JASPER, Ala. – Pro Brian Mathis of Charlotte, N.C ., landed five bass weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces Wednesday on Lewis Smith Lake to open the fifth and final Wal-Mart FLW Series tournament of the season with a 1-ounce lead over pro Gary Yamamoto of Mineola, Texas.
“It was nasty out there today. The wind blew and it rained nearly all day,” said Mathis, who is in his rookie season on the FLW Series. “I do think the weather did help me because I’m fishing shallow and targeting largemouth. I think this weather kept them from going out to deeper water just yet.”
With the forecast of severe weather and steady rains all day, it painted a dreary picture for the anglers as they competed for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division. As the week carries on the current weather pattern is supposed to move through the area bringing in clear and sunny skies which will completely change the way the anglers are fishing.
“If the weather clears off and the fish move out to deeper structure, I still have some spots to try but I am not overly confident that the fish are still there,” said Mathis.
Mathis is keeping his productive technique under wraps for now, other than to say he is power fishing spinnerbaits and buzzbaits around shallow structure targeting largemouth.
Gary Yamamoto trails Mathis in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 11-2.
Rounding out the top five pros are Andy Chappell of Warrior, Ala. (five bass, 11-00); Chevy Pro David Fritts of Lexington, N.C. (four bass, 10-9) and Tim Farley of Lula, Ga. (five bass, 10-7).
Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., landed the day’s biggest bass in the Pro Division, a 4-pound, 7-ounces bass that could earn him the tournament’s Snickers Big Bass Award of $1,500 if it holds up through Friday.
Aaron Fahnestock of Enterprise, Ala., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces followed by Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., in second place with three bass weighing 9-4.
Fahnestock caught his bass while fishing with pro John Oliver of Hodges, Ala., who is currently in 13th with five bass weighing 8-12.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark. (three bass, 8-11); T Fuller of Auburn, Ala. (three bass, 6-5) and Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark. (three bass, 5-15).
Todd Lee and Chad Parks of Olive Branch, Miss., tied for the day’s biggest bass in the Co-angler Division. The bass weighed 4 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, 350 bass weighing 783 pounds, 2 ounces were caught Wednesday, including eight five-bass limits.
Also at stake this week are berths in the historic $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5, 2007, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash. The top 30 pros in the Angler of the Year standings following Saturday’s final weigh-in will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup along with the top 25 co-anglers. Overall, the Forrest Wood Cup will feature qualifiers from the FLW Series, Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, The Bass Federation (TBF) and Ranger owners’ tournaments.
Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Lewis Smith Lake will take off each morning at 7 from Lewis Smith Lake Dam. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins 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 1801 Highway 78 E. in Jasper 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 competition concludes on day three with the winner determined 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 Lewis Smith Lake 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 Dec. 17. “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 distributed 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.