Ranger Boats at White House for Made in America Product Showcase
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Iconic boat brand representing state of Arkansas as part of weeklong "Made in America Week"
FLIPPIN, Ark. (July 23, 2018) - Flippin, Arkansas-based Ranger Boats had the honor of representing the state of Arkansas at The White House this week. The event was part of President Trump's "Made in America Product Showcase" on Monday, July 23, highlighting each state's effort and commitment to American-made goods and products. The showcase featured a limited-edition Ranger Z521L ICON prominently displayed on the White House South Lawn.
"For the past 50 years, Ranger Boats has called Arkansas home," said Ranger Marketing Director Matt Raynor. "The people of Arkansas are a vital part of our company DNA. Ranger is committed to producing the highest quality American-made products and we do it right here in Flippin with dedicated, hardworking employees. We are honored to represent our great state and the people we call family, friends and neighbors."
 Along with the Z521L ICON, Ranger Boats ambassador and pro-angler Jimmy Houston was on site to help represent the iconic boat brand. Houston was joined by White River Marine Group officials and longtime Ranger dealer Brian and Chris Lancaster, of MARE Inc. - the Mid-Atlantic's Bass Boat Headquarters.
The event caps a weeklong "Made in America Week" to pay special tribute to those who work to produce American-made products such as Ranger Boats. President Trump will meet with each company's representatives to show his administration's "commitment to ensuring more products are made in America."
"It's a tremendous honor to have our 50th Anniversary Z521L ICON on display at the White House," added Raynor. "The boat reflects both our past 50-plus years of innovation in boat design and performance as well as the promising future of continued success and growth as the country's premier fiberglass and aluminum boat manufacturer."
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About Ranger Boats
Headquartered in Flippin, Ark., Ranger Boats is the nation's premier manufacturer of legendary fiberglass and aluminum fishing boats, with acclaimed models and series in the bass, multi-species, fish 'n play, saltwater, waterfowl utility and pontoon boat segments. Founded in 1968 by Forrest L. Wood, Ranger Boats continues its commitment to building the highest-quality, strongest-performing boats on the water. For more information, go to RangerBoats.com.
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Hard work and ice keep summer bass alive
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships
Not only did fishing teams from 78 universities take their “A game” to Lake Tenkiller for the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship last week – the brutal mid-summer Oklahoma heat showcased its most intense game face too.
Air temps sweltered around 104, water temps were well over 90, oak trees were dropping leaves in heat distress, and the Carhartt t-shirts worn by B.A.S.S. Director of Conservation, Gene Gilliland and the tournament staff were working overtime to wick away sweat behind the weigh-in stage.
Hot lake water is Gilliland’s worst nightmare. Because as we all learned in junior high school, hot water holds less oxygen than cold, and without hard work and a lot of ice, that can lead to dead tournament bass – a gut wrenching thought to not only all of us who love the sport, but likewise for Gilliland, who is an avid angler, and takes the successful preservation of tournament caught bass very seriously.
“Our goal is to keep the water in each 150 gallon dip tank backstage five to seven degrees cooler than the lake water. So at Tenkiller, that meant we had to keep adding ice until the water was about 80 degrees, and we constantly monitored water temperature and add ice to maintain that range,” says Gilliland.
Gilliland started each tournament day in Tahlequah with 1,000 pounds of ice stored backstage in a towable commercial icehouse. At a summer high school tournament on Kentucky Lake two years ago, he used 7,000 pounds of ice throughout the event.
Not only do water temps need to be cooled in the dip tanks teams hold their bagged fish in as they make their way to the stage, but water must also be cooled in the B.A.S.S. Live Release pontoon boat tanks used to transport tournament caught bass back to the lake for release after they’ve been weighed in. And each pontoon boat can haul 600 pounds of bass at a time.
Certainly Gilliland’s success rate in the preservation of bass during and after weigh-in increases if anglers work hard to take care of their catch throughout the tournament day, and that begins with proper livewell maintenance. He offers these six steps all of us can follow to be better caretakers of our summertime catch.
- Spend five or ten bucks for a swimming pool thermometer you can keep in your livewell in order to know if you’re maintaining a temp of five to seven degrees less than the lake temp. (Note: Keeping your water too cold is nearly as dangerous as letting it get too hot.)
- Fill up your livewells really early in the morning on “fill” or “fresh” mode.
- Switch quickly to “recirculate” mode, and begin adding ice until the temp is five to seven degrees less than the lake temp. Expect to add ice throughout the day to maintain the cooler temp.
- Be sure to run aerators on "manual" or full time rather than on a timer to help maximize oxygen replacement.
- Then, twice a day, flush out half the water in your livewells that’s sure to be contaminated by ammonia excreted from the bass swimming in your livewell water – and refill with fresh lake water.
- Finally, have plenty of extra ice onboard. Frozen plastic bottles full of ice floating inside your livewells can be a much more efficient than adding cubed ice.
Follow these steps, and you can proudly count on more than 95% of your bass being released alive after weigh-in, just like Gilliland and all the hard working folks on the B.A.S.S. tournament staff.
“We always donate the very few bass that don’t survive to local charity,” says Gilliland. “But lots of ice, the constant monitoring of holding tank temps, and hard work are the biggest keys to our success rate.”
INDIANA’S QUINLIN WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL ILLINI DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON OHIO RIVER AT GOLCONDA
Arning and Brown Tie for Co-angler Title
GOLCONDA, Ill. (July 23, 2018) – Boater Mike Quinlin of Mooresville, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division tournament on the Ohio River at Golconda. Quinlin pocketed $6,255 for his win.
Quinlin said he fished close to takeoff in Lusk Creek, catching eight keepers throughout the day. He said he weighed his fish off of one lure – a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin-magic-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw with a ¼-ounce tungsten weight.
“I fished a half-mile stretch of shallow wood cover with laydowns and stumps,” said Quinlin, who notched his fourth win in BFL competition. “I pitched into 2 to 3 feet of water. The bite picked up in the late afternoon when the sun was high.”
Quinlin’s bait was rigged on 20-pound-test K9 fluorocarbon line and a 7-foot, 5-inch G. Loomis IMX heavy rod.
“I thought the winning limit would come from up near the Barkley Dam,” said Quinlin. “I had some good bites up there in practice, but I had some in Lusk as well. I decided to maximize my fishing time instead of spending three hours heading up through the lock and back. My decision to stay definitely paid off.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 11-13, $4,255 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Ryan Dunn, Harrisburg, Ill., five bass, 11-5, $2,028
3rd: William Walker, Mulkeytown, Ill., four bass, 11-3, $1,384
4th: Chad Diedrich, Nashville, Ill., four bass, 10-13, $760
5th: Cliff Pass, Lenzburg, Ill., five bass, 10-0, $651
6th: Darren Frazier, Anna, Ill., four bass, 9-5, $597
7th: Dan Shoraga, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 9-4, $743
8th: Greg Hirsch, Saint Jacob, Ill., five bass, 9-1, $488
9th: John Wright, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 8-12, $534
10th: Melvin Jeffords, Grantsburg, Ill., three bass, 8-8, $380
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Dunn brought a 6-pound, 8-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $400.
Aaron Arning of Walnut Hill, Illinois, and Jim Brown of Coulterville, Illinois, each caught 7 pounds, 11 ounces, of bass Saturday to tie for the win in the Co-angler Division. Brown earned $1,221 for his efforts, while Arning took home $1,321 after contingency bonuses.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., three bass, 7-11, $1,321
1st: Jim Brown, Coulterville, Ill., four bass, 7-11, $1,221
3rd: Michael McKinley, Woodlawn, Ill., two bass, 7-9, $542
4th: Mario Rossi Jr., Granite City, Ill., three bass, 7-4, $430
5th: Amanda Black, Greenup, Ill., five bass, 6-11, $326
6th: William Richno, Raymond, Ill., two bass, 6-9, $298
7th: George Osha, Steger, Ill., two bass, 6-3, $271
8th: Doug Miller, Peoria, Ill., three bass, 5-8, $244
9th: Ross Genaro, Saint Louis, Mo., one bass, 5-5, $417
10th: Todd Blakeman, Chatham, Ill., three bass, 4-12, $190
Genaro caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
OHIO’S WHITE WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL BUCKEYE DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON OHIO RIVER AT MAYSVILLE
Aldridge Takes Co-angler Title
MAYSVILLE, Ky. (July 23, 2018) – Boater Pat White of Batavia, Ohio, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division tournament on the Ohio River at Maysville. For his efforts, White brought home $3,337.
White said he spent the tournament fishing the main river and in creeks near the Captain Anthony Meldahl Locks and Dam.
“I started out on the main river just trying to figure out the fish, and then headed into Big Locust Creek where I caught three keepers, including my biggest,” said White, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I returned to the main river and caught two more keepers to finish out my limit.”
White said he caught his fish by focusing on transition areas where deep water met the flats.
“I think the fish wanted to move up on the flats, but with the boat pressure and the water fluctuation I think they were held back,” said White. “By 9 a.m. I had my limit, but the main-river bite died and the current stopped. I knew then that the fishing was going to slow down.
“I kept working my way down the river until I found a creek that I had confidence in. I found one, Big Threemile Creek, which had some boats in it. I pulled up and ran the pattern that had been working. I culled once, around 1 (p.m.), and that ended up being my second-largest fish of the day.”
White said he caught his six keepers with six different baits – a homemade jig with a Flippin’ Blue-colored Zoom Super Chunk Jr. (which caught his biggest), a homemade spinnerbait, an American Shad-colored Lucky Craft Series 1.0 crankbait, a homemade black and silver-colored crankbait, a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Brush Hog and a green-pumpkin Berkley Chigger Craw.
“We’ve had a bit of rain recently. Some of the creeks were a little stained and some were clearer, and I had baits laid out for both,” said White. “The river changes every day. The water fluctuates and the current comes and goes. You’ve just got to trust your gut out there.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Pat White, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 9-1, $3,337
2nd: John Viox, Hebron, Ky., five bass, 8-5, $1,968
3rd: Bob Robinson, Lebanon, Ohio, five bass, 7-2, $1,112
4th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 6-15, $779
5th: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, five bass, 6-14, $667
6th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 6-11, $612
7th: Chris Martinkovic, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-8, $756
8th: Josh Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 6-4, $501
9th: Dennis Magoto, Waynesville, Ohio, five bass, 6-3, $545
10th: Dan Fry, Marysville, Ohio, four bass, 6-1, $389
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Steve Hengehold of Cincinnati, Ohio, brought a 2-pound, 13-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $410.
Frank Aldridge of Wheelersburg, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division and $1,668 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Frank Aldridge, Wheelersburg, Ohio, five bass, 6-9, $1,668
2nd: Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, four bass, 5-14, $1,034
3rd: Jeff Gauspohl, Dayton, Ky., three bass, 5-4, $626
4th: Raymond Olberding, Batavia, Ohio, three bass, 5-0, $389
5th: Austin Thome, Oxford, Ohio, three bass, 4-15, $334
6th: Brent Wilkens, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 4-7, $342
6th: Mark Henderson, Martinsville, Ohio, two bass, 4-7, $292
8th: Mike Jones, Okeana, Ohio, three bass, 4-4, $250
9th: Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., three bass, 4-2, $222
10th: Howard Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 3-13, $263
Smith caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 2 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $68.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Wallen grabs $10,000 Purse in Kayak Bass Fishing's KBF Midwest Open out of LaCrosse, Wisconsin!
Congrats to Jay Wallen on winning the KBF Midwest OPEN Presented by Explore La Crosse and taking home $10,000.
Jay topped a filled stacked with some of the best anglers in the country and won the event after coming close with a second place win in the KBF Southeast OPEN on Santee Cooper.
Jay Carter Wins Stockton ABA Tournament
Only two 5-fish limits came to the scales in American Bass Anglers Stockton Lake D126 tournament Saturday, July 21. But the winner weighed only three fish for 11.46 lbs, which included Big Bass that topped the scales at 6.03 lbs. Before he took them out of the bag, he was asked if he had any big ones. His reply was, “One big, one medium and one small.” And that was a good description of his catch. Second place went to Byron Maze with a 5-fish limit that weighed 9.67; 3rd place winner was Justin Delk with the other limit weighing 9.53 lbs.
The next tournament for this circuit is the D126 2-day Championship scheduled for August 11-12, 2018 using Old State Park as launch site. Anglers must qualify for this Championship by fishing four (4) 1-day ABA tournaments in any of the ABA Divisions. D126 Angler of the Year will be decided at the end of the 2-day. A short awards presentation will take place at the end of Day 2 weigh-in. Cash and several prizes as well as plaques will be presented to the anglers. Watch FB posts for specific weigh-in times. Area sponsors including Pete’s, the Outboard Doctor, Albers Marine, Legacy Farm & Lawn, Ken’s Kafe and our newest sponsor, “That’s A Good Fish” provide the cash and prizes.
Next stop for these anglers is a National Championship scheduled for October 21-26 on Hartwell Lake in South Carolina. The winner of that 3-day tournament will bring home a fully rigged Triton TR21. A host of other cash and prizes will be given away at the event.
WABASHA SET TO HOST YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING EVENT ON MISSISSIPPI RIVER PRESENTED BY COSTA
Courtesy of FLW
WABASHA, Minn. (July 17, 2018) – YETI FLW College Fishing will continue the 2018 fishing season with an event July 28 on the Mississippi River in Wabasha presented by Costa. The tournament, hosted by the Wabasha-Kellogg Chamber of Commerce & Convention and Visitors Bureau, is the second of three regular-season events for anglers in the Central Conference, and will feature a top prize of a $2,000 club scholarship and an invitation to compete in the 2019 College Fishing National Championship.
