Talmadge takes Toho with tiebreaker

Last-minute catch puts FLW rookie co-angler over the top

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – After three days of furious casting and winding in the Co-angler Division of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Toho, it came down to a dead heat between two Alabamians: Bryan Talmadge, an FLW Tour rookie, and Todd Lee, a 10-year co-angling veteran on the FLW Tour.

At the day-three final co-angler weigh-in, the scales locked up at 6 pounds of bass for Talmadge and 6 pounds of bass for Lee.

Perhaps a single drop of sweat from one of the co-angler’s brows could have tipped the scales in their favor as they peered intently at the scale read-out during the tie, but Talmadge advanced ahead of Lee as the winner since he had a higher qualifying position after day two.

“This feels great,” Talmadge said. “I owe a lot of this win to Craig Dowling. I practiced with him for three days and we visited every lake in this chain. He showed me how to catch fish so many ways here that I felt prepared to catch bass no matter where my pro took me and that was a tremendous confidence boost.”

Talmadge fished an Alpha Hawg creature style bait and a Huzzie finesse type worm, both made by Open Water Custom Baits, the first two days while fishing with pros Lendell Martin and Jim Moynagh.

Today Talmadge was paired with pro tournament leader Carl Svebek and he relied on a Senko (black/blue flake) wacky rigged on a spinning rod with 7-pound test Sunline.

“I actually fished for big fish until noon,” Talmadge said. “I threw a big 7-inch Senko and a swimbait without a keeper all morning. The whole time, Carl was just catching fish left and right. He probably caught 25 keepers while I fished for big fish. Finally, at noon, I picked up that wacky-rigged Senko on the light line and went to work catching small keepers.”

Talmadge boated his last keeper with just minutes to spare and he needed every ounce of it to tie it up and get the win.

Lee, who has amassed about $140,000 as a co-angler in FLW events, settled for second after the tie breaker, adding another $10,000 to his winnings.

“I can’t complain,” Lee said. “After the first day I was in 99th place and caught a 15-pound string the second day to put me in the top 10. Bryan caught his last keeper with just minutes to go and the way I looked at that is he was meant to win.”

Lee caught his big day-two string on a rattle trap and 10-inch junebug worm. Today he stuck with a Senko on 15-pound Trilene fluorocarbon line to boat his three keepers.

“I never figured that three bass for 6 pounds would be in contention for a win today,” Lee added. “But if you had guaranteed me a second place finish before the tournament began, I would have taken it.”

Trevor Fitzgerald of Ocklawaha, Fla., finished third with four bass for 5 pounds, 13 ounces for $9,000.

Garrett Olivotti of Rockford, Ill., finished fourth with two bass for 2 pounds, 13 ounces worth $8,000.

David Givens of Hernando, Fla., finished fifth with one bass for 2 pounds, 8 ounces worth $7,000.

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers in the FLW Tour event on Lake Toho:

6th: Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., one bass, 2-5, $6,000

7th: Sean Stepp of Stafford, Va., two bass, 2-5, $5,000

8th: Mike Drain of Purcell, Okla., one bass, 1-2, $4,000

9th: Louis Manata of Colombia, Miss., 0, $3,000

10th: Casey Gallagher of Pulaski, Wis., 0, $2000