Kevin VanDam

Duckett Leads Day 1, But Weights Tightly Packed

February 21, 2009
(bassfan.com, February 21, 2009)

There was plenty of shock and surprise on day 1 of the Bassmaster Classic at the Red River in Shreveport, La.

The cold front that landed yesterday affected the fish much more than anticipated – it dropped the water temperature as much as 6 degrees, knocked the bedders way back and seemed to stun the staging females. Some patterns absolutely vanished. And it could get worse, because another cold front’s due to hit tonight.

It didn’t destroy everything, though, and several competitors stuck solid sacks, like leader Boyd Duckett. He amassed a 20-03 limit fishing an area with several others, including Aaron Martens (4th), Randy Howell (9th), Kelly Jordon (11th), and Brent Chapman (23rd). The area’s obviously loaded with good fish. What isn’t clear is whether it can handle the pressure.

Duckett, the 2007 Classic champ, noted he’s cranking with a LaserLure and pitching. Also interesting is he’s wearing a lucky charm on his belt that his mother overnighted to him yesterday. It’s a four-leaf clover.

Jami Fralick, fishing in just his second Classic, is a pound behind Duckett at 19-03. Fralick’s also sharing water – in his case, it’s with 12th-place Brian Snowden.

Fred “Boom Boom” Roumbanis, also fishing his second Classic, sits 1-15 in back of Duckett at 18-04. He’s looking forward to the colder weather, figuring that’ll help the reaction-bait bite. He’s fishing a bait “you can’t fish fast enough,” he noted.

Martens, who seems to always be near the top of the Classic standings, is currently 4th with 18-01, and Federation Nation qualifier Terry Fitzpatrick (Waukon, Iowa) is 5th with 18-00.

http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3202

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