Co-angler Tim Hurst wins $170,000
MOBILE, Ala. – Team Fujifilm’s Randy Blaukat from Lamar, Mo., will lead the top-10 Ranger M1 pros into Saturday’s final round on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces. These anglers will start from zero as they cast for up to $1 million in the world’s most lucrative fishing tournament.
Blaukat, who is qualified to win $700,000, advanced to Friday’s semifinal round in fifth place after landing nine bass weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces in the two-day opening round. The top-20 pros and co-anglers started from zero Friday.
“I feel pretty good about the final round, but I’ll have to let the day unfold,” Blaukat said. “I’m just going to take it one cast at a time and fish just like I was fishing with a friend. I’m just going to relax and not think about the money.”
Blaukat caught his bass casting a Megabass crankbait in the opening round and flipping a Luck `e Strike Enforcer Series lizard and black/blue Lunker Lure rattle back jig with a black trailer in the semifinal round. He has fished the same area, which he says is packed with underwater cover, each day of competition.
Rounding out the top-five pros advancing to the final round are Team Castrol’s David Dudley, Manteo, N.C. (four bass, 9 pounds, 11 ounces); Mark Rose, Marion, Ark. (four bass, 8 pounds, 10 ounces); local favorite Jason Kilpatrick, Satsuma, Ala. (five bass, 8 pounds, 8 ounces); and Dion Hibdon, Stover, Mo. (three bass, 6 pounds, 10 ounces).
While pros were casting for a berth in the final round Friday, co-anglers were shooting for a spot in the record books. Co-angler Tim Hurst, Oxford, Ala., eventually claimed a $170,000 winner’s check with four bass weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces, but not before second place co-angler David Millsaps, Woodstock, Ga., wowed the crowd and took a run at the title with a 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth. Unfortunately for Millsaps, he only had the one bass that turned out to be worth $62,000.
“It just doesn’t seem fair,” said Hurst, commenting on Millsaps’ catch. “That was a big fish.”
Hurst, a regular competitor in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, advanced to the final day of co-angler competition in fourth place with a two-day, opening-round total of five bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces. His biggest win prior to Friday was in 1996 when he won $2,871 in a BFL tournament on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake.
Ryan Deal, Haubstadt, Ind. (three bass, 6 pounds, 14 ounces, $25,000); Shannon Devere, Berea, Ky. (two bass, 5 pounds, 3 ounces, $14,500); and John Howard, Alexander City, Ala., (two bass, 3 pounds, 11 ounces, $10,000) rounded out the top-five co-anglers.
The Ranger M1’s total purse is based on a payback of $1.3 million plus $2.34 million in sponsor bonus money. The winning pro will receive $400,000 plus up to an additional $600,000 in sponsor bonuses. Anglers competing in the Ranger M1 represent the United States, Canada and Japan.
The Mobile Convention Center will host Saturday’s final weigh-in starting at 2 p.m. Admission to the weigh-in and Family Fun Zone, which opens at 11 a.m., is free. The Fun Zone features children’s games and product samples from Ranger M1 sponsors.
The Ranger M1’s final weigh-in will air live as part of “FLW Outdoors” on the PAX TV network.
Tournament sponsors include Wal-Mart, Ranger Boats, Chevy Trucks, Citgo, Conseco, EverStart Batteries, Faded Glory, Garmin Electronics, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Snickers, Yamaha Outboards and Plano.