Mark Rose Wins 2017 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Guntersville with 79-11 lbs!

Rose milks Brown's creek for win.

by Rob Newell 

FLW PRESS RELESE

Coming into the FLW Tour event presented by Lowrance at Lake Guntersville, Mark Rose had quite a laundry list of reasons why he wanted to win the tournament.

First of all, Lake Guntersville has a rich history in the sport of professional bass fishing. Fishing legends such as Zell Rowland, George Cochran, Rick Clunn and David Fritts have all won national events on the historic lake. Rose has always wanted to put his name alongside such icons as a professional tournament winner on Guntersville.

Consistency key to Rose's win.
(Photo: FLW)

Second, Rose has been so close to victory in other events on Guntersville. He has finished runner-up in a Costa FLW Series event and a Tour event at the lake.

Rose is also well known for his deep-water prowess. He has earned his moniker as a “ledgemaster” through multiple offshore wins along the Tennessee River. With that, he felt like he had become almost pigeonholed as a deep-water specialist and was ready to prove to himself that he can win events in waist-deep water as well.

Finally, Rose was ready to erase a memory from Sam Rayburn Reservoir in 2014 when he lead an FLW Tour event going into the last day and faltered, letting none other than Bryan Thrift slip past him and grab the brass ring.

2016 Walmart FLW Kentucky Lake Day 1: Brad Knight Leads by Ounces Over Fukae

Knight Leads with 23-6

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Best start of the year for FLW Cup Champ
(FLW Photo)

Since winning the Forrest Wood Cup in August of 2015, Brad Knight’s 2016 follow-up Walmart FLW Tour season has not been what he had hoped, collecting just one check in the first four events. Today the Lancing, Tenn., resident took the first step in righting the ship with a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces for the day-one lead at the FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake presented by Mercury and hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Man, I’ve had enough of the bad this year,” Knight says. “It’s time to get this thing turned around and what better place to do it than on the Tennessee River.”

Knight’s limit was anchored by the day-one big bass, weighing in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

Clark Wendlandt wins 2015 FLW Tour Potomac River with 60lbs!

Clark beats Potomac after beating Cancer!

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Clark Wendlandt thought he knew two things: 1. He had an area all to himself. 2. It had potential to be special. Turns out he was right on both.

Emotional win for Clark who fought many odds to win!
(Photo FLW)

Despite battling nasty weather and his boat breaking down on day three, Wendlandt managed to sack up 60 pounds of bass to win the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on the Potomac River. The Leander, Texas, pro beat Andy Morgan by 4 pounds, 4 ounces to earn the fourth FLW Tour victory of his career.

“I had a suspicion my area could be good after my practice,” Wendlandt says. “I’d fished that area before, and in practice I caught a few fish. With a place like this [the Potomac] where the fish are always moving, you just want to know they’re in an area. So I knew they were there, but I didn’t know it would be as good as this.”

Wendlandt’s key area was Potomac Creek, which featured a mixture of docks, grass flats and shallow wood. He rotated between all three types of cover each day in an effort to see where the fish had relocated. His main lures were a 1/2-ounce 4x4 jig and a white Z-Man ChatterBait with a Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad trailer.

Walmart FLW Tour Potomac River Day 1: Adrian Avena Out Front, AOY Race Tightens!

Jersey Boy takes lead with solid limit. 

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do, apparently.

Hailing from Vineland, N.J. – roughly three and a half hours from the Potomac River – Adrian Avena gushed about getting to sleep in his own bed Saturday night before practice began for the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on the Potomac River. He had plenty of reason to gush, too, after sacking up 16 pounds, 12 ounces to grab the lead on day one.

Avena on his way to winning first Tour Event! (Photo: FLW)

“I had a good day, but I’d even like the bag I culled,” Avena says. “I probably culled another 12-pound bag. I had 15 keepers today, and there were a few places where I left them biting.”

That has been pretty much par for the course for Avena since practice started. He figures he averaged 12 to 14 pounds a day during practice doing some pretty “off-the-wall stuff.”

Top Ten Lists below

ICAST 2013: Day 2 Photo Gallery

By Luigi De Rose

Day 2 was a busy one. Saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones. Even got to chat with the master Roland Martin. That doesn't happen everyday. Here is a glimpse of the ICAST Day 2.

Roland Martin and myself.

Holy crap! Not sure if that deer is real but the Lucky Strike guys
love their bucks, they had a whole booth full!

A packed Strike King booth.

Chip Leer said he took the Grayhound bus from Minnesota all
the way to Vegas. Not sure if he was joking but a trip that long is not funny.

