11-12. 7, Takahiro Omori, Emory, Texas (5) 11-11. 8, Wade Leblanc, Gonzales (4) 11-3. 9, Dennis Tietje, Roanoke (5) 11-0.

10, Edwin Evers, Mannsville, Okla. (5) 10-14.

11, (tie) Billy Billeaud, Lafayette (5) & Sam Swett, Covington (5) 10-12. 13, Sandy Gaudet, Belle Rose (3) 10-5. 14, (tie) Keith Caka, Huntsville, Texas (5) & Dale Jackson, Van, Texas (5) 10-4. 16, Cliff Pace, Petal, Miss. (5) 10-2. 17, Avery Usand, LaPlace (5) 10-1. 18, Lee Sisson, Winter Haven, Fla. (3) 9-12. 19, Cliff Crochet, Pierre Part (5) 9-11 5. 20, Chris McCall, Jasper, Texas (5) 9-9.

21, Paul Ferguson, Whitehouse, Texas (5) 9-8. 22, David Gillham, Heath, Texas (3) 9-3. 23, Danny Smith, Monterrey (5) 9-1. 24, O.T. Fears, Sallisaw, Okla. (5) 9-0. 25, (tie ) Homer Humphreys Jr., Minden (5) & Mike McClelland, Belle Vista, Ark. (5) 8-15. 27, Dustin Evans, Eads, Tenn. (4) 8-8. 28, Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla. (4) 8-7. 29, Charles Bebber, Willis, Texas (5) 8-3. 30, J. Todd Tucker, Moultrie, Ga. (5) 8-2.

BIG BASS: Sandy Gaudet, 5-15.

CO-ANGLER: 1, David Cooper, Vidalia (5) 13-5. 2, Matt Guerin, Zachary (5) 11-8. 3, Sammy Strong, Orange, Texas (5) 10-6. 4, Dustin Wood, Keithville (4) 9-3. 5, Brent Cutrer, Natchez, Miss. (5) 8-15. 6, Jeff Wade, Cabot, Ark. (4) 8-12. 7, Gerald Rome, Donaldsonville (3) 8-8. 8, Bill McCarty, Morgan City (3) 7-0. 9, Tom Haynes, Tulsa, Okla. (3) 6-13. 10, Will Major, Port Allen (3) 6-0.

11, Takuji Naruo, Moriyama, Japan (1) 5-11. 12, Claude Rabb, Vidalia (3) 5-7. 13, William Watts, Beaumont, Texas (3) 5-2. 14, Charles Poland, Denham Springs (3) 4-15. 15, (tie) Charles Major, Morganza (3); Zack Keathley, Kerens, Texas (3); Charles Briley, Lafayette (2) & Gary Fields, New Orleans (2) 4-14. 19, (tie) Robbie Latuso, Gonzales (2) & Rodney Teel, Ponchatoula (2) 4-10.

21, Josh Stewart, Albany (2) 4-3. 22, Richard Earle, Youngsville (2) 4-0. 23, Daniel Curtis, Lafayette (2) 3-15. 24, Terry Blackmon, Covington (2) 3-14. 25, (tie) Joby Hogan, Des Allemands (2) & Nathan Bourque, Humble, Texas (2) 3-9. 27, Michael Bates, Katy, Texas (2) 3-6. 28, Randy Pitre, Natchez, Miss. (2) 3-5. 29, Bobby Lanham, Cave Creek, Ariz. (2) 3-3.

30, Durrelle Verrette, Houma (2) 3-2.

BIG BASS: Takuji Naruo, 5-11.