On a day where you’d think the pros would take it easy with respect to pounding their fish, the top three teams at the U.S. Reel Pro-Am either decided to “let it all ride” or they just “happened” on other spots that could possibly help them when competition starts Friday morning. Either way, this year’s Pro-Am smashed last year’s weights and is leaving some anglers wondering if the lake is really as off as most are alluding to.
1st Place – Jordan, Mahfouz and Gulley
First place honors went to the team of Kelly Jordon (pro), Chris Mahfouz (am) and Jay Gulley (am) with a total weight of 18-04. Their impressive bag was anchored by an 8-12 Conroe pig that ended up taking first big-fish honors for Mahfouz on the amateur side.
“We fished a bunch of different stuff today,” Jordon said. “We fished different depths and different spots hoping to find some new water for the next three days. We didn’t pound any area hard at all – we pull up, catch a fish, and then leave.”
“It’s not like we had a big bag overall, though,” he said. “That 8-12 Chris caught went a long way.”
To say the least, Mahfouz was excited about their win and his winning big fish.
“It was an awesome day,” Mahfouz said. “First I got to fish with my two best friends in the world, second we won the event and third I got big fish.”
But Mahfouz’s day didn’t start off all too great.
“Kelly and Jay had a limit in the boat before I even got bit,” he said. “They were laying it on me pretty hard. Then about midway through the day, I got bit and set the hook into a 3 1/2-pounder. That cut me some slack with them but they really quieted down two casts later when I got the big fish.”
Asked how the big fish was caught, Mahfouz said with a smile, “I caught him in the water right in the corner of his mouth. Seriously, I don’t want to say much because Kelly has a lot to lose in this tournament.”
Jordon did end up divulging, later, that his partner caught the fish on a Lake Fork soft plastic bait rigged with a Lake Fork tungsten weight.
Although Gulley didn’t catch the big fish for the team, he did play an instrumental role in their success for the day.
“Jay caught our final fish with only minutes left in the day,” Mahfouz said. “That fish, caught on a TABU jig, allowed us to cull up 10 ounces and gave us the win.”
Jordon said he was given inspiration before they ever stopped by a fellow competitor.
“I knew we had to get on the board and make it count after idling past (Dave) Lefebre,” he said. “As we were gong past him, I saw him swing on what turned out to be a 3-pound fish. He didn’t realize we were there so I honked the horn at him. He turned around, saw us and bent down in the boat so we couldn’t see him or his fish. It was pretty funny since we’d seen the whole thing, but it was then I knew we had to bring it on.”
2nd place – Lane, Williams and Shapley
Second place honors went to the team of Russ Lane (pro), John Williams (am) and Jerry Shapley (am) with a 4-fish bag that weighed 17-12. As with team Jordon, their bag was weighed down with the pro big-fish for the event – a 9-00 Conroe monster that Lane caught.
“After Monday’s practice, I felt pretty confident about what I wanted to fish,” Lane said. “So today and yesterday I decided to try some off-the-wall things. Yesterday didn’t pan out at all, but I wanted to give it a shot again today. Now I don’t know if what I found today is going to hurt me or help me. I’m a bit torn what to do tomorrow.”
He’s a little indifferent about the big event.
“The lake looks a lot similar to how it did last year,” he said. “The deal is the fish aren’t in a fall pattern yet because of the hot weather and they’re deeper than they were last year too.
“Still, it’s going to be a grind,” he added. “Before today I would have said it’d be won by a guy who catches one big fish that elevates his weight and after today, I still feel that way.”
As with all the other competitors, he’s very happy to be here in Conroe.
“I’m having an awesome time here,” he said. “This has turned out to be one on my favorite events of the year and I’m so thankful they put this event on for us.”
3rd place – Snowden, Smith and Smith
The team of Brian Snowden (pro), John Smith (am) and Spencer Smith (am) anchored the top three with a five-fish limit weighing 15-15.
“Today was a ball,” Snowden said. “We had a total of eight keepers today and we fished (almost) all new water. I wanted to use today as another practice day and the way it worked out, I’m happy for me and my amateurs.
He did hit a couple of his tournament spots today but he doesn’t feel that will hurt him come tournament time.
“We fished a couple of spots I’d already found in practice but as soon as we caught a fish off of them, we left. In fact, that was how we fished all day – catch a fish off of one spot and we’d leave.”
He’s of the thought that the better fish will be caught on off-shore structure.
“All my water is off-shore, which can be good in some instances, but at this lake it can bite you,” he said. “Last year I had an area that produced 15 pounds one day and then the next, it was dead. This lake is all about timing and if you hit a spot at the right time, you can do well. If you don’t, you can come up empty.”
He too sings praises of the event.
After the (Bassmaster) Classic, this is the best event of the year,” he said. “They put a lot into the entire week and I’m just happy to be able to be a part of it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment