Richard Peek of Centre, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Friday weighing 18 pounds, 5 ounces to grab the lead after day two of the Rayovac FLW Series Championship at Wheeler Lake. Peek now holds a 2-pound, 14-ounce lead heading in to the final day of the three-day event, hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism, that features 140 anglers from across the country casting for a top cash award of $50,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup qualified.

Right behind Peek in second place is veteran pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, North Carolina, who has a two-day weight of 10 bass worth 28-6 as the tournament heads into the third and final day of competition. 

“I was pretty much a phone call away from not even coming to the tournament,” said Peek, whose wife is due to give birth to the couple’s first child this weekend. “But, I decided to come on over and I’m glad I did.

“It’s all about timing right now,” Peek, who just finished his rookie year on the Walmart FLW Tour. “Yesterday I had a good flurry at about 1 o’clock, and I caught three of the fish I weighed-in in that window. Today it happened around 10 a.m. and it was over by 11 a.m., but I caught four of my keepers in six casts.

“The places I’m keying on have a lot of laydowns and structure for them to get in,” Peek continued. “It is all close to creek channels and bends, and I think when the fish pull up to feed you catch them.

“Today, the wind got up after lunch,” Peek added. “I don’t know if I’ll even be able to fish some of my places tomorrow because the waves might be too big.”

Despite the possibility of the wind wreaking havoc with his areas, Peek said that he was optimistic that with fewer boats on the water Saturday he would be able to take advantage of more of his secondary areas to catch fish.

The top 10 boaters advancing to the final day of competition on Wheeler Lake are:

                1st:           Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 10 bass, 31-4

                2nd:          Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 28-6

                3rd:          Zach Birge, Blanchard, Okla., 10 bass, 28-0

                3rd:          Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., 10 bass, 28-0

                5th:           George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 27-15

                6th:           Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., eight bass, 25-12

                7th:           Chevy pro Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 10 bass, 25-3

                8th:           Chris McCall, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 25-0

                9th:           Casey Gallagher, Pulaski, Wis., 10 bass, 24-8

                10th:        Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 24-3

 

Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

 

Overall there were 545 bass weighing 1,105 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 140 boaters Friday. The catch included 87 five-bass limits.

 

Boaters are competing for a top award of $50,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Additionally, 10 boaters will qualify for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup – the top five tournament finishers as well as the top five finishers from each Rayovac division. The 2015 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 20-23 on Lake Ouachita. The winning angler in that event will win $500,000 – professional bass-fishing’s richest prize.

 

Carl Gillespie of Old Hickory, Tennessee, continues to lead the co-angler division with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces followed by James Callaghan of De Berry, Texas, who has a two-day weight of 10 bass worth 17-4 as the tournament heads into the third and final day of competition.

 

 The top 10 co-anglers who will fish day three on Wheeler Lake are:

 

                1st:           Carl Gillespie, Old Hickory, Tenn., nine bass, 19-5

                2nd:          James Callaghan, De Berry, Texas, 10 bass, 17-14

                3rd:          Ryan Bowman, Seneca, S.C., nine bass, 16-7

                4th:           Casey Smith, Musella, Ga., 10 bass, 16-5

                5th:           Randy Gardner, Wetumpka, Ala., six bass, 15-11

                6th:           Corey Bechtel, Macungie, Pa., nine bass, 15-8

                7th:           Brett Rachal, Monroe, La., 10 bass, 15-5

                8th:           Randy Forbes, Pleasant Plain, Ohio, seven bass, 15-3

                9th:           Brandon Bray, Marble Falls, Texas, 10 bass, 15-2

                10th:        Justin Sward, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 15-0

 

Full results are available at FLWOutdoors.com.

 

Co-anglers are casting this week for a top award of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Additionally, 10 co-anglers will qualify for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup – the top five co-angler finishers as well as the top five finishing co-anglers from each Rayovac division.

 

Anglers will take off from Joe Wheeler State Park located at 4601 McLean Drive in Rogersville at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 2701 Cloverdale Road in Florence beginning at 4 p.m.

 

Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo at Walmart on Saturday from 3–4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-in. The Expo includes a casting pool, interactive games and activities provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. The first 200 fans in attendance will also receive a $5 Walmart gift card courtesy of KIX 96. All activities are free and open to the public.

 

For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.