2017 FLW Series Champion Paces Field into Weekend Cut, Thrift’s Limit Streak Comes to an End at 71

 

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (March 8, 2019) – Pro Bradford Beavers of Summerville, South Carolina, caught five bass weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces Friday to take control of the leaderboard after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa. Beavers’ two-day total of 10 bass weighing 43 pounds, 14 ounces gives him a 3-pound advantage heading into Day Three of the four-day competition that features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.

Although Beavers’ 18-pound, 12-ounce limit was an impressive sight on the stage, the South Carolina pro admits that he had to grind it out for the entire day. He boated four keepers in a 45-minute window right away Friday morning, then didn’t boat his fifth keeper until just three minutes before having to leave the water and head to weigh-in.

“I hooked seven fish today, but only got five of them to the boat,” said Beavers, the 2017 Costa FLW Series Champion. “I was around them. They would bump my bait, but they just weren’t going to eat.

“I spent three hours there this morning, then I finally gave up and ran around looking for another bite the rest of the day,” Beavers continued. “I don’t know if the fish are becoming more educated or the weather is changing their habits.”

Beavers said that he caught all of his fish Friday on a bladed jig.

“I finally got my last one with just three minutes left in the day,” Beavers said. “It was a huge window with nothing happening.

“Tomorrow my plan is to just go hit the one area where I have been catching them, and then just run some new water from there,” Beavers went on to say. “I’ll probably stay shallow. I don’t have anything else worth going back to, and it just takes too long to find them out deep. I hope I can find them.”

The top 30 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Seminole are:

1^st:          Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 43-14

2^nd:         Sheldon Collings, Grove, Okla., 10 bass, 40-14

3^rd:         Rob Kilby, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 38-15

4^th:         Kurt Mitchell, Milford, Del., 10 bass, 37-5

5^th:         Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 10 bass, 36-12

6^th:         Greg Bohannan, Bentonville, Ark., 10 bass, 36-3

7^th:         Hunter Freeman, Monroe, La., 10 bass, 35-5

8^th:         Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 34-7

9^th:         Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., eight bass, 34-6

10^th:       Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., seven bass, 33-10

11^th:       Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., eight bass, 33-2

12^th:       Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., nine bass, 32-12

13^th:       Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 32-7

14^th:       Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 32-5

15^th:       Jimmy Brewer, Marshall, Texas, 10 bass, 31-0

16^th:       Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 10 bass, 30-12

17^th:       Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-11

18^th:       Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 29-1

19^th:       Russell Cecil, Willis, Texas, nine bass, 28-9

20^th:       Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 10 bass, 28-8

21^st:        Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., seven bass, 28-7

22^nd:       Jason Abram, Piney Flats, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-2

23^rd:       Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-15

24^th:       Costa pro Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 10 bass, 27-0

25^th:       Andy Young, Isle, Minn., 10 bass, 26-13

26^th:       Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, 10 bass, 26-10

27^th:       Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, nine bass, 26-8

28^th:       Kurt Dove, Del Rio, Texas, seven bass, 26-6

29^th:       Chris McCall, Palmer, Texas, nine bass, 26-3

30^th:       Jacob Wall, Jacksonville, Ore., eight bass, 26-0

 

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Pro Bryan Thrift’s remarkable streak of 71 consecutive five-bass limits weighed in FLW Tour competition came to an end Friday as the Shelby, North Carolina pro weighed in just one fish totaling 2 pounds, 1 ounce. Thrift’s streak began in May of 2015 at the FLW Tour at Pickwick Lake. Thrift’s mark of 71 smashed the all-time professional bass fishing record of 57 set by Kevin Van Dam on the Bassmaster Elite Series. The previous all-time FLW Tour record was 50, set by pro Cody Meyer in 2014. Thrift finished the event with six bass for 12-7 and finished in 130^th place.

Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas, earned Friday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a largemouth weighing 8-pounds, 13-ounces to the scale.

Overall there were 596 bass weighing 1,528 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 157 pros Friday. The catch included 79 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EST Saturday and 7:45 a.m. Sunday from the Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin, located at 100 Boat Basin Circle, in Bainbridge. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the boat basin beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the boat basin on Saturday, from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1^st and 2^nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by veteran FLW Tour pro Todd Hollowell to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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