Tim Frederick Wins 2018 FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee with 85-04lbs!

Johnstons finish 9th and 10th.

By by Sean Ostruszka3

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Last minute 9 pounder seals the deal for Tim.
(Photo: FLW)

Tim Frederick and Bryan Schmitt both caught giant bass in the final minutes. Both thought their fish pushed them over the edge for the win. Frederick’s was bigger, and that was the difference.

With only 10 minutes left to his final day, Frederick knew he needed a giant to have a chance. That chance happened soon after when he stuck a 9-pounder that edged him above Schmitt by little more than a pound to win the FLW Tour presented by Evinrude on Lake Okeechobee.

“I couldn’t be happier,” says the Leesburg, Fla., pro of his first Tour victory. “This is what I’ve always dreamed about.” Frederick’s 19-pound, 14-ounce day four bag brought his total weight to 85 pounds, 4 ounces.

The dream had been steadily turning into a nightmare the longer day four went on. His pattern of target fishing for bedding fish he couldn’t see seemed to be failing him, as he struggled to get bit most of the morning. He finally stuck a 4-pounder around midday, but that still left him well short of the 17 pounds he figured he needed to hold on for the win.

“I was so stressed,” says Frederick. “I didn’t know if I should leave or stay. I figured it was all I had, so I ended up staying. I’m sure glad I day, because then I stuck that 9-pounder with 10 minutes to go, and that was the difference. The biggest key for me all week was patience, and it paid off today.”

Frederick focused his attention during the event on the Spoil Islands area near Harney Pond – an area that actually was inaccessible until Hurricane Irma ripped it open last fall. Once he got in there, he found vast patches of reeds, pads and various targets, which was key as he didn’t cast unless it was at a target, figuring there would be spawning females bedded nearby. That’s where his history as a Florida angler paid off, as he relied on his knowledge of how big females set up on pieces of cover – typically on the points and edges of a patch of cover – to direct his casts.
TOP 10 BELOW

2018 FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee Day 3: Tim Frederick Grads Lead with 65-06lbs!

Cory Johnston 4^th & Chris Johnston 9^th

By by Sean Ostruszka3

FLW PRESS RELEASE
Tim Frederick’s very first tournament during his rookie season on the FLW Tour was on Lake Okeechobee. He finished dead last. Two years later, he has a chance to go from worst to first.

Following a day two that saw six anglers crack 20 pounds and one nearly break 30, Frederick was the lone angler to crack 20 pounds on day three. His 23-3 bag on Saturday jumped him to 65-6 total, which allowed him to overtake Bryan Schmitt by 15 ounces to lead the FLW Tour presented by Evinrude on Lake Okeechobee.

Tim finding beds with big worms.
(Photo: FLW)

 “I have a love/hate relationship with Okeechobee,” says Frederick, who hails from Leesburg, Fla. “The hate is that first tournament, but I’m a Florida power fisherman by nature. So I still love it.”

The ironic part for Frederick is that as much as he’d love to be powerfishing, what has him in the lead is a painfully slow and steady approach.

The pro is target fishing for bedding fish he can’t see. To do that, he’s lining up on isolated clumps of pencil reeds and other targets, putting his poles down, and then methodically casting to specific spots. Frederick says watching him is like watching paint dry, as he’ll take as long as five minutes to complete a cast.

“I can actually feel the bed when I’m dragging my bait through,” says Frederick. “When I do, I really slow down and will make multiple casts.”

The pattern has produced some big bites, though it took a little longer than expected Saturday. He caught one good one early, but it took him awhile to catch a limit. Then the water temp in his area near Harney Pond hit 64 degrees and a 45-minute window opened up where he caught two more giants.

As for the final day, Frederick says he has no intentions of changing.

“I’m going to stick with it,” says Frederick. “The clouds seem to be hurting a little, which is not good for tomorrow, but I have no other choice. I have to stick it out there, win, lose or draw.”

