Walmart FLW Tour Potomac River Day 3: Wendland in Lead, Martin Wins AOY!

Scott Martin Wins 2015 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year !
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Clark Wendlandt has seen a lot of things throughout his career. Yet the act of kindness he experienced on day three of the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on the Potomac River surprised even him.
With Wendlandt facing boat troubles, fellow top 20 angler Shinichi Fukae swapped boats with him – effectively ending his own day – to allow the Leander, Texas, pro to continue fishing and retain his hold on the No. 1 spot. Wendlandt’s 14-pound, 8-ounce bag was the second largest of the day, allowing him to increase his lead over second-place pro Adrian Avena to 3 pounds, 12 ounces.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an act of sportsmanship that great ever in this sport,” Wendlandt says. “Every time I caught one after that I just kept saying, ‘Thank you, Shin.’”

True sportsmanship comes to the aide of Wendlandt (Photo FLW)

The top 20 anglers launched amid torrential rains and unstable conditions. However, none of it seemed to affect Wendlandt early on, as he put three quick fish in the boat. That’s when things started going wrong. Wendlandt suffered a mechanical failure with his rig and figured he’d have to fish with his trolling motor until he could be towed back to the ramp early.
That’s where Fukae came in. In 16th place and fishless at the time, Fukae insisted Wendlandt trade boats so he could continue with his day unhindered. Fukae stayed in Wendlandt’s boat and was towed back to takeoff. Despite being loaned a boat for a restart, Fukae more or less ran out of time and never boated a keeper.

TOP 10 BELOW

Walmart FLW Tour Potomac River Day 2: Wendlandt Leads on Difficult Day!

AOY is Scott Martin's to lose.

by Sean Ostruszka

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Clark Wendlandt makes top 10s. It’s just what he does almost better than almost anyone else. In fact, he’s tied for the second most top 10s in Walmart FLW Tour history with 28.

So seeing Wendlandt’s name in the sixth-place slot after day one of the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Ranger Boats on the Potomac River really should have been no surprise. Of course, Wendlandt also has three Tour victories, and he’s put himself in contention for No. 4 after posting the second-largest limit of day two – 17 pounds, 3 ounces – to overtake Adrian Avena and Bryan Schmitt for the top spot.

His two-day total is 32-10.

“I had a good day; pretty similar to yesterday,” Wendlandt says. “I just had that 5-pounder today.”

Clark take slim lead as anglers go into weekend. (Photo: FLW)

Like many of the other top anglers, the pro from Leander, Texas, has found an area of the river pretty much to himself and has been tight-lipped about his exact pattern. He is covering a lot of water, though, and many of the spots he fished today were the same as on day one.

That fact would worry Wendlandt if the tournament was being held on a lake, as he doesn’t know if his pattern would hold up on other types of fisheries. However, being that the Potomac is a tidal fishery, he’s far more optimistic.