2017 Walmart FLW Tour Beaver Lake Day 2: Meyer Leads by Hair with 28-09 Lbs.

Richardson 52nd, Gustafason 70th, Chris Johnston 92nd & Cory Johnston 95th.
by Curtis Niedermier
FLW PRESS RELEASE

It can never be easy at Beaver Lake. At least, that’s the track record for this lake over the course of its 20-year history as an FLW Tour destination. Beaver is notorious for its up-and-down fishing conditions, and the pros who’ve been lucky enough to lead at Beaver on day one frequently end up falling out of the cut on day two.

Cody's focus on smallmouth give him lead for now.
(Photo: FLW)

Today, day-one leader Cody Meyer thought he might experience the typical Beaver Lake flip-flop, but he was able to maintain his spot atop the standings in the FLW Tour presented by General Tire despite an overall drop in production. Meyer caught 16 pounds, 1 ounce on day one to lead by just 6 ounces over runner-up Chris Brasher. He followed up on day two with a 12-pound, 8-ounce limit and now has a 3-ounce lead over Texan Jason Reyes going into the weekend.

TOP TEN BELOW

2017 Walmart FLW Tour Harris Chain Day 3: Cox Leads with 54-14lbs!

Sight fishing battle becoming more difficult each day. 
by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE
For two days, John Cox has been the king of the Harris Chain, dominating the FLW Tour event presented by Ranger at the Harris Chain with his favorite sight-fishing technique. But Saturday his sight-fish gave him the slip and now the outliers are moving in on him from all directions.

Local John Cox hunting every secret spot he has for nesting bass.
(Photo: FLW)

Cox posted a 10-pound, 4-ounce catch on day three and as a result his nearly 6-pound lead shrank to just over 2 pounds. He still leads the field with a 54-14 three-day total, but now pros from North Carolina, Texas and Alabama seriously threaten King Cox’s throne atop the leaderboard in his Florida domain.

“Would you like me to sum up the day for you?” Cox asks with a laugh. “Okay, well, I burned a lot of gas and I didn’t catch anything – how’s that?”

Cox’s frustration came from the fact that he ran many, many miles and burned a lot of trolling motor battery for his dismal catch.

“I only caught five keepers all day,” he says. “That’s it.”

Piling onto Cox’s disappointment is the fact that the wave he was hoping would move up with the impending full moon tomorrow doesn’t seem to be materializing.

“The fish were just acting so weird today,” he says. “I found one male that had a 5- or 6-pound female with it. I shook the male off several times, trying to catch her first. Then I went ahead and caught him and when I did, she just swam out to my boat, looked at me, and hit the highway – gone. It’s like she knew what was going on – those are the little signs that tell you it’s not really happening.

Ty Faber and John Gardner Win 2016 Toyota Bonus Bucks Team Championship

Faber, Gardner take championship

ANDREW CANULETTE

BASS PRESS RELEASE
Ty Faber and John Gardner expected to be deer hunting in Wisconsin by Friday.

There’s been a change of plans.

The Colorado anglers won the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship on Thursday at Paris Landing State Park here in the northwestern corner of the Volunteer State. They boated a two-day total of 37 pounds, 10 ounces on Kentucky Lake, which not only clinched the team title, but gave each angler a 1-in-6 chance of fishing in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic next March.

Easy to smile when you win as a team.
(Photo: BASS)  

Not long after they hoisted the team championship trophies over their heads, it was time for a reality check.

“This hasn’t sunk in just yet,” Gardner said. “I’m still trying to process it. I have no idea what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

2016 FLW CUP: Interview with Chris Johnston FLW Rookie of the Year

Hometown legend in the making.

By Luigi De Rose 

As the scales settled on the FLW CUP on Wheeler Lake, Alabama on August 7^th, the 2016 Walmart Tour season came to a close.  John Cox was declared champion but there is another champion who was bolting back home to continue his bass tournament season in Canada. Chris Johnston, of Peterborough, Ontario had concluded his rookie season on tour. We caught up with him to discuss his fantastic season and his 8^th place finish at the FLW CUP. 

