Big guns reload for second half at Lake Murray
Co-angler finals under way
COLUMBIA, S.C. – While the tournament fields have been cut down to 10 anglers apiece for Friday’s Wal-Mart FLW Tour competition, look for catch weights to remain way up at productive Lake Murray over the next two days. Particularly in the Pro Division, no anglers are going to feel comfortable until they have at least 20 pounds of bass in their livewells.
Even 20 pounds might not be enough to stay in contention since Lake Murray’s been giving up big bass by the boatload.
Pro Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., set the FLW Tour opening-round weight record with 49 pounds, 8 ounces yesterday, and Stanley Mitchell of Fitzgerald, Ga., landed the tour’s third-heaviest one-day stringer of all time with five bass weighing 28-1.
“The average size of the fish here is just unbelievable,” 31st-place pro finisher Clark Wendlandt said Thursday.
While probably a half dozen bass weighing over 9 pounds each have crossed the scale this week, it’s not just the size of Murray’s bass, it’s their location. The fish are itching to spawn, and even with the onset of some rainy weather, the big females are starting to move up shallow to the beds and within target range for the anglers.
In addition to the big fish, the pros have to keep an eye on the high level of competition in the top 10. Half of the pro finalists have already won FLW Tour titles: Robertson, Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., and Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. Nixon and Clunn are both multiple winners.
On the co-angler side, two women are competing in the finals for the first time in FLW history, led by opening-round leader Pam Wood of Bono, Ark.
All anglers started the day with their weights reset to zero. Co-angler competition ends Friday with the winner taking home $15,000. Pro competition continues through Saturday, where the winner will pocket $100,000.
Friday’s weigh-in will take place at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 360 Harbison Blvd. in Columbia. The public is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone, which opens at 3 p.m.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:37 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 57 degrees
Expected high temperature: 62 degrees
Water temperature: 58 degrees
Wind: from the east-northeast at 15 gusting to 21 mph
Relative humidity: 69 percent
Day’s outlook: few showers
Day-three links: