Dudley and Thrift Move to MLF; Swindle and Palaniuk Back to Elites in 2020

Recruitment for 2020 already in full swing
By Luigi De Rose

As the G-Man and Palaniuk move back to the Bass Elites, under the legends exemption, MLF welcomes 2019 FLW Cup champ Bryan Thrift and 2019 FLW Angler of the Year David Dudley. Thrift and Dudley join several other top FLW pros who have abandoned the FLW Tour once the announcement that FLW and MLF have joined forces for the 2020 season.  

2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 3: Tyler Stewart Making it 3 Days in a Row!

Canadians Sim 18th. 

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Sunday will be the battle of Ticonderoga.
(Photo: FLW)

There’s a showdown looming on Lake Champlain tomorrow, and how it’s going to end up is anybody’s guess. 

Louisiana pro Tyler Stewart is in the lead for the third consecutive day at this week’s FLW Tour event, which is presented by T-H Marine. But Stewart, who weighed, 18 pounds, 5 ounces today, has been catching his fish down at Ticonderoga. That’s all he has, and he says a hurricane can’t keep him from making the long run to Ti tomorrow. 

Getting there doesn’t look to be an issue, but if the weather forecast is correct, getting home from Ti tomorrow afternoon could get a little dicey. The wind is supposed to blow out of the north at a clip that pro Daryl Biron, who’s fished Champlain for years, thinks might build big enough waves to more than double the normally 50-minute run down there. 

Stewart isn’t the only one making the run. Four of the top five and seven of the top 10 are fishing in Ticonderoga, including Biron in fifth, second-place pro Casey Scanlon and third-place pro Eric Jackson. The only one in the top five staying up north is Bryan Thrift, who’s in fourth. It’s highly likely that Thrift will have a limit in the boat before anyone fishing at Ti even gets to his starting spot – and that’s during the calm period forecast for the morning. The fact that Thrift is nipping at their heels and they’ll have a shorter day doesn’t seem to be dissuading any of the top pros from making the run to Ti. 

“I’ll zero tomorrow before I don’t go down there,” Stewart says.

The thing Stewart has in his favor this week is that Ti continues to churn out postspawn largemouths that exceed 4 pounds. A 4-pound bass is worth a lot of money in a tournament at Champlain. Stewart probably needs at least a few of them and another upper teens limit tomorrow if he wants to hold off the competition. So far, he’s weighed in 58-6 in three days.

“It started off kind of slow,” Stewart says of his morning today. “I got down there to my main places, and it was crowded. There was a tournament out of Ti, and on one of my main holes, there was a guy fishing it just fun fishing. 

“I didn’t get to fish that. I had two places that were covered up with people today – where I was really planning on smackin’ them today. I ended up catching a 4 1/2-pounder and got some momentum going and just grinded all day and ended up catching some good fish and just kept the wheels going.” 

Stewart had to adjust and run some new water on the fly to stay on the caliber of fish he’s been catching. His primary tactic all week has been flipping shallow cover on the main lake where the bass are keying on a particular type of baitfish. Today, he did get a few bites on a square-bill just “showing them something different,” which produced one of the keepers he brought to weigh-in. Then he lucked into a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth that culled one of his largemouths once he got back to Plattsburgh.

The leader says the smallmouth bites he’s gotten have been all luck, and he has no other pattern to run in the north end of the lake. He’s all in on the shallow largemouths in Ticonderoga, no matter the wind or waves. Stewart is gunning for his first-ever FLW Tour victory, and he’ll have to earn it in challenging conditions tomorrow.

2. Casey Scanlon – Lake Ozark, Mo. – 56-8 (15)

Midway through the day today, it looked like Missouri’s Casey Scanlon was on pace to overtake Stewart’s lead. Scanlon’s unofficial weight estimate was around 20 pounds, and it looked like Stewart might slip. 