Chris Johnston 2016 FLW TOUR Rookie of the Year. (Photo: FLW)

IBASSIN: Thanks for taking the time out to chat. 

Chris: No problem we are just about 40 minutes from the Canadian border.

IBASSIN: You had an amazing FLW CUP! Let’s talk a bit about it the championship and how you fished. 

Chris: I am surprised that I did so well. I had a very poor practice. I was expecting to flip trees to get the better bites and I did get a few fish but it was random. The first couple of practice days I could get about 5 to 6 bass a day. I was worried that I couldn’t get a limit each day. The deep bite wasn’t there. I got nothing out deep.

On the third practice day, I found a point that had some schoolers but many of the fish were very small. Some were only a few inches long but there were a few 2 pounders mixed in. So, I determined that I would get a few schoolers each morning then try for the flipping fish.

What I discovered was that the schooling bite got better throughout the day. That is something you shouldn’t figure out during an event but in practice so I got a bit lucky. On Day 1 of the tournament I determine that bite was stronger than what I imagined it would be. 

IBASSIN: FLW had pictures of you with some big smallmouth. Did you catch them mixed in with the small schoolers?

2016 Walmart FLW Kentucky Lake Day 2: Terry Bolton Leads with 44-13lbs.

Bolton takes over Kentucky

by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE

The name Terry Bolton of Paducah, Ky., has been synonymous with the name Kentucky Lake for the better part of 30 years. Today, the well-known local pro showed why, bringing in another 22-pound plus bag of bass for the second day in a row to take the lead in the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Mercury and hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau with a two-day total of 44 pounds, 13 ounces.

Local pro shows consistency is key. (Photo: FLW)

Two major obstacles have been an issue for FLW Tour pros this week: fishing pressure and lack of current. Bolton has found a way to clear both hurdles over the last two days by searching out smaller “clusters” of suspended bass in waters that are deeper than where most of the fishermen are wearing ruts into the ledges.

“When they get up high off the bottom here, I like it,” Bolton says. “When they’re on the bottom, a lot more people can catch them. But when they suspend up high due to lack of current and fishing pressure, they get a little trickier to fool.”

“The big schools are broken up now and they are moving around a lot,” he continues. “So I’m looking for smaller clusters of fish. Some pods might have 5 or 6 fish in them; others might have 15 to 25. And I only catch a few fish out of these smaller groups – this is not a case where I’m sitting in one place wearing them out.”

Bolton adds that looking out deeper has been a key for him.

“I don’t normally like to fish this deep; it takes too long for my bait to get to the bottom,” Bolton adds with a laugh. “But that’s what I feel I have to do to get off the beaten path and find those more isolated, suspended pods that are not as pressured.”

 Top 10 pros below

2016 Bassmaster Elite at Bull Shoals/Norfork Day 1: Matt Herren Grabs Lead with 17lbs!

Anglers head to Bull Shoals for Friday.

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Matt Herren came into this week’s Bassmaster Elite at Bull Shoals/Norfork, with a free-wheeling attitude.



“My motto for the week is just to fly by the seat of my pants,” Herren said. “Since we’re fishing two different lakes, I figure that’s all you can really do.”



Big bass lands Matt lead.
(Photo: BASS)

So far, the strategy has worked very well.

Herren caught five bass Thursday on Norfork Lake that weighed 17 pounds and took the lead in the first-of-its-kind, two-lake Elite Series event. His catch was bolstered by a 6-pound, 1-ounce largemouth that bit during the final minutes.

In an unusual format, the 108 Bassmaster Elite Series anglers will divide their time between two nearby Ozarks lakes near Mountain Home.

After competing today on Norfork, the full field moves to Bull Shoals for Friday’s round, after which the field is cut to 50 anglers, who will again compete on Bull Shoals. The Top 12 anglers after Saturday will return to Norfork for the final round.



Herren feels confident now as the tournament shifts to Bull Shoals Lake for the next two rounds before coming back for Championship Sunday on Norfork.

“I just had a really fortunate day,” Herren said. “I got on something early and had a good limit of fish. But with about 15 minutes left in my day, I caught a 6-1. 

Erik Luzak and Tom Hardy Win the 2015 CSFL Classic XIX with 50 Pounds!