“This is going to be a really fun event for the college anglers,” said FLW Tour pro Austin Felix of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a two-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “Pool No. 4 is loaded with fish – just as much as La Crosse and Prairie du Chien – and they aren’t nearly as pressured. I expect that the majority of the fish weighed in this event will be largemouth.”
Although the anglers will be launching in Pool No. 4, the teams are allowed to lock up or down one pool. Felix said that he expects that most teams will be heading south.
“The majority of the field will be fishing below Lake Pepin on Pools 4 and 5,” Felix said. “The fish will be pulling out near the main river, but still in the grass. Carolina rigs, frogs and swimjigs will all be good bets. About 90-percent of what I throw in the river is black- or white-colored, but if the water clarity is very clear then green pumpkin with chartreuse tails will be productive, too.
“The bass on the river are extremely aggressive, so if you’re not getting bites than you need to keep moving,” he continued. “Cover a lot of water, and don’t spend too much time in one area looking for them if they’re not biting.”
Felix went on to predict that the tournament winners would bring a limit weighing 17 to 19 pounds to the scale.
Competitors will take off from the Wabasha City Ramp at Izaak Walton Park, located at 707 4th St. W., in Wabasha, at 7:30 a.m. CDT Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the Park beginning at 2:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Schools are allowed to register up until the morning of the tournament. Entries may be made either by phone or at CollegeFishing.com.
Schools currently registered to compete in the Mississippi River tournament include:
Bemidji State University – Austin Mau and Isaac Johnson, both of Bemidji, Minn.
Bemidji State University – Ben Donnelly, Woodbury, Minn., and Benjamin Johnson, Bemidji, Minn.
Bemidji State University – Lincoln Horsman, Wabasha, Minn., and Travis Rotzien, Bemidji, Minn.
Bemidji State University – Mitchell Swanson and Thor Swanson, both of Blaine, Minn.
Campbellsville University – Adam Carman, Berea, Ky., and Hunter Adams, Campbellsville, Ky.
Campbellsville University – Gavin Barnes and Ezra Oliver, both of Campbellsville, Ky.
Central College – Cameron Timok, Glen Allen, Va., and Dillon Peters, Urbandale, Iowa
Greenville University – Christopher Brooks, Greenville, Ill., and Cordell Beckmann, Breese, Ill.
Greenville University – Ricky Huge, Carlyle, Ill., and Evan Seggerman, Minonk, Ill.
Illinois State University – Tyler Rocke, Peoria, Ill., and Justin Schick, Morton, Ill.
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne – Kyle Mast, Millersburg, Ind., and Austin Lutz, Syracuse, Ind.
Iowa State University – Pat Morrison, Omaha, Neb., and Matt Blair, Ames, Iowa
Lewis University – Joe Skvarla, Tinley Park, Ill., and Zachary Spesia, Coal City, Ill.
McKendree University – Trevor McKinney, Benton, Ill., and Curtis Lilly, Sterling, Ill.
McKendree University – Shane Campbell, Highland, Ill., and Ethan Jones, Worden, Ill.
McKendree University – Jacob Louis, Pinckneyville, Ill., and Nathan Doty, Decatur, Ill.
Missouri State University – Robert Moody, Purdy, Mo., and Matt Fielder, High Ridge, Mo.
Northwest Missouri State University – Blake Charboneau, Desloge, Mo., and Nathan Itao, Platte City, Mo.
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville – Bryce Peters, Camp Point, Ill., and Matt Fors, Batavia, Ill.
St. Ambrose University – Tanner Atkinson, Camanche, Iowa, and Anna Kvidera, Dysart, Iowa
St. Cloud State University – Aidan Hansen, St. Cloud, Minn., and Mitchell Evans, Albert Lea, Minn.
St. Cloud State University – Taylor Mazur, Maplewood, Minn., and Dallas Pearson, Milaca, Minn.
University of Nebraska – Charlie Deshazer, Fremont, Neb., and Jonah Blackburn, Lincoln, Neb.
University of North Dakota – Zachery Oldre, Lakeville, Minn., and Noah Levesseur, Prior Lake, Minn.
University of Wisconsin – Alexander Lemke, Green Bay, Wis., and Dylan Peckham, Lodi, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay – Connor Kupsh, De Pere, Wis., and Matthew Murphy, Hastings, Minn.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Brady Fernette, Prairie du Chien, Wis., and Kilian Boland, Gays Mills, WIs.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Alec Garrison, Winthrop Harbor, Ill., and Zach Clisch, Reedsburg, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Blake Lawston and Jonathan Koenen, both of Rushford, Minn.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Jayden Schmitz and Dakota Koepp, both of Pewaukee, Wis.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Brad Hamilton and Gavin Clayton, both of Palatine, Ill.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point – Reed Fredrick, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and Nick Dagel, Round Lake Beach, Ill.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – Ross Phelps, Edgerton, Wis., and Collin Cropp, Janesville, Wis.
Winona State University – Mason Garin, Spring Valley, Wis., and Aric Avestruz, River Falls, Wis.
Winona State University – Tyler Berg, Rushford, Minn., and Patrick Andrade, Winona, Minn.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats. The location of the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship will be revealed in early fall.
YETI FLW College Fishing is free to enter. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Bethel’s Enders And Huff Hang On To Win College Bass National Championship
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Bethel University Holds Onto Lead In Bassmaster College Series National Championship
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Tidal River Bass Will Play At Upper Chesapeake Bay Bassmaster Elite
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Bethel Pair Takes Lead At Bassmaster College Series National Championship
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One bass, two bags of Ice, and a great attitude
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin
Ben Seaman and Tyler Robinson left what are arguably the two greatest summer bass fisheries in America, The St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, to drive 26 hours to hot, humid, and gorgeous Lake Tenkiller for a chance to compete against student anglers from 77 other universities at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship.
And so far, after three brutally tough days of practice, they’ve only caught one keeper-sized bass from this Eastern Oklahoma fishery.
But don’t feel bad for them. This highly likeable team from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY floated in the pre-dawn darkness before the start of the first day of competition with two bags of ice to keep their livewell water nice and cool, and a boatload of laughs and great attitude.
“Be honest with us, are we the best looking guys out here?” laughed Seaman an engineering major.
“No really, we’re thrilled to be here. We love talking to all the other college anglers. They’re such great guys, and Carhartt has been so awesome,” he smiled. “They gave us free shirts and shorts at the banquet last night, and they do so much to organize a great event. We can’t wait to go home and tell people how well Carhartt, B.A.S.S., and all of the sponsors treated us.”
But before they make the 26 hour drive back home with Seaman’s dad, Murray, a recently retired engineer who gladly helps with everything from the long drive to packing their lunch, Ben and Tyler have to figure out Tenkiller’s super stingy summertime bass from water temperatures higher than they’ve ever seen.
“There’s no doubt the 90-degree water here has us mentally spun-out just a bit,” says Seaman. “This water is literally 22 degrees warmer than what we left behind at Champlain and the St. Lawrence. We’ve never seen water this warm in our lives. Plus, we’re used to fishing around big underwater boulders surrounded by milfoil, but there’s not any vegetation at all here on Tenkiller.”
The two are fishing fanatics who spend countless hours dropping Gajo soft plastics on the heads of super-sized St. Lawrence smallmouth with tremendous success, but here at Tenkiller, a ¾ ounce Strike King structure jig generated their only bite in practice.
“We’re going to start the day with the only thing we’ve had any success with so far – dragging that heavy jig in 25 feet of water,” says Seaman.
They’ll also start the day by keeping plenty of ice handy to keep their livewell water cool with optimistic hopes of catching more than they have so far in practice.
But, no matter what today or the rest of this National Championship brings forth for Seaman and Robinson at the weigh-in, they’ve already caught proper perspective and a winning attitude that will happily carry them 26 hours back home, and even further in life.
John Garrett and Jacob Foutz preview College Championship
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin
John Garrett and Jacob Foutz both know the thrill of qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic through the college ranks, and they’re both at Lake Tenkiller in Eastern Oklahoma’s sweltering heat this week working hard for the chance to go back to the Classic by performing well at the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
They graciously took time to answer a few questions on the eve of Day 1 of competition that begins early Thursday morning.
Q:Water surface temps are 90 degrees; will this tournament be won in more or less than 20 feet of water?
Garrett:I’ll say less than 20 feet.
Foutz:Less than 20 feet.
Q: Name three lures that will be popular among the 136 teams competing on Lake Tenkiller this week.
Garrett:Topwater walking lure, Carolina Rig, and a football jig.
Foutz:Shaky Head, football jig, and a deep crankbait like a Strike King 6XD
Q: How much weight will a team need to average each day to make the Top 12 cut on the final day?
Garrett:9 pounds per day
Foutz: 10 pounds per day
Q: What do you like best about Lake Tenkiller?
Garrett:I know there a lot of quality fish that live here, even though I’ve only caught five keepers in 3 days of practice.
Foutz:Diversity of habitat and water color, you can fish anything from dingy water up the river, to really clear water by the dam, and there’s everything from rocky shorelines to tons of brushpiles to cast to.
Q: What’s the best thing about participating in the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series?
Garrett:Friends, fellowship, and all the good times we share.
Foutz:All the cool people, and all the friends you make with other college anglers.
AC Insider Podcast with FLW Pro Jordan Osborne & PR Director Joe Opager
This week the boys are still recovering from ICAST and catch up with FLW Tour Pro Jordan Osborne as he prepares to fish his first FLW Cup. We also dial up FLW PR Director Joe Opager and Talk 2019 Schedule, no more Co's and the upcoming Cup. Jason preps for his family vacation and CB just needs to get a few things off his chest. All of this and more on the AnglersChannel Insider Podcast!
Triple Digit Heat and Stingy Fishing at College Championship
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships
Heavy clouds and air temps in the low 80s at Lake Tenkiller were a welcomed reprieve from a sweaty week thus far on the clear water mountainous reservoir that’s been very stingy to give up 5-bass limits for most teams during practice for the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
Two of the talented young anglers that are feeling the approaching 100-degree heat and a lack of bites are Josh Bean and Caden Watson, who piloted their Toyota Tundra 12 hours from Tennessee Tech, where Bean is studying wildlife and fisheries, and Watson is a civil engineering major.
“We’ve talked to 20 or 30 other teams, and they all say it’s a grind. Not one of those teams told us they were able to catch a limit of bass during any of the practice days so far,” says Bean.
Bean and Watson’s struggles certainly aren’t a result of not working hard, or exploring just about every depth and logical mid-summer lure in the boat.
“We’ve fished from 5 to 60’ feet deep, and thrown everything from football jigs, to Whopper Ploppers, flutter spoons, swimbaits, and a big worm, and still haven’t caught a limit of bass,” says Watson.
No strangers to deep, rocky, relatively clear water reservoirs, the two qualified for this week’s Carhartt Bassmaster National Championship by catching their fish on a drop shot at Cherokee Lake near the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee.
“Surprisingly, we actually caught more fish yesterday when it was sunny, than we did today under the clouds. Typically, you’d expect just the opposite on a clear water reservoir, but I think the fish roam more to chase bait here under these clouds,” says Watson.
If sunshine will help the bite, Watson and Bean can count on their catch rates to improve. Forecasts are calling for temps of 100, 104, and 100 the next three days on Lake Tenkiller, with hardly any clouds and light winds.
That’s a recipe that typically means you better catch ‘em really early in the morning, have plenty of ice in your livewells and boat cooler, lots of water to drink, and a mental focus as rock solid as Tenkiller’s shoreline to do well in this particular college derby.
Certainly, if practice is any indication, this one’s gonna be a smokin’ hot grind for the 136 talented teams from 78 different colleges and universities that are in Eastern Oklahoma working hard and pursuing their passion in triple digit heat.
LAKE ERIE SET FOR COSTA FLW SERIES NORTHERN DIVISION EVENT PRESENTED BY POLARIS
BUFFALO, N.Y. (July 18, 2018) – Lake Erie and the city of Buffalo is set to host as many as 350 boaters and co-anglers July 26-28 for the Costa FLW Series Northern Division event at Lake Erie presented by Polaris. Hosted by the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission, the three-day bass-fishing tournament will feature a top prize of up to $85,000, including a brand new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard engine.
“The fishing, from what I hear, is very good right now. There are fish everywhere on the eastern part of Lake Erie,” said FLW Tour pro Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, the 2017 FLW Series Northern Division Angler of the Year. “It’s one of the best fisheries in the world in terms of the number of 3- to 4-pound smallmouth.
“I think we’re going to see a fifty-fifty split of people fishing the Canadian and the U.S. side of the lake,” Johnston continued. “The highest concentration of boats should be from Buffalo out to the Myers Reef area [on the U.S. side] and across. There’s so many fish in that area that if someone gets on the right ones, the tournament could definitely be won there. Some boaters may run farther, but it’s a little more of a gamble.”
Johnston said that the majority of bigger fish will be found anywhere from 20 to 45 feet of water, and that standard deep-water tactics will be in play.
“The number one bait out there is still a tube,” said Johnston. “People are going to be drifting with the wind and dragging tubes. Soft-plastics on drop-shot rigs are going to be good as well.”
Johnston predicted it would take around 23 pounds a day – a three-day cumulative of 68 to 69 pounds of bass to win.
“I think we’ll see a lot of weights from 21 to 23 pounds, but staying consistent each day will be the challenge,” said Johnston. “You can catch them one day and they’ll leave the next, or they just won’t bite like they did on day one.”