Did some great videos with Shaw at the Quantum booth.

Morizo Shimizu with the new Evergreen Cranking rods.

FLW Pro Shinich Fukae showing what Megabass rods are all about. 

A new clip from Gamakatsu.

Bassmaster Elite angler Aaron Martens. He did the funniest
video ever. It is full of follies.  I am still laughing. 

ICAST 2011 DAY 2: Wow Again!

Super busy. As a fishing and tournament fan this place is like crack. So many people are floating around but the super pros have a swarm around them. Last night having dinner with the Thunder Mist Lure company brothers, I sat beside Zell Rowland and Tommy Biffle. Really cool.

Pure fishing won so many awards last night. I shot a lot of video with them on line, lures, Abu reels, and some Sebile lures.

Ike was around again and displayed a new way to rig his Havoc Devil Spear. Wait till you see the in-water tank demo. So deadly!

Just shot video with Brent Ehrler at the Lucky Craft booth. Looks great and Lucky Craft has some super new sizes for swimbaits.

Shin Fukae displayed new Gami stuff and if you like senkos, drop shotting or wacky rigging you'll love their stuff.

Rapala has a lot of new colours and Terminator redesigned their jig and spinnerbait line with a lot of off the hook colours.

TV star and legend, Larry Dahlberg showed me some wacky rigging for big muskies and walleye trolling using your POWER POLE. They have a new 10 foot model and changed all their hardware so rigging is much easier.

Shot some good video with Quantum reels. They have a new EXO reel and Smoke spinning reel that is really sexy.

Shot a video with Western star Chris Ricci. Cool baits.

Got to go and get a drink. This place being so hot will suck the life out of you without you noticing.

LATER!!

FLW Outdoors announces update on injured FLW cameraman

FLW PRESS RELEASE
Editor's note: This article was updated June 21 with a status update from Robert Gulley.

FLW Outdoors officials have spoken to the family of the person injured in Sunday’s one-boat accident during the FLW Tour event on Kentucky Lake. Mary Ann Gulley has confirmed that her son, Robert Gulley, was a cameraman injured on a boat driven by competitor Shinichi Fukae when the boat struck the Highway 79 Bridge near Paris, Tenn.

FLW Tour Potomac River Day 2: Lane On Top, Nixon Tumbles to Bottom

Bobby Lane Bolts to the Top

Bobby Lane ready to win again on the
Potomac River.
(Photo by Gary Mortenson FLW)

03.Jun.2011
FLW PRESS RELEASE

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to capture the lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on the Potomac River presented by the National Guard. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a 2-pound, 2-ounce lead heading into the third day of the tournament. There were 154 pros and 154 co-anglers from across the United States and Canada that started the tournament. The top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.

“This river has been good to me,” said Lane, who was in fifth place after day one. “The key factor in being successful on this river is learning the tides. For me there is an hour-and-a-half window when the high tide starts rolling in that gives me my opportunity. All my big fish came in that hour-and-a-half window.

“There is not one area that is going to produce consistently year after year,” Lane went on to say. “The traffic on the river is so heavy that it puts a lot of pressure on the fish and they tend to move to new areas. I have had a lot of success in many different areas on the river. This week I have been fishing some new water. The area I am fishing now seems to be where the brim are spawning and the bass are coming back to feed..

FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga: Key Concepts

How they Stayed Alive on Chichamauga
By Luigi De Rose

Clifford working the posts. I guess he didn't see the sign.
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

Lake Chichamauga last week was a lake in transition. Water levels were fairly high during the practice period. Into the first two days of the tournament, the lake's water levels slowly dropped . On Friday afternoon, the sky opened and the rains came.  The intensity was so sever that the TVA, the authority who controls water levels on the lake, opened the dam to release the excess water. 

During the beginning of the week, anglers discovered bass in partially flooded shoreline cover. Other sections of the lake held spawning bass on beds. As the water dropped, to the utter shock of FLW Touring Pros, much of the productive cover what now out of the water and bass beds were left high and dry.

Once the dam gate closed, especially on Saturday and into Sunday the final day, the water levels began to climb. Unfortunately the new water was cold and muddy; erasing any chances to find bedding bass again. Many of the top anglers, including eventual winner Clifford Pirch and second place Shinichi Fukae, felt their sight fishing strategy was sunk.

Shinichi Fukae explained during a few different interviews that his primary area had become muddy and difficult to fish. Clifford Pirch used his skill to seek out the clearest water he could. He found it behind large marina complexes. The riprap, walkways, docks and any vertical cover he discovered would eventually yield enough bass to hold off for the win.

