GALLATIN, Tenn. – Pro Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., fished day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., without any practice due to work and family obligations. Lashlee has done well on Old Hickory in the past however, and proved his prowess again Wednesday by catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces to lead the event.
As did many of the pros posting big limits on day one, Lashlee began his day by fishing shallow cover but soon moved away from the banks and covered water in the 3- to 6-foot range with Strike King Series 5 crankbaits and a black and blue Strike King jig to catch his fish.
“These fish are just coming off their beds, but they’re not quite on offshore structure yet,” Lashlee said. “They’re in what I would call `no man’s land.’
“I think not practicing helped me,” Lashlee continued. “I didn’t have any preconceived notions on what the fish were doing, so I just went fishing.”
Several local anglers found their way to the top slots on the leaderboard, but Lashlee was quick to point out that this one could be anyone’s tournament. “I wish it was about three weeks later,” Lashlee said. “Then I think it would really be dominated by the locals. But these are the best anglers in the world, and with the fish up shallow, anyone can win.”
Lashlee also shares the lead for the Snicker’s Big Bass award in the Pro Division with fellow Tennessee pro and second-place angler Ashley Hayes of Rockvale. Hayes caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces, one of which was a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth that was a near-perfect match for a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth landed by Lashlee.
Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, is an angler who traveled a long distance to find his way into the third-place slot on the leaderboard. Hoernke caught five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces.
“These fish are in a classic postspawn pattern,” Hoernke said. “They’re super spread out, and there’s some shallow and some deep. I had 15 rods on the deck this morning.”
Hoernke began his day fishing shallow, where he quickly caught a limit, then was able to upgrade when he received bites from some larger, offshore bass.
Rounding out the top five pros are Gary Clouse of La Vergne, Tenn. (five bass, 15 pounds, 5 ounces); Michael T. Brown of Rocky Face, Ga. (five bass, 14 pounds, 9 ounces); and tied for fifth was Stacy King of Reeds Spring, Mo. (five bass, 14 pounds, 9 ounces).
Gregory Jones of Mount Juliet, Tenn., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce.
“I had a good practice,” Jones said. “My pro wasn’t on many fish himself, so we hit some of the areas I had in practice. We were targeting secondary channel drops with soft plastics and crankbaits. We had our limits by 11 this morning.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are T.R. Fuller of Auburn, Ala. (five bass, 10 pounds, 13 ounces); David J. Barnett of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (five bass, 10 pounds, 5 ounces); Ben Kurth of West Saint Paul, Minn. (five bass, 10 pounds, 1 ounce) and Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala. (five bass, 9 pounds, 11 ounces).
James Key of Troy, Ala., caught the day’s biggest bass in the Co-angler Division, which weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces.
Overall, 1,109 bass weighing 2,143 pounds, 12 ounces were caught Wednesday.
The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.
Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Old Hickory Lake will take off each morning at 6 from Bull Creek Marina in Gallatin. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lake Lanier FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.