Anglers will take off from Safe Harbor Marina, located at 1111 Fuhrmann Blvd., in Buffalo, at 6 a.m. EDT each day. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also take place at Safe Harbor Marina, and will begin at 2 p.m. each day. Saturday’s final weigh-in will take place at Cabela's, located at 2003 Walden Ave., in Cheektowaga, New York, and will begin at 3 p.m. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free to attend and open to the public.
In Costa FLW Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event. At Lake Erie, pros will fish for a top prize of up to $85,000, including a brand new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup qualified. Co-anglers will cast for a brand new Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Me rcury outboard, and $5,000 if Ranger Cup qualified.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the International division. Each U.S. division consists of three regular-season tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to compete in the season-ending Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2018 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 1-3 on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
NORTH CAROLINA’S WALTERS WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL PIEDMONT DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON JAMES RIVER
Co-angler Title Goes to Danville’s Howerton
HENRICO, Va. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Todd Walters of Kernersville, North Carolina, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament on the James River. For his efforts, Walters pocketed $3,592.
“I don’t have much experience on tidal fisheries, but I have a couple of travel partners that live there, so they helped me out a lot,” said Walters, who earned his fifth win in FLW competition. “I also got some practice in two weeks ago when the tide was at the same level.”
Following a 1-hour morning fog delay, Walters said he headed 20 miles east of takeoff to target bass in the backwaters of Herrin and Cowell creeks. He said he caught fish anywhere from 3- to 10-feet deep on a 7-inch black and blue flake-colored Culprit Fat Max Worm, a shad-colored Rapala DT6 crankbait and a 6-inch Morning Dawn-colored Roboworm Straight Tail Worm on a drop-shot rig.
“I targeted any type of wood cover – mainly laydowns – and a few different brush piles. I fished very slowly. It was hot and there wasn’t any wind,” said Walters. “The tide wasn’t moving much when I caught most of my fish. I had to be quiet and make long casts – that’s why I picked up the drop-shot so I could cast farther and keep the bait in front of the fish longer. I think that was key for me.”
Walters said he ended up putting a dozen keepers in the boat by the end of the event.
“I needed this win. I’m hoping I can carry this momentum into the (Costa FLW Series) event on Lake Erie next week. Buffalo, New York, is my hometown and it’d be great to do well.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Todd Walters, Kernersville, N.C., five bass, 16-5, $3,592
2nd: Frank Poirier, North Prince George, Va., five bass, 14-8, $1,796
3rd: Doug Dulin, Apex, N.C., three bass, 14-2, $1,479
3rd: Todd Harris, Clemmons, N.C., four bass, 14-2, $1,219
5th: Ben Jacobi, Richmond, Va., five bass, 13-9, $718
6th: Tommy Little, Chester, Va., five bass, 13-5, $629
6th: Chris Daves, Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 13-5, $629
8th: K.C. Choosakul, Sandford, N.C., five bass, 13-4, $539
9th: Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., five bass, 13-2, $579
10th: Keith Estes, Spring Grove, Va., five bass, 12-11, $419
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Dulin brought a 7-pound, 8-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $460.
James Howerton of Danville, Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,026 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: James Howerton, Danville, Va., five bass, 13-11, $2,026
2nd: Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., five bass, 12-2, $1,098
3rd: Greg Fox, Hudson, N.C., five bass, 11-13, $648
4th: Jesse Jodon, Windber, Pa., five bass, 10-15, $419
5th: Todd Greenwood, Chesterfield, Va., five bass, 10-6, $359
6th: Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., five bass, 9-13, $329
7th: Steven Jacobs, Sandford, N.C., five bass, 9-12, $299
8th: Ben Dacey, Chesterfield, Va., three bass, 9-9, $269
9th: Scott Spencer, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 9-6, $224
9th: Dave Robinson, Ford City, Pa., four bass, 9-6, $224
Howerton also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $230.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Lakes Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
MANDES WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL NORTHEAST DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON ONEIDA LAKE
Co-angler Title Goes to Pennsylvania’s Bahnweg
BREWERTON, N.Y. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Jeff Mandes of Smyrna, Delaware, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament on Oneida Lake Saturday with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces. Mandes pocketed $6,996 for his win.
Mandes caught his fish from a large section of grass in Maple Bay, a location he ended up committing to due to motor trim issues.
“I couldn’t trim my motor up when I got to the ramp. I’m not sure how it happened, but it started working by the time we launched and I made it through boat check,” said Mandes, who notched his first win in FLW competition. “Normally I’d move around more, but I was afraid the trim would quit working."
Mandes made the most of his predicament, figuring out that the fish were in a certain, smaller area about half the size of the general location he fished. He said he kept going around and through it to pick them off.
“When I went beyond it, I couldn’t get a bite. It all looked the same, but they were in a certain section,” said Mandes.
Mandes said he started out with a topwater bait, but didn’t have any luck. After 20 minutes or so, he picked up a green-pumpkin-colored Big Mouth Lures swimjig with a custom-colored skirt and an Okeechobee Craw-colored Netbait Paca Craw trailer and went to work.
“I caught a good one on my third cast with the swimjig, so that’s what I stuck with. I also caught some on a black Texas-rigged (Yamamoto) Senko with a belly-weighted hook,” said Mandes. “When the wind died down and it got slick-calm, the Senko worked well, but when there was a ripple in the water, the swimjig did better.”
By noon, Mandes said he had approximately 18 pounds of bass.
“I culled one more time and around 12:30 (p.m.) I ran closer to the ramp to fish and finish out my day,” said Mandes. “Overall, I caught between 15 and 18 keepers throughout the day.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jeff Mandes, Smyrna, Del., five bass, 19-2, $4,996 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Mike Shumanis, Bethlehem, Pa., five bass, 18-0, $3,113
3rd: Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., five bass, 17-7, $1,695
4th: Joe Wolter, Rochester, N.Y., five bass, 16-15, $1,119
5th: Shawn Flynn, Dexter, N.Y., five bass, 16-7, $959
6th: Chris Caravan, Pottsville, Pa., five bass, 16-5, $879
7th: Ed Casey, Whiteford, Md., five bass, 16-0, $799
8th: Robert Polishan, Wilkes Barre, Pa., five bass, 15-14, $719
9th: Cody Cutter, Harveys Lake, Pa., five bass, 15-11, $639
10th: Rick Anderson, Dover, Pa., five bass, 15-10, $560
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Shumanis brought a 5-pound, 8-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $715.
Michael Bahnweg of Union Dale, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $2,398 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., five bass, 15-13, $2,398
2nd: Christian Snyder, Oswego, N.Y., five bass, 15-5, $1,199
3rd: Thomas Bartholomew, Palmerton, Pa., five bass, 14-12, $995
4th: Jonathan Ruch, Jersey City, N.J., five bass, 14-10, $560
5th: Steve Houseknecht, Freeville, N.Y., five bass, 14-8, $480
6th: Terry Beck, Lock Haven, Pa., five bass, 14-6, $440
7th: Brian Wisniewski, Sayerville, N.J., five bass, 14-1, $400
8th: David Compton Jr., Mount Bethel, Pa., four bass, 13-12, $360
9th: Mike Stahl, Mifflinburg, Pa., five bass, 13-11, $300
9th: Ron Dopko, Plymouth, Pa., five bass, 13-11, $300
Michael Saganich Sr. of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $357.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
WAGNER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL MICHIGAN DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON LAKE ST. CLAIR PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS
Plainwell’s Mitchell Takes Co-angler Title
HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Heath Wagner of Angola, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 28 pounds, 15 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division tournament on Lake St. Clair. For his efforts, Wagner earned $5,731.
“I fished the Belle River hump area of Lake St. Clair. It’s close to the same area where some of the FLW Tour event leaders fished,” said Wagner, who earned his fifth career win in BFL competition. “The area was about one square mile in size, and had a mega school of fish.
“A couple of the spots in the area attracted around 50 other competitors, but I didn’t start near any of them,” Wagner continued. “When I started, the closest person to me was about a half-mile away. I was between fish that were on the outskirts of the school and the school itself. I roamed the flat looking for a certain type of bottom – a big sandy spot with shells. I could see down there, even in 18 feet of water. As soon as I found where I needed to be, I hit the Spot Lock [on my Minnkota Ultrex trolling motor].”
Wagner said every fish he weighed came from some type of Z-Man ElaZtech lures on a drop-shot rig. He noted that green-pumpkin-goby colors did well.
“I had four areas that were similar and I basically just circled them. I’d catch three to 20 fish in a location and kind of wear it out before moving on to the next one. There was a stretch where I caught 20 fish in a row between 4½ and 5 pounds, but didn’t even weigh any of them – it was pretty ridiculous.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Heath Wagner, Angola, Ind., five bass, 28-15, $5,731
2nd: Dan Mittlestat, Woodhaven, Mich., five bass, 24-9, $2,403
3rd: Kyle Greene, Ortonville, Mich., five bass, 24-6, $1,705
4th: David Reault, Livonia, Mich., five bass, 23-4, $1,121
5th: John Devries, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 23-2, $961
6th: Joshua Barr, Stow, Ohio, five bass, 22-13, $881
7th: Codea McCathran, Mansfield, Ohio, five bass, 22-9, $801
8th: Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., five bass, 22-8, $721
9th: Alex Newman, Wapakoneta, Ohio, five bass, 21-12, $641
10th: Ronald Nutter, Saint Louisville, Ohio, five bass, 21-10, $561
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Wagner also brought a 6-pound, 3-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $725.
Tony Mitchell of Plainwell, Michigan, won the Co-angler Division and $2,816 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 22 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Tony Mitchell, Plainwell, Mich., five bass, 22-15, $2,816
2nd: Ken Ramsey, Cassopolis, Mich., five bass, 22-5, $1,182
3rd: Andrew Vadnais, Saint Clair Shores, Mich., five bass, 21-11, $788
4th: Matthew Esparza, Green Springs, Ohio, five bass, 21-9, $552
5th: Arthur Teper, Lake Orion, Mich., five bass, 21-7, $473
6th: Steven Rowswell, Saint Thomas, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 20-9, $433
7th: Randy Westerfield, Constantine, Mich., five bass, 20-2, $394
8th: Harbor Lovin, Fayetteville, Ohio, five bass, 20-1, $405
9th: Jorji Itoh, Beverly Hills, Mich., five bass, 19-11, $315
10th: Robert Hernandez, Canton, Mich., five bass, 19-10, $276
Mitchell also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $352.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
SUGGS WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL LBL DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON KENTUCKY AND BARKLEY LAKES
Murray’s Bucy Earns Co-angler Title
CADIZ, Ky. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Andrew Suggs of Cunningham, Tennessee, caught five bass weighing 24 pounds, 6 ounces, to win Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. For his win, Suggs took home $3,945.
Suggs said he fished the mid-section of Lake Barkley, catching every fish he weighed on a ½-ounce black and blue-colored Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig with a Strike King Rage Tail Craw trailer of the same color.
“I found some areas a few weeks ago with my Lowrance unit using the Structure Scan feature and found isolated brush piles on the tops of ledges,” said Suggs, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I fished ledges all day and the brush piles produced my biggest fish. I didn’t really catch many fish from one single area. I had to move around from ledge to ledge.
“It started out slow. I didn’t have a limit until almost 1 p.m.,” Suggs continued. “I think when the sun got up it concentrated them closer to the brush piles and that’s why they produced.”
Suggs caught the largest fish of the event – a 6-pound, 3-ouncer – around 11:30 a.m.
“I ended up catching seven keepers total, culling twice in the last hour,” said Suggs.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Andrew Suggs, Cunningham, Tenn., five bass, 24-6, $3,945
2nd: Thomas Sandefur , Kuttawa, Ky., five bass, 20-3, $1,753
3rd: Joe White, Princeton, Ky., five bass, 18-1, $1,169
4th: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 16-7, $1,018
5th: Tommy Williams, Shepherdsville, Ky., five bass, 14-3, $701
6th: Cody Santel, Benton, Ky., five bass, 14-0, $643
7th: Daniel Langton, Haubstadt, Ind., four bass, 12-15, $584
8th: Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., three bass, 10-15, $896
8th: John Hopkins, Hendersonville, Tenn., three bass, 10-15, $596
10th: Phillip Brinegar, Lexington, Ky., three bass, 10-10, $409
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Suggs’ 6-pound, 3-ounce bass also earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $440.
Kenneth Bucy of Murray, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $1,773 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Kenneth Bucy, Murray, Ky., four bass, 14-9, $1,773
2nd: Ryan Kirkpatrick, Benton, Ky., three bass, 10-14, $986
3rd: Douglas Salzman, Newburgh, Ind., three bass, 9-15, $591
4th: Nathan Steele, Benton, Ky., three bass, 8-12, $414
5th: Dick Brown, Smithland, Ky., three bass, 8-8, $355
6th: Daniel Pope Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio, four bass, 7-13, $325
7th: Paul McBride, Vienna, Ill., three bass, 7-8, $295
8th: Greg Adams, Mayfield, Ky., two bass, 7-5, $266
9th: Kristin Knuteson, Mount Washington, Ky., three bass, 7-2, $236
10th: Dean Dearwester, Cincinnati, Ohio, two bass, 7-0, $207
Nathan Eubank of Mountain Vernon, Indiana, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $222.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes was hosted by the Cadiz-Trigg County Tourism Commission.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
RAINBOW CITY’S BROWN WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL BAMA DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON LAKE NEELY HENRY
Florida’s Garrett Takes Co-angler Title
GADSDEN, Ala. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Adam Brown of Rainbow City, Alabama, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds even to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lake Neely Henry. For his efforts, Brown pocketed $3,917.
