Clifford Pirch with his 6.49 Big Fish of Day One
- photo by Dan O'Sullivan
Las Vegas, Nev. - September 8, 2014 - The King of Lake Mead is at it again.
Clifford Pirch, a two-time U.S. Open champion and multiple time top five
finisher in the event has once again astounded the followers of the most
prestigious bass fishing event in the Western United States.
On a day ruled by changing weather conditions that saw high temperatures well
below last week's 109 degree heats, Pirch managed to utilize his skills as an
angler and his knowledge of the lake to scramble and find the kind of fish that
leaves fans and competitors shaking their heads.
Pirch and his AAA partner Ronald Slack Jr. brought a 15.47-pound limit of bass
to the scales that included Pirch's 6.49-pound
largemouth; which was the big fish of the day. The performance put Pirch in the
driver's seat to claim his third U.S. Open victory by nearly four pounds over
Dixon, Calif. pro Brett Leber, who came to the scales
with 11.54 pounds.
Pirch said that his game plan suffered an early demise, and he ran the
conditions to improve. "I had a stretch that I thought I could get a
pretty strong limit on first thing, but by one o'clock, I still only had seven
pounds in the boat," he said. "I saw the weather changing, and the
wind and rain picking up and I started moving around more. Within a couple
hours I had caught the big one and two other really good fish that got me to 15
pounds."
Pirch also said that he had water that he couldn't fish today because of the
conditions. "The water I ran today was all stuff that I had planned on as
my B grade tuff, and maybe it turned out to be a little better than I had thought,"
he said. "I've got some other water that I am planning on running tomorrow
and hopefully I will be able to put it together again tomorrow."
Leber reported using reaction baits
and covering a lot of water, but that he did not have the kind of day he had
hoped. "I had over 13 pounds in practice on Friday and another good day on
Saturday," he said. "I didn't do as well today because the wind
wasn't right for my areas - there was too much on it to do what I wanted to do.
If I get a little bit better conditions tomorrow, I should be able to improve
my weight."
Following Leber in third place in the standings is
longtime Western pro John Morrow from Brea, Calif. with 11.17 pounds, Zack Elrite from San Jose, Calif. is fourth with 10.84 pounds
and Todd Woods from San Dimas, Calif. rounds out the top five with 10.80 pounds
himself.
As stated before, Slack leads the AAA Division with 15.47 pounds, followed by
Tom Nokes with 11.54 pounds in second place. Third
place AAA Dale Howard fished with Morrow and had 11.17 pounds, followed by Kirk
Beardsley with 10.84 in fourth place and Dominic Amato in fifth place with
10.80 pounds.
Day two of The WON Bass Nitro Boats / Mercury U.S. Open takeoff will occur at Callville Bay Marina on the shores of Lake Mead Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday beginning at 5:45AM, with daily weigh-ins starting at 2:00PM.
Following the event's conclusion on Wednesday, a champion will be crowned at
Boulder Station Casino the final evening of the event.
Daily event coverage will begin following tournament take off with hourly
updates at 9:00AM, 10:00AM and 11:00AM each day, followed by weigh-in coverage
beginning at 2:00PM and finally a 7:00PM post game show; all show times are
Pacific Standard Time and can be viewed atwww.wonbass.com.
The WON Bass Nitro Boats / Mercury Marine U.S. Open Live Webcast is presented
by Costa Sunglasses, the event is also brought to you by Nitro Boats, Mercury
Outboards, Costa Sunglasses, Bass Pro Shops, Bridgford
Foods, Daiwa, Seaguar, Plano Molding, Cousins Tackle, YoZuri,
Pro Mar, Eagle Claw TroKar, Lowrance, St.Croix Rods, Frabill, Okuma, Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Reactor, Zip
Baits, Big Hammer, Fishing for Adoption, Global Fish Mounts, A&M Graphics,
Savage Gear and Storm
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