Top 10 pros

1. Tim Frederick – Leesburg, Fla. – 65-6 (15)

2. Bryan Schmitt – Deale, Md. – 64-7 (15)

3. Mark Rose – West Memphis, Ark. – 61-3 (15)

4. Cory Johnston – Cavan, Ont. – 53-11 (15)

5. Chad Morgenthaler – Reeds Spring, Mo. – 53-0 (15)

6. Brandon McMillan – Clewiston, Fla. – 52-11 (15)

7. Jared McMillan – Belle Glade, Fla. – 51-14 (15)

8. Scott Canterbury – Odenville, Ala. – 51- 12 (15)

9. Chris Johnston – Peterborough, Ont. – 50-0 (15)

10. Christopher Brasher – Longview, Texas – 48-13 (15)

2017 Costa FLW Series Northern Day 1: McFarlin Leads with 19-07lbs!

Farlow 5th, Izumi 7th & Cory Johnston 8th
By Jody White
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Plenty of smallies still on beds. (Photo: FLW)

Leading day one of the Costa FLW Series event presented by Power-Pole on Lake Champlain, Shayne McFarlin of Martin, Ga., sacked up 19 pounds, 7 ounces of smallmouths to get the ball rolling. Behind him, he’s got a murderer’s row of out-of-town Champlain sticks and locals from Vermont and New York. Though the fishing was good on day one, weights fell slightly short of some pre-tournament expectations. Even so, eight of the top 10 weighed more than 18 pounds, and in true Champlain style, 10th place is only 1 1/2 pounds off the lead.

Like many others up high in the standings, McFarlin relied heavily on spawning smallmouths for his weight and fished the northern half of the lake.

“I pretty much stayed local,” says the Georgia pro. “I’ve got probably 20 fish marked, and I caught three of the biggest I had today. I left a few because I found a few bonus fish. I’m trying to save ’em. I don’t want to be greedy, but honestly I didn’t think I had 19 pounds.”

The forecast for Friday doesn’t look pretty. It’s supposed to blow pretty hard and storm, which could put a damper on some of the sight-fishing. Luckily for the leader he has other options.

TOP 10 BELOW

2013 BASSMASTER Elite Bull Shoals Day 2: Vinson Still on Top.

By Deb Johnson

BASS Press Release

Greg kept catching them Saturday morning despite
the fog. (Photos: Bass)

BULL SHOALS, Ark. — After a biting-cold Saturday morning running his boat on Bull Shoals Lake, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Greg Vinson could well have been running a line in his head from an old children’s verse: “Saturday’s child works hard for a living.”

Didn’t help that the fishing was hard too on Saturday, the second day of the Ramada Quest.

“I can’t tell you what a grind it was. The bite was really slow,” Vinson said on stage after he weighed in 13 pounds, 8 ounces.

He finished his work day with a two-day total of 30-5 and the Quest lead for the second consecutive day, but by only 3 ounces instead of the 1-pound lead he had Friday. The angler right behind him was Casey Scanlon of Lenexa, Kan., with 30-2.

How hard was Vinson’s day?

“To put it in perspective, at 12 o’clock I had four fish that might have weighed 6 pounds,” said Vinson, who’s from Wetumpka, Ala. “I had two keeper largemouth and two keeper spots. That was really working on my mind. At that point of the day, I was thinking about just making the Top 50.”

Vinson turned it around when he hit on a key adjustment — which he wasn’t about to share.

Working down the bank. Bass are pre-spawn and just
starting to move up shallow. 

“I caught a 4, a 3 and a 2 1/2 in the last couple of hours. And I caught them a little bit differently than the way I caught them yesterday. At that point I was excited about saving the day — but I was a little upset with myself for not making that adjustment sooner.”

The 4-pounder was “barely hooked,” and he had to play the fish with patience and precision.

“At the time I still had two spots in the livewell, and I knew what a difference that fish would make,” he said. “I was so nervous the whole time I fought that fish. I’ve never taken so long to land a fish, but I knew it was important to take it slow. It felt like 30 minutes, but was probably only a couple of minutes.”