Brown said he spent his day fishing the backs of three creeks in the mid-river area, including Big Wills Creek.
“I didn’t do well until the sun got up around 10 a.m. and the fish started holding tight to cover, then I was able to target them better,” said Brown, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I fished stumps, bushes – basically any type of cover that was back there. Almost every fish I caught came from 2 feet or less of water.”
Brown’s primary bait was a white Stan Sloan’s The Aggravator long-arm spinnerbait with No. 5 willow leaf blades and a trailer hook. He said he followed it up with a 3/8-ounce black and blue-colored Bo’s jig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer of the same color. By the end of the day, Brown said he caught around 15 keepers.
“I ran the spinnerbait across the stumps and then pitched the jig,” said Brown. “I had to fish slow and steady. I hit each creek at least twice, and as far as the big fish go, I caught about two from each creek.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Adam Brown, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 17-0, $3,917
2nd: Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 16-11, $2,478
3rd: Johnathan Stuckey, Tallassee, Ala., five bass, 16-1, $1,507
4th: Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., five bass, 15-10, $1,014
5th: Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., five bass, 14-13, $783
6th: Andy Kilgore, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $718
7th: Allen Yarborough, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $620
7th: Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $620
9th: Josh Bragg, Jacksonville, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $522
10th: Hunter Hayes, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 12-14, $457
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Dorsett brought a 5-pound, 14-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $520.
Mike Garrett of Pensacola, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $1,958 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Mike Garrett, Pensacola, Fla., five bass, 12-1, $1,958
2nd: Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 10-5, $1,179
3rd: Jacob Robinson, Temple, Ga., five bass, 9-14, $703
4th: Chris Hawkins, Adger, Ala., five bass, 9-7, $684
4th: Chris Harcrow, Dawson, Al a., three bass, 9-7, $424
6th: Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., four bass, 9-1, $359
7th: Sam McLean, LaGrange, Ga., five bass, 8-15, $326
8th: Tanner Ellison, Jemison, Ala., four bass, 8-12, $294
9th: Radney Atchison, Prattville, Ala., five bass, 8-11, $261
10th: Larry McNeil, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 8-8, $228
Hawkins caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $260.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lake Neely Henry was hosted by the City of Gadsden.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
CLINTON’S LANKFORD WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL OZARK DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON LAKE TRUMAN
Ballwin’s Meyer Takes Co-angler Title
WARSAW, Mo. (July 16, 2018) – Boater Darin Lankford of Clinton, Missouri, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division tournament on Lake Truman. For his efforts, Lankford netted $4,553.
“I casted a square-billed crankbait up into shallower water in the Grand River arm of the lake,” said Lankford, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I caught fish in four different locations, but they looked similar. I really keyed in on main-lake flats that had any kind of underwater point and looked for bigger stumps with more roots.”
Lankford said he used a large Dave’s Custom Baits Black Market Balsa crankbait with a chartreuse-pattern color scheme on 20-pound-test monofilament line to catch his fish.
“I threw the same bait all day. I had to burn it and hit the stumps and cause the reaction bite,” said Lankford. “I barely had them hooked – every one of them was on the back hook.
“I actually fished the same locations earlier in the week with jigs, but I think the front and a little cloud cover moved them shallower, so I switched to a crankbait,” continued Lankford. “I used the heavier line to get the fish out of the stumps. It was also a little more buoyant so the bait didn’t dive so deep.”
Lankford said he ended up catching six keepers during the tournament.
“It was a typical day of fishing on Lake Truman,” said Lankford. “When it gets hot they get a little shallower, I’m not sure why, but that’s what they do.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Darin Lankford, Clinton, Mo., five bass, 19-5, $4,553
2nd: Tom Alsop, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 15-11, $1,977
3rd: Brock Reinkemeyer, Lone Jack, Mo., five bass, 14-10, $1,185
4th: Matt King, Olathe, Kan., five bass, 13-12, $929
5th: Mike Barnes, Mackinaw, Ill., five bass, 12-11, $1,011
6th: Eric Poindexter, Eufaula, Okla., five bass, 11-7, $651
7th: David McCormick, Lees Summit, Mo., five bass, 11-5, $592
8th: Stan Tucker, Festus, Mo., three bass, 11-3, $533
9th: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 11-2, $444
9th: Mark Tucker, Kirkwood, Mo., three bass, 11-2, $444
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Thomas Rallo of Springfield, Missouri, brought a 5-pound, 15-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $455.
Dennis Meyer of Ballwin, Missouri, won the Co-angler Division and $2,204 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Dennis Meyer, Ballwin, Mo., four bass, 12-10, $2,204
2nd: Kelly Nunn, Urbana, Mo., five bass, 12-9, $888
3rd: Larry Rothweil, Saint Charles, Mo., five bass, 12-7, $592
4th: Gary Martin, Gladstone, Mo., four bass, 10-15, $415
5th: Kyle Anderson, Foley, Mo., four bass, 8-5, $355
6th: Cullen Baxter, Columbia, Mo., three bass, 6-12, $376
7th: Joseph Lay, Gardner, Kan., two bass, 6-8, $296
8th: Spencer Clark, Maryland Heights, Mo., two bass, 6-3, $267
9th: Trey Schroeder, Crestwood, Mo., three bass, 5-12, $237
10th: Carl Breeden, Valley Park, Mo., two bass, 5-5, $207
Meyer also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $227.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
2019 Big Bass Tour Schedule Released
Courtesy of Big Bass Tour
The Big Bass Tour is excited to announce the 2019 schedule for the Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Big Bass Tour. The 2019 tournament schedule will feature over $1.4 million in guaranteed prizes and payouts with tournaments in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Early entry rod promo will be provided to the first 250 three day entrants at our nine three day events and to the first 250 two day entrants at our two day events. One day entry fee is $110, two day entry fee is $160, and three day entry is $240.
Harris Chain of Lakes, Florida (Three Day Event) - February 15-17, 2019
Lake Conroe, Texas (Three Day Event) - March 1-3, 2019
Table Rock Lake, Missouri (Three Day Event) - April 5-7, 2019
Lake Norman, North Carolina (Three Day Event) - April 12-14, 2019
Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia (Three Day Event) - April 26-28, 2019
Lake Murray, South Carolina (Three Day Event) - May 3-5, 2019
Chickamauga Lake, Tennessee (Three Day Event) - May 17-19, 2019
Lake Dardanelle, Arkansas (Two Day Event) June 1-2, 2019
Douglas Lake, Tennessee (Three Day Event) September 27-29, 2019
Guntersville Lake, Alabama (Three Day Event) October 11-13, 2019
Clarks Hill Lake, Georgia (Two Day Event) October 19-20, 2019
The Big Bass Tour is the nation’s premier amateur big bass tournament series. Established in 2010 our Tour is focused on the promotion of bass fishing and bass conservation at the grass roots level through our tournament events.
For more information regarding our tournament events please visit www.bigbasstour.com or call (877) 958-8687.
Online registration for our 2019 tournaments will open on November 1, 2018 at 8am CST.
AC Insider - ICAST Edition - Part 2 - The Finale.....
The boys wrap up ICAST Week with part 2 of their coverage of the annual industry trade show. Manufacturer Interviews, Pro Interviews and more along with FLW News and the release of their schedule and the boys talk a little rumor mill brewing in the industry without naming names of course but you'll find out soon enough.... Check it out as we wrap up ICAST 2018.
FLW ANNOUNCES 2019 FLW TOUR SCHEDULE, RULE CHANGES, MARSHAL PROGRAM
ORLANDO, Fla. (July 12, 2018) – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced today its schedule and a key rule change for the 2019 FLW Tour season at a live press event held at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST). Starting in 2019, the longstanding FLW Tour co-angler program will be replaced with a new FLW Tour Marshal program.
The change enhances opportunities for the sport’s top pros and creates new opportunities for marshals while allowing FLW to continue as the leading organization for co-anglers with co-angler awards topping $3.9 million in 144 tournaments. The Costa FLW Series and the T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) along with their respective championships will continue to offer payouts of up to $32,000 and $60,000, respectively, for co-anglers.
“Co-anglers are incredibly important to FLW – so important that we first coined the term ‘co-angler’ in 1999 because ‘amateur’ and ‘non-boater’ did not adequately describe the quality of angler fishing from the back of the boat in FLW tournaments,” said Kathy Fennel, FLW President of Operations. “It is an apprenticeship like no other. But times have changed, and the co-angler program is no longer the stepping stone to the professional ranks that it once was.
“Anglers with professional aspirations are now starting in our High School Fishing program and continuing through FLW College Fishing. The majority of FLW Tour co-anglers fish other FLW circuits, and most only fish one or two FLW Tour events a season. Going forward, FLW will continue to provide the very best opportunities for co-anglers while expanding our offerings to include the new FLW Tour Marshal program.”
The FLW Tour Marshal program will provide the same learning opportunities that the co-angler program offered, along with the opportunity to win cash and a new Ranger Z518C powered by a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard, without impacting the outcome of the tournament. Each Marshal will attend a VIP dinner and seminar with select FLW Tour pros on the Wednesday before each tournament, plus get behind-the-scenes access to the biggest events in bass fishing. They will receive exclusive FLW clothing and play a vital role in live coverage of each FLW Tour event.
Marshals will be eligible for a top cash award of $2,500 at each regular-season FLW Tour stop based on the combined weight of the pros they are randomly paired with. Marshals will also receive one entry into an exclusive Ranger Z518C giveaway for each day they complete. One lucky marshal will be randomly selected to win the new boat after the season concludes.
The 2019 FLW Tour features seven regular-season tournaments and the Forrest Wood Cup. Each tournament is streamed on FLW Live and broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network and the World Fishing Network, showcasing the best bass anglers in the world competing in the sport’s most competitive circuit.
2019 FLW Tour Regular-Season Schedule:
- January 10-13 Sam Rayburn Reservoir Brookeland, Texas
Hosted by the Jasper County Development District
- February 7-10 Lake Toho Kissimmee, Fla.
Hosted by Experience Kissimmee and Experience Kissimmee/Kissimmee Sports.
- March 7-10 Lake Seminole Bainbridge, Ga.
Hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau
- March 28-31 Grand Lake Grove, Okla.
Hosted by the City of Grove and Cherokee Casino Grove
- April 11-14 Cherokee Lake Jefferson City, Tenn.
Hosted by the Economic Development Alliance, Jefferson County
- May 2-5 Lake Chickamauga Dayton, Tenn.
Hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council
- June 27-30 Lake Champlain Plattsburgh, NY
Hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau
The full schedule and expected patterns/details for each fishery can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Along with the change from co-anglers to Marshals in 2019, the FLW Tour will also switch from a priority-entry system to a qualifying system with a 150-boat field starting with the 2020 season. This system will reward performance and ensure that the FLW Tour field does not balloon to 186-boats as it did in 2018.
The qualifying guidelines that will govern entry into the 2020 FLW Tour are:
- The top 100 pros based on average points from the 2018 and 2019 FLW Tour seasons requalify for the 2020 season.
- If a pro finishes outside of the top 100 but has previously earned an FLW Tour Angler of the Year or FLW Cup championship (as a pro) he or she will be granted a one-year exemption.
- Pros who earn entry upon exemption must finish in the top 100 to requalify.
- The top five pros based on the final point standings in each U.S. division of the 2019 Costa FLW Series.
- If a top-five pro declines his or her bid into the 2020 FLW Tour, the next eligible pro will qualify. This process will continue through the top 10 pros in each U.S. division, after which eligibility reverts back to the FLW Tour.
- The 2019 TBF National Champion and the 2019 BFL All-American Champion in the boater divisions.
- If either angler declines his or her bid into the 2020 FLW Tour, the next eligible FLW Tour pro will qualify.
- 10 invitations will be issued based on:
- Two entries for the FLW Foundation.
- Eight entries for FLW sponsors.
- 13 at-large entries will be accepted based on the following entry priority:
- Ranger boat owners who fished the 2019 FLW Tour.
- All other pros who fished the 2019 FLW Tour but did not requalify.
As FLW transitions to its new qualifying system for the FLW Tour, pros who did not finish in the top 100 in 2018 will not be left out. They will have the opportunity to enter in 2019 based on the priority-entry guidelines published in the 2018 FLW Tour and FLW series rules. Qualification for 2020, however, will be based on the criteria outlined above. While the FLW Tour is moving to a 150-boat field in 2020, more than 150 boats will likely fish during the 2019 transition year. If that happens, additional places will be added to the payout at each FLW Tour event.
Along with the $125,000 paycheck that is awarded to FLW Tour winners, FLW will pay out at least $10,000 to pros down to 50th place with 51st through 60th place now paying $5,500. The entry fee is $35,000 for the season.
In FLW Tour competition anglers will compete for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The date and location for the 2019 Cup will be unveiled later this year.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Old Town® Unveils Radical New Topwater™ Fishing Kayak Series at ICAST 2018
Old Town provides kayak anglers with large fishing kayak performance in a compact, nimble format
Old Town, Maine (July 10, 2018) - Old Town is proud to unveil its all-new Topwater™ Series, which offers great Old Town performance in a compact, nimble format. A marriage of stability and performance, the Topwater—with the all-new ultra-stable DoubleU™ hull—quietly glides through any water condition while providing a stable, comfortable stand-up fishing platform. Equipped with thoughtful onboard tackle and rod management and a revolutionary universal transducer mount, even the most discriminating anglers will be impressed by the overall fishability of the new Topwater Series: paddle versions Topwater 106 and Topwater 120; and a pedal-driven model, the Topwater PDL.
