5 Big Mammas!
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE
As a native of Osaka, Japan, Morizo Shimizu doesn’t speak
quite as much English as the average angler on the Bassmaster Elite Series.
But he knows the words “Big Mama” very well.
That’s the nickname he uses for the size bass he likes to
catch — and on Thursday, he caught five of them.
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| Big largemouth key for Japanese pro. (Photo: BASS) |
Shimizu, an 11-year veteran of the Elite Series, brought 23
pounds, 6 ounces to the scales and took the first-round lead in the Busch Beer
Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake. His catch was anchored by a 6-3 largemouth
that he said came during the afternoon hours.
“I catch about eight fish all day,” Shimizu said in his
usual broken English. “But I only catch five big ones. I caught fish early and
late — all day long — from about 5 feet of water. But the biggest one came
during afternoon.”
Including Shimizu’s mammoth catch, the 107-angler field
produced 12 bags that weighed 20 pounds or more. It took 19-5 to make the Top
20 and 16-15 to make the Top 50 — the highest Day 1 mark needed to make the Top
50 this year.
Spawning smallmouth played a role for many anglers, but
Shimizu opted to fish for largemouth because the smallies he located during
practice had disappeared.
“I saw some on beds, but they had gone,” he said. “I don’t
know if somebody caught them or if they just left. But they weren’t there
anymore.”
New Jersey pro Michael Iaconelli was second with 21-15 — and
like Shimizu, he chose to concentrate mainly on largemouth.
“It was all timing for me,” Iaconelli said. “I’ve been
fishing here long enough to know that you get them in little spurts. If you can
be in the right area when they’re feeding, it happens so quickly.
“I had one flurry early that lasted about 30 minutes and a
second one later that lasted about 40 minutes — and without those today, I
would have only weighed in about 15 or 16 pounds.”
Iaconelli also said luck played a role in what he termed a
“magical day.”
With a big limit already in the livewell, he said he was
lingering in a good area, mainly to keep other anglers away. When another
competitor approached, Iaconelli picked up an unlikely lure.
“I just picked up a different lure and chunked it out away
from the spot I was sitting on,” Iaconelli said. “This lure … there was no way
it should have worked. But I caught a 5 1/2-pounder on it.
“That’s the kind of day it was for me.”
Because Iaconelli is targeting postspawn largemouth, he said
he might have a better chance of bass moving into his areas — “replenishing” in
bass jargon — than some of the pros who are zeroing in on bedding fish.
Virginia angler Jacob Powroznik went the other route
Thursday, mostly sight-fishing for the spawning smallies that he found during
practice. He said he used a topwater bait with no hooks to locate the fish
while practicing — and he was shocked by their size when he went back to the
catch them.
“I didn’t actually fish for them when I was practicing. I
just went over the top of them,” said Powroznik, who weighed in four smallmouth
and one largemouth. “I thought they were maybe 3 or 3 1/2 pounds, but they
ended up being 4 1/2-pounders.”
Powroznik said he has more fish in reserve, and he believes
the conditions will be even more conducive to his kind of fishing Friday.
“It’s supposed to slick off and be really calm, so I like my
chances,” he said. “I’ve still got a good many largemouth left that I know are
3 1/2- to 4-pounders. So we’ll just have to see what happens.”
South Carolina angler Britt Myers, who won an Elite Series
event earlier this year at South Carolina’s Winyah Bay, is fourth with 21-3,
and Arizona angler Dean Rojas is tied with Connecticut pro Paul Mueller in
fifth with 20-9.
Shimizu took the lead in the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass
with his 6-3 largemouth, and Louisiana pro Greg Hackney maintained his lead in
the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race with 17-8 that landed him in 36th
place after one day of competition.
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