CLANTON, Ala. – A day full of sunshine and bluebird skies foiled the best-laid plans for the majority of the field in the inaugural Women’s Bassmaster Tour Championship on Lake Mitchell, but one angler proved to be the exception.
Pam Martin-Wells of Bainbridge, Ga., weighed in a five-fish limit of Coosa River spotted bass of 12 pounds, 6 ounces, for an opening-round advantage of almost three pounds over Tammie Muse of North Little Rock, Ark. The winner of the event will receive $10,000 in cash plus a fully rigged Triton boat with Mercury outboard valued at $50,000.
“I was kind of surprised that all I caught were spotted bass,” Martin-Wells said. “I thought I would have a mixed-species limit. I didn’t stay in any one place too long, but I was fortunate in that I caught fish just about everywhere I went.”
Martin-Wells expects the fishing conditions to change if the current weather pattern of sunshine holds throughout the three-day tournament.
“I think it’s going to take about 35 pounds to win if the fishing stays like it was today,” said Martin-Wells, who was the winner of the WBT preview event. “If the largemouths bite, everything will be different.”
Muse, who is battling a case of pneumonia, said she felt the bout may have helped her to a weight of 9-8.
“My doctor wanted to put me in the hospital, but I told him I couldn’t do that,” Muse said. “I wasn’t about to miss this tournament. We’re making history here. I just don’t have my complete energy back. But that turned out to be a good thing, because the fish wanted it slow.”
Dianna Clark of Bumpus Mills , Tenn., the reigning Toyota WBT Angler of the Year, was in third place with 8-15 after what she considered a difficult day on the water, which started with a fog delay of a little more than an hour.
“The fish I had been catching in practice just shut down,” said Clark. “I just wish the weather hadn’t made such a drastic change from what I call ‘junky’ weather to a bluebird sky.”
Rounding out the top five were Sheri Glasgow of Muskogee, Okla., with 8-1 and Juanita Robinson of Highlands, Texas, with 8-0. Robinson is riding a wave of momentum from winning the season-opening event of the 2007 Mercury Marine Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats. That event was on Lake Amistad two weeks ago.
On the co-angler side, Angie Everett of Livingston, Texas, leads with 4-15, followed by Sharon Rushton of Kimberling City, Mo., at 4-12.
Friday’s weigh-in will be at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in the ESPN Classic Expo presented by Under Armour at 3 p.m. The women will weigh in Saturday on the Bassmaster Classic stage at 3:15 p.m., just before the Bassmaster Classic contenders begin to weigh-in their catches.
Sponsors of the Women's Bassmaster Tour include Mercury Marine, Triton Boats, Lowrance Electronics, MotorGuide, Advance Auto Parts and Plano.
BASS is the worldwide authority on bass fishing, sanctioning more than 20,000 events through the BASS Federation Nation annually. Guided by its mission to serve all fishing fans, BASS sets the standard for credibility, professionalism, sportsmanship and conservation, as it has for nearly 40 years.
BASS sanctions and stages bass fishing tournaments for every skill level and culminates with the Bassmaster Classic. Through its clubs, youth programs, aquatic resource advocacy, magazine publishing and multimedia platforms, BASS offers the industry's widest array of services and support to its nearly 530,000 members. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.
For more information, call BASS Communications at 407-566-2208. To join BASS, visit www.bassmaster.com or call 1-877-BASS-USA.
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