Topwater PDL (Color: Photic)
“The growth and popularity of kayak fishing has brought many new companies into the marketplace but unfortunately we have seen a glut of poorly-made and engineered boats in the sub $1000 category,” says David Hadden, Brand Director, Johnson Outdoors Watercraft. “Our goal with the Topwater™ Series was to engineer a boat that gave a great on the water fishing experience, which would allow anglers to catch more fish and be more comfortable. We also wanted it to outperform other kayaks when not on the water and made it smaller in size and weight for easy transportation and storage. Too many of today’s stable fishing kayaks need a trailer to transport to your local boat launch. The small size and reduced weight of all models in the Topwater Series make car-topping realistic and negate the need for a kayak trailer.”
As participation in kayak fishing has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years, so too has the demand for myriad kayak choices. But, as Hadden points out, there’s been a deluge of subpar watercraft into the marketplace, price point boats that anglers quickly outgrow or become frustrated with from day one, never to kayak fish again. While many of these ‘yaks are compact, lightweight, and priced affordably, they fail miserably once you try to fish from them.
Ryan Lilly, Brand Manager, Johnson Outdoors Watercraft, offers: “The new Topwater Series is not only a natural choice for someone who is new to the sport or looking to upgrade from their first fishing kayak to something more comfortable with a rich feature set, it should also be considered by seasoned kayak anglers as a kayak worth adding to the quiver. It’s easy to maneuver and transport and boasts of great stability and many advanced features.”
Topwater 120 (Color: Boreal)
Topwater 106 (Color: First Light)
TOPWATER 106 & 120 FEATURES
- Ultra-stable DoubleU™ Hull design offers unmatched stability and precision handling in a compact easy-to-transport size. Sneak up on the fish in the quietest pontoon-style hull on the market.
- Revolutionary universal transducer mounting system makes mounting your favorite fish finder easier than ever before.
- Incredibly comfortable and breathable ElementAir™ seat with high/low positioning for all-day fishing comfort and breathability.
- An oversized stern tank well coupled with impressive hull capacity, provides one of the roomiest fishing kayaks on the market.
- Stay organized and easily access gear with three flush mount rod holders (one forward-facing) and thoughtfully-placed onboard rod and tackle storage.
- EVA foam deck pads for traction and all-day stand-up fishing comfort.
Topwater PDL (Color: Photic)
TOPWATER PDL FEATURES
- Maintenance-free, award-winning, forward/reverse PDL™ Drive with a patent-pending easy-docking system and best warranty in the industry. The Topwater PDL Drive version weighs a mere 18.5 lbs. and hits an impressive 5.5 MPHwith its efficient 10:1 gear ratio.
- Ultra-stable DoubleU™ Hull design offers unmatched stability and precision handling in a compact easy-to-transport size. Sneak up on the fish in the quietest pontoon-style hull on the market.
- Easy-to-operate rudder control knob for lowering/raising and turn-on-a-dime steering.
- Revolutionary universal transducer mounting system makes mounting your favorite fish finder easier than ever before.
- Incredibly comfortable and breathable ElementAir™ seat with high/low positioning for all-day fishing comfort and breathability. The PDL version utilizes Old Town’s unique slide-lock system, which slides forward or backward to dial in your perfect leg length for all-day pedaling. 21” seat width, 15” default seat height.
- An oversized stern tank well coupled with impressive hull capacity, provides one of the roomiest fishing kayaks on the market.
- Stay organized and easily access gear with three flush mount rod holders and thoughtfully-placed onboard rod and tackle storage.
- EVA foam deck pads for traction and all-day stand-up fishing comfort.
Topwater PDL (Color: First Light)
SPECIFICATIONS
Topwater 106 Specs
- Length: 10’ 6”
- Width: 34.5"
- Weight: 73 lbs.
- Capacity: 440 lbs.
MSRP: $899.99
Topwater 120 Specs
- Length: 12’
- Width: 33.5"
- Weight: 82 lbs.
- Capacity: 500 lbs.
MSRP: $999.99
Topwater PDL specifications
- Length: 10’ 6”
- Width: 36"
- Weight: 76 lbs. (under 100 lbs. w/PDL Drive)
- Bow Hatch: 16.5” x 10”
- Leg Length: 46”
- Capacity: 450 lbs.
MSRP: $1999.99
FREE FISH FINDER WITH PURCHASE!
If the above news wasn’t exciting enough, Old Town will be offering a FREE Humminbird fish finder with the purchase of any new Topwater Series fishing kayak from July 9th-September 28th, 2018. Customers who purchase an Old Town Topwater 106 or 120 and fill out the Topwater rebate form will receive a FREE Humminbird PiranhaMAX 4, a $99.99 value. Customers who purchase a Topwater PDL and fill out the Topwater rebate form will receive a FREE Humminbird Helix 5 CHIRP GPS, a $299.99 value!
*Customers must fill out the official rebate form between July 9th and September 28th, 2018, include a $9.95 money order for shipping and handling, and mail to the address at the bottom of the form. Redemption forms must include a copy of the itemized sales receipt for proof of purchase and be postmarked by 10/12/18. Limit one (1) submission per purchase. Other terms and conditions may apply. See the official rebate form for additional details at www.oldtowncanoe.com/topwater.
Like other Old Town fishing kayak models, the Topwater is infinitely customizable with rigging accessories from Cannon®, Scotty™, Railblaza®, YakAttack®, RAM®, and more. Launching at ICAST 2018 On the Water (July 10) and ICAST booth #622 on July 11, the Topwater Series will begin shipping to dealers in July 2018.
AC Insider Podcast - ICAST Edition - Part 1
In a special 2 part series this week, Chris & Jason talk about the newly released 2019 Bassmaster Elite Schedule, New Product Launches at ICAST and more as ICAST Week, The Fishing Industries Biggest Week, Kicks off in Orlando, Florida.
Humminbird® Gives Anglers Ability to Share AutoChart® Live Map Intelligence with New Service – AutoChart LiveShare
RACINE, Wis., July 10, 2018 – Today Humminbird® announces a new extension of its AutoChart® Live mapping capability – AutoChart LiveShare. LiveShare is a free online service that allows Humminbird users to download AutoChart Live mapping information from others and add it to their own map collection, as well as upload their own AutoChart Live sonar data to a global community. AutoChart LiveShare reinforces Humminbird’s commitment to providing enhanced mapping capabilities to anglers around the world.
Launched in 2015, AutoChart Live gives anglers the ability to map the depth, vegetation and changing bottom hardness of their favorite body of water. This data can be used to add details to existing LakeMaster® maps, or obtain information on bodies of water unavailable in the Humminbird LakeMaster collection. Until now, the only way anglers could share this valuable information was by physically copying the data from an AutoChart Zero Line Map Card. LiveShare changes this dramatically.
How it works is simple - Anglers go to the AutoChart LiveShare website – https://chartselect.humminbird.com/liveshare – and open a free account to gain access to the service. Choose to upload AutoChart Live map information from their Zero Line map card, or, select any available mapping data and move it to a Zero Line Map Card. This information can be used in AutoChart Live-compatible Humminbird fish finders, where anglers can target key depths or pair it with an i-Pilot® Link™-equipped Minn Kota® trolling motor to follow any depth contour line.
“AutoChart Live puts the power in anglers’ hands to map the depths of uncharted waters,” said Ray Schaffart, Humminbird brand manager. “Adding the capability to share this information with fellow anglers around the world creates a community that is the backbone to real-time map availability. It also makes our technology shareable among millions of Humminbird owners, whether they fish freshwater or saltwater.”
Anglers can easily create an AutoChart LiveShare account or, if they have a ChartSelect® account, they can sign in today. In order to utilize the LiveShare service, you must have a HELIX® 12, 10 or 9 model, a GPS-equipped HELIX 7/5 G2/G2N, or any SOLIX® or ONIX® model, along with an AutoChart Zero Line map card. For users that do not have a compatible unit, you can still participate by uploading Humminbird track files and viewing LiveShare information on the website.
For more information on Humminbird’s AutoChart LiveShare, visit Humminbird.com.
About Humminbird
JOHNSON OUTDOORS FISHING is comprised of the Minn Kota®, Cannon® and Humminbird® brands. Minn Kota® is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as a complete line of shallow water anchors, battery chargers and marine accessories. Humminbird® is a leading global innovator and manufacturer of marine electronics products including fish finders, multifunction displays, autopilots, ice flashers, and premium cartography products. Cannon® is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories.
Visit Humminbird at http://www.humminbird.com
JOHNSON OUTDOORS is a leading global outdoor recreation company that inspires more people to experience the awe of the great outdoors with innovative, top-quality products. The company designs, manufactures and markets a portfolio of winning, consumer-preferred brands across four categories: Watercraft, Fishing, Diving and Camping.
Visit Johnson Outdoors at www.johnsonoutdoors.com
2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule Highlighting a Western Swing and Three New Venues
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The New Gold Standard in Fluorocarbon - From Seaguar
Seaguar unveils Gold Label 100% fluorocarbon leader at ICAST 2018
New York, NY (July 9, 2018) - Fishing in saltwater is the ultimate test – of mental and physical toughness, and of tackle, from lure to rod and reel and everything in between. Oversized predators that swim in briny waters are experts at exploiting the weakest link in that long chain, in an effort to gain their freedom from an angler’s grasp. All too often, that inadequacy resides within the leader, linking the main line to an artificial or living bait, a leader that isn’t ready for what lies ahead.
But those days are over.
Seaguar, the world’s foremost authority and originators of 100% fluorocarbon fishing lines, is poised to introduce the thinnest, strongest leader material ever made. A leader with exceptional knot and tensile strength, complementing its innate abrasion resistance. A leader that is ready to withstand the rigors of saltwater predators and their unforgiving environment. A leader that will change the way you think about fluorocarbon
At ICAST 2018, Seaguar will unveil Gold Label.
Seaguar Gold Label is designed to exceed the expectations of the most demanding saltwater anglers. The first superlative you’ll notice with Gold Label is that this 100% fluorocarbon leader is exceptionally thin. Indeed, for any particular break test rating, Seaguar Gold Label is as much as 23% thinner than any other 100% fluorocarbon leader made by Seaguar.
Why does using the thinnest diameter in a 100% fluorocarbon leader matter? Mark Davis, Seaguar pro angler and host of BigWater Adventures TV, encapsulates the advantages by noting that, “the thinnest diameter leader at any pound test rating means that with Gold Label, I can make extremely stealthy presentations without the leader impeding the bait’s natural action and bite-triggering abilities.” Baits rigged on Seaguar Gold Label will swim more naturally, triggering more bites and putting more fish in the box than ever before.
Don’t let Gold Label’s industry-leading thin diameters fool you; it retains the same legendary knot and tensile strength that characterizes Seaguar leaders. Davis remarks that, “knots that I tie with Gold Label cinch down like a dream. I typically tie FG knots for my braid-to-leader connections; because Gold Label is so thin and manageable, those knots are easier to tie than ever. They are incredibly compact and bullet-proof. And the Palomar knots that I use for lures – they are 100% reliable.” Gold Label’s high tensile strength means that the leader won’t fail when put under extreme stress, like a powerful hookset into a bony mouth, or a short-range battle with a finned opponent. “You’ve seen what happens when a big predator fish is boatside, especially on relatively light tackle: pandemonium! With Gold Label, I already know how the battle is going to end: with that fish, and all of its attitude, on board.”
Each of these Gold Label advantages complements the well-established benefits of 100% fluorocarbon leaders, attributes that result in more strikes and more fish landed. Fluorocarbon is far more abrasion-resistant than monofilament leaders, incredibly important when pulling fish out of reefs, wrecks, rocks, and dock pilings. In addition, fluorocarbon leaders are virtually invisible beneath the surface, a result of the leader’s index of refraction which nearly matches that of water. Davis notes that, “with Gold Label, the visibility is even lower than that of other fluorocarbon leaders, simply because Gold Label is so much thinner. That’s a game-changer!”
Gold Label’s paradigm-shifting characteristics are made possible because Seaguar, the originators of fluorocarbon fishing lines, is still the only company that completely controls every aspect of fluorocarbon line production, from resin development and preparation to extrusion, winding and packaging. Indeed, Gold Label is prepared using Seaguar’s proprietary co-extrusion method that yields a unique Double-Structure leader. This exclusive process unites two different fluorocarbon resins: a strong, sensitive fluorocarbon core and a soft, supple, fluorocarbon exterior, into the finest leader available, one that has earned the title of Gold Label. This is not hype or hyperbole; it’s science and fact.
Seaguar Gold Label will be released in six versatile pound test ratings, ranging from 15 lb test to 40 lb test, on 25 yard spools. Look for Seaguar Gold Label on shelves in early 2019 with MSRP $18.99-34.99 depending on pound test.
Mark Davis concludes by noting that, “big fish aren’t lost, they are given away. With Gold Label, I’m not giving those memory-makers away; I’m turning them into TV stars instead.” Seaguar Gold Label sets the new standard in premium 100% fluorocarbon leaders – fish it once, and you’ll understand why Seaguar Gold Label is Always The Best!
About Seaguar Fishing Lines
As the inventors of fluorocarbon fishing lines in 1971, Seaguar has played a prominent role in the advancement of technologies to improve the performance of lines and leader materials for both fresh and saltwater anglers. Seaguar is the only manufacturer of fluorocarbon fishing lines that produces its own resins and controls the manufacturing process from start to finished product. Today, Seaguar is the #1 brand of fluorocarbon lines and offers a full spectrum of premium products including fluorocarbon mainlines and leader material, fly tippet and leaders, 8-strand and 16-strand braid and monofilament fishing lines.