Clifford determined the marina was best because the area was not fed by a creek. Coves and bays which had a creek in the back instantly turned to chocolate milk with the heavy down pours. If spawning bass were present, anglers couldn't find them.


Scott flipping his way to 4th.
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)


One angler who adopted to the dramatic changes extremely well was Scott Canterbury of Springville AL. He targeted trees. As the water flooded these fallen trees, the bass moved in and Scott was right behind them. He sacked of 19-09 which turned out to be the heaviest creel on Day 4. Everyone except him and Tom Monsoon  had poorer success on Sunday.

The lesson learnt on Lake Chickamauga is to practice with the intention of change. Anglers who stuck to steep bank and kept an eye on what could be good suffered the least and the one who banked on slow tapering shorelines watched in horror as their bass and luck got sucked out.

FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga Day 4: Prich Grabs Prize on Chick!

Clifford Clinches First Win on Tour
Shinichi a solid second.

FLW Press Release

Clifford Pirch on Top.
(Photo: Brett Carlson FLW)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces Sunday to win $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga presented by National Guard with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 77-3.

“This is awesome,” said Pirch, who now has won more than $645,000 in FLW Outdoors competition. “It’s exciting. When you’re sitting up there waiting to see what guys have it’s a little nerve wracking.

“The last two fish came late in the day and I knew they were really going to have to catch them,” Pirch added. “You never know what everybody else has got … if they found a pocket that warmed up just a couple of hours earlier than I did and put a hurt on them.”

“I’m pretty spent,” Pirch said. “You fish one of these things and have burned it at both ends … it’s one of those deals where you leave it all out on the lake. I’m worn, but I’m excited. It’s been a fun time.”

Pirch said he employed a Roboworm creature bait as well as a jig-head worm for sight fish and blind bed fishing. As the water levels rose during the week, Pirch said he had to adapt and become mobile and target specific pieces of cover slowly with a jig.

“I caught five fish today,” Pirch said. “I got five bites and I caught five of them. Any time that happens that’s just a blessing. I don’t know how else to explain it. I got exactly what I needed, and man, I’m thankful.

FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga Day 4: Clifford Pirch Wins!

Pirch Wins First FLW!
By Luigi De Rose

Arizonian pro Clifford Pirch with his first FLW Tour event on Lake Chickamauga with four day total of 77-03. Shinichi Fakue finished second after weighing in 10-15, his smallest limit of the tournament. His four day total was 70-08. Tom Monsoor, finished third with 69-05 on the back of a respectable 15-02 day 4 limit. 
More info later tonight. 

Clifford Prich with his first WIN!

TOP 5
1. CLIFFORD PIRCH 77-03
2. SHINICHI FUKAE 70-08
3. TOM MONSOOR 69-05
4. SCOTT CANTERBURY 67-08
5. BRETT HITE 62-09

FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga Day 3: Pirch Remains on Top

Pirch Remains on Top of Leader Board on Day 3

Lake Chickamauga Day 3 leader with a nice one.
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

FLW Press Release

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. –Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to retain the lead at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga presented by National Guard and advanced to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 60-9,he now holds a 1-pound lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.

“I pulled in there this morning and the water was at least two feet higher than it had been,” Pirch said. “The water clarity was still decent when I started, so I was glad to see that. I thought the sun was going to break free and warm them up and move some new ones in, but we didn’t get that. We had winds and clouds all day.”

Pirch didn’t reveal the techniques he employed on Saturday, however he did say that he was not sight fishing.

“It was just pure fishing,” Pirch said. “I was blessed with some good bites and caught quite a few fish. It went well and I certainly can’t complain.

“It’s hard to say what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Pirch added. “I’m thinking we’ll get some sun. They’re really wanting to move in. The temperature’s right and we’ve got a full moon this weekend. They’ve got to be coming.”

Cheez-It pro Shinichi Fukae of Palestine, Texas, advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 59-9.

Fukae said he caught the majority of his fish “junk fishing” by throwing soft plastics on a Texas-rig anchored with a 3/8-ounce weight as well as a chatterbait and crankbait. He said his deepest fish of the day came in no more than 8 feet of water. Fukae said he believes some of the fish he got to bite could have been spawning fish.

“I cannot see them because the water is high,” Fukae said. “They may be bedding fish because I missed them a couple of times and they still bite. I don’t know about tomorrow because the water is getting high and muddy and cold.

“They’re starting to scatter now,” Fukae added. “I caught 10 keepers the past two days and only six keepers today.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:

FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga: What's Happening?

