FLW Tour Lake Champlain Open Day 4: Wolak is Champlain's Champ

Wake Forest, N.C., pro nabs long-awaited Walmart FLW Tour win on Lake Champlain

18.Sep.2011 by Brett Carlson

FLW PRESS RELEASE

It is a whole Wolak Team Win.
(Photos: Brett Carlson FLW)

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – While his official residence now reads North Carolina, David Wolak is a northern angler at heart. The former Pennsylvanian grew up fishing bodies of water like Lake Champlain and the Finger Lakes in New York. So if it looks like his smallmouth largemouth mixed-bag strategy is precise and calculated, it is. He’s been tweaking it to perfection for years, hence the nickname “mixmaster.”

Four years ago Wolak nearly won the FLW Series event held on Champlain. He finished second thanks to a late comeback from Guido Hibdon and the memory still haunts him. Or at least it did until today. While Gary Yamamoto led this year’s Walmart FLW Tour event the first two days, it quickly became obvious that Wolak had the steady, winning strategy.

Each morning he’d fish a little 30-yard rock wall formation near Carry Bay. With current and a deep depression that dropped into 20 feet of water, it was the perfect stacking place for fat smallmouths.

FLW Tour Lake Champlain Open Day 4: Wolak Wins!

Dave Wolak wins with a Day 4 limit of just over 19lbs with a total of 81lbs. Gary Yamamoto finshes 2nd.

FLW Tour Lake Champlain Open Day 3: Wolak Rises to Top With Smallmouth and Largemouth

Wolak’s 19-pound, 13-ounce stringer pushes him into the lead

17.Sep.2011 by Brett Carlson

Dave needed both types of bass to take the lead.
(Photo: Brett Carlson FLW)

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The calm winds experienced on day three of the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Champlain allowed the pros to efficiently bounce around from spot to spot. This was advantageous to those chasing mixed bags – in particular David Wolak and Daryl Biron. While Wolak overtook the lead from Gary Yamamoto, Byron sacked a 20-pound stringer to join what looks like a three-horse race.
Like he has each of the first two days, Wolak started on his smallmouth honeyhole and cobbled together a 16-pound limit. Wolak described it as a spot with moving water that has a deep depression that runs 18 to 21 feet deep. To catch those smallies, he uses a drop shot with Jackall Super Cross Tail Shad and occasionally a jig. Today he spent approximately two hours smallie fishing before heading north to Missisquoi Bay to target largemouths.
“Today I weighed in four largemouths and one smallmouth,” said Wolak, the North Carolina pro who is originally from Pennsylvania. “I grew up mixing like this and I really have a knack for it. I caught two of the largemouths up in Missisquoi and two in another area.”

FLW EverStart Northern Lake Erie (Eastern portion): Post Tournament

By Luigi De Rose

Lake Erie is a demanding place to fish. It's loaded with bass; world class smallmouth fishing at its best. But, Erie can be a treacherous place when the wind blows. That is my number one reason I will not entry as a co-angler on any of the Great Lakes. Numerous friends who fished as co-anglers have harrowing experiences from sea sickness to permanent back problems. How bad was it on the last day of the FLW EverStart Northern tournament? Well Bob Izumi, a Canadian super star and Great Lakes specialist, sheered the three port side bolts that held his trolling motor.  Being a veteran tournament angler, he had the parts to fix the problem. "I have spares of spares but I had to drive to a protected areas to fix the trolling motor." explained Izumi.

Problems
Bassmaster Elite angler John Murray had mechanical problems the last day and needed to be toed in. He joked that it will take him 20 years to payoff the fee of being brought back to shore. This mishap cost him dearly and kept him from a higher finish. He finished tenth.

Lawrence Mazur, the champion of Lake Erie, explained that in his preparation for this tournament, he installed two bow mounted transducers and two graphs. He knew equipment failure would occur. His efforts payed off with a win. He explained that during the tournament one transducer broke and one of his graphs also broke. Without having a backup his success would have been very limited.

Erie Deep
Another interesting fact was the depth fished. All of the anglers focused very deep except Mike Desforges. Lawrence Mazur had his best success in 57 to 70 feet deep. That is lake trout deep! Second place angler Gaspar Costabile worked 42 to 46 feet of water. Third place angler Simon Frost didn't reveal exact depths but alluded he was deep. Mike Desforges, in fourth, buck the trend and worked spinnerbaits and jerkbaits in water in the mid teens.

Hope you liked my two cents on this tournament. A lot of good anglers illustrated that fishing on the Great Lakes focuses on three key elements: location, equipment, determination. Each angler took a lot of time to find the correct locations and then had the nerve to drive in rough seas to arrive there. Equipment failure is part of the game under such demanding conditions, so be prepared.

FLW EverStart Northern Lake Erie (Eastern portion) Day 3: Mazur Wins Erie

Pecore wins co-angler title during Northern Division contest

20.Aug.2011

By David A. Brown

FLW PRESS RELASE

Mazur was the only one to bring in a big bag on the final day.
(Photos: David S. Brown FLW )

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Lawrence Mazur of Lancaster, N.Y., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win the EverStart Series Northern Division event on Lake Erie with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 64 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, Mazur earned $26,722 and a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.

“It was a tough, tough run, but I made it,” said Mazur. “I’m speechless. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been at this a long time and had a lot of letdowns, but I finally put it all together.”

FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake Day 3: Weather Stirs Leader Board

Colson Still Leading with Terrible Day 3

Peek wins co-angler title, $20,000

FLW PRESS RELEASE

 

Even with only catching two bass Colson still leads!
(Photo: Brett Carlson FLW)

18.Jun.2011
MURRAY, Ky. – Ramie Colson Jr. of Cadiz, Ky., caught two bass weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to maintain his lead at the Walmart FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake presented by Kellogg’s and advanced to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 12 bass weighing 51-12, he now holds a 1-pound, 4-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.