The winning catch. (Photo: Erik Luzak)

Congrats to Erik Luzak and Tom Hardy for winning back to back CSFL Classics. They did it in grand style with a last day push that netted them 18.25 lbs that vaulted them into the winner's circle with a three day total of 50.9lbs!

Position	Angler	Co-Angler	Regional	Classic D1	Classic D2	Total Weight
1	Erik Luzak	Tom Hardy	14.35	18.3	18.25	50.9
2	TJ Lacey	Travis Vivian	18.5	14.9	15.75	49.15
3	Garry Mansholt	Pat Wong	10.25	15.95	20.6	46.8
4	Gary Miller		15.05	11.55	19	45.6
5	Dan Miguel	Bryan Low	16.75	12.8	13.85	43.4
6	Kirk Sullivan	Kevin Sullivan	14.7	15.2	13.1	43
7	Cory Johnston	Chris Johnston	16.8	15	9.75	41.55
8	Greg Roth	Bob Switzer	12.55	15.75	12.65	40.95
9	Chris Little	Cam Neville	10.35	18.55	11.85	40.75
10	Peter Marrocco	Pat Marrocco	13	13.95	12.75	39.7

See below for the full standings.

2015 Walmart Bass Fishing League All-American Day 2: Curtis Richardson Leads with 46-12lbs!

O'CANADA! Richardson leads All-American!

by Colin Moore

FLW PRESS RELEASE

For a guy who’s put together two solid days of fishing to occupy the top spot in the Walmart Bass Fishing League All-American on Kentucky Lake hosted by the Henry County Alliance, Curtis Richardson doesn’t exude a lot of confidence.

Ontario angler Richardson feels comfortable on the ledges. Just like
smallmouth fishing back home. (Photo FLW)

It’s understandable. On day two of the championship, the 31-year-old Ontario angler had six bites all day, and managed a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 15 ounces. So Richardson isn’t exactly covered up with aggressive fish. He’s also fishing in an area near New Johnsonville, Tenn., that’s going to get covered up with boats Saturday, and he has Billy Schroeder stalking him – that in itself is enough to make a body worry.

In fact, counting his 24-13 stringer from day one, Richardson has a total of 46-12, or about a 1¼ pounds ahead of Schroeder. Both anglers moved up in the standings after first-round leader Bobby Padgett faltered with a second-round stringer of 17-2. The trio is among the top 10 finalists who will compete for the title and the $100,000 prize ($120,000 if Ranger Cup qualified) that goes with it in Saturday’s final round.

Matt Arey Wins 2015 FLW Tour Event at Beaver Lake!

Avery Wins Beaver Again!

by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE
In Matt Arey’s bio, he lists Beaver Lake as his favorite lake in the country. Many have assumed this was some kind of joke or mistake. But it’s not. Beaver Lake really is Arey’s favorite lake, and today the Quaker State pro proved why, winning his second Walmart FLW Tour title on Beaver Lake in a row.

Big limit on day 4 cliches Beaver for Arey. (Photo FLW)

Arey saved the best for last, weighing in the biggest limit of the tournament – 17 pounds, 13 ounces – on the final day to win by nearly 6 pounds over Tracy Adams. Arey's four-day total was 55-06, and his winning margin was substantial on such a challenging lake.
“It’s been an unreal week,” says Arey, who pocketed $125,000 for his win. “Stuff happened today that never happens; it’s been a day I’ll never forget.

2015 Bassmaster Classic on Lake Hartwell Day 1: Mid-day Report

Bass Biting Well Considering the Cold

By Luigi De Rose

BASS has been really trying to raise the bar of real-time coverage at the 2015 Classic. With five live camera feeds; on the water coverage plus studio commentary, the boys at Bassmaster are providing first-rate coverage. Fishing has been good to many with several anglers over 10 pounds with the warmest part of the day still to come.

Here is the unofficial top 5-leader board as of 1:10pm.

1. Keith Combs  15lbs 5oz
2. Dean Rojas     15lbs 0oz
3. Takahiro Omori   14lbs 4oz
4. Skeet Reese  14lbs 4oz
5. David Walker  12lbs 14oz