Lake Chichamauga: A Lake in Flux.
By Luigi De Rose

Water is dropping!
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

Lake Chichamauga located near Chattanooga Tennessee is part of the fames TVA system. This reservoir is  immediately downstream from Watts Bar Lake and immediately upstream from Nickajack Lake. Being part of the Tennessee river system, spring time usually means high water. Not this year, the lake is several feet below normal pool and much of the shoreline cover is high and dry. The lake’s numerous boat houses and docks are not as valuable as they usually are due to the very low water.
Lake Chichamauga has had many years of turmoil due to fisheries departments spraying the milfoil grass. This destroyed acres of habitat. The last few years, the fishing has improved greatly compared to the fishing in the late 1980s.

What’s Working
FLW Pros have been catching numerous  bass but the size is not large. Scan the standings and the weights are very close. There is only a four pound difference between 8th place and 41st  so finding one big bass here can make a whole tournament.
Top anglers have had good success fishing any remaining shoreline wood or grass. Japanese sensation, Shinichi Fukae, stated that he saw the water in his primary area recede. After the strong rain on Friday, he noticed the water starting to rise. His fishing got much better and he was able to produce a near 20 pound stringer.  He is currently in second but only 3 ounces off the lead.
Tom Monsoor, in forth, has caught the majority of his fish swimming a jig along  the inside grass line. If the water continues to drop, many bass should relocate to these adjacent grass lines.



Any brush in the water has bass. Note how much the water dropped. 
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

What to Expect
Surprisingly, many tops have targeted spawning bass. Either sight fishing for visible bass or fishing around bedding areas.  If the water drops even more this might be a loosing pattern and if the water rises with the rain, it might be too stained to see them. Sight fishing is definitely a dicey game but if the bass are there the risk is worth it. Anglers who find the last remaining shallow cover might have a chance to survive. Fishing pressure might ruin the best areas but the fishermen who have done their homework might know of secluded areas with biting fish. 

FLW Tour Lake Chickamauga Day 2: Pirch Jumps to Top

Arizona's Clifford Pirch take a slim lead over Shinichi Fukae

Day 2 Leader.
(Photo: Rob Newell FLW)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces Friday to capture the lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga presented by National Guard. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 43 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a slim 3-ounce lead heading into the third day of the tournament. There were 154 pros and 154 co-anglers from across the United States and Canada that started the tournament. The top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.

“I had a slower start today,” Pirch said. “I did get a couple sight fishing this morning. But by midday I started to get on them a little bit and had a couple of good passes where I was able to get a limit and then cull and got some momentum. It ended up working out real well.

“I had a great end to the day,” Pirch added. “It wasn’t action all day long, but it worked out well.

Pirch said he caught about a dozen keepers throughout the course of the day and relied on Typhoon polarized optics to help him spot bedding bass. He said he targeted those bass with a Roboworm creature bait.

“There’s a lot of fish in this lake and it’s a fun place to fish,” Pirch said. “There’s a lot of big ones. Hopefully I can go out and do it again tomorrow.”

Pirch said Friday’s rain hampered his sight fishing a bit, but other than making the fishermen uncomfortable the weather didn’t play a major role in the fishing.

“It didn’t change the fishing much,” Pirch said. “I’m hoping we won’t have too much muddy water (Saturday). Either way, I’ll try to roll with it and find some clean water and try to catch them just fishing.”

Rounding out the top 20 pros that will fish another day on Lake Chickamauga are:

FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga Day 1: Shin Fukae Steals First

Fukae Takes Day 1 with 23-11
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.
FLW Official Press Release

Shinichi leads Lake Chickamauga.
(Photo: Brett Carlson FLW)

Cheez-It pro Shinichi Fukae of Palestine, Texas, crossed the stage Thursday with a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 11 ounces to lead day one of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga presented by National Guard. Fukae holds a 6-ounce lead over Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., who caught five bass weighing 23-5 in a tournament featuring 154 anglers from all across the country and Canada.


“Two days of practice I was looking for bedding fish,” said Fukae, who said he was surprised he ended the first day of competition in the lead because he spent the day “junk fishing” - fishing using a variety of baits or methods. “But the water level got lower and everything was gone. Then on the third day of practice I found a couple of fish close to the bank. I didn’t have any confidence today, but I do have confidence right now.”


Fukae remained tight-lipped about the methods he used during the first day of competition, although he did say he was fishing near the bank and caught fish both shallow as well as a “little deeper.” Fukae said his bigger fish came in shallow water and looks for the more of the same with the lower water levels on Friday.