Hite hits fish, leads going into final round
Legendary Rick Clunn positioned for consecutive wins
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Davy Hite of Prosperity, S.C., the first pro angler to win $250,000 at the 1998 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship, will lead five pro anglers into Saturday’s final round of the $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop in Memphis with a second-round catch of five bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces.
Hite’s lead came just one day after he celebrated his 35th birthday. On Saturday, he and the other finalists will start from scratch in the tourney presented by Coca-Cola for a shot at $100,000 first-place cash.
“It’s going to be a great final day,” said Hite, noting that less than a pound separated the five finalists. “Anyone could win. I know there are a lot of fish (in Lake Whittington), but I could zero. The water is dropping, and I don’t know the area that well. It’s different each day. When I got to the spot I fished Thursday, it was dry dirt.”
Joining Hite in the high-stakes final round are all-time FLW Tour leading money winner, Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., who qualified in second place with five bass weighing 17-9; Larry Frasier of Madisonville, Ky., in third with five bass weighing 17-6; last year’s Memphis tournament winner, Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, in fourth with five bass weighing 17-2; and Ken Cook of Meers, Okla., in fifth with five bass weighing 16-13.
Each contestant will fish from a specially designed Ranger Comanche fishing machine with distinctive NASCAR-type styling. Adorned with corporate logos, each boat is powered by a highly efficient RAM Ficht-injected 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
Craig Clayton of Rogers, Ark., dominated the Co-Angler Division Friday to win $15,000 plus a year’s supply of CITGO gasoline with a five-bass catch weighing 16 pounds. Tom Hunley of Stamping Ground, Ky., finished second with three bass weighing 8-5 to collect $6,000.
“I got six bites, and I missed one,” said Clayton, who caught his limit on an FLW Tour spinnerbait. “But I got the five I needed.”
Rounding out the top spots in the Co-Angler Division were Tim King of Kissimmee, Fla., with two bass weighing 7-1; Armil Morgan of Mineral Springs, Ark., with three bass weighing 3-13; and Darrell Stevens of Roseland, Va., with one bass weighing 3-8.
The final weigh-in, which will be broadcast live to Wal-Mart Stores nationwide and taped for ESPN, begins at 3:30 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 8400 Highway 64 in Bartlett, Tenn. The weigh-in will air June 3 as part of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour series on ESPN at noon EST.
Run by Operation Bass Inc., the world’s largest bass tournament organization, the $4.4 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate. If the FLW Tour continues the rate through 2000, BFGoodrich Tires will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network. The tour is the most lucrative series in fishing history.