Combs takes lead at Walmart FLW Tour on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented By Mercury

LUFKIN, Texas – It was a new day of fishing on Sam Rayburn Reservoir as Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, took the lead Friday at the Walmart FLW Tour on Sam Rayburn presented by Mercury. Rayburn produced, as expected, a lot of 6- and 7-pound bass, however, the bites were fewer and further between. Combs’ five-bass limit weighed 16-11 and gave him a two-day total of 33-7, and a 2-pound, 1-ounce lead over second place fellow Texan Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches.

Combs, who has fished Rayburn since he was 14 years old, said that he spent the better part of the summer preparing for this tournament. “I will not run out of spots to hit,” said Combs. “I fished a lot of new water today and anticipate that I will do the same tomorrow. I am the type of angler that makes two to five casts per spot and then move on.

“I spent a long time fishing shallow yesterday, probably way more time than I should have,” Combs continued. “I finally moved deep and was able to eke out a limit; I only had five bites yesterday, and luckily they were quality bites. Today I only spent about 30 minutes shallow before I moved deep. I didn’t have my first bass until about 9:30, and then I had a limit by 11. It wasn’t until about noon that I caught my two 5-pounders. I had about 15 keepers today.

“Tomorrow is going to be another new day. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. I still believe that my best chance of catching a wipeout sack is shallow. I caught nearly 25 pounds shallow the last day of practice and believe that the shallow bite could turn on again. I am not really comfortable with the offshore bite, so I will start shallow again tomorrow before I move deep and we’ll see what happens.”

Combs went on to say that he was mostly targeting large flats in 12 to 25 feet of water with his most shallow fish coming in 12 feet of water. He stated that some of the areas had wood and stumps and the flats seemed to be the most productive. His key bait for the tournament so far has been Strike King’s 6XD and a Texas-style Strike King Rage Tail ReCon Worm.

Castledine is in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 31-6. He, too, is targeting deep flats and said that he didn’t have a single fish until after 1 p.m., with both of his big ones coming after 2 p.m.

Top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Sam Rayburn are:

1st: Keith Combs, Huntington, Texas, 10 bass, 33-7

2nd: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 10 bass, 31-6

3rd: Phil Marks, Dallas, Texas, 10 bass, 31-3

4th: Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 30-13

5th: Matt Herren, Trussville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-8

6th: Castrol pro Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 10 bass, 29-15

7th: Fatheadz pro Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., 10 bass, 29-12

8th: Jason Wells, Center, Texas, 10 bass, 29-2

9th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 28-4

10th: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 10 bass, 27-14

11th: Landan Ware, Jewett, Texas, 10 bass, 27-14

12th: Tommy Durham, Whitney, Texas, 10 bass, 27-6

13th: EverStart pro Randall Tharp, Gardendale, Ala., 10 bass, 26-11

14th: Goodwill pro Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 10 bass, 26-2

15th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 25-8

16th: Tim Reneau, Del Rio, Texas, 10 bass, 25-5

17th: Ray Hanselman, Del Rio, Texas, 10 bass, 25-0

18th: Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 24-9

19th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 10 bass, 24-7

20th: Kellogg’s Rice Krispie Treats pro Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 24-6

Lamonte Loyd of Gilmer, Texas, caught Friday’s big bass weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces on the pro side to win $500.

Overall there were 431 bass weighing 971 pounds caught by 110 pros Friday. The catch included 63 five-bass limits.

Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

Clint Farris of Joshua, Texas, leads the co-angler division with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces, followed by Darrell Denton of Georgetown, Texas, in second place with seven bass weighing 20-8.

Top 20 co-anglers are:

1st: Clint Farris, Joshua, Texas, nine bass, 22-3

2nd: Darrell Denton, Georgetown, Texas, seven bass, 20-8

3rd: Jeff Gengler, Fort Collins, Colo., eight bass, 19-11

4th: Ben Todd, Pierson, Fla., 10 bass, 19-11

5th: Alfred Williams, Jackson, Miss., eight bass 19-5

6th: Wilson Burton, Groves, Texas, eight bass, 19-2

7th: Tommy Mendoza, Lake Charles, La., eight bass, 18-15

8th: Scott Darragh, Midlothian, Texas, seven bass, 16-14

9th: Gregg Swindle, Katy, Texas, eight bass, 16-14

10th: Corbett Ross, Port Neches, Texas, nine bass, 16-1

11th: Ryan Edwards, Stuart, Fla., eight bass, 15-13

12th: John Moon, Brookeland, Texas, nine bass, 15-9

13th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple Texas, eight bass, 15-9

14th: Kip Passant, Lake Charles, La., eight bass, 15-6

15th: Jeff Sprague, Edgewood, Texas, nine bass, 15-4

16th: Casey Martin, New Market, Ala., eight bass, 14-15

17th: Joe Garcia, Hobson, Texas, eight bass, 14-4

18th: Rick Rickman, Gainesville, Texas, eight bass, 14-4

19th: Clayton Batts, Macon, Ga., seven bass, 14-3

20th: Roy Cheaney, Grand Saline, Texas, eight bass, 13-14

Gengler caught Friday’s big bass weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces on the co-angler side to win $250.

Overall there were 239 bass weighing 469 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 110 co-anglers Friday. The catch included nine five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

Anglers will take off from Cassels-Boykin County Park located at FM Road 3123 (Off State Hwy 147) in Zavalla, Texas, at 7:30 a.m. daily. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at the Walmart located at 2500 Daniel McCall Drive in Lufkin beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at the Walmart on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

Coverage of the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Nov. 18 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.