Fort Gibson fishes tough at Bassmaster Open
BY KELLY BOSTIAN World Outdoors Writer
Friday, September 07, 2012
9/07/12 at 6:03 AM
Arkansas angler Kevin Short was one of the first to weigh in Thursday at the Bassmaster Central Open, and 131 anglers later, he was still in first place.
His five-fish bag weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces is modest compared to what Fort Gibson is known to produce, but on a day that was "just tough," as several anglers described it, Short's bag held up. His nearest competitor heading into Friday is angler Scott Dean, who is a full pound behind him with 15-11.
"I'm working the fish-my-butt-off pattern," a tight-lipped Short said at the weigh-in. A number of anglers echoed Short's sentiment with only about a third of the field managing to reach the five-fish limit.
The tournament is under way at Fort Gibson Lake with a weigh-in at 2:45 at Taylor Ferry North on Friday. The tournament, which runs through Saturday, features 131 pro anglers or "boaters" and 131 amateurs or "non-boaters" who fish from the backs of the pros' boats.
The contest is one of the last chances for a pro angler to win a slot in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. With the Classic set for Grand Lake in February, the top prize is highly sought by anglers from this region. If Short holds on to his lead, it will mean a Classic berth for the Elite Series pro, who fell short of qualifying for the big show during the regular Elite season.
Oklahoma Elite anglers Terry Butcher of Talala and Jeff Kriet of Ardmore also have a final shot at Gibson after heartbreaking losses in New York two weeks ago. Neither had a good day on Gibson on Thursday, weighing in one fish each.
Elite pro Bradley Hallman of Norman is in good shape in seventh place with a 14-pound, 3-ounce bag, however.
"There is a lot of pressure on the lake," he said. "There are so many boats, you have to work hard at it."
Wagoner Elite pro Tommy Biffle, always a favorite at Fort Gibson, checked in with a modest bag and kept himself in the running. At 10 pounds, 11 ounces, he is in 32nd place, but with so few pounds separating the leaders and a fickle lake in play, the leaderboard could look different by the end of Friday.
Biffle said he had company everywhere he went so he played it cool to keep his best fishing areas a secret.
"I didn't really fish hard until about 11 o'clock," he said. He did say his home lake is fishing hard, too.
"It is tougher than I thought it would be," he said.
Two other anglers high in the standings play into an interesting scenario. Top ranked Bassmaster Angler of the Year Brent Chapman of Lake Quivira, Kan., is in sixth place with 14 pounds, 6 ounces, and Elite pro Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark., is 11th.
McClelland ranked 32nd in Angler of the Year points and fell one slot short of qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic. However, by showing up to fish the second day of the Open on Friday, Chapman will have satisfied win-and-you're-in rules and will have double-qualified for the Classic. That means another angler down the list will get into the Classic, and that's McClelland.
Now that Chapman and McClelland are in position to potentially win at this Open, they could both change the Classic qualification picture and add yet another angler to the list heading to Grand Lake in February for the Bassmaster Classic.
Winner of the tournament will be determined after the top-12 boaters and top-12 non-boaters fish Saturday with a final weigh-in set for Saturday at 3:45 p.m. at Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow.
2012 BPS Bassmaster Central
at Fort Gibson Lake
Day 1
Boaters
Angler, Hometown No. Lbs-oz
1. Kevin Short (Mayflower, Ark.) 5 16-11
2. Scott Dean (Terrell, Texas) 5 15-11
3. Wayne Diffee (Oakhurst) 5 15-5
4. Gerald Brown (Chickasha) 5 14-14
5. Nathan Kawlewski (Elkhorn, Wis.) 5 14-6
6. Brent Chapman (Lake Quivira, Kan.) 5 14-6
7. Bradley Hallman (Norman) 5 14-3
8. James Elam (Tulsa) 5 14-3
9. Jason Christie (Park Hill) 5 14
10. Seth Feider (Bloomington, Minn.) 5 13-15
11. Mike McClelland (Bella Vista, Ark.) 5 13-3
12. Dustin Lester (Huntington Beach, Calif.) 5 13-2
