Pro Chris Huselton Wins Mr. Bass Of Arkansas Tournament #6 At Lake Ouachita!
Pro Money Winners:
1st – Chris Huselton – 9 – 16.45 lbs
2nd – Brent Toon – 6 – 16.06 lbs
3rd – Jason Lieblong – 5 – 15.87 lbs
1st place Big Bass, Day 1 = Jason Lieblong 3.93 lbs
1st place Big Bass, Day 2 = Brent Toon 4.84 lbs
For complete Pro results, click here.
Ontario's Johnston Wins Costa Flw Series Northern Division Finale
ONTARIO’S JOHNSTON WINS COSTA FLW SERIES NORTHERN DIVISION FINALE ON ONEIDA LAKE PRESENTED BY RANGER BOATS
Link to photo of winner Cory Johnston
BREWERTON, N.Y. (Aug. 20, 2016) – Cory Johnston of Cavan, Ontario, Canada, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Northern Division finale on Oneida Lake presented by Ranger Boats with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 4 ounces. For his win, Johnston took home $77,778, including a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“I spent the first two days of the tournament running shallow rock piles,†said Johnston, who was also crowned the 2016 Strike King Angler of the Year in the Costa FLW Series Northern Division. “I started on the east end of the lake and worked my way west, hitting about 20 isolated piles along the way.â€
Johnston said he used a bluegill-colored Jackall topwater bait to dissect his piles, but fan-casted a green-pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tube and a 4-inch green-pumpkin Yamamoto Baits Senko when the fish were spooked.
“My day started off kind of slow on Thursday,†said Johnston. “I caught a 3-pounder right off the bat, but had to run around to catch more. Before long, I caught a 4-pound largemouth and then filled out the rest of my limit with some good-sized smallmouth.
“I didn’t have a good fish in the boat until 8 a.m. on Day Two,†continued Johnston. “I caught a key largemouth off of a dock on a Punisher Lures jig, which really helped, and I ended up weighing four smallmouth alongside it.â€
On Day Three, Johnston said he switched tactics, opting to fish deeper using an umbrella rig with Electric Shad-colored Keitech Swimbaits.
“The wind picked up and the water was stained so I couldn’t see the rock piles,†said Johnston. “I concentrated on a weed flat, but returned to some piles when I went shallow. I probably hit 15 to 20 different areas throughout the day.â€
The Ontario pro went on to say that it was his largemouth catches that were crucial to his success.
“You don’t get a ton of largemouth here on Oneida, but when you do, they’re big ones,†said Johnston.
The top 10 pros on Oneida Lake were:
1st: Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 50-4, $77,778
2nd: Casey Smith, Macedon, N.Y., 15 bass, 46-1, $12,724
3rd: Ian Renfrew, Phoenix, N.Y., 14 bass, 44-14, $9,774
4th: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 44-12, $8,145
5th: Lawrence Mazur, East Aurora, N.Y., 14 bass, 44-3, $7,330
6th: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, 13 bass, 41-7, $6,516
7th: Ed Casey, Whiteford, Md., 13 bass, 41-5, $5,701
8th: Jim Vitaro, Wooster, Ohio, 13 bass, 38-13, $4,887
9th: Jason Shipton, Muncy, Pa., 11 bass, 35-12, $4,288
10th: Lucas McDaniel, Fishers, Ind., 11 bass, 34-3, $3,258
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Shipton caught a bass weighing 5 pounds even Thursday – the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $216.
Christopher Hall of South Abington Township, Pennsylvania, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard motor. Hall earned his win with a three-day total catch of 15 bass weighing 46 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers on Oneida Lake were:
1st: Christopher Hall, South Abington Township, Pa., 15 bass, 46-0, $27,000
2nd: Tyler Sheppard, Hermitage, Pa., 14 bass, 45-7, $4,212
3rd: Paul Kimball Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., 13 bass, 36-5, $3,289
4th: Tom Stark, Angola, Ind., 13 bass, 31-14, $2,878
5th: Christy Tiano, Hudson, N.Y., 11 bass, 29-1, $2,517
6th: Michael Bahnweg, Union Dale, Pa., nine bass, 28-10, $2,200
7th: Frank Miller, Berwick, Pa., nine bass, 26-13, $1,789
8th: Somang Kim, Lansdale, Pa., eight bass, 24-9, $1,439
9th: Alex Antipenko, Brooklyn, N.Y., eight bass, 21-15, $1,234
10th: Bill Valberg, London, Ontario, Canada, seven bass, 21-13, $1,028
Miller caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday, a bass weighing 4 pounds, 2 ounces that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $144.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2016 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 3-5 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
The Costa FLW Series on Oneida Lake presented by Ranger Boats was the third and final stop of 2016 in the Northern Division. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be a Southwestern Division event, held Sept. 29 - Oct. 1, on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. 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: @FLWFishing.
Hartley Wins First Bass Victory Of His Career In The Northern Open On The James River!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2016
Hartley Hoists The Northern Open Trophy At James River
RICHMOND, Va. — Charlie Hartley, a former competitor on the Bassmaster Elite Series, earned his first B.A.S.S. victory by enduring hot weather all week in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open at the James River.
The Grove, City, Ohio, angler clinched the pro division title by catching a 13-pound, 11-ounce limit during Saturday’s final round to finish with a three-day total of 41-13. Hartley received the top prize of a $45,000 Skeeter ZX200/Yamaha VF200LA rig and $6,699 in cash and qualified for the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro contingent upon him fishing the Northern Open finale at Lake Champlain in September.
Hartley said his final day went “very slow and tedious.” He recalled going an hour and a half without caching a fish, and his first keeper was only about 12 1/8 inches. The day got better — slowly. “There never was a flurry, or I was never thinking the day was going good,” he said. “I was actually frustrated.” With upgrades throughout the day, he eventually looked in his livewell and realized he had a good bag for as slow as the fishing had been.
His key lure for the week was a 7-inch ribbontail worm in a June bug color that he Texas-rigged with a 3/16-ounce weight pegged to a 4/0 Owner hook. Hartley targeted pilings, barges, concrete cover and cypress trees. “I fished 100 percent hard cover the whole tournament,” he said. Hartley caught all of his fish from 1 to 5 feet deep despite fishing in 90-degree weather every day.
Lure presentation was also crucial in the current. Hartley would pitch his worm behind the cover and let the current drift the worm back toward the front of the cover. Strikes would usually occur as the worm drifted to the front of his target. “It was really important to have that light weight so that the bait came by the fish the way they are used to seeing it flowing in the current,” he said.
Twenty-three-year-old Cody Pike of Powhatan, Va., finished as the pro division runner-up with 39-6. “I just started out running the low water, and I had one deep hole in a creek that had a bunch of wood, and the fish would just go to the shade there,” he said. He caught his limit each day in the hole using aringworm and a medium-depth diving crankbait.
The other Top 5 finishers in the pro division were David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., with 39-5, Matthew Sphar of North Java, N.Y with 39-4 and Brandon Palaniuk of Rathdrum, Idaho in fifth with 39-1.
High school senior Cody Bertrand of Dyer, Ind., and Francis Martin of North Chesterfield, Va., both finished with 24-8 in the co-angler division, but Bertrand won the division on a tie-breaker by having the heaviest single-day limit of 10-10. He earned the grand prize of a $30,000 Triton 179TrX/Mercury 115ELPT rig.
The Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award of $750 on the pro side went to Schoolcraft, Mich., angler Kendall Ulsh, who weighed in a 9-12 largemouth the first day. Earning the $250 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award on the co-angler side was Bertrand with a 7-15 largemouth.
George Yund of Glenmont, N.Y., received the Livingston Lures Leader Award of $250 for finishing as the top pro on Day 2. Francis Martin of North Chesterfield, Va., won the Livingston Lures gift pack worth $250 for finishing as the top co-angler on Day 2.
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Title Sponsor: Bass Pro Shops
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Premier Sponsors: Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird
2016 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens Series Supporting Sponsors: Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures, Lowrance
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, B.A.S.S. Nation, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
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Media Contact: Helen White, 205-313-0944, [email protected] or Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, [email protected].
Johnston Takes The Lead In Flw Costa Series Event
August 19, 2016 by Jody White
The second day of competition in the Costa FLW Series presented by Ranger Boats on Oneida Lake was a statement day from Cory Johnston. Johnston, looking to wrap up the Northern Division Angler of the Year title and a win, smashed 18-13 and moved from an ounce behind the leader to a full 2 pounds, 8 ounces ahead of the field.
“It started off slow, I never got a good fish until probably 8 o’clock,” says the Peterborough, Ontario, pro. “They weren’t biting well today, I need the sun and the calm. Most people want the wind to blow so they turn on out here, but I want it to be really tough on everybody because I think I figured out a method to catch them when it's really slick.”
Johnston says that he’s hitting upwards of 40 different spots per day, and isn’t afraid to stop on new water that looks good to test it out.
“I’m just running a bunch of isolated spots where there’s one or two fish,” says Johnston. “I’m fishing regular rock/weed transition stuff, anywhere from 12-feet deep right up to about a foot of water.”
Johnston and his brother Chris both made the top 10 to continue their recent streak of success, and even though they’ve never been on Oneida before things seem to be working out well.
“I’ve never been here before, but it sets up good for us. It fishes similar to a lot of stuff back home.”
Top 10 pros
1. Cory Johnston – Cavan, Ontario – 36-3 (10)
2. Kyle Weisenburger – Ottawa, Ohio – 33-11 (10)
3. Ian Renfrew – Phoenix, N.Y. – 33-10 (10)
4. Lawrence Mazur – East Aurora, N.Y. – 33-8 (10)
5. Jason Shipton – Muncy, Pa. – 33-3 (10)
6. Casey Smith – Macedon, N.Y. – 32-9 (10)
7. Lucas McDaniel – Fishers, Ind. – 32-5 (10)
8. Chris Johnston – Peterborough, Ontario – 31-7 (10)
9. Jim Vitaro – Wooster, Ohio – 31-5 (10)
10. Ed Casey – Whiteford, Md. – 30-11 (10)
Sheppard retains co-angler lead
After nearly lapping the field on day one, Tyler Sheppard had a tougher time on day two, but still managed to hold the lead despite weighing only four bass for 12-5 to bring his two-day total to 30-10.
“It was tough, I only had six or seven bites all day and I didn’t have a fish until about 11 o’clock,” says Shepard, who fishes at Slippery Rock University. “I think I established yesterday how to get some bigger bites, and I just ground it out. I’m not gonna change much tomorrow, it’s what I have confidence in at this point.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Tyler Sheppard – Hermitage, Pa. – 30-10 (9)
2. Christopher Hall – South Abington Township, Pa. – 29-15 (10)
3. Frank Miller – Berwick, Pa. – 26-13 (9)
4. Paul Kimball Jr. – Philadelphia, Pa. – 26-9 (10)
5. Somang Kim – Lansdale, Pa. – 24-9 (8)
6. Christy Tiano – Hudson, N.Y. – 24-7 (9)
7. Michael Bahnweg – Union Dale, Pa. – 22-5 (7)
8. Tom Stark – Angola, Ind. – 20-9 (8)
9. Alex Antipenko – Brooklyn, N.Y. – 19-9 (7)
10. Bill Valberg – London, Ont. – 19-8 (10)
Tournament Details
Format: All boaters and co-anglers will compete for two days. The top 10 boaters and co-anglers based on cumulative weight after two days of competition will advance to the third and final round, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative three-day weight.
Takeoff Time: 6:30 a.m. ET
Takeoff Location: Oneida Shores County Park, 9400 Bartell Road, Brewerton, N.Y. 13029
Weigh-In Time: 2:30 p.m. ET days one and two, 3:30 p.m. ET on day three
Weigh-In Location: Oneida Shores County Park on days one and two, day three at Walmart, 3018 East Ave, Central Square, N.Y. 13036
New Yorker Yund Takes Over Lead At Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open On James River
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Truckvault Adds Collegiate Angler Noah Pescitelli To It's Pro Staff
Follow TruckVault on social media, including Facebook at www.facebook.com/truckvault, Instagram at @truckvault_usa, Twitter at @TruckVault, and YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TruckVault.
Michael Hall Of Virginia Leads The Costa Flw Series Northern - 17.7 Pounds On Oneida
August 18, 2016 by Jody White
Day one of the Costa FLW Series presented by Ranger Boats showed off Oneida in every way possible. From perfect upstate New York weather to an abundance of feisty smallmouths, nearly everything came up roses. Early in weigh-in, Michael Hall of Annandale, Va., dropped 17 pounds, 7 ounces on the scale and he rode it all the way to the day one lead despite numerous challengers that fell just slightly short.
“I believe I’ve got a unique spot.”
Amid the dozen of shallow reefs and bars scattered over Oneida, veteran tournament angler and Potomac River guide Michael Hall says he’s got something special found.
On day one, Hall struck early in the day, and milked his area for a solid limit of smallmouths and one big largemouth for the lead.
“Before Monday (in practice), I was really struggling, and to be honest with you, I thought this was one of the toughest lakes I’ve ever fished,” says Hall. “But on Monday, I found something that was unique. It’s something I do on the Potomac River a lot, and I’m able to capitalize on it and it’s something a lot of people don’t do.”
Though Hall is understandably tight-lipped about his tactics, he’s focused on one primary spot or area, and says that keying in on subtle drops and variations is key.
Top 10 pros
1. Michael Hall – Annandale, Va. – 17-7 (5)
2. Zachary Cappon – Williamson, N.Y. – 17-6 (5)
2. Cory Johnston – Cavan, Ont. – 17-6 (5)
4. Kyle Weisenburger – Ottawa, Ohio – 17-5 (5)
5. Jeff Coble – Manson, N.C. – 17-2 (5)
6. Jason Shipton – Muncy – Pa. – 17-1 (5)
7. Jim Tutt – Longview, Texas – 16-15 (5)
8. Ed Casey – Whiteford, Md. – 16-13 (5)
8. Robert Grabow – Morgantown, W. Va. – 16-13 (5)
10. Bradley Staley – Pleasant Garden, N.C. – 16-12 (5)
Sheppard smashes 18-5 for co-angler lead
Tyler Sheppard of Hermitage, Pa., would be leading on the pro side if he was allowed to weigh there. After dropping 18 pounds, 5 ounces worth of smallmouths on the scale, Sheppard, who fished for Slippery Rock University in college, has a gigantic 2-pound lead over second place.
“We got a couple bites in the morning and then it kind of shut off for a bit,” says Sheppard, who fished behind Casey Smith. “It was kind of a grind for a while, but I caught them on pretty much everything from a drop-shot to a jig or a swimbait. I was just fortunate to be around some good fish.
“I live about an hour from Lake Erie, so smallmouth I’m used to, but I haven’t been here in a few years. Getting a bite early really helped out, so I was sure I was doing the right thing.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Tyler Sheppard – Hermitage, Pa. – 18-5 (5)
2. Michael Bahnweg – Union Dale, Pa. – 16-5 (5)
3. Christopher Hall – South Abington Township, Pa. – 15-12 (5)
4. Ryan Bowman – Seneca, S.C. – 15-11 (5)
5. Frank Miller – Berwick, Pa. – 15-6 (5)
6. Somang Kim – Lansdale, Pa. – 14-11 (5)
7. Christy Tiano – Hudson, N.Y. – 14-9 (5)
8. Bill Langille – Kent, Ohio – 14-5 (5)
9. Dean Meckes – Clayton, N.Y. – 13-10 (5)
10. Tom Stark – Angola, Ind. 13-8 (5)
Tournament Details
Format: All boaters and co-anglers will compete for two days. The top 10 boaters and co-anglers based on cumulative weight after two days of competition will advance to the third and final round, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative three-day weight.
Takeoff Time: 6:30 a.m. ET
Takeoff Location: Oneida Shores County Park, 9400 Bartell Road, Brewerton, N.Y. 13029
Weigh-In Time: 2:30 p.m. ET days one and two, 3:30 p.m. ET on day three
Weigh-In Location: Oneida Shores County Park on days one and two, day three at Walmart, 3018 East Ave, Central Square, N.Y. 13036
Chris Dillow Leads The Field After Day 1 Of The Bass Northern Open On The James River
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Mark Menendez Talks Lews Magnesium Pro Speed Spool
This week Elite Series Pro Mark Menendez talks about how the new Lews Magnesium Speed Spool Pro Reels and Speed Stick Rods have helped keep him in the game. Check these rods and reels out at your local Sportsmans Warehouse or here at SportsmansWarehouse.com
Hartley Wins Aba Ram Open Event On Neely Henry
Joe Hartley of Alexandria, Alabama won the American Bass Anglers Ram Truck Open Series AL North tournament, held August 13, 2016 on Neely Henry. Running out of Coosa Landing in Gadsden, Hartley caught five bass weighing 16.01 pounds. He anchored his bag with a 4.26-pound kicker. “I caught all of my fish today flipping a ½ ounce black and blue jig around docks. I was able to cull a little today but had all of my weight caught by 11 o’clock,” stated Hartley. He took home $5,000 for his victory, $1,000 from Mercury contingency, and a new Simms Challenger rain suit values at $400.
In second for the Boaters, Tim Hurst of Oxford, Alabama landed a five-bass tournament limit weighing 14.73 pounds with a 4.12-pound kicker. “I ran all over the river today. I started out shallow in the grass this morning and ended up in deeper water throwing a crankbait by the end of the day. It was a grind all day, I was able to cull a few times,” Hurst said. He collected $1,377 for the effort.
Adam Bain Pell City, Alabama took third for the Boaters with five bass weighing 13.75 pounds earning $918. “I just fished around shallow all day kind of junk fishing. I was lost a few fish that might have gave me the edge. I was at least able to cull a few times to get to my final weight,” stated Bain.
