North Carolina’s Stone grabs lead at $1 Million Forrest Wood Open
Wendlandt one step away from Angler of the Year
FLORENCE, Ala. – While Marty Stone of Linden, N.C., landed five bass weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces Wednesday to take the opening day lead at the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s $1 million Forrest Wood Open on Pickwick Lake, Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas, hauled in five bass that might land him in the history books as Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year.
Wendlandt’s 14th place catch weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounces gave him a solid lead over Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., his closest competitor for the coveted Angler of the Year title.
Biffle caught two bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces to finish the day in 44th place.
“I’ve got a couple of pretty good places where I can catch a bunch of fish, and every once in awhile, one’s a keeper,” Wendlandt said. “I’ve got to catch another 10 pounds to win (Angler of the Year).”
Unless Biffle finishes 29 places ahead of him Thursday, Wendlandt will be crowned Angler of the Year for the second time in his FLW Tour career and have his photo featured on boxes of Kellogg’s brand Corn Flakes and Frosted Mini-Wheats. He also will receive $25,000 and a Johnson- or Evinrude-powered Ranger 518 VX boat. Wendlandt’s first Angler of the Year title came in 1997.
To win the Forrest Wood Open and it’s $200,000 first place prize in the Pro Division, Wendlandt will have to overcome Stone, whose pattern of fishing grass near Decatur Flats in Lake Wheeler allowed him to cull to a hefty five-fish limit in just one hour.
“If they bite in that grass, you can’t catch them all,” Stone said. “But if they aren’t biting, you won’t catch a single one. I always tell people that you can win in five minutes in that grass, but you can also lose in four hours.”
Finishing the day in second and third positions in the Pro Division were David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., with five bass weighing 17-5 and Roger Stegall of Iuka, Miss., with five bass weighing 17-4.
In the Co-Angler Division, Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., and Jerry Wade of Indianapolis lead with three bass apiece weighing 11-9. Quint Bourgeois of Knoxville, Tenn., is in third with four bass weighing 11-7.
The winning co-angler at the Forrest Wood Open will receive $40,000, and the Co-Angler of the Year, which will be decided Thursday, will receive a Ranger R91 boat powered by an Evinrude or Johnson outboard. The Co-Angler of the Year also will receive priority entry into the Pro Division of the 2001 Wal-Mart FLW Tour.
David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., leads the Co-Angler of the Year race trailed by Arlyn Johnson of Enon, Ohio, and Troy Picket of Roberta, Ga.
Big bass and $1,250 in the Pro Division went to Frank Ippoliti of Mount Airy, Md., for a 7-pound, 5-ounce heavyweight. Troy Pickett of Roberta, Ga., claimed big bass in the Co-Angler Division with a 6-pound, 4-ounce largemouth worth $750.
On Thursday, the field of 175 pros and 175 co-anglers will set out again to add to their first day’s catch in hopes of securing one of 10 slots available in Friday’s second round. During the second round, anglers start over and compete for one day to determine the top five pros that will advance to Saturday’s final round. Co-angler competition ends Friday.
Competition resumes at 6 a.m. Thursday at McFarland Park in Florence followed by a 3 p.m. weigh-in at the same location. Friday’s takeoff starts at 8 a.m., and the weigh-in begins at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 3100 Hough Road in Florence. Saturday’s final weigh-in at the Wal-Mart Supercenter begins at 3:30 p.m. The final weigh-in will be broadcast live to the electronics departments of Wal-Mart stores nationwide and on ESPN Extra. It also will air July 8 as part of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour series on ESPN at noon EST.
The Forrest Wood Open presented by Kellogg’s features colorful NASCAR-styled Chevy tow vehicles and Ranger Comanche fishing machines that are used by competitors during the final two rounds of competition.