13. Scott Rook (Little Rock, Ark.) 5 12-14
14. Beau Branine (Haysville, Kan.) 5 12-13
15. Brady Winans (Cado Mills, Texas) 5 12-10
16. Gary Klein (Weatherford, Texas) 5 12-9
17. Derek Remitz (Grant, Ala.) 5 12-8
18. Bradley Roy (Lancaster, Ky.) 5 12-7
19. Kelly Power (Cape Fair, Mo.) 5 12-4
20. Carl Jocumsen (Queensland, Australia) 5 12-3
21. James Niggemeyer (Van, Texas) 5 11-15
22. Roy Sanford (Brookeland, Texas) 5 11-14
23. Darold Gleason (Leesville, La.) 5 11-12
24. Cody Sullivan (Dewey, Ill.) 5 11-10
25. Brian Clark (Haltom City, Texas) 5 11-08
26. Joe Gensini (Hennepin, Ill.) 5 11-6
27. Trevor Romans (Plano, Texas) 5 11-4
28. Chip Porche (Bixby) 4 11-1
29. Doug Anderson (Saint Louis, Mo.) 5 10-15
30. Billy McCaghren (Mayflower, Ark.) 4 10-15
31. Tommy Jonovich (Phoenix, Ariz.) 4 10-13
32. Tommy Biffle (Wagoner) 5 10-11
33. Steve Sennikoff (Forney, Texas) 5 10-9
34. Ray Beach (Bixby) 5 10-8
34. Dale Hightower (Sand Springs) 5 10-8
36. Douglas Henzlik (Overland Park, Kan.) 4 10-4
37. Greg Ryan (Nixa, Mo.) 4 10-3
38. Brandon Mosley (Choctaw) 5 10-1
38. Casey Scanlon (Lenexa, Kan.) 5 10-1
40. Doug Vahrenberg (Higginsville, Mo.) 4 10-1
41. Tommy Martin (Hemphill, Texas) 5 9-15
42. Roger Hughes (Bartlesville) 4 9-15
43. Joey Cantrell (Pottsboro, Texas) 5 9-11
43. Rob Werner (Denham Springs, La.) 5 9-11
45. Mark Tucker (Saint Louis, Mo.) 5 9-9
46. Shonn Goodwin (Moore) 5 9-8
47. Brian Snowden (Reeds Spring, Mo.) 5 9-7
48. Dustin Reneau (Mckinney, Texas) 3 9-6
49. Shawn Temple (Lewisville, Texas) 4 9-4
50. Curt Warren (Rose) 3 9-1
Non-boaters
Angler, Hometown No. Lbs-oz
1. Joe Lane (Republic, Mo.) 3 11 2. Matt Crawford (Ardmore) 3 10-8
3. Wallace Hardy (Peoria, Ariz.) 3 9-9
4. Brian Dickirson (Choctaw) 3 8-5
5. Dustin Wrona (Tulsa) 3 8-4
6. Clayton Coppin (Wagoner) 3 7-15
7. Steve Foushee (Murphy, Texas) 3 7-13
8. Rick Parker (Kaufman, Texas) 3 7-8
8. Charles Smith (Long Lane, Mo.) 3 7-08
10. Joshua Burrough (Kansas City, Mo.) 3 7-6
11. Jim Gilbert (Forney, Texas) 3 7-3
12. Terry Duffel (Bentonville, Ark.) 3 7-1
13. Michael Kent Robinson (Carter) 3 6-14
14. Robert Fortner (Conway, Ark.) 3 6-13
14. Nick Muzljakovich (Wagoner) 3 6-13
14. Micah Tindall (Mammonth Spring, Ark.) 3 6-13
17. Ken Gross (Shell Knob, Mo.) 3 6-11
18. Farrell Coppin (Wagoner) 2 6-11
19. John Moore (Claremore) 3 6-07
20. Steven Gloden (Henderson, Texas) 3 6-02
21. William E. Long (Joplin, Mo.) 3 6-01
22. Ryan Heavener (Tulsa) 3 6
23. Mark Jones (Tulsa) 3 6
24. Craig Crim (Victoria, Texas) 2 5-15
25. Larry Crist (Fort Worth, Texas) 3 5-14
26. Scott Bennett (Tulsa) 3 5-11
27. George Baker (Tulsa) 3 5-10
27. Keith Glasby (Ovilla, Texas) 3 5-10
29. Aaron Leon (Henderson, Nev.) 2 5-09
29. Leonard Martinez (Foss) 2 5-9
31. Tim Wilcoxson (Edgewood, Texas) 3 5-8
32. Kenneth Moore (Red Oak, Texas) 2 5-8
33. Ron Chapman (Lake Quivira, Kan.) 2 5-7
34. Clint Long (Lees Summit, Mo.) 2 5-6
34. Garrett Seagraves (Fort Worth, Texas) 2 5-6
36. Mike Hoese ( Crown Point, Ind.) 3 5-5
37. Ryan Gaik (Kansas City, Mo.) 2 5-5
38. Charles Kuehn (Joplin, Mo.) 2 5-2
39. JD Kent (Durant) 3 5
40. Kevin Treece (Fort Smith, Ark.) 3 4-15
41. Charles Heavener (Lakeview, Ark.) 2 4-10
42. Randy Heavin (OKC) 2 4-7
43. Daren Scott (Fort Worth, Texas) 2 4-6
44. Dan Jolly Jr. (Houston) 1 4-4
45. Robert Capps (Muskogee) 2 4-3
46. Gary Whiteley (Catoosa) 2 4-1
47. Harry Selsor (Kiefer) 2 3-15
48. Calvin Balch (Porter, Texas) 2 3-14
49. Mitch Baskett (Yukon) 2 3-12
49. Brian Schram (Saint Clair Shores, Mich.) 2 3-12
51. Mike Perry (Mission, Kan.) 2 3-11
Up next
43rd Bassmaster Classic
At Grand Lake
Feb. 22-24, 2013
Original Print Headline: Fort Gibson fishes tough at Bassmaster Open
Kelly Bostian 918-581-8357
kelly.bostian@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Kevin Short led after the first day of the Bassmaster Central Open after catching five fish weighing a total of 16 pounds, 11 ounces. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
Anglers wait for weigh-in on the first day of the Bassmaster Central Open on Thursday on Fort Gibson Lake. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
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