Finishing fourth, Cliff Williams of Jacksonville, Alabama landed a five-bass limit weighing 12.31 pounds including a 3.28-pound kicker.
Josh Bragg of Jacksonville, Alabama rounded out the top five Boaters with five bass weighing 12.16 pounds topped by a 3.77-pound kicker.
Big bass for the Boaters was caught by Tracy Robinson of Gadsden, Alabama that weighed 4.60 pounds.
He pocketed $620 for his efforts as well as a new Abu Garcia Revo XS for catching the biggest bass of the event on an Abu Garcia reel.
In the Co-Angler Division, Derek Lester of Hiram, Georgia won with three bass weighing 8.10 pounds. He sealed his victory with a 3-pound kicker to pocket a check for $1,730 and is also taking home a Simms Challenger rainsuit.
“I caught all of my fish early in the day using a black and blue jig. I was only able to cull twice throughout the day after that I only caught small fish,” Lester stated.
Taking second for the Co-Anglers, Randy Hobbs of Dawson, Alabama brought in a three-bass limit weighing 8.04 pounds collecting $575 for the effort. “I used a green pumpkin shaky head to catch my fish today. I was able to catch fish all day long and even got to cull a few times,” stated Hobbs.
Mike Bowers of Harriman, Tennessee placed third among the Co-Anglers with three bass weighing 6.89 pounds anchoring his catch with a 2.52-pound kicker to earn $383. “I caught all of my fish on a black and blue jig in about 3-4 feet of water. I had a rough day. I only had five bites all day and was not able to cull up,” said Bowers.
In fourth place among the Co-Anglers, Wayne Kilgore of Attalla, Alabama brought in three bass for 6.57 pounds.
Danny Moss of Glencoe, Alabama finished in fifth place with three bass at 6.47 pounds topped by a 3.59-pound kicker.
The biggest bass for the Co-Anglers was caught by Vernon Miller of Manchester, Georgia that weighed 3.92 pounds and pocketed $240.
Slated for October 1st and 2nd, the next divisional tournament will be held on Lake Guntersville out of Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, Alabama. At the end of the season, the best anglers from across the nation advance the 2017 Ray Scott Championship, slated for Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, TN in April of 2017.
For more information on this tournament, call Kristin Malott, tournament manager, at (256)771-3709 or ABA at (256)232-0406. On line, see www.ramopenseries.com .
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
Berkley Launches Team Red Program For High School And College Anglers
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Berkley® Launches Team Red Program |
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High School and College Anglers Encouraged to Sign Up
COLUMBIA, S.C. (August 17, 2016) - Recent years have seen high school and collegiate anglers boost their activity in tournament bass angling. To provide another opportunity for anglers at both levels to engage and win prizes, Berkley is launching Team Red. For more information anglers can visit www.teamred.berkley-fishing.com.
The program is open to high school and collegiate anglers to participate and win prizes as individuals and as a team.
 Student anglers are encouraged to join Berkley Team Red in order to earn prizes that further their fishing exploits. Coaches can participate as well, signing up their team to compete and participate in challenges will gain points for their team. It doesn't matter how anglers are affiliated with fishing. Whether a member on a team at school or part of a junior fishing league there's a place on Berkley Team Red foryou.
As a grand prize, fishing teams can win $4000 in fishing product from Berkley and/or Abu Garcia. All it takes is participating in challenges at www.teamred.berkley-fishing.com.
Individuals can also compete and earn points for themselves. Berkley has made it easy for teams and individuals alike to compete in a fun atmosphere.
Anglers simply sign up and start competing to beginning earning points and winning prizes. Challenges may be as easy as watching a video or answering a few basic questions. Anglers are able to upload their daily catch and connect with anglers across the country, making it a completely interactive program.
"This program worked so well in the High School ranks we've opened it up to the collegiate anglers," said Sarah Dawkins, Marketing Manager: Digital, Berkley Fishing. "It is a great opportunity for young anglers to engage in a community of like-minded folks while having a great time. They have a chance to win big for their school and program by capturing the top prize."
Enjoy fishing and improve angling skills by signing on with the brand that Catches More Fish - Berkley. Register today at www.teamred.berkley-fishing.com. |
About Pure Fishing, Inc.
Pure Fishing, Inc. is a leading global provider of fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels with a portfolio of brands that includes Abu Garcia®, All Star®, Berkley®, Chub™, Fenwick®, Gulp!®, Hardy & Greys™, Hodgman®, Johnson™, Mitchell®, PENN®, Pflueger®, Sébile®, Shakespeare®, SpiderWire®, Stren®, Trilene® and Ugly Stik®. Pure Fishing, Inc. operates in 22 countries with a dedicated workforce conversant in 28 languages. Pure Fishing, Inc., a part of Newell Brands' strong portfolio of well-known brands, is a leader in developing outdoor and active lifestyle products. Additional information can be found atwww.purefishing.com.
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South Africa Becomes Latest Country To Sanction Flw Tournaments
SOUTH AFRICA BECOMES LATEST COUNTRY TO SANCTION FLW TOURNAMENTS
WJ LINDEQUE CC SIGNS EXCLUSIVE LICENSING AGREEMENT TO RUN FLW BASS-FISHING TOURNAMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
MINNEAPOLIS (Aug. 17, 2016) – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, announced an exclusive licensing agreement with WJ Lindeque CC, of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, to begin sanctioning FLW bass-fishing tournaments in South Africa. The agreement was signed by FLW President of Operations Kathy Fennel and Hannes Lindeque, a managing member of WJ Lindeque CC.
South Africa will run a series of FLW tournaments that advance anglers, who are citizens of the host country, to the International Division at the Costa FLW Series Championship beginning in 2017. Two anglers will compete as pros, with FLW providing Ranger boats, and two will compete as co-anglers.
“I’m very excited to be part of such an internationally-focused tournament organization,†said Lindeque, who has competed in FLW tournaments in the United States. “I know that South Africa has some of the world’s best anglers and it is a dream come true to give them an opportunity to compete at a high level. I look forward to seeing how they fare at the Costa FLW Series Championship in 2017.â€
The top pro award at the Costa FLW Series Championship is $95,000, including a Ranger Z518C boat if the pro is Ranger Cup qualified, and the top co-angler award is a Ranger Z117 boat. The highest finishing pro from the International Division at the Costa FLW Series Championship will advance to the following year’s Forrest Wood Cup for the chance to compete on the sport’s biggest stage. FLW will also provide a Ranger boat for use in the Forrest Wood Cup.
South Africa is the fifth country to sign on for the international sanctioning program, joining Canada, South Korea, China, and Mexico.
"We are thrilled to add South Africa to our growing list of countries offering FLW events," said Kathy Fennel, FLW president of operations. "The global bass fishing community has embraced FLW as a unifying force as we strive to provide unsurpassed opportunities for anglers, fans and sponsors worldwide. South Africa has incredibly dedicated anglers that we are pleased to welcome into the FLW family."
Additional FLW qualifying tournaments in other countries are forthcoming. Watch FLWFishing.com for details.
Named after the founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW introduced its Fishing League Worldwide tagline in 2014 to better reflect its status as the world’s largest tournament fishing organization. In early 2015, FLW expanded its presence on the world stage with the introduction of a sanctioning program allowing international partners to license the iconic brand and run FLW tournaments abroad.
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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. 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: @FLWFishing.
Casey Wins Flw Bass Fishing League Northeast Division Event On Oneida Lake
MARYLAND’S CASEY WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE NORTHEAST DIVISION EVENT ON ONEIDA LAKE PRESENTED BY POWER-POLE
Hann wins co-angler title
BREWERTON, N.Y. (Aug. 15, 2016) – Ed Casey of Whiteford, Maryland, weighed a five bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Northeast Division tournament of 2016 on Oneida Lake presented by Power-Pole. For his efforts, Casey took home $6,009.
Casey said he spent his day fishing mid-lake shoals that had a lot of mussels and scattered grass on them.
“The shoals were good in practice so I went back there figuring they’d still be holding fish,†said Casey, who earned his second win in BFL competition. “I threw a drop-shot rig with a Baby Bass-colored Jackall Crosstail Shad and Dark Melon Goby-colored Strike King Coffee Tubes, and had a limit in the boat by 9 a.m.â€
Casey said that using baits with purple-fleck coloring was a crucial part of his success.
“I stayed out deep in 7 to 8 of water and worked my way toward shallow-water markers I call ‘cans’,†said Casey. “There was a lot of goby activity. If they were eating, I knew there were a lot of smallmouth bass in the area. I actually ended up weighing in four smallmouth.â€
With 25 minutes left to fish, Casey said he caught a 4-pound largemouth bass to seal the deal.
“I threw a swimjig to a grass bed and within two casts I had a 4-pounder,†said Casey. “I was fortunate to catch some nice fish.â€
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Ed Casey, Whiteford, Md., five bass, 18-4, $4,009 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., five bass, 17-13, $2,205
3rd: Kraig Kettelkamp, Clifton Springs, N.Y., five bass, 17-11, $1,336
4th: Robert Parmer, Linden, Pa., five bass, 17-1, $935
5th: Jamie Hartman, Bridgeport, N.Y., five bass, 17-0, $868
5th: George Hutchinson, Mullica Hill, N.J., five bass, 17-0, $768
7th: Ian Renfrew, Phoenix, N.Y., five bass, 16-7, $668
8th: Mark Schafer, Williamstown, N.J., five bass, 16-4, $601
9th: Joseph Amberg Jr., Hawley, Pa., five bass, 16-0, $535
10th: Roy Goodwin, Macedon, N.Y., five bass, 15-10, $468
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
John Lorenzo of Kane, Pennsylvania, caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $550.
Daniel Hann of Williamson, New York, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,005.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Daniel Hann, Williamson, N.Y., five bass, 16-11, $2,005
2nd: John Henning, Lansdale, Pa., five bass, 14-0, $1,002
3rd: Steve Cram, Williamstown, N.J., five bass, 13-6, $668
4th: Griffen Hurt, Bound Brook, N.J., five bass, 13-5, $468
5th: Joshua Hertzog, Lititz, Pa., five bass, 12-12, $401
6th: Bill Klaips, Shavertown, Pa., five bass, 12-10, $368
7th: Robert Hockley, Annville, Pa., four bass, 12-0, $317
7th: Travis Craig, Fairview, Pa., five bass, 12-0, $317
9th: Dylan Hartman, Lebanon, N.J., five bass, 11-12, $267
10th: Rebecca Diluzio, North East, Pa., four bass, 11-4, $234
Taurean Relyea of Fairport, New York, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 3 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $275.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 6-8 Regional Championship on Kerr Lake in Henderson, North Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
Mccord Wins Flw Bass Fishing League Illini Division Event On Rend Lake
KENTUCKY’S MCCORD WINS FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE ILLINI DIVISION EVENT ON REND LAKE PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS
Hill wins co-angler title
WHITTINGTON, Ill. (Aug. 15, 2016) – Neil McCord of West Frankfort, Kentucky, brought a five bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 10 ounces, to the scale Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division tournament of 2016 on Rend Lake presented by Navionics. McCord earned $5,917 for his win.
“I caught my fish on the upper end of the lake using a chartreuse-colored Lucky Craft BDS Crankbait,†said McCord, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “I probably hit three or four areas, and just kept going through them until I caught fish.â€
McCord said he primarily focused on rocks and ridges, but also targeted laydowns.
“It was slow in the morning, I didn’t catch my first keeper until noon,†said McCord. “I made multiple casts to the same areas and ended up with seven keepers by the end of the day.â€
McCord said his two heaviest fish came late in the day, just in time for weigh-in.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Neil McCord, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 17-10, $3,917 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Matt Jackson, Moweaqua, Ill., five bass, 15-8, $2,158
3rd: Larry Sisk, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 14-7, $1,307
4th: Brad Porter, Bluford, Ill., five bass, 14-1, $914
5th: Jeremy Mull, Chatham, Ill., five bass, 13-10, $883
6th: Larry Page, Mount Vernon, Ill., four bass, 13-1, $718
7th: Brian Gass, O’ Fallon, Ill., five bass, 12-6, $620
7th: Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 12-6, $920
9th: Dan Shoraga, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 12-2, $522
10th: Jerry Walker, Zeigler, Ill., five bass, 11-4, $457
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Patrick Odell of Windsor, Illinois, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $520.
Chad Hill of Marion, Illinois, weighed in four bass totaling 10 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $1,921.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chad Hill, Marion, Ill., four bass, 10-3, $1,921
2nd: Anthony Macon, Greenville, Ill., three bass, 6-7, $960
3rd: Kirk Jansen, Teutopolis, Ill., three bass, 6-5, $641
4th: Brian Lingle, Anna, Ill., three bass, 5-15, $448
5th: Tim Renth, Hoyleton, Ill., two bass, 5-8, $384
6th: Jordan Borgmann, Ashley, Ill., two bass, 5-5, $352
7th: Eugene Kim, Lindenhurst, Ill., three bass, 5-3, $520
8th: Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., two bass, 5-2, $288
9th: Jim Budde, Waterloo, Ill., three bass, 5-1, $306
10th: Kenny Hemmen, St. Louis, Mo., one bass, 4-7, $479
Hemmen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 7 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $255.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
Ranger Introduces New 1880Ms For Serious Anglers And Family Outings!
New for 2017: Ranger 1880MS Angler
Ranger Boats continues its rich tradition of innovative design and function with the introduction of the new 1880MS Angler. The unique versatility gives anglers a platform for hardcore fishing along with a wide-open layout for family outings.
Measuring 18 feet, 8 inches, with a 100-inch beam, the 1880MS is rated for 200 horsepower and available with a wide range of precision-matched, factory-rigged outboards. Designed for a variety of applications, the 1880MS is home to both southern bass fisheries and the big waters of the Great Lakes and upper Midwest.
“We have taken the proven 1880LS platform and improved it to give anglers a boat that continues to shine as a serious fishing rig, but includes more family friendly features for greater flexibility,” said Ranger Boats Director of Engineering Gary Howard. “The updated interior and addition of the rear jump seats in particular help this boat appeal to an even broader group of people.”
The new 1880MS includes many key features of Ranger’s popular Fisherman Series, renowned for big water capability and tournament inspired design. Features like a huge center rod locker, enormous front casting deck and an oversized, recirculating livewell. In addition, the bow of the boat features a new panel with tool holders, chrome cup holder and space to flush mount electronics up to 12 inches. A Minn Kota 70 Power Drive trolling motor also comes standard.
Storage is impressive throughout the boat, with areas tooled into the gunnels for even more room, plus a tackle storage system beneath the passenger's console. A gel-coat lined, insulated cooler has also been added to the front deck.
The custom driver’s console comes with a Lowrance Hook 5 CHIRP and features a full compliment of gauges and switches. Two foldable, rear jump seats provide additional seating with storage beneath. A full rear casting deck is created with the jump seats in the stowed position. The rear deck also offers additional storage complete with built-in rod holders located at the stern for hands-off fishing.
The new 1880MS also features Ranger’s exclusive Rite-Track KeelÃ’ for easier trolling and tracking. Anglers and families alike will appreciate the stainless steel boarding ladder and premium all-weather upholstery for comfort in a variety of conditions. The upholstery is further complemented by color-matched side panels flanking each side of the wide open cockpit, which also includes a removable snap-in carpet option for easy clean up and more versatility.
The new 1880MS is factory equipped with a custom Ranger Trial® trailer designed and built specifically to fit the boat’s hull for solid and easy towing. The Road Armor Equipped trailer offers LED lights, aluminum wheels, COOL Hub® lubrication system, torsion axle suspension and a locking, swing-away tongue with matching fiberglass fenders and a full-size spare. The durable Road Armor finish, designed to shield against rock chips, road debris and other hazards, helps retain higher resale value and peace of mind.
2017 RANGER 1880MS
Overall Hull Length: 18 feet, 8 inches
Beam: 100 inches
Maximum HP: 200
Inside Depth: 25 inches
Fuel Capacity: 34 gallons
Total Persons/Motor/Gear: 1,700 lbs.
Approx. Boat Weight: 1,960 lbs.
Trailer GVWR: CF4500
About Ranger Boats
Headquartered in Flippin, Ark., Ranger Boats is the nation's premier manufacturer of legendary fiberglass and aluminum fishing boats, which include series of bass, multi-species, fish 'n play, waterfowl utility and saltwater boats. 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.
Choosakul & Penhollow Win Cashion Rods Tournament On Falls Lake!
The Cashion Fishing Rods 'End of Year' Team Tournament Bass Fishing Trail Qualifier #3 at Falls Lake produced another good crowd with 37 teams showing up at the ramp. The weather for summer fishing was great.
The winds were light & variable, the air temps ranged from 74 to 89 and the water level was about normal pool
at 251.5'. Surface water temps averaged 85 warm degrees! Looks like the Summer fishing has set in for good
and the fishing has gotten a little tough! We did manage a few good bags in the heat, however!!
KC Choosakul & Tim Penhollow managed to catch 5 bass weighing 21.67 lbs to take 1st Place, 1st Place TWT
and 2nd Place Big Fish (5.81 lbs.) for a total of $1,817 in prize money!
Choosakul on left, Penhollow on right.
Coming in very close to 1st Place was the 2nd Place team of Robyn Cook and Owen Penhollow with 5 bass
weighing 21.33 lbs. They also won 2nd place TWT and 1st Place Big Fish (6.23 lbs.) to take home a total of
$1,321. The 3rd Place Team of Terry & Hunter Collins landed 5 bass weighing 18.93 lbs. and and won a total of
$444.