Minn Kota® Launches New Trolling Motors with Built-In MEGA Down Imaging™
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Pickwick Lake Announced As The Site For 2018 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship
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Roller-Coaster
Luke Estel
Just when you think you have it all figured out, reality sets in and it feels like you are going back to square one. Tournament fishing for most of us is like that. We are on a roll and then, BAM, it’s over. There was a point in my so called career where I had it figured out on my home lake. Cashing checks and winning every now and then was the norm. Now, it seems like I couldn’t even catch a fish in a pay lake. Times change, fish move, fishermen become better, old honey holes no longer produce, and so on. So the million dollar question is this, “How do I get out of this slump?” I don’t have all the answers but I do have a few suggestions on how I have handled it.
First off, do not think you are invincible. Yes, confidence is key but there are wolves chasing you all the time and they are hungry. Realize that you have to adapt to either your lake or fishing pressure differently than you do now. Advancements in technology helps anglers become better in a short amount of time. It used to take years on the water, now it takes a week to figure out where they are. So, outsmart the competition. Try different approaches, and yes try to learn new techniques.
No excuses! The fish didn’t leave the lake. You may just be fishing it the wrong way. On my home lake the traditional brush piles that held good bass are no longer. We have grass growing in ten to twelve feet of water now so there is no reason for a bass to leave it. Last year I refused to believe that and got it handed to me over and over. This year I started out the same way and came in with a big fat 0 in the first event. I finally had enough and went out and did something different and guess what, I caught fish and ended up third. I fished grass edges with a Strike King Magnum Cut-R worm instead of going deep with a crankbait or big jig. I didn’t want to do it at first, but after two quick keepers in the boat, my mind quickly changed.
A fish’s brain is small. We obviously are much more intelligent than they are so why are we over complicating fishing? I tend to over think things too much when in reality it’s just a fish. I started fishing tournaments with two junky rods and a small tackle box full of worms and old crankbaits and caught them just as good as I do now. Just fish! It sounds dumb but that’s really all it is.
Start having fun again. I am a fierce competitor and hate losing but I started this whole tournament deal because I loved it. We tend to let that slip away over time. Start getting it back. Fish because you love it, not because you have to win a check. Things will slowly turn back around in your favor.
In my mind, my Uncle Paul is still one of the best fisherman I know. Now in his late 70’s he still does well in tournaments. He can’t read a graph, he doesn’t have the best boat, his hook set is worse than my daughters, but somehow always manages to catch them. And the answer is simple, he just goes fishing.
Tournament fishing is alike a roller-coaster. Ride the ups and downs and never give up. Make it fun again and go catch them.
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Matt Becker - 2018 FLW Rookie of the Year!
Vance McCullough / Photo Courtesy of FLW
“It was a cold 10-hour drive home from Cumberland Lake,” said Matt Becker. “I told myself ‘I’m never going to do that again’.” The eventual 2018 FLW Tour Rookie of the Year was facing the steep side of the learning curve.
With a 154th-place finish at Cumberland, Becker had dropped himself precipitously down the standings after having started strong. At the next stop on Smith Lake he showed the resilience needed to win a ROY title.
“I’m pretty proud of myself for that event. I figured it out as the tournament was going on and I made a Top 10. I learned from my mistakes at Cumberland – not adjusting – I made those adjustments at Smith and was able to dial it in.
“It was more a matter of changing with the weather conditions. At Cumberland I had a good practice and I got too dialed into a pattern and didn’t adjust quickly enough. And that really haunts me.”
By the time the Tour came to his region for the finale on Lake St Clair Becker had all but put the ROY award out of his mind. “It was the goal going into the season but, just being the realist I am, after a couple of bad tournaments I kind of figured it was out of the question so I wasn’t thinking a whole lot about it going into the last tournament I was more focused on qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup, but I managed to do all of it.”
Becker knew he would need help to win ROY. “The leader, Sheldon Collings was going to have to stumble. When he came in with a light bag the first day that’s when it finally hit me that it was even possible. Day 2 is a day I will never forget. I got out there and the wind was calm, it was a beautiful morning. I got to catching fish right away. I caught enough to seal up Rookie of the Year, a check in the tournament and to make the Cup in the first hour. It was an extremely relaxed day.”
Becker caught his St Clair fish a couple miles out in the lake. They were on a mayfly hatch and he tossed a Keitech swimbait on a dropshot rig to catch them.
Becker had to fight off some self-doubt during his rookie season. “Looking back now I can see some turning points that made my year. On Kentucky Lake I struggled the first day – only caught one fish. The next day I had 4 pretty early and then went back to struggling again and the voices got to talking to me, said ‘hey, you’re gonna bomb this tournament. You’re gonna fall out of cup contention.’ All that stuff. Then late in the day I caught the big fish of the day, a 7-and-a-half-pounder. Which, now looking back, that bumped me up 40-something spots in the points. Without those points I wouldn’t have made the Cup. I wouldn’t have won Rookie of the Year.
“That single fish sticks out to me as a pretty important hookset this year.”
Success has come quickly for the 26-year-old from the Pittsburg, PA suburbs. “Last year was my first jump into the AAA level. I fished the Costa Series. That worked out well. I was Top 10 in the points so I was able to fish the Tour this year. That worked out pretty good so, hopefully, we’ve got a decent future ahead of us here.”
Winning ROY has given Becker some momentum which he hopes to ride into the Cup on l
Lake Ouachita next month. “It’s definitely a confidence booster. I’m feeling good heading into it. I’m fishing good right now. My mind is clear so hopefully we can keep it rolling at the Cup.”
Becker has never seen Lake Ouachita but he plans to make a scouting trip soon before it goes off limits. “I’ve never seen the lake. I haven’t even looked at it much on the map because I was more focused on qualifying than on doing research on it prior to making it so I’ve got some work to do the next couple of weeks.”
If Becker catches them on Ouachita he will likely do so with a Keitech swimbait, the lure he has leaned on most heavily this year. He has used different sizes of the lure on spinning gear and baitcasters. He has used it on everything from a dropshot to a quarter-ounce Bass Cave Custom Tackle jig head. “You can find them at BassCaveTackle.com. They have a very unique jig head with a screw lock on the hook shank so once you get the bait rigged on there it does not come off. It saves you time when you’re on the water.”
Becker also bragged on his Mercury Pro XS as an advantage he enjoyed on Tour. “It ran flawlessly all year, kept me fishing. I never had an issue with it. You’ve got to have confidence in your equipment like that.”
OSAGE BEACH’S SYKORA WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL OZARK DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON LAKE OF THE OZARKS
Dixon’s Fierce Takes Co-angler Title
WARSAW, Mo. (July 2, 2018) – Boater Marcus Sykora of Osage Beach, Missouri, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division tournament on Lake of the Ozarks – his 11th career BFL victory, third-most all-time. For his efforts, Sykora pocketed $4,871.
Sykora made a long run from takeoff to the Grand Glaize arm of the lake, near Osage Beach, and worked through brush piles in 10 to 15 feet of water to catch his fish. He said he rotated between a ½-ounce Davenport Special-colored Chompers Brush Jig with a Root Beer Green Flake-colored Chompers Double Tail Grub trailer, a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin Zoom Brush Hog and a Gizzard Shad-colored Sixth Sense Cloud 9 Series C15 crankbait.
“I fished the jig or the Brush Hog first and then ran the crankbait before I’d leave,” said Sykora, who earned his seventh career win on Lake of the Ozarks. “I threw the jig because there was a bream spawn going on and it looks similar to one, but sometimes they wanted something bulkier like the Brush Hog.”
Sykora said he caught 10 keepers throughout the day.
“I probably hit 50 or 60 different piles,” said Sykora. “That’s what made the crankbait good. I could fish faster and cover more water, especially after that long run. It was about 172 miles round trip, but it paid off.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 18-3, $4,871
2nd: Stan Tucker, Festus, Mo., five bass, 17-12, $1,935
3rd: Mark Tucker, Kirkwood, Mo., five bass, 17-11, $1,224
4th: Jamie Edge, Pittsburg, Mo., five bass, 17-5, $1,326
5th: Rob Bueltmann, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 16-11, $734
6th: Wesley Myers, Raytown, Mo., five bass, 16-4, $673
7th: Brian Hansen, Fenton, Mo., five bass, 16-0, $612
8th: Andre Dickneite, Freeburg, Mo., five bass, 15-14, $551
9th: Brad Jelinek, Deepwater, Mo., five bass, 15-9, $489
10th: Darrell Durham, Saint Peters, Mo., five bass, 15-7, $428
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Edge brought a 6-pound, 3-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $470.
Christopher Fierce of Dixon, Missouri, won the Co-angler Division and $1,835 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Christopher Fierce, Dixon, Mo., five bass, 15-8, $1,835
2nd: Spencer Clark, Maryland Heights, Mo., five bass, 15-7, $918
3rd: Lane Becker, Steelville, Mo., five bass, 14-13, $612
4th: Kit Lueg, Olathe, Kan., three bass, 12-14, $428
5th: Jared McBride, Rolla, Mo., five bass, 12-13, $367
6th: Walter Hammond, Lees Summit, Mo., four bass, 12-4, $336
7th: Bobby Dennison, St. Louis, Mo., three bass, 9-2, $306
8th: David Jones, Mackinaw, Ill., four bass, 8-6, $275
9th: William Hoffert, Columbia, Mo., two bass, 7-5, $229
9th: Tom Lloyd, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 7-5, $429
Steve Heitman of Osage Beach, Missouri, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $235.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
VIRGINIA’S BAKER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL SHENANDOAH DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON KERR LAKE
Maryland’s Kyte Grabs Co-angler Title
HENDERSON, N.C. (July 2, 2018) – Boater Ronnie Baker of Providence Forge, Virginia, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 14 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on Kerr Lake. Baker earned $4,479 for his win.
Baker spent his day in Nutbush Creek, fishing main-lake points in 12 to 16 feet of water. He said he rotated through 8 to 10 different points and caught five keepers.
“I didn’t get many bites. I knew eight of the points had bait on them, so I concentrated on those and caught a fish every hour and a half or so,” said Baker, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I spent two of my three practice days fishing shallow, but didn’t catch many quality-sized fish. On Friday, I stayed deep and had a couple quality bites. That told me what I needed to do to win.”
Baker said he primarily threw a custom ½-ounce green-pumpkin and purple-colored Surfside Bait & Tackle football-head jig. He also weighed one on an American Shad-colored Lucky Craft G Splash topwater bait.
“I fished the jig by hopping it a little bit, and they’d hit it when it was moving. The bites were so few and far between it was hard to get a rhythm going,” said Baker. “I did drift off and fish some floating docks and bream beds during lulls to make sure I wasn’t missing out on anything, but by the end of the day I was committed to the deep bite.
“The water was rough, but I didn’t have any dead fish penalties,” Baker went on to say. “It was like a washing machine out there, but my BassCat’s big livewell kept the fish alive and healthy.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Ronnie Baker, Providence Forge, Va., five bass, 14-1, $4,479
2nd: Rick Tilley, Moneta, Va., five bass, 13-10, $2,140
3rd: Martin Villa, Charlottesville, Va., five bass, 13-3, $1,726
4th: Steven Wiseman, Bryans Road, Md., five bass, 12-0, $1,098
5th: Rick McFaul, Phoenix, Md., five bass, 11-6, $856
6th: Jack Dice, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 11-3, $785
7th: Keith Joyce, Apex, N.C., four bass, 11-2, $713
8th: Jonathan Kelley, Old Forge, Pa., five bass, 10-12, $642
9th: K.C. Choosakul, Sandford, N.C., five bass, 10-11, $571
10th: Nicholas Bodsford, Bon Air, Va., five bass, 10-7, $499
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Jason Houchins of Clarksville, Virginia, brought a bass weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces, to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $605.
William Kyte of Waldorf, Maryland, won the Co-angler Division and $2,140 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: William Kyte, Waldorf, Md., five bass, five bass, 14-5, $2,140
2nd: Michael Trivette, Blackstone, Va., five bass, 10-4, $1,070
3rd: James Covington, Fredericksburg, Va., three bass, 9-14, $1,014
4th: Joshua Hertzog, Lititz, Pa., five bass, 9-11, $499
5th: Daryl Moody, Newport News, Va., four bass, 9-0, $428
6th: Cornell Badra, Clarksburg, Md., five bass, 8-11, $492
7th: Chris Whittaker, Waverly, Va., five bass, 8-6, $407
8th: Lucas Doucet, Lanham, Md., five bass, 7-11, $321
9th: David DeCiucis, Chester, Va., three bass, 7-8, $285
10th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., three bass, 7-1, $250
Covington caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds even. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $302.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Shenandoah Division tournament on Kerr Lake was hosted by the Vance County Department of Tourism.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
AC Insider: FLW AOY Mark Rose, Costa Pro Dylan Hays & Strike King Pro Brad Knight
FLW AOY Mark Rose along with Costa Pro Dylan Hays & LEws Pro Bad Knight Break down the St. Clair Small Slugfest that took over 97 pounds of smallmouth to win.
Knight talks about competition and Rose talks AOY, Fishing, Family and his Faith. All of this and more on the AC Insider Podcast!
Mustang Survival Tip of the Week
AnglersChannel.com's Chris Brown gives us a little tip that helps to keep him safe on the water each time he goes out.