As estimates sometimes go, the predictions were a little off. Scanlon weighed in 18 pounds, 13 ounces and will start day four 1 pound, 14 ounces behind Stewart.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 2: Tyler Stewart Keeps Leads with 40-01lbs!

Canadians Sim 21st & Richardson 86th

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Big largemouth key to lead for Stewart!
(Photo: FLW)

Tyler Stewart’s day-one limit of more than 22 pounds set the bar sky high on Lake Champlain for this week’s FLW Tour event, which is presented by T-H Marine. That’s not an easy mark to match, and today Stewart’s performance was a little more on par with the rest of his competition. He hauled in five largemouths that totaled 17 pounds, 14 ounces.

Stewart is still in the lead going into the top-30 round, but John Voyles, who’s fishing for smallmouths, is only 1 pound, 5 ounce behind him.

For two days, Stewart has made the long run down to Champlain’s famed southern waters near Ticonderoga to target plump largemouths that are in the midst of a postspawn feeding binge. The difference in yesterday and today was that Stewart weighed in one less 4-pound-class largemouth and didn’t have time to try and pick off a bonus smallmouth like he did on Thursday. He also had a bit more company in his area.

He had to resort to fishing some of the “juice” he was saving for later in the tournament.

“It started off good this morning. I pulled up at the first place I stopped and caught one close to 4 pounds,” he recalls. “I jumped around a little bit and caught a few fish here and there, some 2 3/4s, then ended up catching a 4 1/2 around 10 o’clock. I had probably 16 pounds at that point. I culled a few more times by ounces. Then right at the end of the day I caught another one about 4 pounds.”

Stewart is catching his fish flipping plastics around a few different cover types. He has a couple of key areas, but is also running and gunning a little bit and fishing whatever fits his pattern. He ran new water today, but also spent part of the day playing defense on his best stretches.

Looking ahead to the weekend, clouds and rain are in the forecast, which bodes well for the largemouth specialists and not so great for anyone trying to spy smallmouths on beds.

“They bit really, really good in practice down there in the rain,” adds Stewart. “The only problem is if the wind picks up, getting down there and back is the only issue. I think they’ll bite down there if it’s raining. 

“I think they will [hold up] as long as I don’t have a bunch of company. If I have all my stuff to myself I feel like I could potentially catch a couple good bags.”

2. John Voyles – Petersburg, Ind. – 38-12 (10)

There’s a pretty magical spot on Lake Champlain that’s produced every smallmouth bass that John Voyles has weighed in so far this week (he weighed just one largemouth yesterday). Today, Voyles learned that another pro caught 19-plus from that spot on day one, but the Indiana pro got there first this morning and was able to sack up 18 pounds, 5 ounces to go with more than 20 on the first day. Assuming he gets full access to the spot tomorrow, he’s hoping to keep the heat on Stewart and the rest of the pros running to Ti to target largemouths.

John Cox Wins 2019 FLW Tour Lake Chickamauga with 83-9lbs!

Spawners, shad spawn and swim jig key to win!

by Justin Onslow

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Shallow water spawners key to Cox win!
(Photo: FLW)

John Cox considers Lake Chickamauga his favorite lake in the country. On Sunday, it cemented itself as the lake that gave Cox his favorite and most memorable win.

With 21 pounds on Championship Sunday and 83-9 for the tournament, Cox won the FLW Tour event on Chickamauga, presented by Evinrude, thanks in big part to a couple trees the nine-year Tour pro forgot about until the waning moments of day four.

“I’m telling you, it was an amazing day,” Cox says. “I can’t believe this. All day I kept going and going. Right at the end… the last ten minutes was just unreal.

“It was last-minute. I don’t know why, it just popped into [my] head, ‘Go to the trees,’ and I went to them and it was unreal. It was the first cast to them.”

The first cast he’s talking about is the cast that almost broke his heart. Cox pulled up to the pair of trees he’d fished so many times before – but not once during this tournament – with the clock ticking on the end of his day. He hooked a big fish and lost it. It might have been a $100,000 fish.