Kevin Farley & John Darr weighed in the smallest weight with 1 fish weighing 1.76 lbs. and won $100 in cash
compliments of Minn Kota sales & repair specialist Mark Nelson with
Triangle Trolling Motor in Raleigh.
Only 71 bass were brought to the scales for a total of 201 pounds averaging 2.3 lbs. each. Most were caught on
Carolina worm rigs, slow rolling spinnerbaits, crankbaits & jig combos in 9 to 20 feet of water.
I want to thank Cashion Fishing Rods and all the anglers that participated. Our next tournament will be the
2016 Cashion Fishing Rods 'End of Year' Team Tournament Bass Fishing Trail Qualifier #4 , Saturday August
20th at Kerr Lake out of Flemingtown Landing Wildlife Ramp. All the information on our tournaments can be
found http://piedmontbassclassics.com/
Now here are the full results:
1st Place: KC Choosakul & Tim Penhollow of Sanford & Mebane...5 bass...21.67 lbs...$1,006
2nd Place: Robyn Cook & Owen Penhollow of Raleigh & Durham...5 bass...21.33 lbs...$562
3rd Place: Terry & Hunter Collins of Sanford...5 bass...18.93 lbs...$444
4th Place: Tim Emory & Clay Livingston of Durham & Hurdle Mills...5 bass...14.46 lbs...$325
5th Place: Corey Linton & Marc Peck of Goldsboro...5 bass...13.87 lbs...$236
6th Place: Jeremy Martin & Charly Vaughn of Rougemont...5 bass...11.87 lbs...$207
7th Place: Allen White & Michael Vaughan of Clayton & Raleigh...2 bass...9.63 lbs...$180
1st Place Big Fish: 2nd Place Team above...6.23 lbs...$504
2nd Place Big Fish: 1st Place Team above...4.78 lbs...$216
1st Place TWT: 1st Place Team above: 21.67 lbs...$595
2nd Place TWT: 2nd Place Team above: 21.33 lbs...$255
Lucas Goes Wire-To-Wire For Potomac River Win!!!!
Lucas Beats The Heat For Wire-To-Wire Bassmaster Victory On The Potomac River
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. — If professional bass fishing fans didn’t know it before, they know it now.
Justin Lucas is a force to be reckoned with — and it doesn’t matter which coast he’s fishing on.
The California native, who now lives in Alabama, caught five bass Sunday that weighed 19-13 to win the Bassmaster Elite at Potomac River presented by Econo Lodge. His four-day total of 72-14 was more than 4 pounds better than second-place angler Jason Christie (68-7), who finished strong himself with 23-1 Sunday.
It was Lucas’s second career victory on the Bassmaster Elite Series and the first away from his native West Coast waters. The 30-year-old pro picked up his first win last season on the Sacramento River.
“I think I proved to other people — and to myself — what I can do outside my home state,” Lucas said. “I’ve never won out of state before. That makes this one different for me, and it means a lot.”
Lucas won the event by finding and exploiting the kind of spot all tournament anglers dream of.
It was a long parking dock adjacent to a water treatment plant on the upper end of the river. The water was 5 to 8 feet deep, and the dock had aquatic grass growing all around its edges.
Instead of flipping a jig or skipping a soft-plastic bait under the dock like many anglers would in that situation, Lucas went with a drop shot rig — and he said that made all the difference.
“I don’t think the fish under that dock had ever seen a drop shot before,” Lucas said. “They’re used to seeing a bait hit the water and then fall all the way to the bottom. But that drop shot stays right in their face, and it worked all week.”
Lucas spent a little time fishing a stickbait and a swim jig. But his main technique was the drop shot rig with a 6-inch hand-poured worm in a purple and brown combo.
He fished the rig on a 7-foot-6 medium-heavy Veracity Abu Garcia spinning rod and an Abu Garcia Revo MGX size 30 reel. There were times when he also used the Revo Premiere size 30 reel.
His line choice was particularly important.
“I used 10-pound braid with a 10-pound Berkley Trilene leader,” Lucas said. “I wanted to use the largest line I could get away with on a spinning reel.”
He said the water was too deep under the dock for a standard baitcaster.
“You would have spent too much time pulling line out with a baitcaster just trying to get the rig to the bottom,” Lucas said. “It was so much easier to pitch in there with a spinning reel.”
Lucas insisted he found the spot by accident on the first day of competition after failing to get a bite there during practice.
He knew there was a discharge at the water treatment plant, and he was hoping it would produce a few fish early. After catching a couple of smaller fish from that area, he decided to pitch the drop shot under the dock.
“I caught two 3-pounders, and that told me the fish were there,” Lucas said. “So many things worked in my favor.”
Lucas said he was amazed the dock never received any pressure from anyone else, and he thanked the anglers from Maryland and Virginia for giving him plenty of space.
“This is not like a secret spot,” he said. “It’s the community hole of all community holes. So it still just amazes me that no one else fished it.
“The people here are awesome.”
The biggest key to his week, Lucas said, might have been that he had nowhere else to go.
“I didn’t have a plan B,” he said. “If I had been forced to go to plan B, I would have been running all over the place.”
The dock produced 20-4 on Day 1, 19-14 on Day 2, 12-15 on Day 3 and 19-13 on Day 4.
“I went there originally looking for two or three keeper bites,” Lucas said. “But it ended up being the best spot I’ve ever found in my tournament career.”
Brent Ehrler (62-12), Bill Lowen (61-0) and Andy Montgomery (59-12) rounded out the Top 5. Alabama pro Gerald Swindle (53-6) finished 10th and maintained a 37-point lead over Keith Combs in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.
Swindle was awarded $1,000 for leading the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race at the end of the event.
Lowen earned the Power-Pole Captain’s Cash award of $1,000 for being the highest-placing angler who is registered and eligible and uses a client-approved product on his boat.
Lucas earned the Livingston Lures Leader Award of $500 for leading on the second day.
Lucas also won the Toyota Bonus Bucks Award of $3,000 for being the highest-placing eligible entrant in the program. The second-highest-placing eligible entrant, Jason Christie, received $2,000.
The Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award of $1,500 was presented to Cliff Pirch for weighing in the overall biggest bass of the event — a 6-11 bass caught on Saturday.
Lucas earned the A.R.E. Top Angler Award of $1,000 for being the highest placing angler using A.R.E. products.
Dick Cepek Rolling Forward Award of $1,000 will be presented to the angler who makes the largest gain in Toyota Angler of the Year points from tournament to tournament.
Lucas Maintains Lead Heading Into Championship Sunday
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. — The heat is rising and his magical dock seems to be cooling off a little.
But despite catching only 12 pounds, 15 ounces during Saturday’s semifinal round, Alabama pro Justin Lucas is in position for a wire-to-wire win at the Bassmaster Elite at Potomac River presented by Econo Lodge.
Lucas’ Saturday catch — easily his smallest of the week — pushed his three-day total to 53-1. He will enter Championship Sunday with a lead of almost 6 pounds over Indiana pro Bill Lowen (47-3).
Both anglers were covered with sweat backstage after Saturday’s weigh-in, with the heat index rising above 112 degrees.
“I had 10 pounds for a long time today,” Lucas said. “I don’t know why things slowed down the way they did. But I’m very fortunate to be where I am with this kind of lead.
“This all started from Day 1 of the tournament. I had no idea what lived under that dock — never even had a bite there in practice.”
A California native, Lucas has been using the kind of finesse tactics that West Coast anglers are known for. He’s caught a couple of fish on a stickbait and a couple on a swim jig, but the majority have been caught on spinning tackle with a drop shot rig.
He’s fishing one back-channel dock on the upper end of the river. He said it’s 5 to 8 feet deep on the end, and aquatic grass grows right up to the edge of the dock. But because the dock is so low to the water, it creates enough shade to keep grass from growing under the dock.
“There’s a grassline right against the dock,” Lucas said. “There are old pilings all around there. Then there’s shade and current.”
The idea of pulling big bass from under docks on light spinning tackle would make some anglers nervous. But Lucas said he’s really only had one tense moment all week.
“The first morning, the second one I hooked was a 3 1/2-pounder, and I had it wrapped around one of the pilings for five minutes,” Lucas said. “I could still feel it pulling, and it finally just wedged its way out.”
Then Lucas learned the key to landing fish around the dock.
“Once I could see that there were these crossbars under the water, I never had another problem,” he said. “That second fish, I didn’t even know what I was throwing to. I was just throwing under the dock, and I just happened to throw over one of the crossbars.”
The dock surrendered 20-4 on Thursday and 19-14 on Friday. Despite the drop-off to 12-15 on today, Lucas said he still considers the spot the best he’s ever found during a tournament.
“It’s really the only time in my life that I’ve ever stumbled onto a hole like this where there were so many fish in one stretch — and I’ve had it to myself,” Lucas said. “These are the best locals I’ve ever seen. They’re keeping their distance — just really, really good guys.”
With nearly a 6-pound lead over Lowen, Lucas believes he needs to catch at least 12 pounds Sunday to secure the win.
Despite fishing what he described as the “hottest conditions he’s ever fished,” Lowen brought 16-0 to the scales Saturday to push his three-day total to 47-3. As usual, he’s fishing super shallow in a small canal that he said is “narrow enough to flip both sides.”
“It’s fun — I mean it is, but isn’t,” Lowen said of the heat. “I’m in a little tiny creek. I had about five bites in there in practice, and that was the best spot I had.
“I don’t know how many fish are left in there. I really don’t understand how there have been this many in there all week.”
The other anglers who qualified for Sunday’s Top 12 include : Brent Ehrler (45-9), Jason Christie (45-6), Keith Combs (45-1), Clifford Pirch (44-10), Andy Montgomery (44-7), Gerald Swindle (42-6), Brett Hite (41-13), Jordan Lee (41-11), Fred Roumbanis (41-8) and Randall Tharp (41-6).
Pirch took over the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass with a largemouth that weighed 6-11. Swindle maintained a comfortable lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
Sunday’s take-off will be at 6:15 a.m. ET from Smallwood State Park, and weigh-in will be at 3 p.m. at Indian Head Pavilion on the Village Green.
Lucas Maintains Lead After Day 2 On The Potomac
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. — Throughout his young professional fishing career, Alabama angler Justin Lucas says he’s never found a spot quite like the one he’s fished the first two days of the Bassmaster Elite at Potomac River presented by Econo Lodge.
The stats back up his claims.
Lucas caught the biggest limit of the tournament for the second day in a row Friday, landing five bass that weighed 19 pounds, 14 ounces. That catch pushed his two-day mark to 40-2 and gave him a comfortable lead of nearly 6 pounds over second-place angler Brent Ehrler (34-4) as the event heads into the semifinal round Saturday.
“I’ve fished tournaments for seven years, and I’ve never had a spot like this — especially to myself,” Lucas said. “The crazy thing is that I just stumbled into it. Yesterday morning, I had no clue. Then I got a couple of 3-pound bites early that clued me in on what was happening.”
Lucas estimates the stretch is no bigger than 300 to 400 yards long. But once he hits it just right, the bites come quickly.
“I didn’t get a bite on the first half of the pass I made on it today,” he said. “So I went around and went shallower for a little bit while the tide was pushed in. The wind had the tide pushed up.
“I wasted 45 minutes doing that. But then I went back to the sweet stretch — and within an hour, it seemed like I had 15 or 16 pounds.”
As he did on Thursday when the magic spot produced 20-4, Lucas spent more time guarding the area Friday than he did fishing it. But traffic hasn’t been much of an issue.
“One other competitor came to fish something just on the other end of where I was fishing,” Lucas said. “But there were no problems at all.”
Lucas said he only spent about three hours fishing because he wanted to save some of the 3-pounders that seem to be so numerous there.
With no pressure from other boats, he believes he should easily be able to land 15 or 16 pounds from the spot the next two days.
“I hope the local guys will be respectful, but obviously they can fish where they want,” Lucas said. “I think what I’m doing is different enough and off the beaten path enough that I should be OK.”
Lucas’ limit was anchored by a 5-8 largemouth Friday. It’s an ounce shy of the tournament big-bass mark of 5-9, set on Thursday, when Lucas and Luke Clausen each weighed in bass of that size. If no one catches a bigger bass by the end of the tournament, they will share in the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award.
Lucas’s closest competitor is Ehrler, a fellow California native who grew up fishing tidal waters just like Lucas. Ehrler caught 17-13 on Day 1 and added 16-7 Friday to push his two-day total to 34-4.
Ehrler came into this week’s event with loads of experience on the Potomac River from his time on the FLW Tour.
“It helps having the experience here,” Ehrler said. “I’ve fished this place about as many times as I have the California Delta at home.”
Like many anglers in the field, Ehrler is targeting the Potomac’s massive grassbeds.
“I’m fishing grass for the most part — some wood, but mostly grass,” he said. “That’s what everyone’s doing here. I’m throwing moving baits in some spots and flipping in some spots.”
Instead of looking for a certain tide, Ehrler is making his decisions based on what looks right at the time.
“In certain areas, even if it’s a certain tide, it’ll be a moving bait,” Ehrler said. “In other areas, on the same tide, I’ll be flipping. I’m just changing it up a little bit.
“I really have to base it on what I see in a particular spot.”
Behind Lucas and Ehrler are Jacob Powroznik (32-12), Jason Christie (31-7), Bill Lowen (31-3) and Gerald Swindle (30-5). Swindle maintained his spot in the Top 6 with today’s catch of 14-0 and kept a comfortable lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.
The tournament will resume Saturday with only the Top 50 remaining anglers taking part in the semifinal round. The take-off will be at 6:15 a.m. ET from Smallwood State Park. But unlike the past two days when the weigh-in was also held back at the park, Saturday’s weigh-in will be at 3 p.m. at Indian Head Pavilion on the Village Green.
Vandam Zero's, Lucas Takes The Early Lead In Potomac River Elite Event
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John Cox Winning Interview From The 2016 FLW Cup
John Cox of Florida is your 2016 FLW Forrest Wood Cup Winner. Vance McCullough talks to John after his win about his shallow water strategy and how he pulled off the win!
And Bass For All!
John Cox has made a successful professional fishing career out of a simple concept: lighten-up and go where others can’t so you can find cooperative, and often bigger, fish.
His choice is an aluminum boat made by Crestliner. At 20 feet in length the craft provides ample storage along with the length to span rough waves. It fishes a lot like a huge fiberglass boat only . . . different.
While Cox was winning the recent Forrest Wood Cup miles up a creek off the main body of Wheeler Lake, he crossed paths with a kayak angler. There was a big ‘yak tourney that reportedly offered a top prize of $4,000. Not the same as winning the Cup and the $300,000 paycheck that comes with it, but considering the lack of gas money burned, it’s not too shabby.
Cox has shown us that a guy can compete on tournament fishing’s grandest stage without all of the high dollar bells and whistles. To take the concept a step further, he’d need to convert from metal to plastic – the material from which most kayaks are constructed.
Kayak tournaments are on the rise. Money, real money, is up for grabs. Cottage industries are springing up around the ever-growing plastic navy. It looks a lot like the Bassmaster trail when Ray Scott first got it rolling back in the 60’s.
How many of you reading this are thinking about fishing some tourneys out of your paddlecraft? How many already have?
One great aspect of paddle tourneys is that the tourneys, and by extension, the participants, are not limited to a species. “The kayak that I use to fish a bass tournament in Texas is the same one I ferry to the Bahamas and fish offshore tournaments in,” says Christina Weber, noted kayak angler and Hobie team pro. “I love it!”
Modern kayas are stable enough to stand on, as we do in bass boats. photo by Christina Weber
On the floor of ICAST in Orlando, Weber showed some features available on modern fishing kayaks. All the electronics you’ve grown used to on big boats – graphs, GPS displays and trolling motors – are being mounted on ‘yaks. You can even mount a small Power-Pole on one.
Or you can keep things as simple, and affordable, as you wish. Any number of items can be used as a shallow water anchor and push pole.
If you want to fish hands-free all the time, Hobie offers a system to allow you to pedal your craft. And new for this year, you can even pedal it in reverse. It's called the Mirage Drive 180 and the removable unit is just another example of the type of innovation being integrated into modern kayaks.
Just as Cox and his Crestliner can hang in deep water or press the advantage beyond the shallow bushes, so much more so can anglers in kayaks or paddle boards access unbothered, uneducated, uncaught fish.
And to scratch the competitive itch there are plenty of tournaments – take a look at KayakBassFishing.com, FishKBS.com (home of the Kayak Bass Series), or just search the subject on the ‘Net.
Go paddle some fish!
Trapper Tackles New Dropshot Hook - New Product 2016
A Very Versatile Hook
Avant-garde hook designer – Trapper Tackle – lets loose the Dropshot Hook
Fresh off a whirlwind introduction at ICAST 2016, including a Best-in-Show performance in the New Product Showcase, Trapper Tackle reveals details about its ultra-versatile Dropshot/Live Bait/Finesse Trapper Hook. With applications that are as broad and far-reaching as the sport of fishing itself, this is truly a game changing tool that belongs in every angler’s tacklebox.
Trapper Hooks are uniquely designed to address two persistent problems anglers face when using antiquated J-shaped hooks: First and foremost, J-hooks rock and rotate in a fish’s mouth as the fish fights for freedom. The thrashing expands the initial point of entry and creates a path to escape. Second, the round bend of J-hooks allows soft plastics and live baits to slide freely along the hook shank as the bait is cast and retrieved, or fished through cover. That unwanted mobility leads to frequent adjustments between casts, consuming valuable time on the water. The patent-protected design of the Trapper Hook addresses both of these problems with two right-angle bends at the base of the hook shank, creating the Trapper Box, which locks fish – and baits – in place.
