RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (Aug. 12, 2009) – Team Chevy pro and legendary television personality Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Okla., weighed in five bass weighing 16 pounds, 3 ounces to lead the first day of competition in the Walmart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark. He now holds a 2-pound, 14-ounce lead in the tournament featuring some of the top pros in the country.
“I’m fishing really, really patient and really, really slow,” said Houston, who said he first fished Lake Dardanelle about 40 years ago. “I’m catching them on a jig, a spinnerbait and a crankbait and I’m fishing one area really, really good.
“I know a lot of places on this lake, and a couple of those places paid off during practice,” Houston added. “You can fish all over out there in good places and not catch one. It’s amazing to me how this lake has changed and how difficult it’s fishing right now.”
Houston said he’s fishing an area that’s about 500 yards long and he feels that nobody has fished it because it’s difficult to get to. In fact, because of water levels, he couldn’t get to the spot during one of the practice days.
“One of my concerns is getting back in there and then not being able to get back out,” Houston said. “I’m really watching the water levels closely. And we have the rule where we can’t make any telephone calls (during competition), so I’m calling to check the water level at 6:29 – right before we leave.”
Houston said the water level early this morning was at 337.77 feet above mean sea level and had risen to 337.81 at 6:29 a.m. Houston said the level has to be at least 337.70 for him to be able to access his area.
“It’s a small area,” Houston said. “It probably can’t hold up for four days, but we’ll see what happens.
“I’ve got one other good spot, but the fish aren’t as large in there,” Houston added.
Russell Parrish of Riesel, Texas, trails Houston in the No. 2 spot with four bass weighing 13-5.
Rounding out the top five pros are Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas (five bass, 13-1); Daniel Kweekul of North Little Rock, Ark. (four bass, 12-2) and J.T. Palmore of Gasburg, Va. (five bass, 11-9).
Overall there were 231 bass weighing 544 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 100 pros Wednesday. The catch included six five-bass limits.
Pros are competing this week for a top award of $125,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
Derek Yasinski of Senoia, Ga., leads the Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 10-15 followed by Matt Krekovich of Granite City, Ill., in second place with three bass weighing 9-5.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bill Lawrence of Russellville, Ark. (three bass, 8-8); Micah Frazier of Newnan, Ga. (three bass, 8-3) and Team BP co-angler Kevin Koone of Greenbrier, Ark. (four bass, 7-8).
Overall there were 83 bass weighing 177 pounds even caught by 52 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included no five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are competing this week for a top award of $25,000 as well as a shot at the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Lake Dardanelle State Park located at 100 State Park Drive in Russellville. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 2409 E. Main St. in Russellville 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 Walmart. 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.
Coverage of the Lake Dardanelle tournament, hosted by the Russellville Advertising and Promotion Commission, will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air Sept. 27 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, 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.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.
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.