Cox then went to the next tree and landed a 4-pounder. And then right back to the previous tree, where he’d just lost a big one, to land another 4-pounder, which ultimately sealed the deal on his tournament-winning bag.

“I’m not going to lie, when I caught those two fish real quick in the last 10 minutes, I got all worked up,” he admits. “I’m running back and tears are coming out. I felt something. It felt better than any other tournament any time I’ve won before. It was overwhelming. I’m getting chills thinking about it. I’ve never felt like that before.”

And Cox has had some amazing wins. He already has more hardware than he knows what to do with, including trophies from FLW Tour wins on Hartwell and the Red River, as well as an FLW Cup win on Wheeler. But this one just felt different.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Chickamauga Day 2: Matt Greenblatt Leads with 43-2lbs!

Canadians Richardson 83rd & Sim 109th

by Justin Onslow

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Spawning bass and wacky rig Senkos key to leaders!
(Photo: FLW)

Matt Greenblatt was one of the few pros fishing the FLW Tour’s Lake Chickamauga event this week who didn’t let off the accelerator on day two. With weights down across the board, the Port St. Lucie, Fla., pro brought 19 pounds, 13 ounces across the weigh-in stage and jumped day-one leader John Cox to take the lead with 43-2 overall.

The tournament, presented by Evinrude, hasn’t quite lived up to expectations to this point, due mainly to the odd transitional period into which it falls. Some fish are still moving up to bed, but the big ones don’t seem to be all the out to the ledges yet – a summertime staple for Tennessee River fisheries – and they haven’t been all that easy to catch up shallow, either.

Greenblatt seems to have found the magic formula, or at least the magic spot, where some big ones have been hanging out. He isn’t catching giants, but he’s been hauling in enough quality fish to put together a bag that only needs one kicker to do some damage.

The six-year Tour pro didn’t change anything up from day one, which produced 23-5 of quality Chickamauga largemouths. He simply found a great spot that’s been holding a ton of fish and went to town.

“[It was the] same thing as yesterday,” he explains. “Same spot. Same everything. That slope, I milked her for everything she was worth. Yesterday, I was hoping I was going to get decent weather [on day two]. We were expecting rain and nasty stuff.”

With rain in the forecast for day one (rain that never ended up coming), Greenblatt hammered on that spot pretty hard, but his fish seemed to replenish overnight, and even with some extra fishing pressure on it Friday, it produced nearly as well.

“Of course, you get a little bit of company, too,” he adds. “I had two other boats in there with me: Lendell [Martin Jr.] and John Hunter. John got a 3-pound average out of there. We’re hitting it pretty hard, all three of us.

“We’ve got hopefully two more days in here, and I don’t know what she’s got left.”

Should Greenblatt’s spot dry up or the weather muddy up the water enough to turn off the bite, he has a backup plan in mind.