With Trapper Hooks, anglers spend less time re-rigging, while landing more striking fish. This is truly the ultimate “win-win” proposition for anglers, originating from a seemingly simple, “why didn't I think of that” change in hook geometry.
The Dropshot/Live Bait/Finesse hook from Trapper Tackle is poised to take the bass fishing scene by storm. Vince Hurtado, former B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler and Trapper Tackle pro, relies on Trapper Hooks for all of his finesse and dropshot presentations. “I fish with total confidence when I tie on a Trapper. The Trapper Box at the bottom of the hook keeps my baits rigged perfectly and keeps fish pinned so I know they are coming to the boat.,” says Hurtato, who has logged thousands of hours and hundreds of California Delta bass testing Trapper Hooks over the past several seasons.
Far from a bass-only proposition, the Trapper Drophshot/Live Bait/Finesse hook also excels at securing and presenting a wide variety of live and natural offerings. Walleye anglers rejoice at how well Trapper dropshot hooks hold jumbo leeches, crawlers and live minnows, delectables that frequently tempt trophy whitetips from the depths. Carp and catfish chasers will find that corn and dough balls are accommodated equally well in the Trapper Box. Likewise, wader-clad anglers in pursuit of migratory trout and salmon will quickly learn that the Trapper dropshot hook excels when dressed with spawn bags and single egg presentations.
The award winning ultra-versatile Dropshot/Live Bait/Finesse hook from Trapper Tackle can truly find a home in any angler’s tacklebox.
Anglers will find the Trapper dropshot/live bait/finesse hook in five sizes, ranging from #4 to 2/0, in packs of 6 (MSRP $3.79) or 25 (MSRP $14.99), with retail and on-line availability in December 2016. Until then, visit us at http://TrapperTackle.com to sign up for free samples and to learn more about the game-changing family of Trapper Hooks from Trapper Tackle.
New Ranger Boats Aluminum Rt198P
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New for 2017: Ranger RT198p
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New flagship aluminum model rated for 150 horsepower outboard
FLIPPIN, Ark. (Aug. 9, 2016) - As America's fastest growing aluminum brand, Ranger® Boats continues to raise the bar with their line of RT, MPV and Deep V Series designs. More than a legendary reputation, the success of Ranger's aluminum line is in the product itself, which has quickly become the standard for an entire industry.
 For 2017, Ranger welcomes a new flagship for the incredibly popular RT Series in the all-new RT198p. The innovative design combines high performance and versatility in a value-priced package designed for families and anglers alike.Capitalizing on performance, the new RT198p features a pad bottom hull, which gives Ranger its first aluminum boat rated for a 150 horsepower outboard. The foam-filled, wood-free construction delivers a smoother ride and unmatched performance while dampening the noise associated with conventional aluminum hulls.
The all-welded RT198p measures 19 feet, 4 inches, with a 92-inch beam, and is available with an array of factory-rigged outboard options. Full front and rear decks provide wide, stable and open fishing platforms. The center rod storage fits rods up to eight feet with additional port side rod storage available. The front deck offers a recessed foot pedal for the Minn Kota trolling motor and includes integrated tool storage as well. More tackle storage and a dedicated fiberglass cooler round out the well-equipped front deck.
"The RT198p brings so much functionality, fishability and performance at an incredible price point," said Ranger Aluminum Sales Manager Ryan Patterson. "Along with so many exclusive features of the RT198p, being able to mount a 150 horsepower outboard and the performance characteristics we've engineered put this boat in a class by itself."
The feature-laden boat sets itself apart as an ultra-fishable and affordable aluminum boat. Whether configured with a single or dual console, both are constructed from Ranger's proven fiberglass manufacturing techniques for long-lasting durability and beautiful finish. The cockpit features a full complement of gauges and switches with an offset console designed to accommodate longer rods on the front deck.
Inspired by the RT178 and RT188, the updates and features of the RT198p create a complete package not found with other aluminum fishing boats. Durable marine-grade carpet covers the floor and both decks for a clean look. A painted hull, new custom-fitted marine upholstery and new competition steering wheel match the fit and finish characteristic of Ranger designs.
With the 31-gallon fuel tank located farther forward for better performance and capacity, the spacious rear deck offers even easier access to batteries and pumps, complete with spare prop storage and room for an on-board battery charger. The all-new RT198p also boasts a Fishing Package option that includes a fiberglass center console, custom boat cover, boat buckle tie downs and a full sized spare.
The new RT198p also comes standard with a four-inch channel frame Ranger Trail® trailer. Designed and built specifically to fit the boat's hull for solid and easy towing, the trailer offers a swing-away tongue, waterproof lights, swing jack and durable Road Armor finish, designed to shield against rock chips, road debris and other hazards. Performance built, the RT198p provides serious anglers with an affordable and capable tournament rig packed with must-have fishing features.
2017 RANGER RT198p
Overall Hull Length: 19 feet, 4 inches
Beam: 92 inches
Maximum HP: 150
Hull Thickness: .100 inches
Fuel Capacity: 31 gallons
Total Persons/Motor/Gear: 1,475 lbs.
Approx. Boat Weight: 1,300 lbs. (single console)
Trailer GVWR: SM3725
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Headquartered in Flippin, Ark., Ranger Boats is the nation's premier manufacturer of legendary fiberglass and aluminum fishing boats, which include series of bass, multi-species, fish 'n play, waterfowl utility and saltwater boats. 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. |
John Garrett Of Bethel University Earns Classic Berth!
PARIS, Tenn. -- Some of John Garrett's earliest bass fishing memories come from days spent on Kentucky Lake. He remembers frequent weekend trips with his grandad -- driving up from Union City, Tenn. to the fabled fishery about an hour away.
"It started when I was 7 or 8 years old," Garrett said. "For about four or five years, we'd come out here just about every weekend...He's taught me everything he knows, and he knows his stuff pretty well."
Those memories will always be with John Garrett, but now he has a few more for the mental scrapbook – he's earned a spot in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro, and he did it on the same body of water where he learned to fish.
Garrett, a 20-year-old incoming junior at nearby Bethel University, won the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Classic Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops on Saturday when he weighed a 14-pound, 13-ounce limit before a crowd filled with familiar faces in downtown Paris. That was more than enough weight to defeat Texas State University's Evan Coleman, who had an unfortunate day on Saturday, and didn't catch a weighable fish.
After Coleman took the stage empty-handed, the fishing fans in attendance knew Garrett had won the single-elimination tournament. Garrett was the only angler to catch a limit through two days of fishing (he did it both days,) and he did so again on Saturday. Though total weight didn't count in this event (only how you compared head-to-head against your daily opponent mattered), Garrett's three-day haul of 46-9 was impressive. Coleman had the second-highest total, and that was exactly 30 pounds and 4 ounces behind the winner.
Van Garrett, John's dad, was one of the first to greet the angler when he wheeled his truck into Paris Town Square where the final weigh-in was held. The two embraced and fought back tears, as Garrett's Bethel University teammates swarmed him; offering high fives and fist bumps.
"There's a lot of emotion going through me right now," Garrett said. "I'm just happy I got blessed today and how things turned out. I'm an hour away from my hometown, and I'm pretty sure the whole city is up there by the stage right now. If I had to do this, it's great to do it right here."
Garrett, the No. 4 seed in this eight-man tournament, established a pattern early in the week and stuck with it throughout. On the first day, when he defeated No. 5 seed Sam Stone of Texas State, he boated five bass in the 2 ½ pound range -- going first to a shallow hump about a mile away from the launch site at Paris Landing State Park, and then moving another 15 miles south on Kentucky Lake where he fished a ledge in approximately 15 feet of water.
On Friday, he lit into his biggest limit of the tournament -- a 19-7 bag that was by far the heaviest of the event, and handily dispatched No. 2 seed Taylor Bivins of Kansas State. Saturday, Garrett caught 35 keepers and had a few of his biggest bites break off, preventing his 14-13 from going even heavier.
On the hump, he threw a small crankbait for keepers, and his bigger bites later in the day came on a ¾-ounce wobble head with a Magnum Green Pumpkin Trick Worm.
"That worm seemed to be the deal," Garrett said.
Garrett and Coleman had duked it out since 5:45 a.m. on Saturday until they checked in at Paris Landing State Park in nearby Buchanan, Tenn. at 1:30 p.m. The anglers were trailered the 25 minutes to Paris, where the final weigh-in was held.
Exhausted from some intense shoreline work the first two days, sixth-seeded Coleman broke form on Saturday when bluebird skies replaced the expected cloud cover which he hoped would help his shallow-water bite. In an effort to find bigger fish, he ran 40 minutes north to where Kentucky and Barkley lakes meet, but he couldn't find a bass to bite.
He was disappointed, but said he gave everything he had.
"It was extremely frustrating," Coleman said. "I knew I had to catch them today, and John's schools; he hadn't been burning them. He did today and he caught them. I could have done the same thing I had been doing the other days and maybe caught three fish for 8 ½ pounds. But I had to gamble. I went to an area I hadn't seen. It looked good on the contour maps, and it matched my pattern. So I ran there, and all I did was catch a few shorts."
He wouldn't do anything differently, however, he said.
"I got to the finals of the bracket, and I have no regrets," the 20-year old Coleman said. "My goal was if I'm not exhausted at the end, did I really fish? I gave it my all."
The top four teams at last week's college national championship traveled here to northwest Tennessee for the bracket event. The eight anglers were seeded individually and fished in a head-to-head format, with only one angler being able to advance all the way through the finals and into the 2017 Geico Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Garrett, who is a business management major at Bethel, said it's his aspiration to use his education to be around the fishing business as a professional. But at least for a year, it's his fishing education and expertise that will have him matching wits against the world's best bass anglers in the sport's marquee event. The 2017 Classic will be held on Lake Conroe near Houston, Texas, next March.
"I'm trying not to think about that too much and stress on it," Garrett said. "I'm going to let this sink in. But I can guarantee when I get to the Classic, I'm going to have a good time and enjoy it."
Bethel University bass fishing coach Garry Mason said he's not surprised Garrett fished his way into the Classic.
"John is such a great angler, a great young man, and a leader of our program," Mason said. "But anytime you win at this level, there's some amount of surprise...We were very much in anticipation of seeing him win, and he's very confident right now. He was on a lot of fish."
In addition to the Classic berth, Garrett won $7,500 to cover fishing expenses, and he earned free entry to all nine of the B.A.S.S. Opens in 2017. He will have use of a Nitro boat and a fully-rigged Toyota truck for the year, as well.
The Flw Cup €“ A Grinders Game - Opinions On The Top 6
If you go back and look at the guys who qualified for Sundays final round of ten, you will see something interesting.
Of those 10, You have a Canadian who was the FLW Rookie of the Year, You have a Dude from Indiana who’s won this whole deal before. A recent All-American from Missourri who was there representing ALL of us weekend warriors along with his buddy from Mississippi and the remaining guys are all from the South.
Grinders.
The Top 6.
Mark Rose – One of the best deep water fisherman I know. Trust me. I have spent hours in the boat with this man and have fished off-shore. If he can find them out there and make them bite….. well the outcome may have been different. He didn’t, he scrambled, went shallow and he went to grinding and he worked his way up to a respectable 6th place finish.
Jeremy Lawyer – I don’t know much about this dude other than he is nice, personable and flat out on a roll. He won the recent BFL All-American and rode in here on a wave of confidence and didn’t let these other “Pro’s” slow him down one bit. He went fishing and on the last day made a BIG jump into the top 5 and pretty nice little payday to boot.
Bryan Thrift – The fastest grinder on the water. This dude goes and goes and goes and flat out catches them. When Byran is on a roll and burning gas you can bet he will be a factor and flying by the seat of his pants at times. At that pace there is a good chance he will run into a school of them but this week while his weights were up and down he continued to move his way to the top, he just came up a little short.
Todd Auten – Quiet, Laid back, reserved. Outside of the occasional smile, I never saw his facial expressions change. At take-off on day 4 I had that feeling If the weather and the fish set-up right he would be a factor. He ground out 3 fish on the final day and would he have had a limit, well John Cox would have been sweating it a little more.
Michael Neal – Michael is one of those guys who will be around this game for a long time to come and one of those that I firmly feel will hoist that FLW Cup one day down the road. He adapted to the conditions each day and continued to not give-up on his areas or the fish that he knew lived there. A grinder, heck it was a grind for our camera guy to sit and watch him. No wasted casts, no worries, He just went fishing and grinding.
John Cox – FLW Cup Champ. – What can you say about a dude in a 20’ aluminum boat with a 200 hp Mercury behind him and NO DEPTH FINDER on the bow. I’m pretty sure the one on the console is just for GPS purposes. Dudes a hammer. Build his one rods, minimal sponsors, he just goes fishing, makes runs at the AOY each year and does the shallow water game better than just about anyone else out there.
Remember my previous story on day 1 about that “Hair raising feeling?” Well, when I walked out to the docks on the morning of Day 1 of the Cup I noticed off to my right a stretch of boat slips that was empty except for one boat, John Cox’s MHX and Mud Hole Tackle wrapped Crestliner.
I tend to notice these little things and thought to myself that’s interssting, but I don’t know John very well other than they call him the “Tin Man” and for good reason, plus he’s a damn good stick. So I kept that in the back of my mind and watched as he was just ready to go fishing while the hustle and bustle and dock talk on the other end of the docks was taking place.
My sneaking suspicion that morning was he had a plan and I was right. John went to grinding where he likes to go, straight up a creek as far as he wanted to go and he led with 16.11 after day 1. Another 15.10 on day 2 gave him a 7 pound lead and he just fought and fought and grinded his way to the win. Wire-to-wire mind you in extremely skinny water.
“I don’t know if my spot is “The Spot”, Cox told us on the morning of day 3 or if “I’m just fishing really well, Either way that area is where I will start until something tells me otherwise.”
Congratulations John, You’ll make one hell of a Champ.
The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup Recap - How John Cox Went Wire-To-Wire
The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup came down to a contest not only between anglers, but between contrasting styles of fishing.
Many pros decided to push far back into creeks in search of cooler incoming water and the bass that are attracted to it.
More than a few decided to also fish shallow, but to do so on the main lake where schooling fish were the target. These pros would lean against the butt seat on their front deck and keep their head on a swivel. When they saw a bass bust the surface the angler had to put a lure in the boil pronto. It had to happen right now and right on the money or it may as well not happen at all.
The most successful whack-a-mole bass caster this week was Michael Neal. “I’ve caught at least 50 bass on a Carolina Rig with a 6-inch worm this week,” said Neal, “None of them were the ones I weighed-in, but that would get the school fired up and I could catch the big ones on top.”
Neal wasn’t completely thrilled about every aspect of the offbeat technique. “I feel like I’m wasting time just sitting there waiting for one to blowup. I feel like I need to be casting. But that’s what it takes to catch them.”
And catch them he did. Neal was dialed-in on details that set him apart from other competitors. “I figured out that that lure had to have a feathered rear treble. It didn’t matter which lure I used, it had to have feathers on the back hook.”
Neal also admitted he’d lost about 20 good fish over the course of the tournament – a common ailment when playing this style of fast and furious fishing.
Once fishing had ceased, it was time to weigh ‘em up and crown a new champ. 2015 Cup Champion Brad knight shared, “It felt kind of weird, knowing someone else is fixing to have the title; that my year with it is about to be over. But I also felt . . . relieved, in a way.”
Jeremy Lawyer had the biggest bag of the day at 16-6. His total weight was 49-5, good enough to finish 5th.
With only two anglers left to weigh-in, Neal took the lead from Bryan Thrift. His 12-pound, 12-ounce sack pushed his total weight to 50-10. Todd Auten challenged, but settled in with 50-5 when he only produced 3 fish that weighed 7-9.
Then Cox strode to the scale needing 7 pounds, 6 ounces to retake a lead he had held from Day 1. His limit weighed 11-8, running his total to 54-13 and giving him a margin of over 4 pounds on Neal and Auten, more on the rest of the field.
Auten had all but closed the distance on Cox as the two entered Sunday’s final round separated by only ounces. He ran out of fish on the final day. He was on the right average size; just needed two more of them.
I followed Cox on the final day. He went so far back into the woods that I felt the need to check myself for ticks once we re-emerged. We pulled back at one point in the first creek he fished because we didn’t want to spook the bass in the shallow, clear water. The water’s clarity, lack of depth, and (most of all) lack of cover made it less than ideal for enticing the reaction bites Cox had counted on in his ‘A’ spot from the previous 3 days.
When he came out he said he was going back to his best water. And that he had caught 3 fish in this not-quite-right creek. The guy can catch fish out of wet tire tracks.
His primary area was deeper and the water was darker. And there was lots of cover. Laydowns. Shade. And duckweed. Cox picked it all apart with a Jackall Iobee Frog, a white buzzbait (1/4 oz.) and a creature bait that he pitched on his MHX rods.
Of course, he was able to access the creek when others couldn’t earlier in the week – due to lower water levels – because of his now famous 20-foot Crestliner aluminum bass boat. “The only knock against the boat in the past was a lack of storage room. Now, with the new layout, it hass all the storage of a standard fiberglass boat. And I can get on plane in shallower water, bump over logs easier and all of those things that make an aluminum boat a great choice for the way I like to fish.”
Cox definitely has a defined style. “The place I’m fishing doesn’t even show up as water on the chart,” chuckled the affable Tour veteran as he talked with media members after Thursday’s opening round.
Rick Clunn has said repeatedly that fishing pressure, not weather, is the single most important variable to successful tournament angling these days. Cox goes where few others cant. As a result, he now possesses a trophy few ever will.
Flw Cup - Championship Sunday Morning Report
Autens to win or Cox's to lose.......
