GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – He is already known as the “Crankbait King” in bass fishing circles, but come Feb. 14, David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., will be looking to extend his reign over the Wal-Mart FLW Tour with a win in D’Iberville, Miss.
A victory in D’Iberville would be the fifth gem in Fritts’ crown. It would also extend his lead over Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., and Steve Daniel of Clewiston, Fla., on the tour’s all-time winners list. Clunn and Daniel currently rank second in terms of wins with three apiece.
Fritts picked up his fourth win on the $4.4 million FLW Tour in January when he topped fellow Chevy Pro Staff angler Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., by 15 ounces on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Fla. The victory boosted his career FLW Tour earnings to $481,000, which is second only to Clunn with $682,600. It was also his first victory since his record-setting run of three wins in 1997.
In D’Iberville, Fritts and 349 other top anglers representing 36 states will probe the Pascagoula River, Back Bay of Biloxi and their tributaries for big bass. The $500,000 event, presented by Pepsi and Frito-Lay, is the second tournament of the seven-event 2001 FLW Tour season. The winning pro will take home $100,000 – one of the richest cash awards in bass fishing – and the winning co-angler will collect $15,000 cash.
Pros fish from the front of each boat and control its movement throughout the four-day tournament, while co-anglers fish from the back of each boat. Anglers in both divisions will compete for two days to make the opening-round cut. Only the top 10 anglers in each 175-person division will fish during the one-day semifinal round. Co-angler competition ends after the semifinal round, and the top five pros advance to the final day of competition. Catch weights carry over during the opening round but are cleared for the semifinal and final rounds.
Two hundred points will be awarded to the winner of the Pascagoula River tournament. Second place will receive 199 points, and third place will collect 198 points. This is a departure from previous seasons where points were awarded based on each angler’s opening round (two-day) performance instead of overall finish.
Under the new system, the winner of each regular season tournament plus the top 44 pros and co-anglers based on year-end point totals will qualify to fish for up to $250,000 in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship presented by CITGO. The pro angler who accumulates the most points will also be named the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year and receive $25,000 plus a Ranger bass boat. At the end of the season, the top co-angler will be named Eagle Co-Angler of the Year and awarded a Ranger bass boat.
Fritts currently sits atop the leaderboard with 200 points followed by VanDam with 199 points and Team Coleman’s Kim Stricker of Howell, Mich., with 198 points. VanDam, who will be fishing in just the third FLW Tour event of his career, has finished second in two prior FLW Tour outings.
Competition will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 14 at Indian Point Marina. The marina, which is located off I-10 in Gautier, Miss., will host each day’s takeoff plus the opening round weigh-ins. Weigh-ins will begin at 3 p.m. on Feb. 14-15. The Feb. 16 semifinal round weigh-in will start at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 3615 Sangani Blvd. in D’Iberville. Wal-Mart will host the final weigh-in on Feb. 17 starting at 3:30 p.m. Wal-Mart will also host the FLW Tour Family Fun Zone from 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 16 and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 17. The Fun Zone is a festival featuring free children’s games and product samples from FLW Tour sponsors.
No matter who wins the tournament, the Pascagoula River will benefit from a $5,000 donation from the FLW Tour and the FishAmerica Foundation. Mississippi’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks will use the donation to help modernize the Limon State Fish Hatchery, which was built in the late 1930s. The hatchery is used to cultivate largemouth bass that are stocked into the Pascagoula River. The contribution is part of a $100,000 conservation partnership between Operation Bass, Wal-Mart and FishAmerica that will be used to benefit fisheries across the country. Last year the FLW Tour made a similar contribution to the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
For more information on the FishAmerica Foundation, visit the American Sportfishing Association Web site at www.asafishing.org.