PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Gary Yamamoto of Palestine, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to maintain his lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Champlain. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 41 pounds, 12 ounces matches the second-place angler’s weight, but Yamamoto’s heavier day-one weight breaks the tie. Pros and co-anglers from across the United States and Canada started the tournament and the top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.
“I started off in the opposite direction that I did the first day because I thought that some of my spots would be hit hard by other fishermen, but that didn’t work out,” Yamamoto said. “I went to a spot I fished yesterday and caught three keepers pretty quickly. Then I switched to a Chatterbait to fill my limit and I had my limit by 10 o’clock.”
Yamamoto said he started out the day fishing a Senko and caught most of his fish Friday on the Senko, but managed to boat three or four on the Chatterbait. Yamamoto estimates his keeper catch Friday numbered close to 30. He said he hopes Saturday’s results are similar to the first two days of competition.
“I’m just going to go fishing,” Yamamoto said. “I’ll probably start in same area where I caught better fish today. I have one area I haven’t hit yet, so I’ll go there tomorrow afternoon.”
David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., is in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 41-12.
Rounding out the top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Lake Champlain are:
3rd: Daryl Biron, South Windsor, Conn., 10 bass, 38-14
4th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 38-3
5th: Straight Talk pro Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 37-6
6th: Band Aid/Neosporin pro Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 10 bass, 37-2
7th: Brian Bylotas, Olyphant, Pa., 10 bass, 36-6
8th: J. Todd Tucker, Moultrie, Ga., 10 bass, 36-3
9th: Joe Lucarelli, Center Harbor, N.H., 10 bass, 35-11
10th: Cheez-Its pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 35-7
11th: M&Ms pro Jim Moynagh, Carver, Minn., 10 bass, 35-6
12th: Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 34-10
13th: Michael Iaconelli, Pittsgrove, N.J., 10 bass, 34-9
14th: Kyle Mabrey, McCalla, Ala., 10 bass, 34-8
15th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 33-14
16th: Jason Cordiale, Orinda, Calif., 10 bass, 33-8
17th: Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 10 bass, 33-2
18th: Chevy pro Dion Hibdon, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 10 bass, 33-0
19th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 10 bass, 32-14
20th: Thanh Le, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., 10 bass, 32-13
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2012 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.
Casey Martin of Huntsville, Ala., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by Christopher Hall of Clarks Summit, Pa., in second place with 10 bass weighing 32-5.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Greg Scott, Dearborn, Mich., 10 bass, 28-15
4th: Carl Hunter, Snellville, Ga., 10 bass, 28-7
5th: Jason Bilow, Woodlawn, Ont., 10 bass, 28-1
6th: Phil Jarmon, Apex, N.C., 10 bass, 28-0
7th: Richard Schumacher, Newton, Conn., 10 bass, 27-4
8th: Mark Banks, East Aurora, N.Y., 10 bass, 27-3
9th: William Wood, West Palm Beach, Fla., 10 bass, 27-0
10th: Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 26-13
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2012 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 Dock Street Landing located at 5 Dock St. in Plattsburgh at 6:30 each morning. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 25 Consumer Square in Plattsburgh beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at Walmart on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The first 300 kids 14 and under on Sunday will receive a free rod and reel combo. 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 Lake Champlain tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors” will air Oct. 30 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to more than 500 million households worldwide.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the best in fishing, on and off the water. Anglers worldwide can compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, browse FLWOutdoors.com or visit FantasyFishing.com.