$1 million bass tournament features anglers from 37 states and five countries
JASPER, Ala. (April 3, 2008) – Terry Baksay of Easton, Conn., crossed the stage Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour® Lewis Smith Lake tournament. Baksay now holds a 1-pound, 1-ounce lead in the $1 million tournament featuring 400 anglers from 37 states, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Australia and Japan.
“I’m throwing a finesse bait and a reaction bait,” said Baksay, who has seven top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events, yet still has not claimed his first win. “The key to the whole deal of what I’m doing is to make as many casts as I possibly can.”
Baksay said the fish he coaxed into biting preferred a slow presentation – the slower the better.
“I was fishing painfully slow,” Baksay said. “And I hate fishing slow. I like putting the trolling motor down and going as fast as I can, so this is killing me. But when your partner starts whacking them in the back of the boat, you’ve got to kind of adapt.”
Baksay said he abandoned fishing for bedding fish he had found in practice and found six keeper fish at a range of depths to 40 feet. He said he’s covering a lot of water but focusing on specific areas that possess features such as ledges, drops, lone trees or standing timber.
“The key to the whole thing is bait,” Baksay said. “If there’s no bait, you’re not getting bit.
“We had three hours where we didn’t get a bite,” Baksay added. “We went and tried one spot that I thought would be my best area and we never had a bite.”
Baksay said the threat of thunderstorms forecast for Friday would actually give him an advantage on the final day of competition before the cut to the top 10 anglers.
“Let it blow 40 (miles per hour),” Baksay said. “It’s hard to bed fish when it’s blowing 40.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tenn. (five bass, 13-13); Clark Smith Jr. of Pell City, Ala. (five bass, 13-10); Mike Todd of Norman, Okla. (five bass, 13-10) and Alvin Shaw of State Road, N.C. (five bass, 13-6).
Charlie Ingram of Santa Fe, Tenn., and Mark Hardin of Jasper, Ga., split the day’s $750 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a pair of 4-pound, 7-ounce bass they caught. If that weight holds up Friday as the heaviest of the two-day opening round, they will earn an additional $500 each.
Overall there were 612 bass weighing 1,330 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 189 pros Thursday. The catch included 58 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17, where they could win 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™, which offers $7.3 million in cash and prizes, FLW Outdoors® presents anyone with the opportunity to land the catch of a lifetime. Players in the lucrative new fantasy sports league can become virtual pros by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provides 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 receive a complimentary $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Masahiro Yanase of Nagoya, Japan, who fished with Baksay, leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 11-12 followed by Larry Hostetler of Floyds Knobs, Ind., in second place with five bass weighing 11-1.
“I can only do one thing tomorrow – my best,” said Yanase, who caught 10 keepers throughout the course of the opening day.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Larry Carter of Little Rock, Ark. (five bass, 8-14); Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark. (five bass, 8-9) and Ben Kurth of West Saint Paul, Minn. (four bass, 8-2).
Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich., earned the day’s $500 Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 178 bass weighing 372 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 106 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included four five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week.
Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from Lewis Smith Dam located at 640 Powerhouse Rd. in Jasper. Friday’s weigh-in will also be held at Lewis Smith Dam beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex located at 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. in Birmingham, Ala., beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoorswill host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex from noon to 6 p.m. each day. The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face-to-face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator.
Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone Sunday will also receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last, and one lucky member of the audience will win a new Ranger boat during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in on Sunday. Admission is free and you must be present to win.
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, and the full field of 400 anglers competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for Saturday, and co-angler competition concludes following Saturday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the final two days.
Coverage of the 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 May 11 and 18. “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.