BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. – Local pro Bobby Barrack of Oakley, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces Friday to maintain his lead in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division tournament on the California Delta. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing an astounding 73-13, he holds a 3-pound, 11-ounce lead over his closest competitor, Ken Mah of Elk Grove, Calif., heading into the final day of competition.
Mah caught a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 70-2 to advance to the final round as the No. 2 seed.
Rounding out the top five pros are Michael Rooke of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (15 bass, 68-7); Chris Raza of Roseville, Calif. (15 bass, 65-6) and Mike Folkestad of Yorba Linda, Calif. (15 bass, 64-0).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 61 pounds, 11 ounces in the Pro Division are Brian Carpenter of Livermore, Calif.; Charley Almassey of Oakley, Calif.; Zack Thompson of Orinda, Calif.; Leon Knight of Tehachapi, Calif.; and Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif.
Mike Oshea of San Ramon, Calif., earned the day’s $500 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 12-pound, 3-ounce monster bass he caught on a 6-inch Gary Yamamoto Senko.
Overall there were 935 bass weighing 2,729 pounds, 12 ounces caught by pros Friday. The catch included 166 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing this week for a top award of $125,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the BP East-National Guard West Fishoff and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award. The top 30 pros from both FLW Series divisions after four qualifying events are complete will advance to the East-West Fishoff, which will be held Jan. 17-19, 2008. The location for the fishoff has not yet been announced. Thirty winners from the fishoff will advance to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Pat Wilson of Penngrove, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 54 pounds, 1 ounce followed by Mark Daniels of Suisun City, Calif., in second place with 15 bass weighing 52-10 worth $10,000.
Wilson opened the tournament in 10th place Wednesday with five bass weighing 23-7 while fishing with pro Scott Mackenzie of Daly City, Calif. On Thursday he jumped to first place on the strength of a five-bass catch weighing 22-8 while fishing with pro Folkestad. He wrapped up the win Friday with a five-bass catch weighing 14-15 while fishing with pro Dave Pereira of Modesto, Calif.
“Dave didn’t have a whole lot of weight in the tournament, and he was gracious enough to tell me that whatever I wanted to fish, I could fish,” said Wilson, who now has five career FLW Outdoors wins as a co-angler, including one FLW Tour win and three BFL victories. “I wanted to stay in Franks Track because I knew there was a ton of fish in there.
“I knew coming into the tournament if I could average 15 pounds a day, I could probably end up in the top five,” Wilson added. “A top-10 finish is always my goal. I’d love to win, but to win, you have to get lucky.”
Wilson targeted pre-spawn fish in Franks Track along tule berms and breaks in 5 to 8 feet of water.
Wilson caught 13 of the 15 keepers he weighed in by drop-shotting a Roboworm. Wilson utilized a technique he dubbed “Bubba-shotting.” He fished the drop-shot rig, traditionally fished on light line and spinning gear, on 15-pound test line paired up with a baitcasting reel. He also caught a 3-pound fish on a swimbait Thursday and a 4-pound fish on a Senko on the first day of competition.
“I am truly blessed,” Wilson said. “I get to go home and sleep in my own bed tonight and my wife drove over with the kids. The weather was perfect and the fishing was amazing. It has been tremendous.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Wade Headrick of Middleton, Idaho (15 bass, 48-4, $9,000); Gary Jones of Roseville, Calif. (15 bass, 47-0, $8,000) and Mike Andrews of Oakley, Calif. (15 bass, 46-5, $7,000).
Jones earned $300 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to an 11-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Cory Dispensiero of Palmdale, Calif.
Overall there were 756 bass weighing 1,740 pounds, 12 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 98 five-bass limits.
The 10 remaining pros will take off at 7:30 Saturday morning from Russo’s Marina located at 3995 Willow Road in Bethel Island, Calif. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4893 Lone Tree Way in Antioch, Calif., beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Wal-Mart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the Fujifilm trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.
Ranger boat test rides, powered by Yamaha and Evinrude, will be given at Russo’s Marina Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The test rides allow the public to experience a Ranger boat ride with a professional angler. Test riders will receive a certificate for free accessories valued at $2,000 when they purchase a Ranger boat powered by Yamaha or Evinrude.
FLW Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its bass tournaments.
Coverage of the California Delta FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing April 15. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Europe, Africa and Asia, making it the most widely distributed weekly fishing program 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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, 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 of nearly $43 million through 238 events in 2007.
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.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.