Check it out and maybe you can add it into your routine.
Mark Rose - From the Banks of the Mississippi to Angler of the Year!
Vance McCullough
Photo Courtesy of FLW
“I’m a pretty simple guy,” says Mark Rose.
Indeed, the fire that drives the 2018 FLW Tour Angler of the Year differs from the motives of many Tour anglers.
Yet, Rose is a very motivated man.
“My motivation is for me to have a platform to share how much Jesus loves people.”
While he feels a great sense of accomplishment during, yet another, career-defining moment, Rose almost ducks when people throw accolades his way.
“I want the glory and all of that stuff to go to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to my sponsors and to my family.
“I don’t necessarily thrive off of big titles but I’m also smart enough to know that it’s a great accomplishment and it’s a hard one to achieve. I’m very thankful."
“I don’t downplay it in any way, I just want the notoriety to go toward my sponsors because, in the beginning, when I was just a redheaded kid on the banks of the Mississippi River wanting to quit my job and go make a living fishing, I had a long row to hoe.
“And I had a lot to learn. It took me being out here for a while to be able to learn and the only way you can be out here is with support. Support from the companies you work for, support from your family and, ultimately, support from God. He’s the one that made all these fish. He’s the one who gives us the ability to catch ‘em. He’s the one who provides our good health and everything else so that’s where I want all the praise to go to.”
Anything worth doing will involve challenges. Rose had his share this season. “A couple of things really stand out. After the second day at Kentucky Lake I had dug myself a big hole. It was a big challenge to come back and stay in contention for it. I was able to accomplish that.
“The next big challenge was to have a big lead going into the last tournament and have a lot of time off to think about it because it’s the time off that bothers you more than anything. When I’m fishing I just do my job. I like what I do. Go out there, let it unfold, read the water and let the outdoors instincts shine. But off the water, you start thinking. Your mind drifts. You think about a lot of things. So once I knew it was attainable, boy I really wanted to win it for all the people and the reasons I discussed earlier; really wanted to finish it.
“That makes you think. And I’m not a thinking type person. I’m more of an instinctive type fisherman.
“So, whenever you have a lot of time to sit back and think and try to come up with a strategy and crunch numbers and do all that – I don’t like that.”
But Rose did use the time off to build a winning game plan for the Tour finale on Lake St. Clair. “I didn’t have a real good strategy . . . well, I guess I did because I won, but I don’t know that I would do it again because it was a slugfest and I chose to play the numbers game and cull all day in an area that had a lot of fish, but they weren’t those big that a lot of people were catching. It almost cost me but it worked out.”
Some anglers dominate for a while on the strength of a hot lure or a weather pattern that continues to play to their advantage across the Tour schedule. Rose couldn’t do that on the diverse trail that was the 2018 FLW Tour. “I’m comfortable fishing for smallmouth, spotted bass, whether I have a spinning rod in my hand – whatever – I feel comfortable doing it. Now, the fish humble me all the time, but, I’m better than I was 20 years ago and I’m comfortable.
“This year there was no one bait or technique. One thing I can honestly say is we had the most versatile schedule we’ve ever had. Down south in the flat country on Okeechobee, and then we were in highland reservoirs, and then we were on river systems, we were in sort of a canyon-type lake at Cumberland, we were on the Great Lakes. We fished spotted bass. We fished largemouths. We fished prespawn. We fished postspawn. We fished during the spawn. All species. It was a versatile schedule.”
Extra challenge yields extra reward. “There is a sense of accomplishment. You feel like . . . I mean, my goodness on the FLW Tour we have 180 anglers, some of the best in the world, and to come out on top like that on such a versatile schedule, it is a sense of accomplishment. A lot of hard work has paid off.”
Silver linings this season included 3 tournaments in which Rose had found nothing solid in practice and had to “adjust on the fly. Those are difference-making type deals where, if you make the wrong decision, boy, you can bury yourself for the year real quick. In all 3 of those, I chose right.”
Even after the best possible outcome, the memory often seizes on an unfortunate event. Rose will never forget a heartbreaker he met briefly in Florida. “There was a memorable fish at the Harris Chain. It was a giant fish that broke my line. I finished 61stat Harris Chain. If that fish was 6 pounds, I would have finished 31stin that tournament with her. And it was a lot bigger than 6 pounds.
“Let’s just put that in perspective: had I caught that fish, I would have gone into the last tournament with a 94-point lead instead of a 64-point lead.”
But, Rose says, “It all worked out.”
Mark Daniels Jr. Cashes In At Bassmaster Elite At Lake Oahe
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Navico and C-MAP Announce Merger
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OKLAHOMA’S KIEFER HIGH SCHOOL WINS 2018 TBF/FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING WORLD FINALS ON PICKWICK LAKE
Courtesy of FLW Fishing
FLORENCE, Ala. (July 2, 2018) – Oklahoma’s Kiefer High School duo of Jeremy Tolle and Garrett Hale, both of Kiefer, Oklahoma, dominated the final round of the 2018 TBF Student Angler Federation High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake, Saturday, with a five-bass limit that weighed 23 pounds, 9 ounces. Edging their closest competitors by 3-11, the Kiefer High School juniors received a pair of $28,000 scholarships to Bethel University.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Tolle said.
“It’s great. I’ve never had anything this big,” added Hale.
Along with 347 other high school teams, Tolle and Hale competed for three qualifying days, which ran concurrently with the 2018 High School Fishing National Championship, won by South Carolina’s North Augusta Fishing Club. Thirty-one teams fished in Saturday’s final round, when all weights were zeroed.
The pathway to the final round was a roller-coaster ride for Tolle and Hale, but the latter said persistence and prudent planning proved essential to their success.
“The key was just staying with it,” Hale said. “We only had 13 pounds the first day. We came in with 9 the second day, and we had almost 18 the third day. We found our fish late in the day [on day three], but we stayed off of them because we knew they’d probably be back there. We came in today and caught all of our weight in an hour and a half to two hours.”
The winning limit included a 7-plus largemouth that won Big Bass honors. That bass was the winning team’s second fish of the day.
Tolle says he and his partner caught their fish in 20 to 25 feet of water on ledges with shell beds near the Pickwick Dam.
Their bait of choice was Tolle’s homemade 1-ounce brown/black football-head jig with a green pumpkin/purple twin-tail trailer. They committed to the heavy football jig because it allowed them to remain in contact with the bottom and create the kind of display that impressed big fish.
“It gets down, and it bounces off those rocks and helps get those fish to react to it,” Hale said. “You could tell when the fish were just starting to school up and get ready to feed because you’d barely feel them tap it – like they would barely have it on the edge of their lips. But when they would get schooled up, they would just hammer it. That 7-15 almost pulled the rod out of my hand.”
The top 10 teams at the TBF Student Angler Federation High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake finished:
1st: Kiefer High School, Kiefer, Okla. – Kyler McKie and Chad Champy, both of North Augusta, S.C., five bass, 23-9
2nd: Central High School, Martinsburg, Pa. – Gerald Brumbaugh and Hunter Klotz, both of Martinsburg, Pa., five bass, 19-14
3rd: Hardin County High School, Savannah, Tenn. – Cort Walker, Counce, Tenn., and Lawson Tilghman, Somerville, Tenn., five bass, 17-8
4th: Fannin County High School, Blue Ridge, Ga. – Luke McHan and Blake Cobb, both of Blue Ridge, Ga., five bass, 17-0
5th: Lawrence County High School, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. – Jerren Gieske and Austin Clanton, both of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 16-3
6th: Lawrence County High School, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. – Will Daniels and Kade Suratt, both of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 16-1
7th: Mansfield High School, Mansfield, Mo. – Dawson Barnett and Holden Dennis, both of Mansfield, Mo., five bass, 15-15
8th: Grand Rapids High School, Grand Rapids, Minn. – Easton Fothergill and Alex Timm, both of Grand Rapids, Minn., five bass, 15-8
9th: Danville Christian Academy, Danville, Ky. – Camden Slone, Danville, Ky., and Caleb Hurst, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 15-6
10th: Calloway County High School, Murray, Ky. – Andrew Douglas and Allen Mullins, both of Murray, Ky., five bass, 15-4
Complete results and photos will be posted at HighSchoolFishing.org.
The 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake, open to any High School Fishing team across the country, was a four-day event that saw the entire field of 348 teams compete for three days. The World Finals field was cut to just 31 for day four and the weights were zeroed with the winner determined by heaviest final-day weight. The largest High School Fishing Open event in the country lived up to the hype crushing records in attendance, number of contenders and participating states. More than $150,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded to the 348 teams from 35 states.
The 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing World Finals on Pickwick Lake was hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism Bureau.
For complete details and updated information visit HighSchoolFishing.org. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW/TBF High School Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
About The Bass Federation
The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.
SOUTH CAROLINA’S NORTH AUGUSTA FISHING TEAM WINS 2018 TBF/FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON PICKWICK LAKE
Courtesy of FLW Fishing
FLORENCE, Ala. (July 2, 2018) – The North Augusta Fishing Team duo of Kyler McKie and Chad Champy, both of North Augusta, South Carolina, entered the final day of the 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake with a slim lead of just 3 ounces, but after catching a limit of 19 pounds, 12 ounces the duo sealed the deal Saturday with a three-day total of 57-10. The win earned the North Augusta Team the title of National Champions, along with impressive trophies and $10,000 in scholarships ($5,000 each).
“I’m speechless; this probably won’t set in until I get home,” McKie said. “It’s an honor to win this.”
“We really wanted this so bad,” added Champy. “The past few years, Kyler has been working so hard for this, and I’m thankful that he chose me to come with him this year.”
The winners caught their fish on 1/2-ounce black shaky heads. They started day three with Zoom Magnum Trick Worms in plum and red bug, but made a key switch to end the day on a strong note.
“We changed our shaky-head worms later in the day to give the fish a different look,” Champy said. “We ended up catching two keepers to wind up with about 15 minutes left.”
The winners caught most of their fish on a small hump that rose to 9 feet under the surface, with a 30-foot drop-off on the river channel side.
A field of 232 teams competed in the event, which launched from McFarland Park in Florence.
The top 10 teams at the TBF/FLW High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake finished:
1st: North Augusta Fishing Team, North Augusta, S.C. – Kyler McKie and Chad Champy, both of North Augusta, S.C., 14 bass, 57-10, $10,000 Scholarship
2nd: George Rogers Clark High School, Winchester, Ky. – Hunter Redman and Avery Brown, both of Winchester, Ky., 15 bass, 57-6
3rd: Gordon Lee High School, Chickamauga, Ga. – Colby Chapman, Lafayette, Ga., and Will Smith, Chickamauga, Ga., 14 bass, 53-1
4th: Fannin County High School, Blue Ridge, Ga. – Luke McHan and Blake Cobb, both of Blue Ridge, Ga., 15 bass, 49-4
5th: Grand Rapids High School, Grand Rapids, Minn. – Easton Fothergill and Alex Timm, both of Grand Rapids, Minn., 15 bass, 48-11
6th: West Sabine High School, Pineland, Texas – Hunter Muncrief and Landon McCary, both of Pineland, Texas, 14 bass, 48-9
7th: Tennessee Student Angler Federation – Garrett Bartlett, New Market, Tenn., and Henry Bryan, Sevierville, Tenn., 13 bass, 41-13
8th: Obion County Central High School, Troy, Tenn. – Cody Gregory, Troy, Tenn., and Thomas Mathis, Union City, Tenn., 15 bass, 41-12
9th: McCracken County High School, Paducah, Ky. – James Harper Burkeen and Ethan Hayes, both of Paducah, Ky., 12 bass, 39-11
10th: Discovery Christian School, Florence, Miss. – Garrett McWilliams, Florence, Miss., and Addison Yates, Pearl, Miss., 11 bass, 33-5
Complete results and photos from the event can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake was a three-day event that saw the entire field of 232 teams compete for two days. The National Championship field was cut to the top 10 for day three and the winner was determined by heaviest three-day cumulative weight. Each member of the winning team received a $5,000 scholarship to the school of his or her choice. The tournament featured the top anglers from the 2018 TBF High School Fishing State Championships and Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open events.
The 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake was hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism Bureau.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW/TBF High School Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
GRIGSBY FINISHES STRONG TO WIN FLW TOUR ON LAKE ST. CLAIR PRESENTED BY MERCURY
Courtesy of FLW
Minnesota Pro Earns Second Career FLW Tour Victory, $125,000
DETROIT, Mich. (July 1, 2018) – FLW Tour pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minnesota, brought a five-bass limit of smallmouth weighing 26 pounds, 4 ounces to the scale Sunday to win the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury and the top prize of $125,000 – his second-career FLW Tour win. Grigsby’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 97-8 gave him the win by a 2-pound, 3-ounce margin over second-place angler Costa pro Dylan Hays of Sheridan, Arkansas, who weighed 20 bass for 95-5 to finish second and earn $30,200.
“I love this lake and today was one of those days that was just incredible,” said Grigsby, a five-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “I’m at a loss for words on how good the lake is fishing. Michigan is my home state, and I’ve been fishing here for 20 years. I’ve never seen it so good. The fishing has been phenomenal – it’s been a really special week.”
Grigsby caught his bass this week fishing an area he estimated as 1/8 of a mile stretch on the southern Canadian side of St. Clair that he had all to himself.
“I found this group of fish during practice and I knew after the first day that this was a really special spot,” Grigsby said. “It had all of the right ingredients – a ton of bait, grass patches, sand, and it was deep. It was loaded with fish. I was so disappointed yesterday when I only weighed in 21 pounds, and that’s just ridiculous.”