TOP 10 BELOW

2018 Black Bass PanAmerican Championship on Lake Okeechobee Day 1: Dudley & Schlarb Lead with 16-12lbs!

Results
1. USA – David Dudley and Mark Schlarb – 7.59 kg (16-12)
2. Canada – Rob Lee and Dave Chong – 7.48 kg (16-8)
3. Canada – Spiro Agouros and Fern Campeau – 6.81 kg (15-00)
4. USA – John Cox and Keith Carson – 6.8 kg (15-00)
5. Canada – Cole Bailey and Bruce Leeson – 6.5 kg (14-5)
6. Canada – Hughes Brian and Anais Chaves – 6.13 kg (13-8)
7. Canada – Bob Izumi and Darren Izumi – 5.87 kg (12-15)
8. Mexico – Jorge Bruster and Luis Flores – 5.44 kg (12-00)
9. USA – Alan Boyd and Kyle Alsop – 5.26 kg (11-10)
10. USA – Scott Martin and Roland Martin – 4.99 kg (11-00)
11. Costa Rica – Ronny Villalobos and Maricio Monge – 4.97 kg (11-00)
12. Costa Rica – Carlos Cabero and Henry Marin – 4.87 kg (10-12)
13. Mexico – Victor Concha Jr. and Gerardo Ibarra – 4.75 kg (10-8)
14. Mexico – Richie Gonzalez and Arturo Saldana – 4.72 kg (10-7)
15. Canada – Joey Ford and Shawn McCaul – 4.65 kg (10-4)
16. Canada – Dave Bairstow and Matt Hubble – 4.34 kg (9-9)
17. Canada – Phil Hegarty and Stephen Hegarty – 4.22 kg (9-5)
18. Mexico – Gabriel Torres and Eduardo Yoshii – 3.9 kg (8-10)
19. Mexico – Alex Salinas and Fernando Salinas – 3.67 kg (8-1)
20. Mexico – Tomas Santos and Cruz Alejando Salinas – 2.95 kg (6-8)
21. USA – Shirley Crain and Michelle Jalaba – 2.84 kg (6-4)
22. Costa Rica – Jonnathan Arroyo and Vincente Naranjo – 0.94 kg (2-1)

2017 Walmart FLW Mississippi River Day 2: Andy Morgan Leads with 31-4lbs!

Gustafson 102th, Chris Johnston 104th, Cory Johnston 105th,  and Richardson 141st.
by Rob Newell 
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Morgan takes lead as river keeps rolling. (Photo: FLW)

A river is a river.
That’s the simple philosophy Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn. used to capture the lead on day two of the FLW Tour presented by Evinrude on the Mississippi River.
Morgan cut his angling teeth fishing the “pools” along the Tennessee River – pools with names like Chickamauga, Nickajack and Guntersville. Though he’s never fished this part of the Mississippi River, in his mind pools 7, 8 and 9 are not much different than the “pools” he fishes back home in Tennessee.
Friday he relied on his river-reading skills to sack up 14 pounds, 9 ounces of bass, giving him a two-day total of 31 pounds, 4 ounces.

“A river is a river,” Morgan says. “They rise. They fall. They have a main channel. They have backwaters. These pools up here are somewhat like little tiny versions of the lakes on the Tennessee River.”
TOP 1O BELOW

Scott Martin Wins 2016 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Champlain Wire to Wire!

Martin LOVES N.Y.
FLW PRESS RELEASE

In 2004, Scott Martin won a Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Champlain by catching smallmouths off beds in practice, weighing them, letting them go and then returning during the tournament to catch the ones that weighed just a little bit more than their neighbors.

This is Scott's third victory on Champlain. (Photo FLW)

In 2009, Martin returned to Champlain and scored another Tour victory by catching largemouths from offshore rock reefs in Missisquoi Bay.

In 2016, Martin once again claimed victory on Champlain, this time by combining a little bit of his smallmouth savvy from 2004 with a little bit of his reef reconnaissance from 2009.

With this win, Martin becomes a six-time FLW Tour winner – the most in FLW Tour history – and backs up his reputation as a closer in Tour events. He rarely gives up a lead once he claims it.

TOP 10 BELOW

2016 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 3: Scott Martin Continues to Dominate!

Chris Johnston falls to 5th. 
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Scott working his northern spots to continue the lead.
(Photo: FLW)

Unexpected mechanical issues, complications and difficulties can easily derail a pro angler’s day – especially if that pro angler is leading a Walmart FLW Tour event.

But when tournament leader Scott Martin encountered mechanical issues this morning, forcing him to obtain an official restart from FLW Tour Tournament Director Bill Taylor, Martin never missed a beat. He took it all in stride and kept his composure. As the old saying goes, “cooler heads will prevail,” and Martin demonstrated that perfectly today.

Despite his setback of nearly two hours in fishing time, Martin salvaged his day with a 16-pound, 5-ounce catch that kept him in the lead of the Walmart FLW Tour presented by General Tire on Lake Champlain with a total of 58 pounds, 10 ounces.

