Co-angler Hendricks wins $15,000
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas, will lead an all-star Wal-Mart FLW Tour cast into Saturday’s lucrative final round on Lake Ouachita after landing four bass weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce Friday.
Of the 10 finalists fishing the $550,000 tournament presented by Alpo, all but two have previous top-10 experience and three have earned Wal-Mart FLW Tour victories. Together they have earned 38 top-10 finishes, six victories and $2.2 million in winnings. By any measure, this is a showdown of bass-fishing titans worthy of the tournament’s $110,000 first-place check.
Rounding out the top-five finalists are Kenneth Strickland of Oak Ridge, N.C. (five bass, 9 pounds); FLW Tour champion Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn. (four bass, 8 pounds, 5 ounces); three-time FLW Tour champion Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. (three bass, 8 pounds, 3 ounces); and Team Fujifilm angler Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., (three bass, 6 pounds, 8 ounces). Reigning Land O’Lake Angler of the Year and Chevy Pro staff angler Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., also advanced to the final round in ninth place with two bass weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces.
Klein, a two-time FLW Tour champion who ranks fourth on the all-time winnings list with $412,685, advanced to Friday’s semifinal round in 17th place after a six-bass, 12-pound, 15-ounce performance in the two-day opening round. All week he has relied on a 4-inch Berkley drop-shot worm that he is fishing 45- to 60-feet deep on 6-pound test line.
“It has been a fun week, but I still haven’t had a day where I felt totally in control,” Klein said. “We have a short day (Saturday) so the first couple of hours are going to be crucial for me. I have to stay focused because flawless execution is going to win this tournament.”
Strickland earned the Energizer Power to Keep Going and Going award Friday for advancing to the finals in second place after coming up empty on opening day Wednesday. Powers landed the Shop-Vac High Performance award for the heaviest total catch during the first three days of competition with 12 bass weighing 35 pounds, 7 ounces.
Co-angler Bobby Hendricks of Bullard, Texas, won $15,000 cash plus a $500 Castrol bonus Friday with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces – the heaviest catch in either division. He advanced to the final day of co-angler competition in third place with a two-day, opening-round total of four bass weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces.
T.R. Fuller of Auburn, Ala. (three bass, 7 pounds, 13 ounces, $6,000); Frank Smith of Shepherdsville, Ky. (two bass, 5 pounds, 3 ounces, $4,000); Michael Yeager of Del Rio, Texas (two bass, 4 pounds, 13 ounces, $3,000); and Robert Boley of Huntsville, Texas, (one bass, 4 pounds, 10 ounces, $2,500) rounded out the top-five co-anglers.
Overall, 65 bass were caught Friday including just one five-bass limit.
The original field of 350 anglers included 175 pros and 175 co-anglers representing more than 30 states and Japan. The top-20 pros and co-anglers started Friday’s semifinal round from zero. The top-10 pros start from zero again Saturday, fishing for the heaviest one-day, five-bass weight.
Saturday’s final takeoff from Mountain Harbor Resort off Highway 270 East near Mt. Ida, Ark., starts at 6:15 a.m. The final weigh-in at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Albert Pike Blvd. in Hot Springs starts at 2 p.m. A Family Fun Zone in the Wal-Mart parking lot opens at 11 a.m. Some of the nation’s top anglers will be in the Fun Zone signing autographs and giving fishing advice. There are also children’s games to entertain the family. The weigh-in and a portion of the Fun Zone are housed inside a tent that can be heated or cooled in case of inclement weather. Admission is free.