Grigsby credited three baits as being key for him this week – a Duo Realis Spinbait 80 spybait, a 4-inch green pumpkin and gold-colored Venom Lures Tube on a ¾ ounce Venom jig head, and a ¼-ounce black marabou hair jig.
“I only weighed in two fish on the hair jig, but they were key fish for me on Day Two when they weren’t biting the spybait,” Grigsby said. “The key for me was being able to adjust with the conditions. I couldn’t get bit on the spybait if it was rough, and I couldn’t get bit on a tube when it was slick. I had a combination of different baits for the conditions.”
Grigsby’s win highlights a season which saw his return to the FLW Tour and qualification for his first Forrest Wood Cup appearance since 2010 after a two-year stint on the Bassmaster Elite Series.
“To get this win is just awesome,” said Grigsby. “I’ve had to overcome a lot of my own demons. I’ve had such a bad last two years I didn’t even feel comfortable fishing anymore. I had no confidence. Coming back to the Tour – especially these last four events – I finally feel relaxed, comfortable and confident in my abilities as an angler. And now winning here just blows everything out of the water.”
The top 10 pros on Lake St. Clair finished:
1st: Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 20 bass, 97-8, $125,000
2nd: Costa pro Dylan Hays, Sheridan, Ark., 20 bass, 95-5, $30,200
3rd: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 20 bass, 92-5, $25,100
4th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 20 bass, 89-11, $20,000
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 87-13, $19,000
6th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 20 bass, 85-1, $18,000
7th: Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., 20 bass, 84-11, $17,000
8th: Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 20 bass, 82-14, $16,000
9th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 20 bass, 82-6, $15,500
10th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., 20 bass, 82-3, $14,000
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 50 bass weighing 211 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Sunday. All of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.
Mark Myers of Cedar Falls, Iowa, won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 4 ounces, followed by Billy Messer of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who finished in second place with 10 bass totaling 41-4, worth $7,550.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Aug. 8 from Noon-1 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury was more than $930,000. The tournament was hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission, Macomb County, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Authority and the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 10-12 hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field of 360 anglers competed in the two-day opening round. Co-angler competition concluded following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Mark Daniels Expands Lead At Bassmaster Elite Series Event On Lake Oahe
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Mark Daniels Jr. Slams Lake Oahe Smallmouth To Take Lead In Bassmaster Elite Event
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HAYS MOVES INTO LEAD, ROSE CLINCHES AOY TITLE AT FLW TOUR ON LAKE ST. CLAIR PRESENTED BY MERCURY
Final Day Showdown Looms at Smallmouth Smackdown
DETROIT, Mich. (June 30, 2018) – After catching the heaviest limit of what has already been a record-breaking event on Friday, Costa pro Dylan Hays of Sheridan, Arkansas, added another limit of smallmouth bass weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces, to move into the lead Saturday at the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury.
The field is now trimmed to the final 10 pros for Championship Sunday, and Hays (15 bass, 72-3) will start with a 15-ounce lead over second-place pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minnesota, (15 bass, 71-4) who led the first two days of competition. Also in striking distance in third place is the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup Champion, Brad Knight of Lancing, Tennessee, (15 bass, 70-6). Knight, who weighed in Saturday’s lone 25+ pound limit, has been sharing water with Hays throughout the week.
“We both found a pretty special area, and we’re having a lot of fun out there,” said Hays, who is fishing in his 14th career FLW Tour event. “Brad watched me catch them yesterday, and I watched him catch them today. I think it’s going to come down to whomever can catch 25 pounds tomorrow is going to win it.”
Hays said that the fishing was a little bit tougher Saturday, despite weighing his third-consecutive limit in excess of 22 pounds. On the first two days of competition he said he would catch 12 to 15 keepers each day and leave the area by 10:30 a.m. On Saturday he stayed in the area all day, but only managed a dozen keepers all day long.
“The biggest factor here has been trying to keep the smallmouth on,” Hays said. “They come up and jump, flip, windmill and somersault. I’ve lost my biggest fish every day this week and you can’t do that and win. But, luckily, there has been enough quality there to make up for it.
“It’s not one school of fish, but a bunch of little groups of fish,” Hays continued. “It really comes down to relocating them every day. Today, Brad found a school of 4- and 5-pounders. Yesterday, I found two key groups and had a big day.
“It’s nice to have a little cushion, but 15 ounces isn’t nothing here. I could catch 22 and Chad can catch 23, it’s no different. It’s all going to come down to who can get the best bite and put them in the boat.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake St. Clair are:
1st: Costa pro Dylan Hays, Sheridan, Ark., 15 bass, 72-3
2nd: Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 15 bass, 71-4
3rd: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 15 bass, 70-6
4th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 68-10
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 66-2
6th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 65-10
7th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 15 bass, 64-0
8th: Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., 15 bass, 63-11
9th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., 15 bass, 63-7
10th: Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 62-15
Finishing in 11h through 30th are:
11th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 62-6, $12,000
12th: Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 62-6, $12,000
13th: Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury, Odenville, Ala., 15 bass, 61-14, $12,000
14th: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 61-13, $12,000
15th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 15 bass, 61-10, $12,000
16th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 14 bass, 60-7, $12,000
17th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 59-14, $12,000
18th: Pennzoil Marine pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 59-13, $12,000
19th: Shane LeHew, Catawba, N.C., 15 bass, 59-10, $12,000
20th: Carl Jocumsen, Queensland, Australia, 15 bass, 59-4, $12,000
21st: Berkley pro Justin Atkins, Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 59-0, $10,000
22nd: Craig Rozema, Simpsonville, S.C., 15 bass, 58-8, $10,000
23rd: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 15 bass, 58-7, $10,000
24th: Clark Reehm, Elm Grove, La., 15 bass, 58-1, $10,000
25th: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 15 bass, 57-13, $10,000
26th: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 15 bass, 56-13, $10,000
27th: J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 56-9, $10,000
28th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 56-6, $10,000
29th: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 54-7, $10,000
30th: Jeff Dobson, Bartlesville, Okla., 15 bass, 54-2, $10,000
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 149 bass weighing 572 pounds, 15 ounces caught by pros Saturday, Twenty-nine of the final 30 pros were able to bring a five-bass limit to the scale.
Anglers were also vying for the prestigious 2018 FLW Tour Pennzoil Marine Angler of the Year (AOY) title that is determined by the most points accumulated over the seven Tour events in 2018.
For the first time in his career, General Tire pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, wrapped up the AOY title on Saturday. He narrowly edged out the 2015 AOY, pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Florida, by just 14 points in a tightly contested race that was too close to call until Martin’s 17th place finish today. Rose, who received $100,000 for the title, will also receive an automatic berth into the 2019 Forrest Wood Cup.
Pro Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pennsylvania, clinched the 2018 FLW Tour Rookie of the Year award Friday, which is awarded to the rookie pro angler who finishes the season with the highest point total.
Mark Myers of Cedar Falls, Iowa, won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 4 ounces, followed by Billy Messer of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who finished in second place with 10 bass totaling 41-4, worth $7,550.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable Angler of the Year (AOY) points in hopes of qualifying for the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2018 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 10-12 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field of 360 anglers competed in the two-day opening round. Co-angler competition concluded following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros now continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury is more than $930,000. The tournament is hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission, Macomb County, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Authority and the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The final 10 anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. EDT Sunday from the Lake St. Clair Metropark, located at 31300 Metro Parkway, in Harrison Township. Sunday’s weigh-in will also be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Sunday, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Lake St. Clair Metropark from noon to 4 p.m. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Aug. 8 from Noon-1 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Fritts Solves Lake Oahe Smallmouth Riddle For Day 1 Lead
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GRIGSBY IN CONTROL AFTER TWO DAYS AT FLW TOUR ON LAKE ST. CLAIR PRESENTED BY MERCURY
Fishery Sets New FLW Record – Two-Day Pro Total of 6,045 Pounds of Bass Shatters Previous Tour Record of 5,938
DETROIT, Mich. (June 29, 2018) – FLW Tour pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minnesota, brought another limit of smallmouth bass to the scale Friday – this one weighing 24 pounds, 4 ounces – to maintain his lead after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury. The 180-boat field is now cut to just the top 30, and Grigsby will start Saturday’s Day Three of competition with a slim 4-ounce lead over Costa pro Dylan Hays of Sheridan, Arkansas (49-13), who sits in second. Local ace Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan is in fourth place with 10 bass totaling 46-5.
“They weren’t acting the same as they were yesterday,” said Grigsby, who has nine previous FLW Tour top-10 finishes in his career. “The bait that was key for me yesterday didn’t work, so I grabbed another bait that I hadn’t thrown all week and started catching them on that. It was a smaller-profile, finesse-type bait. I’m kind of feeling like I’m one step ahead of the fish and I’m just rolling with whatever they tell me to throw.”
Grigsby said that he caught fish on four different baits throughout the day, but the fish that he weighed in came on just three. He had his day’s weight by 10 a.m. and spent the rest of the day looking to see if he could find any other areas near his on the southern section of Canadian waters. He said he was unable to find anything that was as good, but is confident that his area can hold up.
“It’s about a mile long, and no one else is fishing where I am,” Grigsby said. “There are a couple of sweet spots. Every time I go across one waypoint, it’s almost a guarantee that I catch one.
“I really wanted to make the Forrest Wood Cup, and about the only way that I was going to do that was to win here, so that was my goal,” Grigsby went on to say. “I thought that a 23-pound-a-day average would be enough to do it, and I’m ahead of that right now. I was really confident coming here that I could do it. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I’ve got two more days of fishing to go.”
The top 30 pros that made the first cut and will fish Saturday on Lake St. Clair are:
1st: Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn.., 10 bass, 50-1
2nd: Costa pro Dylan Hays, Sheridan, Ark., 10 bass, 49-13
3rd: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 10 bass, 46-9
4th: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 10 bass, 46-5
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 46-4
6th: Brad Knight, Lancing, Tenn., 10 bass, 45-1
7th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., 10 bass, 44-5
8th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 10 bass, 43-9
9th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 10 bass, 43-5
10th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 42-7
11th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 42-4
12th: Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury, Odenville, Ala., 10 bass, 42-3
13th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 42-1
14th: Carl Jocumsen, Queensland, Australia, 10 bass, 41-13
15th: Berkley pro Justin Atkins, Florence, Ala., 10 bass, 41-11
16th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 41-11
17th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 41-8
18th: Cody Hahner, Wausau, Wis., 10 bass, 41-8
19th: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 41-5
20th: Shane LeHew, Catawba, N.C., 10 bass, 41-5
21st: Pennzoil Marine pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 41-2
22nd: Zack Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 40-13
23rd: Jeff Dobson, Bartlesville, Okla., 10 bass, 40-4
24th: Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 10 bass, 40-3
25th: J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 40-1
26th: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 10 bass, 39-13
27th: Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 39-9
28th: Craig Rozema, Simpsonville, S.C., 10 bass, 39-5
29th: Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 10 bass, 39-4
30th: Clark Reehm, Elm Grove, La., 10 bass, 39-2
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Chandler earned Friday's $500 Simms Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a monster 6-pound, 10-ounce smallmouth bass.
Overall there were 842 bass weighing 3,011 pounds, 15 ounces, caught by 173 pros Friday. The catch included 162 five-bass limits. The pros’ two-day total catch of 6,045 pounds, 6 ounces is a new FLW Tour record, besting the previous record of 5,938 pounds, 12 ounces which occurred in a 2008 Tour-level event at the California Delta.
Mark Myers of Cedar Falls, Iowa, won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 4 ounces, followed by Billy Messer of Spartanburg, South Carolina, who finished in second place with 10 bass totaling 41-4, worth $7,550.
The top 10 Co-anglers finished:
1st: Mark Myers, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 10 bass, 42-4, $20,100
2nd: Billy Messer, Spartanburg, S.C., 10 bass, 41-4, $7,550
3rd: Jamie Jacobus, Johnstown, Ohio, 10 bass, 40-3, $5,000
4th: Cody Kelley, Portage, Mich., 10 bass, 40-0, $4,000
5th: Chad Smith, Minnetonka, Minn., 10 bass, 39-13, $3,000
6th: Jeff Baffa, Frankfort, Ill., 10 bass, 39-13, $2,500
7th: Keith Bridges, Mission Viejo, Calif., 10 bass, 39-5, $2,000
8th: Christopher Kanute, Clover, S.C., 10 bass, 37-13, $1,800
9th: Justin Drljaca, Nashotah, Wis., 10 bass, 37-8, $1,700
10th: Justin Mounce, Springdale, Ark., 10 bass, 37-6, $1,600
Stephen Crawley of Bush, Louisiana, earned $250 for the Simms Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division Friday with a 6-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth.
Overall there were 644 bass weighing 2,412 pounds, 12 ounces, caught by 165 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 122 five-bass limits.
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field of 360 anglers competed in the two-day opening round. Co-angler competition concluded following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury is more than $930,000. The tournament is hosted by the Detroit Sports Commission, Macomb County, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Authority and the Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2018 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 10-12 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. EDT each morning from the Lake St. Clair Metropark, located at 31300 Metro Parkway, in Harrison Township. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the park, beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, June 30-July 1, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Lake St. Clair Metropark from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the Lake St. Clair Metropark on Saturday, June 30 from 9-11 a.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1st and 2nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake St. Clair presented by Mercury will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) Aug. 8 from Noon-1 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
DUCE Fishing - Cliff Crochet Signature Rods Being Released at ICAST 2018
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