CORNELIUS, N.C. — Jason Quinn, the Bassmaster Tour pro and sometime Lake Norman fishing guide from Clover, S.C., brought a 5-fish limit weighing 9 pounds, 10 ounces to the scales Saturday, giving him a 3-day total of 38-11. It was good enough to keep him in the lead after three days of the $618,000 CITGO Bassmaster Tour stop at Norman.
"I've been fishing a lot of water these last three days," said Quinn. "I've been running some of the same water each day to catch my limit, and then I run to new spots. There are still quite a few spots that I haven't been to yet. The lake and weather has changed drastically each day, and I've had to adjust to the conditions."
Quinn is running and gunning, staying in a location no more than two minutes at a time to catch both spotted and largemouth bass. He's catching most of his fish on a Brian's Little Bee crankbait, a Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap and a homemade jig.
"In the mornings, I've stayed closer to shore, fishing clay points, but in the afternoon the fish head to the boat docks."
Japanese pro Kotaro Kiriyama currently sits in second place with a 3-day total of 37-6 after bringing 9-10 to the scales on Saturday. Kiriyama caught his limit pitching and flipping jigs and casting crankbaits and jerkbaits in 3 to 8 feet of water.
"I struggled for five fish today," said a frustrated Kiriyama. "I fished for big fish and saw a dock with five 4-pounders, but I couldn't get any of them. I'll be back to get them tomorrow!"
Edwin Evers jumped from 10th to third in the race to make the cut for Sunday's final round by bringing 12 pounds, 15 ounces to the scales. Evers' catch was the best of the day, earning him the Busch Heavyweight $1,000 bonus. His best fish, a 3-pound, 5-ounce bass, garnered him Purolator Big Bass honors for the day and an additional $1,000.
"I'm just fishing and covering a tremendous amount of water," said Evers. "Right now, I'm throwing a green-pumpkin worm, discovering new water and sticking to pockets and points on the lake."
Greg Hackney, the 2004 Toyota Rookie of the Year, moved up from 11th to fourth place with a catch of 10-08 on Saturday and a three-day total of 33-8. Four-time Classic champion and Greatest Angler Debate semi-finalist Rick Clunn holds down fifth place with 33-3.
The final spot in Sunday's Super Six came down to a tiebreaker after two California pros, Ishama Monroe and Greg Gutierrez ended Day Three tied with 31-10. Since Monroe weighed in a five-bass limit each day and Gutierrez had only 14 bass over the three days, Monroe took the last spot going into Sunday's finals.
In the non-boater division, Jim Short of Maryland took home the top prize with a total shared weight of 49-13. Short won a fully-rigged Triton boat with Mercury OptiMax motor and Lowrance electronics package worth $38,000. In addition, CITGO presented Short with a year's supply of CITGO gasoline. Short picked up an additional $500 bonus for winning the Purolator Big Bass on the non-boater side on Saturday with a five-pound, six-ounce largemouth.
In the CastingKids competition, Alex Moore from Granite Falls, N.C., won the 7-10 year old division with 130 points. Chucky Culley of Hiddnite, N.C., the defending 2004 CastingKids national champion, took top honors in the 11-14 age division with 130 points.
"I was excited and nervous because I was competing against my sister," explained Culley. "Because I won last year, everyone was out to beat me. I'm excited to be going to the state competition."
The final weigh-in begins at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, 2005, with first place taking home a $100,000 top prize.
The CITGO Bassmaster Tour event on Lake Norman will be telecast on The CITGO Bassmasters on Saturday, March 26 at 10:00 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
Sponsors of the CITGO Bassmaster Tour include CITGO Petroleum Corp., Toyota, Busch Beer, Purolator, Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Berkley, Lowrance Electronics, MotorGuide, Bass Pro Shops and Cialis (tadalafil).
Local Sponsors include the Lake Norman Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Advertising