I've walked the docks of many morning take-off's. Past Cups, Classics and more Tour and Elite events than you can imagine. I feel I can normally get a read for what might happen just by the looks on the guys faces. Today, not so much.
Normally the leader is a little nervous. I mean come on, its the last day of the FLW CUP, These guys version of the Superbowl. With the weights as close as they are right now and patterns starting to show themselves, its like Turn 4 at Talladega on the final lap. Cox knows the freight train is coming and he's pushing that pedal through the floor trying to hold them off.
The question is can he.
Auten had an incredible day yesterday and closed a 7 pound gap to less than a pound. Michael Neal is hanging in and making things interesting and Bryan Thrift ain't going nowhere either.
Here are your top 10 Weights:
1. John Cox - 43.5
2. Todd Auten - 42.12
3. Michael Neal - 37.14
4. Bryan Thrift - 37.13
5. Jacob Wheeler - 37.3
6. Mark Rose - 36.9
7. Brandon Cobb - 35.9
8. Joseph Webster - 35.9
9. Chris Johnston - 34.3
10. Jeremy Lawyer - 32.15
To me, I'd say its anyone in the Top 6's ball game. If Rose gets on a deep bite, it could be interesting, if Cox's backup area does'nt produce it will be tight. The forecast is for some overcast skies and rain likely this afternoon. Remembers Auten's big bag yesterday? Yeah, it was overcast then too.
I'm not a betting man and I'm not going to start, but evryone one of these guys were as cool as a cucumber this morning and trying to gauge who's nervous and whos excited, its anybodys guess. So I'm just going to turn on my FLW Twitter feed and sit back watch this unfold. Its called Fishing not Catching for a reason and today, absolutely anything can happen.
Stay Tuned!!
Auten Closes The Gap On Cox, Cup Is Anybody's Ballgame Heading Into Championship Sunday
The big question as the top 20 pros launched this morning was ‘can anybody close the gap on leader John Cox?’.
Cox left Ditto Landing with a lead of several pounds. But today was a day of changes at the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup.
For starters, the abundant sunshine that greeted anglers the first 2 days turned into abundant cloud cover. It seemed to make a difference to the fish. While some pros found the big bass harder to locate today, Todd Auten hammered a 17-pound, 10-ounce limit.
Cox, on the other hand, weighed his lightest bag of the week at 11 pounds. His primary spot has mostly played out and a backup area disappointed him. He has one place left that he hasn’t fished yet. If it is good to him he may stay all day tomorrow. If not, he will have to return and wring every last bass from the creek that has gotten him this far.
Auten will continue with his game plan tomorrow. He is fishing shallow way back in a creek. That’s what most of the top pros have done this week. Jacob Wheeler had his motor trimmed up to plow into his fishing spots. Even ledge fishing master Mark Rose has gone shallow all week.
Can Auten snatch the Cup on the final day from Cox who has led the entire event so far? He’s not thinking about it that way. “I’m fishing to catch fish; not fishing to catch Cox. He has to go catch his fish. I have to go catch my fish. Then we’ll just see what happens.”
Rising water has been a big concern for Cox who says the lake has come up about 8 inches since practice. That may grant access for the entire tournament field to long stretches of water that were only barely accessible to Cox in his aluminum Crestliner before. “I switched to lithium batteries and because they are so light, I can float this boat as shallow as the trolling motor prop has enough water to pull it,” shared Cox before Day 1 blastoff. We agreed the trolling motor prop was about 8 inches tall, so that’s all he needs in the way of depth.
Cox has made a career of trading space age electronics and a big fiberglass boat for his lightweight rig and the expanded waters it gives him. Not a transducer on the boat, yet he is among the most successful anglers anywhere – due strictly to the fact that he is extremely talented.
But this the Forrest Wood Cup and everybody here is very talented with rod and reel, especially the 10 pros who made the final cut. There is a pack of them jammed tightly on the leaderboard, all a few pounds behind Cox and Auten.
And that’s how the race appears to be set up for tomorrow’s championship round – Auten, who nearly knocked Cox from the top spot today, vs the Cox who clings to a lead of only ounces now. Of course, both could stumble as they are fishing similar styles, going way up creeks and fishing shallow. Then again, even the main lake guys are fishing shallow, Michael Neal and Bryan Thrift, in 3rd and 4th place, respectively. It may simply become a war of attrition where whoever has the most fish saved for tomorrow takes home the hardware and the big pay check.
With names like Neal, Thrift, Wheeler and Rose all tightly grouped a few pounds back, anything could happen (Neal has 37-14 and Rose, in 6th place, has 36-9). If any one of those guys blows up big tomorrow, another 11-pound limit may not seal the victory for Cox. For now, though, it looks like a two-man race. Cox leads 43-5 to 42-12.
However it all shakes out, AnglersChannel.com will be on the water and at the weigh in to bring you all the excitement of the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup! Also, be sure to catch it on The Progressive Bass Wrap Up TV Show on Pursuit Channel!
Cox Maintains And Opens Up His Lead, Wheeler & Neal Make A Push, Field Is Pretty Tight Moving Into Weekend
John Cox fulfilled his expectations of himself and his fishing hole today and, in the process, maintained his lead at the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup on Wheeler Lake. In fact, he extended his lead to nearly six-and-a-half pounds when he brought 15 pounds, 10 ounces to the scale. His total weight now stands at 32-5.
Photo Courtesy FLW
Jacob Wheeler made a big move with 17-9 which, added to his pedestrian start of 8 pounds and change yesterday, gives him a total weight of 25-14 and the official 2nd place standing, even though Michael Neal also has 25-14 (Wheeler has the bigger single-day bag between the two anglers).
Photo Courtesy FLW
Michael Neal (25.10): Photo Courtesy of FLW
Neither angler has much breathing room over Darrel Robertson who ran his total to 25-3 today.
Robertson has only a thin lead of an ounce over his closest pursuer, Todd Auten. Auten rallied for 14-6 today and holds down 5th place with 25-2.
Some dangerous guys are just outside the Top 5 and could threaten tomorrow – Bryan Thrift, Mark Rose, Bill Chapman, Jimmy Reese and David P Dudley are 6th-through-10th, respectively.
The biggest mover of the day was JT Kenney who whacked the biggest sack of the tourney today. His 19-pound, 2-ounce effort will be hard for anyone to top over the next two competition days. He needed it. His first day was 1-pound, 11-ounce disaster.
So poor was his first day weight that Kenney had no trouble scrapping his game plan and picking up the flippin’ stick today. He caught a couple that way, a couple on a spinnerbait and one on a crankbait. While his lure choices varied, his choice of location did not. He caught all of his fish way up a small creek.
“The first day, I was trying to fish the way I thought this tournament would be won,” said Kenney. “Today I just did what I like to do and went shallow.”
Kenney plans to catch some more fish, but he realizes how unusual his weight was today and doesn’t expect another 19 pounds tomorrow. “This is Wheeler, and it’s summer time. The stars and moon just aligned right for me today.”
Cox is also running way up a creek. Waaayyy up a creek. “I’m jumping a couple of big logs to get back there,” said Cox. After today’s action he feels like the area still holds enough fish for another strong showing tomorrow. That’s bad news for the guys trying to catch the leader. He only has one other confidence area saved.
Cox caught them on topwaters and a worm today.
He is followed closely by 4 pros that are within a pound of each other. If Cox runs out of fish this will be a tight race.
Wheeler, the angler, not the lake, is fishing way up a creek and using the shallow tactics for which he is known.
Michael Neal is fishing shallow too, though his spot is right on the main lake. “I’m Power-Poled down in about 2 feet of water. The fish will just come up in wolf packs and feed. They were busting when I got there this morning and they were busting when I left. I’ll catch a bunch of 12-inchers and then all of a sudden I’ll catch a bunch of 2-to-3-pounders.”
As for his technique, Neal can sometimes get fish fired up by catching one on a Carolina Rig, but mostly he’s just standing on the deck of his boat, rod in hand, waiting for minutes at a time - if that’s how long he has to – until he sees a bass bust a shad. Then he immediately casts directly to the boil. “I feel like I’m wasting time by not casting constantly, but if you don’t wait until you see the boil, then you’re wasting a cast. You have to be quick and put it right on them when they break the surface.”
Luke Mason of the University of North Alabama fishing team took me out on the water again today. We saw 4 pros scanning for surface-breakers and then firing right at them. Between 9 and 11 this morning it seemed like every bass on the lake came to the surface. Of the school-chasers we watched, only Rookie of the Year Chris Johnston made the cut.
But it’s working for Neal.
Darrel Robertson found his comfort zone about 4 miles up a creek. The Oklahoma pro is flipping, so you know he’s happy. He has other fish about 40 miles away, but that spot is not as dependable. What to do?
Todd Auten: Photo Courtesy Chris Brown
Todd Auten is also in the creek-fishing camp. He said he tried a few different ones today before settling into the right creek and catching a 6-pounder to anchor his limit. His lure selection includes a junk pile of different baits, but the real key to his success lies in the ‘how’ more so than in the ‘what’. More on that as the tournament progresses. You’ve just got to stick with us here at AnglersChannel.com.
We filmed Charlie Weyer catching a 4 ½ pound smallmouth today, along lots of topwater action from several pros. Luke Mason gave excellent insight and commentary. You’ll see all of that on a soon-to-come episode of The Progressive Bass Wrap Up TV Show on Pursuit Channel!
Mud Hole Tackle Pro John Cox Leads Day 1 Of The Forrest Wood Cup With 16.11 Pound Limit. Mcmillan Second
A pair of Florida boys top the leaderboard and even Mark Rose, a noted ledge-fishing expert is beating the banks.
That’s how Wheeler Lake is fishing as we begin the 4-day 2016 Forrest Wood Cup. The deep bite is off, although Joseph Webster caught 14 pounds, 2 ounces offshore. He would be in 3rd place but a dead fish cost him half a pound on the scale and a whole spot in the standings.
Another popular trend this week is to burn a bunch of gas.
Luke Mason, who fishes for the University of North Alabama, took me out in his boat this morning. We followed the guys. Only 2 of them went up river and they stopped about a quarter mile up. Nobody else even turned left out of Ditto Landing. In fact, we saw 6 boats, total, and one of those guys wanted to run way down lake but had motor trouble. We went south past Decatur, so 44 of the 50 boats went farther down lake than that.
Then there’s Cox, who leads with 16-11. He said his water is 20 miles off the main lake. “There’s not even any blue there on the Navionics Chart,” chuckled Cox. The only reason he can access the area is because he runs an aluminum rig, a 20-foot Crestliner. “I just slide over logs that stop everybody else and I keep on going.” Cox is investing 40 minutes, each way, after he leaves the main lake to reach his honey hole. The results justify the effort.
Cox said he is flipping and casting. He believes the area may give him one more good day, but he believes he will have to run new water as the week goes on. “The (specific stretch) where I meant to start today past where I caught my fish today so I haven’t touched my main area yet,” said Cox, adding “Now, I don’t know if those are the same fish I found in practice and they just moved, or if there are more in there. I believe they have moved in there from somewhere because they are healthy looking fish. Usually, fish confined to a pond or such as that this time of year are really skinny.”
Asked why he thinks the fish would have moved from the main lake to a very remote backwater this time of year, Cox guessed, “To get away from Wheeler Lake.”
It’s tough fishing, but that’s no knock on Wheeler. A lack of grass does mean less oxygen in the system, a prime reason Rose believes the bass are hanging in the top of the water column instead of locking onto offshore structure. People generally think of grass as being a magnet to draw fish shallow, but Rose recognized an important piece of the puzzle with the grass/oxygen/deep bite cycle. His observations have landed him in 5th place with 13-15 to begin the tourney.
Photo: Chris Brown
Brandon McMillan is also fishing shallow, as expected. It’s working better than expected. He hopes to continue in that direction tomorrow. He believes this lake is setting up well for him. “I like to flip. I like it when it’s a grind. I would like to see it stay this way,” grinned McMillan.
Bryan Thrift is in 3rd with 14-7. He is doing what he does – run and gun and burn the banks.
A dangerous Bill Chapman lurks in 6th. A couple of pros told me to watch him. The angler from Salt Rock WV put 13-8 on the scale today. Word is he’s on some good fish and can likely repeat his performance tomorrow.
Luke and I watched Shin Fukae for a little while today. The Yamamoto pro missed 3 strikes in short order before finally boating a tiny fish. I said to Luke, ‘If he’s having to work that hard to catch a fish that small, let’s go find somebody else to watch.’ I’m happy to say it was a bad call on my part as Fukae brought in 13-7 and occupies 7th place.
Shane Lehew is 8th with 13-3. Matt Arey has 12-8, good for 9th. Cody Meyer is 10th with 12-1.
We’ll be out there on Wheeler Lake again tomorrow and at the weigh in show tomorrow evening to bring the action from the Forrest Wood Cup at AnglersChannel.com!
And be sure to tune into the Progressive Bass Wrap Up TV Show which will feature the Cup in couple of weeks on Pursuit Channel.
A "hair Raising Feeling"
Chris Brown – President AnglersChannel.com
A year ago I stood on the banks of Lake Ouachita in Arkansas and watched as the top 50 FLW Pros made their way out on to the lake in search of FLW Cup glory.
Thanks to crappy cell phone service, I was unable to get updates via Twitter until I made the 45 minute trek back to Hot Springs where my hotel and the weigh-in would take place. It was in that time I learned my good friend Brad Knight was having a spectacular day and sending the FLW Twitter feed into a frenzy as he proceeded to catch a bunch of fish shallow, landing him in the top 5 after that first day weigh-in. I had a feeling when I read the tweets, You know the one, a “hair standing up on the back of your neck” feeling.
Many of you know how this story ends, Brad goes on to move up the leaderboard each day and on the final day, catches enough off his magic tree and surrounding area to secure his place in Fishing history by winning the Forrest Wood Cup in only his second attempt.
2015 Cup Champ Brad Knight: Photo By Rogue Outdoor Media
I watched Brad this morning (above) as he waited his turn in front of the camera as the FLW Media crew replayed the final moments of that 2015 Weigh-in. I watched the look in his eyes as the last fish was weighed and as he watched himself lift the trophy over his head and as the video faded off the screen, I saw a smile. The old Brad remained in Arkansas, The Champ was here to stay.
Watching Brad and his career flourish over the past year has been pretty incredible. I’ve known Brad for a while and know a lot of the hard times, sacrifices and the hard work he put in just to be there at that event last year and knowing how much that win and the $500,000 check meant to him and his family.
Walking the docks this morning, seeing and talking to veterans, young guns, and fans, I caught myself wondering which one of these fisherman would go on to become the next Forrest Wood Cup Champ. Which one would have his life changed, his families life changed by the crowning achievement of the win and the financial relief a win would mean. Watching a few of them, I kind of got that same “Hair standing up on the back of your neck feeling” thinking this could be their year.
Being a “media” person now, I’m not supposed to have my favorites, but I do. We all do. I won’t tell you who they are but looking over and talking to a few of them this morning just makes this week a little more interesting. Can my buddy BK pull off the Back-to-back win? Will another young gun take the crown or would one of the seasoned veterans who’s been here before but never pulled it off be the guy?
No Matter how you slice it, it’s going to be a grind. There will be a lot of gas burned and some broken dreams and heartbreaks along the way, but in the end, a Champ will be crowned. Looking forward to seeing who survives to hoist the trophy. Stay Tuned…..
Flw Adds Seventh Tour Event To 2017 Flw Tour Schedule
FLW ADDS SEVENTH TOUR EVENT TO 2017 FLW TOUR SCHEDULE
Lake Guntersville to Host Season Opener, Feb. 2-5
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Aug. 3, 2016) – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) announced today the addition of a seventh Walmart FLW Tour event to the 2017 schedule. The 2017 season will now open at Lake Guntersville, Feb. 2-5, in Guntersville, Alabama.
“A seventh FLW Tour event is something that many pros have asked for in recent years,” said Kathy Fennel, FLW President of Operations. “We announced our traditional six Tour events at ICAST last month, but we wanted to surprise the pros with this announcement to kick off the Forrest Wood Cup in Huntsville. On Saturday we will also unveil the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup date and location as part of the week’s festivities.”
The 2017 season will feature seven tournaments, broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network, which will showcase the best bass anglers in the world competing in the most competitive circuit in the sport.
2017 Walmart FLW Tour Regular-Season Schedule:
- February 2-5 Lake Guntersville Guntersville, Ala.
Hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau
- February 16-19 Lake Travis Jonestown, Texas
Hosted by the City of Jonestown & Austin Sports Commission
- March 9-12 Harris Chain of Lakes Leesburg, Fla.
Hosted by Lake County, Florida
- April 6-9 Lake Cumberland Burnside, Ky.
Hosted by Somerset Tourist and Convention Commission
- April 27-30 Beaver Lake Rogers, Ark.
Hosted by Visit Rogers
- May 18-21 Mississippi River La Crosse, Wis.
Hosted by Explore La Crosse
- June 15-18 Potomac River Marbury, Md.
Hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners
The full schedule and expected patterns/details for each fishery can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The date and location for the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart will be unveiled on-stage at the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup on Saturday at the Propst Arena in Huntsville.
For details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. 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: @FLWFishing.
Sportsman's Warehouse And Buckeye Lures Pro Anthony Gagliardi Previews The One And Only Su-Spin Blade From Buckeye
SW and Buckeye Lures Pro Anthony Gagliardi tells us why the Su-Spin Blade from Buckeye is so powerful when you need it the most----Tournament Day!!
Early August Report From Sportsman's Warehouse And Fishing Manager Craig Baird!
Sportsman's Warehouse fishing manager Craig Baird shares some solid topwater baits for the hottest stretch we've seen anytime in the last few years.........good insight tho and all products always available at Sportsmans Warehouse.com!!
