Umatilla FLW Day 2: NW anglers hold 3 of top 5

Hobbs shares lead with SoCal's Capuruscio with 25-10
by Joel Shangle
NWWildCountry.com

UMATILLA, Ore. - Casual observers of the top 5 after Day 2 of the WalMart FLW Series National Guard Western Division event on the Columbia River might think they'd mistakenly stumbled into a Northwest Bass Challenge Circuit tournament.

Northwest Bass regulars Ron Hobbs, Jr. of Orting, Ron Mace of Kennewick and Spokane’s Marc Lippincott settled into three of the top 5 spots Thursday afternoon in Umatilla as the Columbia River gave the 85 competing boats a taste of how cantankerous the old girl can be. After a gentle first day of angler-friendly breezes, the Columbia Gorge’s westerly wind-siphon brought 30-mile-per-hour gusts, kidney-jarring chop and 3-foot rollers into play, sending the field into full-on scramble mode to find quality fish in areas most of them hadn’t pre-fished at all.

“Oh, man, the wind blew a lot this morning,” said Lippincott, who, instead of chancing a long, tooth-rattling upriver run, fished downriver from Umatilla in areas he hadn’t even looked at since the 2008 season. “The wind kept people from getting where they wanted to go today. You couldn’t really got downriver toward Arlington today, but I knew it’d be a huge gamble to try to run upriver. I really wanted to go up there, but, man, it would’ve been tough to go up there and not catch a limit.”

Caution paid off for Lippincott, who caught 10-11 on Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits and occasional plastics to settle into fourth place, well within striking distance of Hobbs and Coto de Caza’s Joseph Caporuscio, who enter Day 3 locked in a first-placed tie at 25-10.

Locked out: Perhaps more than anyone, Hobbs served as a prime example of the capriciousness of the Columbia River’s ever-changing currents, water levels and dam schedule. After weighing in a whopping 17-11 on Day 1 for a 3-15 lead, Hobbs got hung up below McNary Dam waiting for a barge to lock through in the morning, and ended up losing 45 minutes of his already-limited fishing time at Hanford Reach. With less than two hours to fish and the Reach’s smallies hunkered down in lockjaw mode, every bite counted … and two of those bites didn’t connect.

“I missed about a 2 ½-pounder and caught a 16 ¾-inch largemouth that had a couple of 5-pound chasers,” said Hobbs, who weighed in three fish for 7-15, the 31st-heaviest bag of the day. “I saw a ton of fish today, I just couldn’t get them to bite.”

Big mover Mace: The day’s big mover was Tri-Cities’ Ron Mace, who vaulted from 11th place on Day 1 to third overall (25-00), with the heaviest bag of the day. Mace weighed in 12-14 after putting in one of the longest runs of the tournament, nearly 100 miles upriver.

Cali representin’: Overshadowed by the Local Yokel Hit Squad’s success, Southern Californian Joseph Caporuscio hung tough with 11-14 pounds Thursday to deadlock with Hobbs for first place at 25-10. Caporuscio, who’s only previous experience on the Columbia River was the week’s practice sessions, has stuck to the same area near Tri-Cities, where he’s steadily bagged 2- to 2 ½-pounders throughout the day.

Laying back down: The National Weather Service calls for calm winds again Friday, with occasional gusts to 15 miles per hour. That’ll bring the pressure back upriver, according to Hobbs, who plans on making the same run to the three spots he’s fished the first two days.

“A lot of those boats couldn’t make it upriver today, but they’ll be back up there tomorrow,” he said.

Continued coverage: Log on to FLW Live at 2:30 p.m. PST Friday for the live weigh-in, and stay tuned to the NWWC Bass Report for exclusive coverage of Day 3 of the Columbia River FLW Series tournament.

Saturday on NWWC: Tune in Saturday as the NWWC crew checks in LIVE in Umatilla with final-day coverage of the richest tournament ever held in Oregon.

-JS