PADUCAH, Ky. - Federation anglers fishing the CITGO BASS Federation Southern Divisional presented by Busch Beer had a tougher time launching their boats than catching fish Wednesday. The first of three rounds of competition saw the Tennessee, Ohio and Cumberland Rivers near flood stage, but anglers managed to find fish despite the muddy, fast-moving waters.
Alabama's John Welborn jumped out to the early lead, bringing in 16 pounds, 1 ounce of bass to lead both his team and the overall standings, but said credit was due to his partner. Anglers from each of the seven state teams fish with a different partner from a competing state each day.
"I had a good partner today. He put me on them," Welborn said. "I got big bites today. I was just hoping to catch 8 or 10 pounds and I didn't catch a fish until 10:30. From 10:30 to 11:30 I caught five. I was fishing deep with a Carolina rig."
The anglers fishing the BASS Federation Southern Divisional are competing for a $23,000 top prize that will go to the winning state federation. The top angler from each of the seven states making up the Southern Division will advance to the world championship of amateur bass fishing, next spring's CITGO BASS Federation Championship presented by Busch beer. From there, the top angler from each of the five geographic BASS divisions will advance to the crown jewel of bass fishing, the CITGO Bassmaster Classic presented by Busch Beer.
That chance is something that Kentucky's team leader, Kaoru O'Bryan, is chasing up and down river.
"Bass fishing is about making the right decisions," O'Bryan said. "I had a great partner. We had our limit by eight o'clock and I'll tell you, we were bored the rest of the day. We tried to find different areas and different things, but what's bad about this place is that the three bodies of water are so far apart that it so hard to go all the way up to Cumberland and then make the run all the way down ... so you have to dedicate your whole time to one area.
"I'm just thinking about helping our team and trying to make sure I get five good bites each day and what happens at the end is what happens at the end. I just need to help our team and catch 5 or 10 pounds each day."
The big bass of the day was brought in by North Carolina's Charles Davis. If his 5-11 bass holds out to be the biggest in competition, Davis will receive $1,000 from Purolator for the Purolator Big Bass of the Tournament.
Day two of the Southern Divisional will take place Thursday at J.R.'s Executive Inn in Paducah, Ky. Launch is at 6:15 a.m., with the weigh-in beginning at 2:45 p.m.
BASS is the world's largest fishing organization, sanctioning more than 20,000 tournaments worldwide through its Federation. The CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail is the oldest and most prestigious pro bass-fishing tournament circuit and continues to set the standard for credibility, professionalism and sportsmanship as it has since 1968.
BASS Federation Sponsors Include CITGO Petroleum Corp., Busch Beer, Purolator, Triton Boats, Skeeter Boats, Mercury Marine, Yamaha Outboards, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Lowrance Electronics, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, MotorGuide, Bass Pro Shops, Evan Williams and BankOne.
Associate Sponsors include G3 Boats.
Local Sponsors include J.R.'s Executive Inn and the Kentucky BASS Federation.
For more information, contact BASS Communications at (334) 551-2375 or visit www.bassmaster.com.
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