Two women advance to finals
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The weather may have changed Thursday, but the fishing on Lake Murray remained the same and so did the leader, Team Castrol’s Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla.
Robertson, who landed five bass weighing 26 pounds, 13 ounces Wednesday, added five bass weighing 22 pounds, 11 ounces to his catch Thursday with thunderstorms rolling overhead to set a new Wal-Mart FLW Tour record. He now leads 10 pros into the finals Friday with a total of 10 bass weighing 49 pounds, 8 ounces. The previous record for heaviest opening round catch belonged to Peter Thliveros of Jacksonville, Fla., who landed 10 bass weighing 47 pounds, 5 ounces on Kentucky Lake in 1998. Robertson’s opening round catch topped that benchmark by 2 pounds, 3 ounces.
“I ran straight to this little place a long way from [Lighthouse Marina] and caught 10 fish in 10 casts,” said Robertson, who caught his bass in 6 feet of water on a crawfish colored crankbait he borrowed on opening day. “I probably went through 30 fish, so I don’t know if there are any good ones left. But I have a backup plan. Given two more days, I feel like I can catch another 40 pounds.”
Fishing as the No. 2 seed is Evinrude pro Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., who entered the tournament ranked second in the Land O’Lakes Angler-of-the-Year standings. Morehead landed 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 10 ounces in the opening round using a spinner bait, lipless crankbait and shallow diving crankbait to pluck bass out of grass in 3 to 8 feet of water. No matter what the outcome, his top-10 performance has secured him the No. 1 spot in the race to be named Angler of the Year.
Rounding out the top five pros are Bud Pruitt of Spring, Texas (10 bass, 40 pounds, 5 ounces); Jody Cordell of Flowery Branch, Ga. (10 bass, 39 pounds, 12 ounces); and John Crews of Jetersville, Va. (10 bass, 38 pounds, 15 ounces).
Pamela Wood of Bono, Ark., is fishing as the No. 1 co-angler thanks to an opening round total of five bass weighing 27 pounds, 1 ounce that she caught on a white and chartreuse spinner bait. She landed two bass weighing 13 pounds, 5 ounces Wednesday while fishing with pro Dale Teaney of Williamsburg, Ohio, then secured her spot atop the leaderboard Thursday with three bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces that she caught while fishing with Thliveros.
“I wasn’t nervous out there because I never expected this,” said Wood, who is fishing her second season on tour after taking a hiatus in 2002 for the birth of her second child, Tyler, who is now 8 months old. “I won’t be disappointed no matter what happens. I’m thrilled to be along for the ride.”
Fishing as the No. 2 seed is co-angler Rick Reedy of Barrington, Ill., who caught seven bass weighing 25 pounds, 8 ounces in the opening round.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Martin Whitaker of Hensley, Ark. (eight bass, 24 pounds, 15 ounces); John Ax of Lexington, Va. (eight bass, 23 pounds, 11 ounces); and Lonnie Fuller Jr. of Hemphill, Texas (nine bass, 23 pounds, 5 ounces).
A total of 1,000 bass weighing 2,937 pounds, 8 ounces were caught by 313 anglers Thursday and 99 percent were released alive. A ticket into the top 10 on Lake Murray cost 35 pounds in the Pro Division and 22 pounds, 2 ounces in the Co-angler Division. Making the cut in eighth was FLW Tour newcomer Laura Aldridge of Berkley, Mich., who caught seven bass weighing 22 pounds, 12 ounces.
As catch weights proved, there is no shortage of big bass in Lake Murray. Twenty-eight limits weighing 20 pounds or more were brought to the scale the last two days, and at least a dozen bass weighing more than 7 pounds were presented for the Snickers Big-Bass Award each day. The biggest bass in the opening round belonged to Greg Scott of Dearborn, Mich., who landed a 9-pound, 10-ounce largemouth Wednesday on a lipless crankbait in copper. Scott earned $1,000 from Snickers for catching the heaviest bass in either division. Snickers also awards $5,000 at the end of the year to the angler who catches the heaviest bass during the regular season. To date, that honor belongs to Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., who caught a 9-pound, 15-ounce bass during the FLW Tour season opener on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee in January.
Thursday’s big-bass award in the Pro Division went to Pruitt, who earned $750 for a 9-pound, 3-ounce largemouth. In the co-angler division, Ax earned big-bass honors and $500 with a 9-pound, 2-ounce largemouth.
This four-day tournament presented by Snickers marks the midpoint of the $5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour. With three tournaments down following this event, 350 anglers representing 35 states, Canada and Japan will have three additional FLW Tour events in which to earn points toward qualifying for the historic $1.5 million Jacobs Cup world championship of bass fishing on the James River in Richmond, Va., Sept. 10-13. Every point is critical, as only the top 48 pros and 48 co-anglers advance to the Jacobs Cup, where the winning pro earns $500,000 – the largest guaranteed cash award in the sport’s history.
Lighthouse Marina in Chapin is hosting takeoffs at 8 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. Weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 360 Harbison Blvd. at 5 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday. The community is encouraged to attend the weigh-ins and the Family Fun Zone, which is set up outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family. The Fun Zone opens at 3 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.
Coverage of the Lake Murray tournament will be featured on the “FLW Outdoors” television show, which is broadcast to 55 million Outdoor Life Network subscribers. The program features fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon alongside hosts Charlie Evans, Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr. Parker’s preview of the event airs Saturday at 7 p.m. and again Sunday at 1 p.m. EST. Tournament highlights air March 22 and 23 followed by a tournament recap featuring Nixon March 29 and 30. “FLW Outdoors” airs every Saturday at 7 p.m. and every Sunday at 1 p.m. EST on OLN through July 5. Special Jacobs Cup episodes will air in September.
The FLW Tour features a pro/co-angler format in which the pro supplies the boat, fishes from the front deck against other pros and controls boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. One hundred and seventy-five pros and 175 co-anglers comprise a full field. After two days the field is cut to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers who will advance to day one of the final round Friday based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for Friday’s competition, and co-anglers compete for one day to determine the winner. Pros continue competition Saturday, with final positions determined by Friday and Saturday’s combined weight. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 for third, and so on.
These points determine angler standings.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com.
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.