Snickers, Skippy teams go nuts at Atchafalaya Basin

Snickers no laughing matter in Division I; Skippy springs into top Division II finish

Results from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s second stop of the 2004 season – the Feb. 11-14 tournament at Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin – offered bass-fishing fans a few surprises, and sponsor-team competition on the bayou followed suit. Reversals of fortune befell many teams while the spectrum of earned points grew considerably – the highs were higher and the lows were indeed lower.

All 14 teams – comprising two divisions of seven with Division I having teams with three or more pros and Division II hosting teams with fewer than three anglers – will again be jockeying for position March 10-13 at Tennessee’s Old Hickory Lake. Results from the Atchafalaya Basin are detailed below.

Division I

Team Snickers revisited its past glory with a first-place finish (Snickers was always near the top of the standings list in 2003 until near the end of the season). Perhaps the members of Team Snickers accelerated their performances in honor of team member John Sappington, who was unable to compete at Atchafalaya Basin due to injuries he sustained while practice for the tournament (Snickers still had enough competitors to maintain its Division I status, and the team’s score will be averaged to reflect the finishes of its current three members until Sappington rejoins FLW Tour competition, at which time his scores will be added back into the team average). Whatever inspired Snickers anglers, the end result is the same: a finish that placed them at the top of Division I for the tournament and advanced them seven places in the overall standings for the season.

Team Snickers surpassed its nearest competitor – second-place Team 7UP – by nearly 18 points at Atchafalaya. Leading the charge for Snickers was pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., who blazed a trail to an impressive fourth-place finish at the basin with a two-day catch weight of 17 pounds, 9 ounces in the finals.

Division II

Skippy’s solid performance at Atchafalaya yielded a first-place finish there among Division II teams, though BFGoodrich Tires’ second-place finish was good enough to keep the team at the top of the overall standings.

Team Skippy and Team Pedigree are currently tied for second place in the year-to-date points race, which is sure to make for an even more exciting Division II battle at the FLW Tour’s next stop of the season at Old Hickory Lake. BFGoodrich Tires will go into the next tournament with an 18-point lead in the seasonal standings over the No. 2 teams.

Explanation of team scoring

Points in the 2004 sponsor-team race will be earned during the FLW Tour’s six qualifying events and monitored throughout the season. Standings are based on the average number of points earned by a team’s anglers as assigned in the FLW Tour’s Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year competition.

Each of the 14 sponsor teams competed in the most recent FLW Tour tournament at the Atchafalaya Basin near Morgan City, La., and results from that event have been tallied:

Division I (teams with three or more anglers)

1. Snickers – 179

2. 7UP – 161.33

3. Fujifilm – 139.33

4. Castrol – 139

5. Kellogg’s – 129.80

6. Land O’Lakes – 101

7. Tyson – 71.33

Division II (teams with two or fewer anglers)

1. Skippy – 160

2. BFGoodrich Tires – 143.50

3. Pedigree – 132

4. Banana Boat – 130

5. Ozark Trail – 105

6. Lawry’s – 93

7. Energizer – 28

Other standout performances at Atchafalaya among anglers on sponsored teams included Team Fujifilm members Sam Swett of Covington, La., who rocketed to the top of the tourney leaderboard with an exceptional first-place finish, and Randy Blaukat of Lamar, Mo., who landed an outstanding seventh-place finish; Team Castrol’s Mike Surman of Boca Raton, Fla., who landed a commanding eighth-place finish; 7UP’s Mark Goines of Shady Point, Okla., who reeled in a fantastic 12th-place finish; and Land O’Lakes pro Mike Leblanc of Colchester, Vt., who came in 19th.

Current overall standings for sponsor teams competing unofficially on the 2004 FLW Tour have been tallied:

Division I (teams with three or more anglers)

1. Kellogg’s – 293

2. Snickers – 270.25

3. Castrol – 260.80

4. 7UP – 243.67

5. Fujifilm – 243.50

6. Land O’Lakes – 211.50

7. Tyson – 184

Division II (teams with two or fewer anglers)

1. BFGoodrich Tires – 308.500

2. Pedigree – 290.50

Skippy – 290.50

4. Lawry’s – 255

5. Banana Boat – 237

6. Ozark Trail – 170.5

7. Energizer – 150