OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Chevy Pro Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., landed 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 11 ounces on Lake of the Ozarks to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Series with an 2-pound, 8-ounce lead in what promises to be a tournament dominated by continuously changing weather and water conditions.
“It was slow going at first this morning,” said Hibdon, who has $677,333 in FLW career earnings. “I met up with dad (Guido Hibdon) on the water later in the day and he lined me up. The fish we found in practice had made a move and repositioned themselves. Dad just figured it out before I did.”
Hibdon is reluctant to divulge his pattern this early in the tournament, but said he was fishing a little bit deeper than most anglers by using crankbaits and jigs in very specific locations.
“It would be cool, if Dad and I made the top 10 together,” he said. “We have never done that in an FLW tournament, so it would be great if we could pull it off.”
Anglers are competing for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division.
Keebler pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Penn., trails Hibdon in the No. 2 spot with 10 bass weighing 35-3.
Rounding out the top five pros are Ranger pro Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala. (10 bass, 35-0); Ozark Trail pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn. (10 bass, 33-14) and Yamaha pro Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala. (10 bass, 33-14).
Curt Lytle of Zuni, Va., landed the day’s biggest bass in the Pro Division, a 8-pound largemouth that could earn him the tournament’s Snickers Big Bass Award of $1,500 if it holds up through Friday.
David Lawson of Richmond, Ky., leads the Co-angler Division with 10 bass weighing 26-11 followed by Gayle Julian of Bakersfield, Mo., with six bass weighing 21-9.
“It was one of those days when you felt like nothing could go wrong,” Lawson said. “There were high winds and it was pretty tough fishing, but every cast felt good.”
Lawson caught his bass by using the same 3/8-ounce jig he used to win the Lake Cumberland event in May.
Rounding out the top five pros are Tad Ladd of Princeton, Ky. (seven bass, 20-5); Bill Gift of Alix, Ark. (six bass, 18-8) and Bud Strader of Rockwood, Tenn. (seven bass, 17-12).
Roger Boenecke of Eldon, Mo., caught the day’s biggest bass in the Co-angler Division. The largemouth weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces and could be worth $500 as the Co-angler Division Snickers Big Bass of the tournament if it holds up through Friday.
Overall, 892 bass weighing 2,159 pounds, 9 ounces were caught Thursday, including 73 five-bass limits.
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 Lake of the Ozarks will take off each morning at 7 from PB II-Grand Glaize Beach. Friday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4252 Highway 54 in Osage Beach 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 2 p.m. 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 of the Ozarks 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 Nov. 12. “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 tournaments, browse 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.