2016 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 2: Scott Martin Extends Lead with 42.05lbs.

Martin loves Champlain!

by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE

At halftime in the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Champlain, which is presented by General Tire, Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., has comfortably settled into the pole position going into the weekend. Martin is now the only pro to reach the 20-pound mark two days in row, giving him a total of 42 pounds, 5 ounces and a 3-pound, 9-ounce lead over Bryan Schmitt going into Saturday.

On path for his third win on Champlain.
(FLW Photo)

Martin, who already has two FLW Tour wins at Lake Champlain, is the model of composure when it comes to fishing on the New York-Vermont border. It’s as if the waters in Champlain were custom-made to suit his fishing styles.

2014 Walmart FLW Cup Lake Murray Day 1: David Dudley Captures Lead with 17-14lbs!

Dudley Take 3lb Lead!

by David A. Brown
FLW PRESS RELEASE

COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the field of 45 pros hoping to raise the trophy at the Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart and hosted by Capital City/Lake Murray Country, five have enjoyed that magical moment before. After a strong day-one performance, Castrol pro David Dudley is looking a lot like a man on a mission for No. 2.

Weighing in a first-round limit of 17 pounds, 14 ounces, Dudley took an early lead and held off all challengers to finish atop the field by a margin of 3-5.

David Dudley might be the first angler to win 2 FLW Cups! It is only the first day
but the last few FLW Cup winner all had big first days.
(Photo: Brian Lindberg FLW)

                       
As expected, definitive patterns remained elusive. Very few anglers stuck exclusively with shallow or 
deep patterns, and Dudley was not among them.

“I went deep and shallow. I think everybody is doing that. I’m mixing it up,” he says. “I have no idea where the next bite is coming from. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants and trying to stay focused.”

David Dudley's reaction to the 2015 Walmart FLW Tour schedule with IBASSIN

The Walmart FLW 2015 Tour has been announced! IBASSIN.com was on hand as the Tour locations were announced. We got David Dudley FLW Cup Champ  reactions to next year's lakes and Tour stops.

Day 2 ICAST Photos

Here is a sample of ICAST day 2.

More photos link here.

Matt Arey Wins the 2014 Walmart FLW Beaver Lake Tournament

Arey Arrives!
by Curtis Niedermier
FLW Press Release

ROGERS, Ark. - Prior to this week, if you tried to define the current status of Beaver Lake’s largemouth bass spawn and the career of Shelby, N.C., pro Matt Arey, you needed only one phrase: close, but not quite there.

Sticking to his strengthen allowed Arey to take win!
(Photo: FLW)

After today’s weigh-in at the John Q. Hammons center in Rogers, Ark., Arey proved that both he and the bass have arrived in a big way.

In four days, Arey hauled in a total of 59 pounds, 3 ounces of Beaver Lake bass to win the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Rayovac and hosted by Visit Rogers.

While other pros went looking for bass stuck in those in-between transitional areas, Arey refined a perfect shallow, stained-water pattern that allowed Beaver’s prespawn and early spawning bass to come to him. Then he made the gutsy call to commit to that pattern all week despite four consecutive days of shifting weather patterns. His steadfastness earned him his first Walmart FLW Tour title as a professional and one more piece of hardware to display next to his 2006 Forrest Wood Cup co-angler trophy.

“This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid,” Arey said as he choked back tears on the weigh-in stage. “I really didn’t think I had near as much as I had. I thought I might have 13 pounds, and that’s what the on-the-water crew thought. I thought I might have 14 at most. But it all came together. When it’s your time, it’s your time.”

Walmart FLW Kentucky Lake

FLW Tour Pickwick Lake: David Dudley wins 2011 FLW Angler of the Year

After competing in six difficult tournament venues ranging from Tennessee to South Carolina, Louisiana to Kentucky and Alabama to Arkansas, David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., proved to be the best of the best on the FLW Tour in 2011. As a result, Dudley took home his second career FLW Tour Angler of the Year title, defeating second-place Brent Ehrler by 14 points total.

