CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2008) – Pro Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., landed five bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce Wednesday to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. He now holds a 1-pound, 4-ounce lead in the $1 million tournament featuring 200 pros and 200 co-anglers representing 34 states, Japan and Canada.
Anglers were greeted with heavy fog on the opening day of the tournament, and officials postponed the 7 a.m. takeoff until 8 a.m. to ensure the safety of the fishermen.
“That delay didn’t hurt me at all,” said Lane, who caught his two largest bass on his own Vicious Fishing Russ Lane Signature Series spinnerbait. “What probably helped me most of all today was when the wind picked up around 2 p.m. That’s when I caught my three biggest fish.”
Lane’s spinnerbait of choice was a 1/2-ounce double willow white and chartreuse bait. The cloud cover and added chop on the water gave Lane confidence in the spinnerbait, although he said he didn’t think that pattern would hold up as the tournament progressed.
“On most lakes, you want to look for the schools of fish,” Lane said. “You want to get into a situation where the schools are coming to you. I was just junk fishing today. I caught one here and one there.
“I was just jumping around and taking chances out on the lake,” Lane added.
Mark Shepard of Clewiston trails Lane in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 18-13.
“I grew up down here, but Lake Okeechobee is not fishing anything like it ever has in the past,” Shepard said. “I want everyone to know that Lake Okeechobee is alive and well. It’s just shallow right now. It is still one of the greatest bass fisheries in the United States.”
Shepard fished both the main lake and some of the canals, and said he moved around to put together his five largest keepers. Shepard said his largest bass, an 8-pound, 1-ounce brute, was his second fish in the boat.
“I caught about 15 keepers today, and I feel comfortable that I can put together 10 to 12 pounds tomorrow,” Shepard said. “I make homemade crankbaits, and I love throwing my little crankbaits.
“Because of the lower water levels, I’ve had to change everything I’ve done,” Shepard added. “I’m fishing it like you would a northern lake. I can’t get to the vegetation like I love to do.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Ishama Monroe of Hughson, Calif. (five bass, 18-11); Team Keebler pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (five bass, 18-8) and Chad Brauer of Osage Beach, Mo. (five bass, 18-1).
Monroe earned the day’s $500 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 9-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught, which was just three ounces shy of tying the largest bass caught in an FLW Series event on Lake Okeechobee. That 9-pound, 9-ounce largemouth was caught at the January 2007 FLW Series stop.
Overall there were 840 bass weighing 1,863 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 195 pros Wednesday. The catch included 132 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 Fish-Off and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® will be awarding the largest fantasy sports payout in history. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Mark Heatwole of Harrisonburg, Va., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 15-2 followed by Robert Wood of Jupiter, Fla., in second place with five bass weighing 13-15.
Heatwole caught his bass while fishing with pro Lloyd Pickett Jr. of Bartlett, Tenn., who is currently in 67th place with five bass weighing 11-1.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jon Newman of Brielle, N.J. (five bass, 13-8); Leo Reiter of Goshen, Ind. (five bass, 13-6) and Michi Oba of Tokyo, Japan (five bass, 13-5).
Bruce Kane of Delray Beach, Fla., earned $300 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Richard Patterson of Windermere, Fla.
Overall there were 600 bass weighing 1,209 pounds even caught by 177 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 71 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 Fish-Off for a shot at qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort located at 920 E. Del Monte Ave. in Clewiston. Thursday and 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 1005 W. Sugarland Hwy. in Clewiston 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 Kellogg’s trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.
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. 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.
Coverage of the Lake Okeechobee 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 March 9. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.