JASPER, Ala. – Pro Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, landed two bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces Friday on Lewis Smith Lake to retain the lead on day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Series’ final regular-season tournament. His three-day total of 11 bass weighing 27-12 gives him an 1-pound, 6-ounce lead over Chevy Pro David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., who is currently in second place with 10 bass weighing 26-6.
“Life is good right now,” said Hoernke, who is happy to be leading after he totally switched the way he was fishing Friday from the first two days. “The water in the spots I was fishing in the first two days turned completely clear today and my fishing dried up. I was fishing run off drains and dirty water pockets looking for largemouth. I stuck with that pattern until about noon then I decided to make some changes.”
Other than a slight fog delay Friday morning, the weather seemed to finally cooperate with the competitors as they fished for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division. Clear skies, cooler temperatures and most importantly, no rain or wind, contributed to the best catch of the tournament thus far.
Hoernke is keeping his new found productive technique under wraps for now, other than to say he is fishing in a little deeper and cloudier water.
Rounding out the top five pros are Gary Yamamoto of Mineola, Texas (11 bass, 26-3); Jeff Shelton of Cullman, Ala. (11 bass, 23-13) and Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala. (nine bass, 23-7).
Pros Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif.; Tyson Pro Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn.; Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala.; Keith Monson of Burgin, Ky.; and Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., also cleared the top-10 cut weight of 19 pounds, 12 ounces and will be competing Saturday.
Gerald Swindle’s catch of a 4-pound, 15-ounce largemouth on Thursday held on to be the biggest bass caught in the first round and earned him the Snickers Big Bass Award in the Pro Division worth $1,500.
Spencer Lynn of Vinemont, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a three-day total of seven bass weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces followed by Chris Malone of Ironton, Ohio, in second place with seven bass weighing 17-9 worth $10,000.
Lynn caught his bass Wednesday while fishing with pro Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., who is currently in 6th with seven bass weighing 22-4. He then added four more bass weighing 10-6 to his total Thursday while fishing with pro Ken Wick of Star, Idaho, who is currently in 75th with four bass weighing 10-4. On Friday he added three more bass weighing 8-1 while fishing with pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., who is currently in 59th place.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala. (six bass, 16-5, $9,000); Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark. (seven bass, 16-4, $8,000) and Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark. (five bass, 12-7, $7,000).
Todd Lee and Chad Parks of Olive Branch Miss., tied for the Snickers Big Bass Award in the Co-Angler division. Their catch of two largemouths weighing 4-pounds, 13-ounces on Wednesday earned them a check for $250 each.
Overall, 280 bass weighing 630 pounds, 7 ounces were caught Friday, including six 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 Saturday morning at 7 from Lewis Smith Lake Dam. 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. 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.