Dudley, who received $100,000 for the title, joins fellow FLW Tour anglers Clark Wendlandt (2009, 2000,1997) and Jay Yelas (2007, 2002) as the only anglers to win multiple Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year titles. Dudley’s first title came in 2008..

FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell: How to Make the Top 20

How to Make it to the Top 20
By Luigi De Rose

There are always leaders in any tournament. A magic few who seem to hit the right spots at the correct time. Others might be fishing similar spots or similar ways with poorer results. As the legendary Rick Clunn explained, sometimes it is finding the secondary or even a lesser pattern that will allow you to win. Even though it is not the primary pattern, not everyone is working it. This allows you to expand it without being overcrowded. Rick Clunn rode this theory to the winner circle many times over his career. It might be what is needed to do well on Lake Hartwell.

Lake Hartwell
Lake Hartwell is a reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savanna, Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers. It was host to the 2008 Bassmaster Classic. Anglers will recall that the water was ultra low and fishing was difficult.

In the year of 2008, due to severe drought in the southeastern United States, the lake dropped to over 22 feet (6.7 m) below its normal water level at its lowest in December 2008. As of the first of October 2010, the lake is back up to just over 654 feet, 6 ft lower than full pool of 660 ft. During the drought, much of the shoreline dried and was able to seed with bushes, weeds and other plant life. A rejuvenation of the shoreline creates an abundance of cover as water levels rises to normal levels.  During the spring, when the bass are searching out shallow areas to feed and spawn, anywhere that has a mix of cover, proper water temperature and baitfish, anglers can expect good results.

Two Lakes in One
Anglers were in two camps this week. Some wanted to dabble in sight fishing which meant heading towards the dam area in search of clearer water. The clearer the better for seeing the beds. Another group wished to head up river to the stained water to fish for staging bass or bedding bass. Many anglers admit that catching bedding bass is not their strength. Feeling more comfortable just fishing, many anglers focus running spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, cranks, swimbaits mixed in with casting to target with soft plastics or jigs. 

What to Use

Christie looks over his spinnerbait.
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

No one is crazy enough to admit to using a specific lure on Day 1 or 2. Unless bed fishing, which is more a game of finding the correct beds with larger female bass, giving up any details, especially on a weigh in stage is asking for trouble. But, if you analyze the anglers and look that how their co-anglers fared will give you some clues to their future success.

On Day 1 many anglers did well. Trying to figure out if their on them is difficult. Larry Nixon has 16-10 and his co-angler Keith Honeycutt sacked the largest creel on the co-angler side with 16-13. Two excellent bags from the same boat. Mike Reynolds had a huge 21-15 pound day and his co-angler Moo Bae got a respectable 13-15. Both co-anglers are skilled but their pros where on good areas. I'm sure either pro wished their co-anglers didn't hook as many big bass as they did.

Bryan Thrift is another example. He has 12-14 on Day 1 and his partner Aaron Combs nailed 11-01.  This was further explained on Day 2 when Thrift landed 19-10 and his partner Timothy Lane got 10-05. Bryan's two day total of 32-08 was good enough for fourth place. Imagine how well he would or could do if his partners were not in the boat.  

Joe Thomas is loving the Chatterbait.
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

Sight fishing pro's co-anglers didn't fare as well. Ish Monroe has 16-10 his partner has only 1-11. David Dudley had 20 and Westley Strader 16-11 but their partners did horribly.  But that is the nature of the beast. When the pro is staring at a bed, the co-angler is kind of out of the loop. One question is how will the sight fishing guys fare over four full tournament days. Interestingly, both Westley and Ish spent a considerable amount of time on Day 1 in the same pocket. 

