PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Pro Danny Correia of Marlborough, Mass., caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce Thursday to capture the lead in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Series BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Champlain with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 37-7.
“I have multiple spots, including two key areas,” said Correia, who has earned more than $140,000 in FLW Outdoors events. “I have a good drop-shot area and then I have a spinnerbait area. I’m really milking the spinnerbait area because people can see you fish that and they tend to pretty much get all over it. I had it pretty much to myself yesterday, and there were boats all over it today.”
Correia said he caught eight keepers throughout the course of the day, including four he weighed in. His fifth fish he weighed came off of the drop-shot rig. Correia, who feels his two strongest techniques are drop-shotting and fishing the spinnerbait, said the spinnerbait will be the big-fish producer for the tournament.
“The quality of fish with the spinnerbait usually is better,” Correia said. “The fish will be more aggressive and you’ll get the big bite.
“Both of my key areas are big-fish spots,” Correia added. “My co-angler yesterday caught 19 pounds. I caught big ones yesterday and I lost a 4 1/2-pound fish there today. The fish are there and the quality is there.”
Correia now holds a slim 3-ounce lead over second-place team Gain pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 37-4 during the first two days of competition.
Rounding out the top five pros are David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C. (10 bass, 37-1); team Kellogg’s pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas (10 bass, 36-5) and first-day leader team BP pro Guido Hibdon of Gravois Mills, Mo. (10 bass, 35-12).
Wolak earned the day’s $476 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 772 bass weighing 1,918 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 180 pros Thursday. The catch included 124 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.
Charles Dubroc of Hessmer, La., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 32-6 followed by Lynn Baciuska of Afton, N.Y., in second place with 10 bass weighing 29-2.
Dubroc caught five bass weighing 14-13 while fishing with team Folgers pro Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., Wednesday and five bass weighing 17-9 while fishing with pro Gaspare Costabile of Niagra Falls, Ontario, Thursday.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jason Perry of Plattsburgh, N.Y. (10 bass, 29-1); Dana Perrotte of Winooski, Vt. (10 bass, 28-1) and Mark Phillips of Fayetteville, Ark. (10 bass, 27-9).
Kurt Chelminiak of Delafield, Wis., earned $290 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Pat Eichmann of Nancy, Ky.
Overall there were 509 bass weighing 1,145 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 175 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 48 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are competing this week for a top award of $25,000. Like the pros, the top 30 co-anglers from both FLW Series divisions after four qualifying events are complete will advance to the East-West Fishoff for a shot at the $2 million, 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Dock Street Landing located at 2 Dock St. in Plattsburgh. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 25 Consumer Square in Plattsburgh, 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.
In FLW Series competition, the entire field competes for the first three days, and 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.
FLW Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its bass tournaments.
Coverage of the Lake Champlain 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 Nov. 4. “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 241 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 Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.