Sportsman's Warehouse And Buckeye Pro Anthony Gagliardi On The J Will Swimbait Head!
SW and Buckeye Lures Pro Anthony Gagliardi previews some great baits from Buckeye that may help him this week at the 2016 FLW CUP!
Ehrentraut Wins On Oneida, Uppstrom Wins Co-Angler Side!
David Ehrentraut of Locke, New York won the American Bass Anglers Ram Truck Open Series NE tournament, held July 30th on Oneida Lake.
Running out of Oneida Shores near Brewerton, New York, David caught five bass weighing 17.37 pounds. He anchored his bag with a 3.97-pound kicker. “I fished outside weed lines in 12 to 15 feet of water. I threw a white swim bait and crank bait all day. I caught all of my fish by 9:30 am. It was real slow after that." Ehrentraut said. For the Boater division victory, Ehrentraut took home a check for $5,000.
In second for the Boaters, Jeffrey Kirkland of Dryden, New York landed a five-bass tournament limit weighing 14.71 pounds with a 3.97-pound kicker. “I threw a stickbait all day. I caught my big bass on my third cast. I used a mega bass and a lucky craft and just kept changing back and forth. About 11:30 am I noticed a fuel leak and that made me come in 3 hours early." Kirkland said. He collected $1,445 for the effort. He also won an Abu Garcia Revo SX reel Valued at $169 for catching the tournament Big Bass on his own Abu Garcia reel.
Mathew Martin of Chittenango, New York took third for the Boaters with five bass weighing 13.79 pounds. "I had 3 places with outside weed lines and caught 3 or 4 fish on each spot. For me it was steady all day. I used a dropshot with a cross tail shad, a Keitech swimbait, and a Zara spook top water," Martin said. He took home $963 for his effort.
Finishing fourth, Adam Janerella of Jersey Shore Pennsylvania landed a five-bass limit weighing 13.55 pounds including a 3.08-pound kicker.
Mike Sullivan of Voorheesville, New York rounded out the top five Boaters with five bass weighing 13.51 pounds.
The biggest bass for the boaters was a tie David Ehrentraut and Jeff Kirkland both caught bass that weighed 3.97 pounds and pocketed $310 each.
In the Co-Angler Division, Steve Uppstrom of Madrid, New York won with three bass weighing 9.88 pounds. He sealed his victory with a 3.95-pound kicker.
“We fished shallow in about 4 foot of water. I used a Yumm warning shot and an itsy bitsy. I only got 3 bite and caught 3 fish.” Uppstrom said. He pocketed a check for $1,600. Steve also caught the Big Bass for the Co-Anglers weighing 3.95 pounds. He took home and additional $210.
Taking second for the Co-Anglers, Brian Grant of Wind Gap Pennsylvania brought in a three-bass division limit weighing 9.71 pounds including a 3.83-pound kicker. "We stayed in 4 to 6 feet of water fishing weed lines and rock. I threw some Missile Baits and a mini ice with a ¼ ounce weight, black and blue with a Netbait craw trailer. We caught most of our fish in the morning and my last one late in the day,” Grant said. He collected $540 for the effort.
Darren Carpenter of Westmoreland, New York placed third among the Co-Anglers with three bass weighing 8.78 pounds. He anchored his catch with a 3.18-pound kicker. “I caught my first fish on my third cast on a white fluke. Later I used a Carolina rig with a ¾ oz. weight and a rage craw. At about 1:30 on my last cast I finally caught my third fish I only had 3 bites all day,” Carpenter said. He earned $360.
In fourth place among the Co-Anglers, Bill Griffett Jr. of Oxford, New Jersey brought in three bass weighing 8.75 pounds.
Roland Beaulieu of Swanton, Vermont finished in fifth place with three bass weighing 8.32 pounds topped by a 3.20-pound kicker.
Slated for August 20th, the next divisional tournament will be held on Sacandaga Lake out of the NY DEC ramp near Broadalbin, New York. At the end of the season, the best anglers from across the nation advance the 2017 Ray Scott Championship, slated for Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee in April of 2017.
For more information on this tournament call Jeff Randall, tournament manager, at (256)777-6152 or ABA at (256)232-0406. On line, see www.ramopenseries.com.
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
Defending Cup Champ Brad Knight Focused On 'task At Hand'
I spoke with defending Forrest Wood Cup Champion Brad Knight about his defense of the title which begins on Thursday as the 2016 Cup kicks off on Wheeler Lake near Huntsville Alabama.
The Champ was rather low key about the past. He is focused on the ‘now’ with the type of work ethic you expect from winners. “It doesn’t really change anything; won’t change the outcome of this tournament. You’ve just got to go to work like it’s another day at the office.”
As far as high expectations and added pressure, Knight says the pressure is always on at such a big tournament. “The Cup is all about winning. There are no points. You don’t have to worry about finishing in the Top 10 or any of that stuff – just trying to win the tournament, and that pressure doesn’t really change.”
Knight and his fellow competitors completed their first practice round on Sunday. He’s not sure what to make of Wheeler just yet. He didn’t scour the Internet for info before heading to the lake either. “I haven’t gotten any reports. I haven’t really talked to anybody or any of that stuff. I really don’t know. I think it will probably be a combination of things, adjustments to the weather and water levels. I guess it could be one of those deals, like a junk-fishing tournament where a guy could catch a couple out deep, a couple shallow each day.”
One thing Knight does believe is that the shallow bite will affect the outcome of the 2016 Cup. “I definitely feel like it’s gonna play, somehow or another. The thing about the offshore fish is, they are out there, but they can be hard to catch in August. The baitfish start suspending some and the fish creep up in the water column so they’re out there but they’re hard to catch because they’re so far up off the bottom. The ones that are up shallow are going to be easier to catch and they’re unpressured and if you get some flow in some of these backwater creeks the oxygen level gets higher in those areas so I think the fish may be a little more active on the banks, although there may not be as many of them, they may be more catchable.
“On the Tennessee River everybody wants to fish the ledges and use their electronics - and that’s a good thing - it’s the way to do well, usually, but, generally, by this time of year that bite starts getting a little weird, hit or miss. And the shallow bite is not great. It’s not like you’re gonna go out and whack ‘em doing anything, but (the shallow bite) can be a little more consistent at times. I definitely feel like this tournament is going to be one of those times when you’ve got to mix it up and do a little of both.”
After today’s practice round Knight is still trying to find the pulse of the Wheeler fishery. “Today was pretty slow. I didn’t find anything special. We’ll just have to try to put the puzzle together and see what happens come Thursday morning. Game day is what counts.”
A big event such as the Cup comes with distractions including dinner parties and appearances. Knight is ready. “I’ve been to a couple of these now and I kind of know what to expect. Our practice schedule pretty much stays the same as for a regular Tour event. We have a dinner to go to. You definitely have a few more obligations and you have to try to keep your mind focused on the task at hand, but it’s not so bad. The major thing is what you’re fishing for. A lot of guys get caught up in the money and the stuff that goes with it. You’ve got to get focused on the task.”
His experience, in general, as well as his success in having won the Cup last year, give Knight a boost of confidence heading into the unpredictable business of bass tournament fishing played at the highest level. “The main thing is, I’ve been at this for several years and nothing much comes as a surprise now, good, bad or otherwise. Just keep your head down and take each day for what it is and be prepared to make some adjustments because things happen pretty fast this time of year. Try to make the best decisions you can and try to put yourself in position to win.”
With 50 pros fishing 40-plus miles of water, Knight believes the guys will spread out fairly wide this week. “There are going to be guys that stay close (to the launch ramp at Ditto Landing). I think it will be spread out pretty good. I don’t anticipate a whole, whole, lot of having to share water but there will be a couple of places that have some fish on them and 2 or 3 guys will have to share.”
Knight estimates it will take 52 pounds to win the 2016 Cup. “Thirteen a day. I don’t think we’re going to see anything too different but Wheeler is kind of a different animal so I may be off with that prediction, but that’s what I say.”
Asked to rate the fishing on Wheeler right now, on a 10-scale Knight said, “I would probably say . . . a ‘4’. It’s not real good. But nowhere is good right now. It’s August. It’s just one of those deals where bites aren’t easy to come by. Big bites can carry you a long way.”
His big bites carried him all the way last year. In a couple of days, we’ll find out if Brad Knight has the bites to repeat as Forrest Wood Cup Champion.
John Simonof Wins Aba American Fishing Tour D42 On The Arkansas River
With a total weight of 14.91 pounds, John Simonof wins the ABA D42 event on the Arkansas River out of the the Maumelle Pool on Satruday. Throwing a 1/2oz homemade Vibrating jig and Strike King 3XD. John also had big fish of the day with a 4.76 pound Big Bass.
2nd place was Doug Thompson with 10.24
3rd place was Arnie Hanson with 8.25
The ABA D42's next event is out of Pine Bluff on August 13th.
For More information call 501.772.4938
Kansas State Wins Carhartt Bassmaster College Nation Championship!
Tyler Wade-McCollum - BASS
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Kyle Alsop and Taylor Bivins of Kansas State University are the winners of the 2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship, thanks to a series of consistent weights. They finished the tournament on Kentucky's Green River Lake with 36 pounds, 4 ounces.
The Kansas State team was the only one in the field of 89 teams to bring in more than 10 pounds every day.
"It was a grind," said Bivins, who just graduated from Kansas State in May with a degree in wildlife and outdoor enterprise management. "We had to fish really slow the whole time."
"Slow is not our preferred way to fish," added Alsop, a senior majoring in engineering. "I hate it. But it was our only way to be consistent."
The two had a plan coming in to the tournament — catch 12 to 13 pounds a day. On Day 1, they had 13 pounds, 15 ounces, including the Carhartt Big Bass of the tournament, a 6-pound, 13-ounce bass. They followed it up on Day 2 with 11-1, including a 5-2 bass. On the final day, Alsop and Bivins weighed in 11 pounds, 4 ounces, including the biggest bass of the day, a 5-9.
"The key was definitely the big bite," Alsop said. "We were blessed to get one big one every day."
The two were not expecting a win. They were hoping to be able to make the Top 4 to qualify for the 2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops, Aug. 4-6, on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee. The best angler in that head-to-head competition earns a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
"It will take a while for this to sink in," Alsop said, looking at his teammate.
"We're just living the moment right now," Bivins added. The two couldn't stop smiling while toting around their championship trophies.
The key area for the winners was a giant main lake point with a flat that had a big ledge on it.
"There were 20 boats on scattered brush out there the first couple of days," Alsop said. "We found a strip off to the side that we had to ourselves."
They fished the ledge right as it dropped from 20 feet deep to 50 feet deep.
Alsop fished a Carolina rigged Zoom Brush Hog with spike tails in chartreuse, while his teammate fished a shaky head setup with a Yamamoto Senko in green pumpkin with black flake or watermelon red flake.
"We knew there were lots of fish on those channel swing points," Alsop said. "We just had to keep our heads down and keep working until we caught them."
For their win, Alsop and Bivins earned a check for their Kansas State team for $2,500 from Carhartt and another check for $2,500 from B.A.S.S. The two were also presented with a Humminbird Helix unit.
"We were due for a win," said Alsop. "We've always finished well in tournaments — no worse than 30th place — but we could never get above fourth place. It's incredible we did it here.
Right behind the Kansas State team was the Bethel University team of Brian Pahl and John Garrett, who finished second with 35 pounds, 7 ounces.
"We fished brushpiles early in the mornings," said Pahl. "Then we went to shallower water. When that didn't work out today, we went to another spot, where we caught five keepers."
Pahl and Garrett had a really big day on Day 1 with 17 pounds, 4 ounces, one of the biggest bags of the tournament. They will join Alsop and Bivins at the College Classic Bracket on Kentucky Lake next week
The Day 1 leaders, Sam Stone and Evan Coleman, will also compete at the Classic Bracket, thanks to their third-place finish. The two anglers came in fishless on the final day of the championship, but their Bass Pro Shops Nitro Big Bag on Day 1 of 20 pounds, 13 ounces, kept them in contention.
The final team to qualify for the Classic Bracket was Austin Handley and Caleb Wozniak of Auburn University. They finished in fourth place with 27 pounds, 5 ounces. The Auburn team flipped upriver the whole tournament, but the fish had moved out of that area on the final day, accounting for only a 2-pound, 9-ounce weight on Saturday.
The college championship brought together the best college anglers in the country, as determined by their performance in any of five regionals or a single Wild Card event. More than 500 teams from 200-plus colleges competed for a chance to qualify for this tournament.
Trevor Lo, the college angler who advanced from the championship last year and ultimately won the College Classic Bracket, was on stage on the Campbellsville University campus for the final day of competition this year.
"It's surreal to be back on this stage," said Lo. "My college win changed my life this year. I can't wait to see who the next college angler fishing the Classic will be."
Watch the College Classic Bracket, Aug. 4-6, to see which of the eight qualifiers will earn a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic.
Texas State On Top At Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship - Day 2 Starts Today!
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Sam Stone and Evan Coleman of Texas State University took the Day 1 lead of the 2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship with an impressive 20 pounds, 13 ounces, despite the fact they were soaked the whole day.
"Everything was wet," Stone said. "It was just pouring down rain."
But the teammates made their peace with the weather after catching their limit of five bass before 10 a.m. on Thursday on Kentucky's Green River Lake.
"A front rolled in at 9:30," Coleman said. "Plus, we'd had a good morning bite. We felt really confident after that."
Stone and Coleman, who have been practicing on this lake all week, went into Day 1 with a plan but quickly abandoned it when they saw how hard it was raining.
Their newly formed game plan is a secret for now, said the Texas anglers, who are competing for a chance to win the championship trophy for their school. Plus, the best four teams from the championship advance to the 2016 Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops, Aug. 4-6, on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee. The best angler in that head-to-head competition earns a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic — which is in their home state of Texas.
Stone and Coleman had a great first day of practice, where they were catching quality bass. The following two days were rough; they didn't catch anything at all.
"But then we heard that a three-day tournament was just won here with only three fish for 18 pounds," Stone said. "That sealed it for us. We knew there were big bass here. We just had to go find them."
Stone, who is a senior in engineering at Texas State, said he's not sure if the pair can replicate their Day 1 catch on Friday.
"I have no idea if we can do it again," he said, "but it sure would be amazing."
Coleman is laying the groundwork for a future career in fishing, and winning this championship would be a major stepping stone.
"I plan on becoming a fishing guide after college," Coleman said, "and I'll be fishing the Opens for a chance to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series."
The Texas State team is looking forward to Friday, where they're hoping to capitalize on their lead. But right behind them is Hunter Louden of Bethel University, who weighed in 20 pounds, 6 ounces on Day 1.
"I was just blessed today," said Louden. "I wasn't really on anything, but I got the right five bites."
Like the current leaders, Louden experienced a lot of his productive activity around that 9:30 a.m. mark, when the pressure changed with the front.
The rainy, cooler weather proved challenging for much of the field. Of the 89 teams who are competing, 14 of them posted zeroes. And although Texas State and Bethel had weights topping the 20-pound mark, only eight other teams are within striking distance. Every team from 11th place down weighed in less than 10 pounds.
"This lake can change drastically from one day to the next," said Lance Freeman, a Kentucky angler who, along with his Murray State University partner Chandler Christian, is in 45th place after Day 1.
"I've practiced here a lot, and Green River really can be surprising from day to day," he said.
Those words are giving some of the other competitors hope. Many are planning to overhaul their game plan overnight and try something completely new for Day 2. It's critical to right the ship quickly; after the weigh-in on the second day, the 89 teams will be cut to only 12 teams to fish on Saturday, the final day.
"We have the best college anglers in the country here in this championship," said Hank Weldon, manager of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series. "They've been competing all year, and these are the best of more than 500 teams from 200-plus schools that were trying to get on this stage this week."
Campbellsville University is hosting the tournament on its campus in Campbellsville, Ky.
"This is a great place and a great community," said Weldon. "We couldn't do this without the help of all the volunteers at Campbellsville."
The championship trophy isn't the only prize competitors are vying for. The team that leads at the end of Day 2 will win the Livingston Lures Day 2 Leader Award worth $250. Stone and Coleman of Texas State are currently in the lead for the Bass Pro Shops Nitro Big Bag for $250, which will be awarded to the team that catches the biggest bag of the tournament. The Carhartt Big Bass Award for $500 will also be awarded at the end of the tournament to the team that brings in the largest bass. After Day 1, Kyle Alsop and Taylor Bivins of Kansas State University are in the lead for that prize for the 6-pound, 13-ounce bass they weighed in.
"We hadn't seen a fish of that quality all week," Alsop said, "so that was definitely a surprise."
Bassmaster Classic Bracket - Is This What The Future Of Professional Fishing Looks Like?
As he fished from the front deck of his bass boat, breeze rippling his jersey, Kevin VanDam reflected on a career that has seen all the changes of format that B.A.S.S. has thrown at anglers in the modern era: the MegaBucks hole-style events, the E-50's that morphed into the current Elite Series, and so on. He had high praise for the tournament in which he was competing during the final, championship, round - the Bassmaster Classic Bracket.
Perhaps it's easy to be high on a platform that has just facilitated your 23rd career win, especially when VanDam has a lot of experience with match play, given his involvement with Major League Fishing (the comparisons are inescapable as the Classic Bracket borrowed heavily from the successful, made-for-TV, head-to-head bracketed MLF). But VanDam seemed to sincerely enjoy the pulse-hightening competition, the constant pressure of knowing what the opponent has, every time he catches a fish, and knowing that it's you against him - one of you is going home.