Day 3 and 4
What will the next two days reveal?  My bet is that the bass will continue to position into the creek arms and slowly move to the backs of the coves or pockets. If the water is super clean, anglers will see them as the weekend progresses as long as the days stay warm. Many anglers who were using reaction baits need overcast, wind or an early boat number to have the longest bite. Many who did well on Day 1 when it was windy didn't do well with the calmer conditions. The trick is to be relentless with casting to good spots to trigger a bite. A bit of luck won't hurt either. Unlike Florida, a giant bite is not available to rocket you up 15 places in the leader board. Slow and steady with the fish will produce. As much as anglers like the stained water you just never know if there are fish in your area or not. Being confident in an area will make a huge difference.

FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell Day 1: Christie Leads Hartwell with 22-04

Lake Hartwell 3/24/11 - 3/27/11 -- Lake Hartwell
Portman Shoals Marina, Greenville, SC

FLW Press Release



Jason Christie the man on top of the
leader board.
(Photo: Rob Newman)

 Diet Mountain Dew pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., crossed the stage Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces to lead day one of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Hartwell presented by Chevy. Christie holds a 5-ounce lead over Mike Reynolds of Modesto, Calif., who caught five bass weighing 21-15 in a tournament featuring 155 anglers from all across the country and Canada.

“I started on a little stretch that I was hoping to get two or three fish off of,” said Christie, who has won more than $359,000 in FLW Outdoors competition. “I made one pass and had 18 or 19 pounds. I didn’t know how the day was going to shake out, so I decided to leave and go fish other stuff. I’d fish new water and go to other stuff where I thought I could catch one. I didn’t catch a lot of fish today, but I caught good fish.”

Christie said he caught “about a dozen” keepers during the course of the day.

“It’s hard to tell when you’ve got all good (fish),” Christie said.

Christie said the warm weather trend has the fish moving up into shallow water and nearly every pocket holds pairs of fish preparing for the spawn. He said he was catching “spawners” but wasn’t visually targeting them. Instead, he’s fishing slightly dirty water and using BOOYAH brand baits to provoke a reaction strike.

“I don’t think they’re conducive to being caught while you’re looking at them right now,” Christie said. “Some guys are going to catch them and there is probably going to be somebody come in with 25 pounds he caught while looking at them. But they’re too interested in each other. You just have to get them on a reaction strike on a bait and I can do that better fishing than I can looking at them.”

Chevy pro Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Okla., who finished the day in fifth place, also used BOOYAH spinnerbaits and jigs for reaction bites to fill his limit.

“The only time I saw them was when I put them in the boat,” Houston said.

Legendary angler Jimmy Hoston got them
on Day 1.
(Photo: Brett Carlson FLW)



Houston said fishing during practice was solid but the bite seems to have slowed with the cold front that has approached Lake Hartwell.

“We’re going to have to slow down and fish a lot differently than we did in practice,” Houston said. “I think it will get a lot more difficult for me. I don’t think the guys who are sight fishing are going to have many more fish come in, and those stringers might deteriorate a little bit.

“I’ve got fish but I don’t think they’re going to bite very well,” Houston added.

Rounding out the top 10 pros after day one on Lake Hartwell are:

3rd: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 20-0

4th: Joe Thomas, Milford, Ohio, five bass, 19-10

5th: Chevy pro Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., five bass, 19-3

6th: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 18-9

7th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 18-2

7th: Chevy pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., five bass, 18-2

9th: Prevacid 24HR pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 17-8

10th: Randy Macabee Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., five bass, 17-5


Joe Thomas with the day's biggest bass.
(Photo: Brett Carlson FLW)


Thomas caught the Snickers® Big Bass weighing 6-10 in the pro division to win $500.

Overall there were 713 bass weighing 1,703 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 152 pros Thursday. The catch included 124 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 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. This year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachitawhere pros will compete for a top prize of $600,000 – the sport’s biggest award. Pro anglers are also vying for the prestigious 2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s that will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment.FantasyFishing.com.