Great athletes - great performers of all stripes - don't just perform well under pressure, they seem to crave it. Whether it's a musician facing an expectant crowd of thousands, a QB behind on the scoreboard and facing 4th-and-goal as the clock winds down, or a lone angler grinding on a stingy river as the most dominant tournament pro of all time has just put another bass on the board, pressure will reveal character, spine and competitive drive.
Or at least, it should. Which brings about the subject of the 'lay up' as Mark Zona called it on Day 2 of the Classic Bracket. I'd call it the 'lay down' as that's what Jacob Powroznik did. Surely he performed the act with kindness in his heart. He was helping his friend Koby Kreiger who needs the exposure and who was a sentimental favorite darkhorse in the Classic Bracket because of his 72nd position in the Elite Series points race - way out of the cut to make the 2017 Classic. Powroznik could not have anticipated the firestorm of controversy he would stir up by helping his buddy.
Anglers help each other all the time, but there are reasons why they are not allowed to literally put fish in another guy's livewell (remember the stink over the accusation that Nate Wellman had offered to buy a partner's fish). To be clear, Powroznik did not do anything so unscrupulous. In fact, he did not do anything in violation of any tournament rules. Again, his intentions were pure, commendable even.
But we all tuned in to Bassmaster Live (and on Watch ESPN on the day the lay down happened) to see a competition. Anglers have an obligation to put on their best performance, especially when 'outsiders' (non-anglers watching by the multiple thousands on Watch ESPN) are watching. We owe it to our sport to put our best foot forward and keep it pressed on the gas pedal. When Powroznik decided to not fish on Day 2 and give Kreiger a clear path to the semifinal round, it made the sport look less legitimate.
Enough about that learning experience - basically the only negative point of the event, in my opinion. And even that turn of events held massive entertainment value.
To his credit, Kreiger did take the ball and run with it on Day 3 as he tied eventual champion VanDam and was only eliminated via the tie-breaker rules.
"I almost blew it today," admited VanDam who said he was trying to save his best fishing spots for the final round. But there was a virtual scoreboard in the Classic Bracket and when VanDam learned that Kreiger had passed him on it, VanDam went to his best spot and caught a 1-pound, 15-ounce bass when he needed a 1-pound, 15-ounce bass to tie Kreiger.
The most exciting act belonged to Dean Rojas when he trailed Jordan Lee by a few pounds. The clock said that Lee was 15 minutes from advancing to the semifinal round. Rojas made a liar of that clock.
When he caught a smallmouth from behind a stand alone piling, Rojas made things interesting. Minutes later he amazed live on-lookers, glued to their computer screens and phones as he boated a similarly chunky brown bass. Rojas bounced on his boat deck as the time ticked down and he was pronounced the winner.
Rojas gushed his approval of the bracket-style tournament format. And we were all thrilled to get to see it live, to be in the boat with him as it happened.
I have covered tournaments as a marshal and it's exciting to be in the boat but without a live leaderbaord I never really knew what I had just seen, from a competition standpoint.
For that reason this Classic Bracket absolutely rocked!
Few would dispute the quality, the entertainment value that B.A.S.S. brought us this past week. If you missed it, man, you missed IT.
The commentators scared me a little when they kept lobying for B.A.S.S. to move all of its tournaments to this new format. There should definitely be more of these events, but they should be supplemental to the Elite Series, not a substitute for the crowd-gathering, hand-shaking, autograph-signing, travelling Bassmaster circus.
As far as tweaking the details, the final day featured a 'weigh 'em all' approach to scoring. At first blush I thought 'this penalizes big fish experts. With a 5-fish limit, each big bass really pushes an anglers weight, but if a guy can whack a stack of 1-pounders and beat the guy who has the guts to go after the type of fish we all want to see, this cheapens the sport!'
After thinking on it a while though, I believe B.A.S.S. got it right because during the first 3 rounds, only an angler's best 5 fish counted. This not only encourages the guys to chase big fish, it actually encourages them to target big bass, specifically, during early rounds (when they count more) while attempting to not catch those smaller fish because they will be needed during the 'burn what you got left' final round. That adds a ton of strategic thinking to our sport.
If we're ever going to garner a general TV audience that includes pure spectators as well as participants, the Bassmaster Classic Bracket just showed us how to do it. Yes, MLF led the way, but when that style is combined with the reach of ESPN, as done by B.A.S.S. this time around, there is a synergy that can (hate to repeat a worn-out phrase but . . . ) elevate our sport. This is the wave of the future for top level professional fishing. There are enough competitors to make it interesting, and FEW enough competitors that we can actually follow the story lines.
And story lines are important. No matter why you think you watch sports, you are actually watching characters in a story. Conflict is the essence of literature. No where is there more pure conflict than in sports. Lines are clearly drawn; contestants identified; results recorded. When we can tune in to a story and root for, root against, or just relate to a character, then there is value in that story and there will be an audience for it.
Forrest Wood Cup Kicks Off Next Week In Huntsville, Al On Lake Wheeler!!!
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Spell & Eaddy Weigh 5 For 23.56 To Win Cashion Rods Bass Trail Qualifier #2 On Jordan Lake!
Woo Lordy it was hot but we still had a good crowd of 44 teams fishing!! The winds were light & variable, the air
temps ranged from 74 to 96 with a heat index of 106 and the water level was right at normal pool. Surface water
temps averaged 85 warm degrees! The teams did a great job of keeping their fish healthy and we only lost a few.Jesse Spell and Wade Eaddy landed 5 bass weighing 23.56 lbs to take 1st Place and 2nd Place Big Fish
(7.01 lbs.) for a total of $1,278!
1st Place Team...Spell on left....Eaddy on right.2nd Place team was Josh Whitford and Donovan Welch with 5 bass weighing 22.93 lbs. They also won 1st Place
TWT to take home a total of $1,335. The 3rd Place Team of Jaime Fajardo and Josh Hooks netted 5 bass
weighing 19.85 and also won 2nd Place TWT for a total of $787. 1st Place Big Fish (7.08 lbs.) was caught by the
9th Place team of William Small & Lee Williams worth $602 giving the a total winnings of $707. The prize
money got spread around pretty good making a lot of teams happy!!!110 bass were brought to the scales for a total of 356 pounds averaging 3.24 lbs. each. Most were caught on
Carolina worm rigs, spinnerbaits, crankbait & jig combos in mostly water up to 9 foot deep around submerged
structure.
I want to thank Cashion Fishing Rods and all the anglers that participated. Our next tournament will be the
2016 Cashion Fishing Rods 'End of Year' Team Tournament Bass Fishing Trail Qualifier #3 , Saturday August
6th at Falls Lake out of Ledge Rock Wildlife Ramp. All the information on our tournaments can be found
http://piedmontbassclassics.com/Now here are the full results:
1st Place: Jesse Spell & Wade Eaddy of Cary & Sanford...5 bass...23.56 lbs...$1,020
2nd Place: Josh Whitfield & Donavan Welch of Linden & Lillington...5 bass...22.93 lbs...$565
3rd Place: Jaime Fajardo & Josh Hooks of Fuquay Varina & Apex...5 bass...19.85 lbs...$457
4th Place: Jeremy Martin & Charly Vaughn of Rougemont...5 bass...18.66 lbs...$352
5th Place: Terry & Hunter Collins of Sanford...5 bass...18.49 lbs...$317
6th Place: Todd Massey & Tim Parker of Chapel Hill & New Hill...5 bass...17.68 lbs...$282
7th Place: Tim Emory & Dean Livingston of Durham & Hurdle Mills...4 bass...16.58 lbs...$246
8th Place: Todd Sumner & Mike Dinterman of Southern Pines & Oxford...5 bass...16.25 lbs...$176
9th Place: William Small & Lee Williams of Wake Forest & Durham...5 bass...15.69 lbs...$1051st Place Big Fish: 9th Place Team above...7.08 lbs...$602
2nd Place Big Fish: 1st Place Team...7.01 lbs...$2581st Place TWT: 2nd Place Team above: 22.93 lbs...$770
2nd Place TWT: 3rd Place Team above: 19.85 lbs...$330
Next Tournament For 2016 ~ August 6th
PBC Cashion Fishing Rods 'End of Year'
Team Tournament Bass Trail ~ Q#3
FALLS LAKE~LEDGE ROCK WILDLIFE RAMP
Blast Off Approx. 6:15am...1st Flight Weighin 2:15pm
Arrive early and launch Boat 1st...Then Check In.
Entry Starts at 5:00am...Cash Only At The Ramp.
Click Here For All The Information On This Trail.
This is also an 'Open Event'.
Trapper Tackle Scores Huge Upset With Icast Best In Show
Trapper Tackle Scores Huge Upset with ICAST Best in Show
Palm Beach Gardens, FL (July 26, 2016) - Every summer, fishing industry insiders gather at ICAST, an international trade show and exposition that showcases thousands of fishing products. Manufacturers invest significant time and money to position themselves to win the coveted “Best in Show” award in the ICAST New Product Showcase, where products in 24 different categories vie for attention from fishing industry influencers, including outdoor media and buyers. The buzz about Trapper Tackle’s revolutionary hook design could be heard across the show floor and earned the attention and votes needed to upset industry giants in the New Product Showcase.
“Years of research, design, engineering and extensive field testing have resulted in today’s Trapper Hook,” said Larry Davidson, founder of Trapper Tackle, a Landum Outdoors brand. “This has truly been a group effort fueled by the blood, sweat and tears of a core team.”
Trapper Tackle’s family of Trapper hooks include a range of general purpose and technique-specific hooks that address two of the oldest problems in angling: fish don't stay pinned, and baits don’t stay rigged on conventional J-hooks correctly as presentations are cast and fished through cover. The patented Trapper Box, with its two right angles at the base of the hook shank, locks baits and hooked fish in place so anglers can make more casts and better presentations, so they can land more fish and make the most out of their limited fishing time.
Trapper Tackle’s Brand and Product Development Director, Keith Alan said, “I can’t recall a brand or product launch that has generated this much interest and excitement at ICAST. Both media and buyers were genuinely intrigued by the simplicity and functionality of Trapper’s revolutionary hook designs and they validated the innovation with their votes. Winning Best in Show has undoubtedly helped spark interest from buyers and distributors around the world. That’s an amazing jump start for a new brand.”
At ICAST 2016, Trapper Tackle introduced five different hook families that feature the patented Trapper Box design: an ultra-versatile “Best in Show” dropshot/live bait/finesse hook, standard and heavy gauge wide gap hooks for soft plastics, a xxx-heavy super wide gap hook for extreme cover situations, and a 30-degree jig hook designed for jigs and OEM applications. Anglers can expect to find 19 different sizes and styles of Trapper Hooks at their favorite retailer and online at TrapperTackle.com in December 2016.
Former Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Vince Hurtado has been intimately involved in the development and field testing of Trapper Hooks, and offered that, “these hooks will raise every angler’s game. Baits stay rigged better, and fish stay hooked better, so I make more casts and land a much higher percentage of the fish I hook. I’ve never used another hook that performs like a Trapper, and I’m proud to be part of the team.”
Join us as we ride the wave of hook innovation with Trapper Hooks. Visit http://TrapperTackle.com today to sign up for free samples and to learn more about game-changing Trapper Hooks from Trapper Tackle.
Penn State University Wins Flw College Fishing Northern Conference Event
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY WINS FLW COLLEGE FISHING NORTHERN CONFERENCE EVENT ON CHAUTAUQUA LAKE
Photo of winning team Penn State University
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (July 23, 2016) – The Penn State University duo of Clayton Frey of York, Pennsylvania, and Derek Horner, of State College, Pennsylvania, won the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference event at Chautauqua Lake Saturday with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned the club $2,000 and qualified the team for the 2017 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“We expected to do well here, but we didn’t really expect to win,†said Horner, a junior majoring in Rehabilitation and Human Services. “Clayton and I had great teamwork today. The morning was very tough, but we stayed confident and we had good execution.â€
“This is my third event fishing with Derek and I think that he and I work very well together,†said Frey, a junior majoring in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. “It took us all day to grind it out, but it feels pretty good to qualify for the National Championship.â€
The duo said that they caught their winning limit targeting the plentiful docks around Lake Chautauqua. They estimated that they fished 100 to 150 docks throughout the day, throwing a wacky-rigged Cinnamon Brown-colored Yamamoto Senko and a green-pumpkin Jakked Baits football-head jig with a Strike King Rage Craw, also in green-pumpkin.
‘We caught around 15 keepers and stayed in Bemus Bay for the entire day,†Horner said. “The fish were sitting 6 to 7 feet deep.â€
“We caught our last keeper about 10 minutes before we had to check in and I knew that it was going to be close,†Frey said. “I’m happy we’re going home with the win.â€
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2017 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Pennsylvania State University – Derek Horner, State College, Pa., and Clayton Frey, York, Pa., five bass, 13-3, $2,000
2nd: Schoolcraft Community College – Anthony Gilmore, Livonia, Mich., and Clayton Hatton, South Lyon, Mich., five bass, 13-3, $1,000
3rd: Lake Superior State University – Jake Dorony, South Lyon, Mich., and Hunter Scharphorn, Grand Haven, Mich., five bass, 12-11, $500
4th: Adrian College – Jack Hippe III, Davison, Mich., and Brandon Herzberg, Clarklake, Mich., five bass, 11-9, $500
5th: University of Akron – Anthony Villalba, Silver Lake, Ohio, and Robert Webber, Elyria, Ohio, five bass, 11-8, $500
6th: Adrian College – Dalton Breckel, Brooklyn, Mich., and Ryan Sharnas, Davison, Mich., five bass, 11-5
7th: Ohio State University – Michael Whitacre, Hudson, Ohio, and John Belluardo, Peninsula, Ohio, five bass, 11-2
8th: Lake Superior State University – Keegan Russell, Gladwin, Mich., and Nic Rand, Kalamazoo, Mich., five bass, 10-12
9th: Virginia Tech University – Milton Sheesley, Amissville, Va., and Ian Hardesty, Round Hill, Va., five bass, 10-8
10th: Kent State University – Logan Willoughby, New Philadelphia, Ohio, and Trevor Gillett, Kent, Ohio, five bass, 10-5
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Penn State won the event via tiebreaker over second place, Schoolcraft Community College. FLW College Fishing Rule No. 17 states: Total number of fish for the tournament will break ties. If a tie remains, it will be broken first by total number of live fish for the tournament, then the earliest entry for the tournament and then by lottery. Since both teams weighed in five fish, all alive, the earliest entry was the deciding factor. Penn State registered for the event first, earning them the tiebreaker decision.
This FLW College Fishing Western Conference event was hosted by the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau and was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournament in the Northern conference. The next event for Northern Conference anglers will be the FLW College Fishing National Championship, held early next spring on a lake yet to be announced.
FLW College Fishing teams compete in 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 15 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2017 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
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.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit CollegeFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
Michigans Dobson Leads Wire-To-Wire, Wins Costa Flw Series Event At 1000 Islands
MICHIGAN’S DOBSON LEADS WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS COSTA FLW SERIES EVENT AT 1000 ISLANDS PRESENTED BY MERCURY
Link to photo of winner Scott Dobson
CLAYTON, N.Y. (July 23, 2016) – Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Northern Division event at 1000 Islands presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 68 pounds, 8 ounces. For his win, Dobson earned $82,669, including a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“What a week this has been,” said Dobson, who earned his first career FLW Series victory. “I’ve been so close to winning in the past, and I knew that this tournament was mine to lose today. It was very tough today and my composure was really tested at some points, but it all worked out in the end and I am extremely happy right now.”
Dobson said that the majority of his fish came by rotating through three areas, keying in on spots that he said were, “snot free.”
“If you got any of that slimy grass on your lures, it was over and the fish weren’t going to bite,” Dobson said. “We started to call it ‘snot’ because when that happens your bait is not getting bit. So I keyed in on a couple of isolated areas that were clean and ‘snot’ free.”
It worked for Dobson as he weighed a limit of smallmouth bass each day on a variety of baits, including a Ned rig, which he dubbed “Mr. Flanders”, a drop-shot rig, a jerkbait, a spinbait and a tube. He said that he averaged 9 to 10 fish each day, but only caught 7 keepers Saturday.
“The drop-shot rig caught the most and biggest fish, but the Ned rig and the Duo Realis Spinbait 90 caught some important fish for me today.
“I think the biggest key to my win were my eyes,’ Dobson continued. “I saw every fish that I caught, and my experience fishing shallow back home on Lake St. Clair taught me that bait presentation is everything. If you cast too close, you’ll spook them. If you cast too far away, they can’t see it. It had to be very precise to get them to bite.”
The top 10 pros at 1000 Islands were:
1st: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 68-8, $82,669
2nd: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 61-4, $14,609
3rd: Cal Climpson, Sharon, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 58-8, $11,584
4th: Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 58-6, $9,425
5th: Bob Izumi, Milton, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 54-11, $8,482
6th: Dennis Carnahan, Cazenovia, N.Y., 15 bass, 53-3, $7,540
7th: Andrew Slegona, Walker Valley, N.Y., 15 bass, 48-12, $6,597
8th: John Vanore, Mullica Hill, N.J., 15 bass, 45-6, $5,655
9th: Joel Richardson, Kernersville, N.C., 13 bass, 42-4, $4,712
10th: Neil Farlow, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, 14 bass, 39-9, $3,770
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Climpson caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Thursday – a bass weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $274.
Joe Thompson of Clayton, Georgia, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 43 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers at 1000 Islands were:
1st: Joe Thompson, Clayton, Ga., 15 bass, 43-7, Ranger Z117 w/90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Tom Streek, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 41-13, $4,724
3rd: James Schneider, Rexford, N.Y., 15 bass, 40-8, $3,779
4th: Casey Casamento, Morrisonville, N.Y., 15 bass, 39-3, $3,307
5th: Heath Toler, Walnut Cove, N.C., 13 bass, 37-5, $2,834
6th: Rob Johnson, Schuylkill Haven, Pa., 15 bass, 36-1, $2,362
7th: Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, 14 bass, 32-1, $1,890
8th: John Wilson, Six Mile, S.C., 14 bass, 31-3, $1,653
9th: William Clute, Hogansburg, N.Y., 11 bass, 29-6, $1,417
10th: Eric Correll, Birdsboro, Pa., 10 bass, 24-12, $1,181
Gary McClain of Chesapeake, Virginia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $145.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2016 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 3-5 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
The Costa FLW Series at 1000 Islands was hosted by the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. It was the second Northern Division tournament of 2016.
The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be the third and final regular-season event in the Northern Division, held August 18-20, on Oneida Lake in Brewerton, New York. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
Kevin Vandam Wins Bassmaster Classic Bracket, Pending Protest By Brett Hite
After 4 days, 8 anglers have gone head-to-head in bracket style competition at the Bassmaster Classic Bracket. Finally, we have a winner.
Maybe.
When the seconds had ticked off the clock in today's championship round, Kevin VanDam had 20 pounds, 3 ounces on the scoreboard. Brett Hite had 13-9.
But VanDam caught a fish weighing better than 2 pounds just beyond the boundary of this week's playing field.
Tournament Rule C1 covers this situation and it states that an angler may forfeit the lone fish that is in question of violation and that the angler's entire catch is not in jeopardy.
Hite, however, compares VanDam's blunder with that made by Greg Hackney at a recent Elite Series tournament - a mistake that disqualified Hackney's entire day's catch and basically knocked him out of the Angler of the Year race which he had led coming into that tournament day.
"Kevin is a friend of mine, but if a rule is broken, a rule is broken," concluded Hite.
A review of the rules would indicate that VanDam's win will be upheld. Formalities aside, here's how the action unfolded.
Smallmouth specialists know these fish like bright skies and calm conditions that play to their strengths as sight feeders. Mother Nature tested the top two anglers today. Gone was the sunshine that lit up VanDam's weed-lined flat so he could see to target his fish. The same sun had helped position Hite's fish beneath the I-190 Bridge all week. Today's weather was cloudy and breezy, a major reason for the slow start by both pros.
In the first 15 minutes VanDam cycled through at least 3 different techniques and had one missed strike to show for it.
He rolled up over the flat as if to do a post-mortem exam. "They are not positioned up here like I thought they would be," declared VanDam, "not the big ones. Maybe they come in the afternoon."
At 10:15 Hite struck first. "It's like wrestling a tiger in 3 mile an hour current and wind," said Hite as he spent a couple of minutes easing the fish ever closer until he could grasp the mellowed-out smallmouth. It weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces - a key number during VanDam's win yesterday.
Eight minutes later VanDam answered. He had abandoned the flat that produced just enough for him yesterday and returned to his Day 1 hot spot at Strawberry Island. The fish weighed little more than a pound, but it brought with it the hope that the sleepy Niagra River fishery had woken up.
When VanDam landed a 2-pound, 4-ounce largemouth minutes later, it confirmed that the bass were awake and eating. A hook mark on the fish's lip convinced VanDam that this was the same largemouth he caught, weighed and released on Tuesday in the same spot and on the same tube lure. The recycled fish gave him the lead.
As VanDam unhooked a 2-11 smallmouth 15 minutes later, he noted that color made a big difference and that he was alternating between KVD Magic and Edge, the color he used to catch this, his biggest bass.
Five minutes later Hite hooked up again, took a couple of minutes to play a fish and it, again, weighed 1-15.
VanDam answered with the jerkbait, and a 15-ouncer.
Just after 11AM Hite put a 1-11 in the boat.
VanDam immediately hit back with a 2-6 smallmouth.
Then, like a summer rain storm, as quickly as it had started the slugfest ground to a halt. The action assumed the pace that prompts commentators to pronounce random facts about the host location and to make predictions about the day's weights.
By noon the bass were back at it. VanDam built a sizeable lead, in part by finding a bridge of his own. The railroad bridge featured fast current close to the shore. There VanDam ran his weight to 13-10. Hite trailed with 5-9.
Around noon, an hour after his last catch, Hite caught 2-1 smallmouth and threw out a quote from Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore movie: "Uh oh, Happy learned how to put!"
If Hite was putting, KVD was crushing it off the tee. He had 16 pounds by 12:30.
Unlike previous rounds this week, today was a "Weigh 'Em All" format wherein there was no 5-fish limit. Every legal bass counted toward each angler's total.
Through his involvement with Major League Fishing, VanDam has a lot of experience with match play, including the "Weigh 'Em All" format.
On a final day when there's no need to save fish, it makes sense to turn the boys loose and see who can wring the water out for all it's worth.
With 4 minutes, 34 seconds left to fish, Hite lifted a 3 pound, 3 ounce smallmouth over the gunnel. It was a valiant last effort but it left him lagging far behind with 13 pounds, 9 ounces to VanDam's 20-3.
It was a fascinating week of firsts but one thing not new to the sport was Kevin VanDam taking a title. This was his 23rd career Bassmaster victory, his 3rd this year alone - pending Hite's protest.
AnglersChannel.com will let you know when we learn more.
Hite Cruises, Vandam Squeaks Into Finals At Bassmaster Classic Bracket
It was hard to watch Koby Kreiger around midday during today's semifinal round of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket.
He trailed Kevin VanDam by about 6 pounds. Then he lost 2 fish in short order. Each looked as though it might weigh about 3 pounds. Their weight, along with the 2-plus pounds he'd caught earlier, would have put him right there with VanDam.
Crushed as he was by the turn of events, Kreiger should have taken it as a sign of great things to come. The fish kept biting. He started putting them in the boat, and on the scoreboard, and eventually built a small lead over the most dominant angler in bass tournament history.
Each man now having a limit - Kreiger's weighed 9-13 while VanDam's weighed 9-9 - they needed big bass in order to gain ground.
While most locals took their lunch break, some at the Anchor Bar & Grill where Buffalo wings were made famous, Kreiger and VanDam tried to make 3-pound smallmouth eat.
Shortly after 1 PM Kreiger set the hook and exclaimed "big one". After a tense battle he boated the bass, which weighed 2 pounds, 6 ounces, ran his total weight to 11 pounds and gave him nearly a pound and a half lead on VanDam. It also, perhaps, gave him some temporary relief from the agony of losing the pair of big ones this morning.
The split screen broadcast on Bassmaster.com showed VanDam continuing to fish in silence. He had caught a bunch on the new Strike King Half Shell dropshot bait that we got a look at during last week's ICAST show in Orlando.
With a half hour left to go, the Half Shell produced another fish for VanDam. This one was big enough to narrow the gap between himself and Kreiger to 4 ounces.
The smallest bass on VanDam's ledger weighed 1-11 so he needed a 1-15 to tie, a solid 2-pounder to take the lead.
He switched to a jerkbait and hooked a small fish right off. Very soon thereafter, a quality fish bent VanDam's rod deeply and fought until it jumped off near the trolling motor. It was now VanDam who had let the winning fish get away.
Then, just as quickly as the lost fish had become a sore memory, another bass loaded VanDam's rod. VanDam boated this one. It weighed exactly 1-15, forcing a tie between the two anglers at 11 pounds apiece.
A review of the tie-breaker rules revealed that VanDam would be awarded the win unless Kreiger could cull up once more in the remaining minutes of play.
Because his smallest limit fish weighed 1-14, it was Kreiger who now needed, ironically, a bass that weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces.
With roughly 9 minutes left to go Kreiger hooked a big smallmouth. "Be two pounds and an ounce! Be two pounds and an ounce!," Kreiger repeated at the fish. But then the fish was gone.
As the marshall counted down the final seconds it was again hard to watch a dejected Koby Kreiger, silhouetted against a huge concrete piling, rod in hand, hoping against hope for one more last chance. He had missed 3 such chances, any of which would have made him a giant-killer and moved him one step closer to a berth in the 2017 Bassmaster Classic. Burried in 72nd place on the Elite Series, he'll likely watch that Classic from the sidelines with the rest of us now.
Denny Brauer once told me that it's not the big bass you catch that you will remember the most. It's the big ones that got away that will never let go of you.
Right now I imagine Koby Kreiger understands that sentiment better than any man on Earth.
On the other hand, we got to witness vintage VanDam live as it unfolded. And he had to pull this one out of a magician's hat.
"I almost blew it today because I was trying to save this area," noted VanDam. It was the area he found while practicing late yesterday due to his big lead. He thought he had a comfortable lead today until Kreiger converted enough strikes into catches and then VanDam had to wring the pair of winning fish from his shallow grass bed.
He says the area is full of big fish and he expects them to feed heavily tomorrow morning when he plans on meeting them there. He will hold nothing back during Friday's final round.
"It's going to be a shootout tomorrow," said VanDam.
In the finale VanDam takes on Brett Hite who coasted to a win over Dean Rojas.
Hite was able to box what he needed and then rest his stretch of the big bridge that has produced all of his weight this week. He shared the bridge today with Kreiger who agreed to stay off of Hite's best pilings. As a result, Hite now knows there are smallmouth all over that bridge, should he need to expand his waters.
Early on it looked like Hite might be in trouble. Rojas kept pace for the first couple of hours. Then Hite caught the kind of bass that make a difference. The difference was 5 pounds 11 ounces as Hite won with a weight of 13-9 to Rojas' 7-14.
Just as one bridge has produced all of Hite's weight this week (the heaviest total of all competitors at 35-7) so too has a single lure, the Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm. It's a soft plastic lure designed for dropshoting. Apparently, it was designed well.
A very interesting format has led to a very interesting week, which has led up to what will certainly be a hot finish as Kevin VanDam and his grass bass square off against Brett Hite and his bridge fish.
Catch it all live on Bassmaster.com!
Wacky, Wonderful Day 2 At Bassmaster Classic Bracket As 4 Pros Advance
Jacob Powroznik cheers-on Koby Kreiger, the guy he's supposed to be fishing against. photo courtesy B.A.S.S.
As a fan of professional bass fishing, confrontational drama on the water has never bothered me. Some say that it 'gives the sport a black eye' or whatever. I say that's true - only if you're trying to reinvent golf. Wake me up when you're done with that. I'll be over here watching Happy Gilmore. "Gee, I hope none of those players have a fight right here in front of us," said no hockey fan ever.
And fans do watch NASCAR for the crashes. At least a crash occurs because somebody is trying too hard to win.
Today we witnessed the complete opposite of that.
Jacob Powroznik held a one-pound lead over Koby Kreiger, his close friend, travelling mate and the guy he was paired-up to compete against during the first rounds of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket. Powroznik is a lock to make the 2017 Bassmaster Classic. The big prize this week is a berth into said Classic. A $10,000 paycheck is the only other carrot dangling before the horses in this derby. All 8 of them win a $5,000 check just for showing up.
The extra 5-grand and a useless 2nd ticket to the big dance was not enough motivation for Powroznik to keep his foot on the gas when his buddy, Kreiger sits in 72nd place on the Elite Series - way out of the Classic cut with few tournaments left to make up ground.
So Powroznik bowed-out of today's competition. He cheered-on his friend and actually hoped he would catch 1 pound, 1 ounce in total weight and survive to fish tomorrow's semifinal round, one step closer to qualifying for the 2017 Classic.
From a business standpoint, it was classy move to help a friend gain all the exposure afforded to anglers as they participate in the week-long pageantry and exposure associated with the Classic. From a friendship standpoint, it was a solid decision that we can all appreciate on some level.
I respect Jacob Powroznik and the decision he made. That's the reasonable adult in me.
But as a fan of the sport, there is a part of me that has a problem with a competitor laying down his rods for any reason when it's game time.
We tuned-in to see a competition. I want to see blood, sweat and tears. What bothered me most is not simply the fact that it happened, anglers help each and make deals to share info or even fishing locations all the time. But then it's game on. Powroznik basically quit. He wasn't helping a buddy make the cut so they could both fish the next round. He was eliminating himself.
It was a selfless act and, again, on one hand I appreciate seeing that type of gesture. But on the other hand, the non-fishing world was watching today as the event was broadcast on WatchESPN alongside Major League Baseball, soccer and the Youth Robotics World Championship (not making that up) and I'm not sure I like what they may think of our sport if they saw a competitor quit. Especially if they don't understand the reasons behind it. It felt a little bit like some family business was aired in front of strangers.
Perhaps if there was more on the line, a bigger prize purse or a spot in the Classic before most of the field has already qualified for it, maybe then the competition would be more intense for all anglers involved.
That said, it was an INCREDIBLE day of action - and inaction - all very well documented by the outstanding coverage we have come to expect from B.A.S.S.
And to tell the truth, it was kind of fun to watch Kreiger fish against . . . well, his contest was with the clock, not with Powroznik. It was a lot like watching the cops pursue OJ Simpson in the white Bronco - one party was trying to catch the other but neither was going anywhere real fast.
Kreiger was grateful for the chance given to him by Powroznik. It took nearly the whole 3-hour period for the veteran smallmouth angler to land a 1-pound, 7-ounce fish and progress to the next round.
Kreiger also said that Powroznik had some issues back home that needed tending-to and stated, "There's a lot going on here that people don't know about."
Tomorrow Kreiger won't get a break. He squares off against Kevin VanDam who defeated Drew Benton by a score of 20 pounds, 8 ounces to 5-10.
There was no let up today for KVD as he precisely matched his numbers from yesterday by putting another 10-4 on the scoreboard.
Then he went looking.
VanDam took full advantage of his huge lead by scouting around to find new areas to fish tomorrow as well as eliminating dead water. "I was able to use this round today to practice and I'm feeling good about it. Like, real good," said VanDam as he scanned the shallows and saw bunches of bass. "I have got 'em," he said, "I have got them!"
By 'them' KVD probably means, both, the fish and the other competitors.
It's fortunate for VanDam that he found fresh water to pound tomorrow because the place where he did most of his VanDamage has been hammered by half the field.
Kreiger spent an hour there today and never caught one. Keith Combs camped on the spot first thing this morning in a losing effort. Jordan Lee quickly abandoned it this morning after he couldn't make it work for him.
Brett Hite has found a reliable structure in a bridge that has produced all of his fish - a tournament best 21 pounds, 14 ounces. He has tread lightly upon it, believiing it will hold up for the duration of the event.
Tomorrow Hite takes on Dean Rojas who posted a pulse-pumping come-from-behind win over Lee in the closing minutes of his morning on the river. We saw it all live and in color, counting down the minutes with Rojas, cheering when he set the hook, landed the fish and heard, as we did, Tournament Director Trip Weldon's announcement that it was big enough to put him over the top.
So the Final Four looks like this: VanDam vs Kreiger and Hite vs Rojas. You can see it all on Bassmaster.com where I'm pretty sure there will be no coverage of competitive Youth Robotics.
Day 2 Midday Update From Bassmaster Classic Bracket On Niagra River - Excitement Abounds!
Ten minutes left to go in this morning's action. Dean Rojas was 5 pounds behind Jordan Lee; 5 pounds out of tomorrow's semifinal round. He connected with 3 pound, 3 ounce smallmouth. On the next cast his rod bent, he set the hook and nursed another into the boat. Tripp Weldon said the fish needed to weigh at a pound, 13 ounces then read the in-boat digital scale and declared that it weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces.
And those tuned-in to WatchESPN saw it all happen. Live.
"This format's the best," said Rojas. "There's nothing like it!"
Rojas jumped up and down on the deck of his boat as Weldon counted down the seconds and made the official announcement, "Tomorrow we have a West Coast shootout - you versus Brett Hite."
Hite bested Keith Combs
So my prediction, made yesterday, that Kevin VanDam could lay off of his best stuff due to his lead over Drew Benton seems less plausible now because VanDam's best stuff may be the best stuff on the river - a single seawall that forms a current break around Strawberry Island. So good is the spot that Koby Kreiger caught a pair of fish off of it on Tuesday, Combs caught nearly 8 pounds from it and when Combs returned to start today's round of fishing he found Lee perched on it also.
"We'll work it out," grimaced Combs, who said he had found the spot in practice and hooked 2 fish on his first 2 casts there. He said Lee did not fish there the first day so Combs was disappointed to see him. Furthermore, judging from the photo gallery - which the pros are allowed to look at - Combs could see that his best spot (which turned to be VanDam's and Kreiger's best spot) had been beaten hard during the morning round while Combs was on the sideline waiting to fish the afternoon round.
That's when VanDam was working the spot over.
Can VanDam make the area pay off again today? Will he give it a rest? Niagra River bass will replenish on a good spot so if KVD doesn't need that area today it could come into play tomorrow, especially with Lee and Combs out of the race now.
That brings up the subject of Hite who caught all of his fish from a single bridge and who appears to have that area to himself. Can he outlast the guys who are splitting up the Strawberry Island pie?
Seeing the way he whacked them again this morning, Hite is a threat this week. He laid off his best spot after catching a quality limit. "I never hit one piling more than once."
Final scores so far: Hite beat Combs 21-14 to 14-11 while Rojas came from behind to top Lee by exactly a pound 13-9 to 12-9.
Let's see what the guys can do this afternoon.
The video coverage of the Classic Bracket is outstanding. It was fun to watch Dean Rojas pitch a lure to visible cruising smallmouth in a clear water creek; disheartening to see them reject his offerings. We were right there in the boat with him!
Combine that excitement with the aerial views, maps and expert commentary by Sanders and Zona - great job B.A.S.S.!