“I made a bad call this morning,” said Colson, who now has led the first three days of competition even after stumbling a bit Saturday. “I had some shallower ledges that I went and fished this morning that I hadn’t fished and I thought they would hold some fish.

“Typically when it gets cloudy and rainy the fish go up shallower on the drops,” Colson added. “I spent a little too much time trying to catch them on the shallow drops. When I finally decided to go back into the creeks, I ended up catching them and I wished I’d have just done that.”

Bassmaster Elite Dixie Duel Wheeler Lake Day 3: Bradley Roy Rolls to the Top

By Deb Johnson
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Jun 18, 2011



Roy shooting for a win.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

 DECATUR, Ala. — Bradley Roy of Lancaster, Ky., injected new life into his sagging season Saturday at the Bassmaster Elite Series season finale by bringing in 17 pounds, 10 ounces, and jumping four places into the lead with 50-5 over three days.
Roy’s big charge this week on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake started with a quiet 13th place on the first day. He made more noise on the second day by hitting fifth place. Saturday, Roy got everyone’s attention by whisking the lead from David Walker of Sevierville, Tenn., who fell to second place with 48-10, but still just 1-11 behind Roy.
“I feel like I’ve turned a bad season into a good one in one day. I’m determined, I need to win this,” said the 20-year-old Roy, the pro who made a quick name for himself in 2009 as the youngest pro to ever qualify for the Elite Series. He was just 18 at the time. He went on to become the 2010 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year.

Bassmaster Elite Diamond Drive Arkansas River Day 3: Denny Domination

Denny Brauer Remains the Leader after Day 3

By Deb Johnson
BASS Press Release

Brauer Still on Top.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — If they’re honest about it, most bass pros would have to admit they’ve learned from Denny Brauer. Saturday, the famed pro from Camdenton, Mo., schooled some of the best in the business by keeping his lead for the third day in the Bassmaster Elite Series Diamond Drive.
Brauer’s catch of 10 pounds, 12 ounces, fended off the changing lineup of fellow Elite pros who have been doing their best all week to wreck Brauer’s chance at a 17th Bassmaster victory. But with 44-13 over three days, Brauer stayed 10-2 ahead of Saturday’s frontline challenger, John Murray of Phoenix, Ariz., who ended his day in second place with 34-11.
Only the top 12 anglers after three days made it to Sunday’s final round. They will compete for $100,000, a 2012 Bassmaster Classic berth, and points in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.
Murray, among others in the Top 12, said he was resigned to fishing for second place on Sunday. But Brauer, a pro who has captured the sport’s most coveted titles — Bassmaster Classic champ and Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year — still was not convinced that a 10-pound lead was enough to win no matter what Day Four brought.

Bassmaster Elite Diamond Drive Arkansas River Day 3: Mid Day Up-Date

By Luigi De Rose

On any river that has commercial barge traffic or electric generation, Saturday is always a different day. River traffic and water flow changes dramatically due to so many people not working on the weekends and a decrease in electrical energy demands. What all this means to the fisherman is that the current created by barge traffic or water flowing through turbines, is less and the bass reposition. If the current tapers off to a dribble expect the bite to die. 

According to bassmaster.com, the mid-day report's unofficial weights looks like this:
standing/name/fish/day 3 weigth/total
1 Denny Brauer 3 6-00 40-01
2 John Murray 4 10-09 33-12
3 Aaron Martens 5 12-00 33-06
4 Jonathan VanDam 5 16-00 31-10
5 Ish Monroe 5 10-08 31-07
6 Gerald Swindle 5 10-00 30-11
7 Billy McCaghren 2 3-12 28-03
8 Kevin VanDam 1 2-00 27-11
9 Timmy Horton 5 13-05 27-01
10 Keith Combs 3 5-00 24-10
11 Greg Vinsom 2 3-04 24-09
12 Takahiro Omori 1 2-01 24-07
13 Clark Rheem 2 3-03 23-15
14 Ben Parker 4 8-11 23-10
15 Randy Howell 3 5-13 23-09

Another factor is the locks. Yesterday, 5 anglers arrived late to the ramp due to delays with the locks and all suffered a late penalty. If one of the leaders comes in late today and their day's weight has deductions, the leader board can change in a hurry. Jonathan Van Dam is a great example of how one good day on the Arkansas River will change everything. On day 1 he scored a big ZERO and on day 2 his five fish limit weighted 15-10 lifting him into the Top 50. It appears he is doing well again and has leaped into the Top 10.
Stay tuned!

FLW Tour Potomac River Day 3: Ike on Top

Leonard wins co-angler title, $20,000 04.Jun.2011
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Mike Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, N.J., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, Saturday to capture the lead at the Walmart FLW Tour on the Potomac River 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 51-9, he now holds a narrow 15-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.

Ike loves his chances of a win.
(Photos: Gary Motonson FLW)

“This feels good,” said Iaconelli, who still remembers losing the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup Championship by three ounces. “I want this win real bad. I have a little fire in my chest after losing by three ounces in Pittsburgh. It only happens once in a while that you get a legitimate shot at winning and this is one of those times.
“Timing is everything on this river,” Iaconelli went on to say. “The Potomac is unique in the fact that twice a day there is a high and a low tide. If you are using the right bait and hit the tide at the right time magic happens. Every day I fish I feel like I am getting a little more in tune with the tide. I feel like I am living and breathing with the fish and it is a good feeling.
“I am not camping on one spot,” continued Iaconelli. “Unlike the other pros that seem to be fishing in one area all day long, I have four good grassy areas during low tide and four good hard places that I can run to during dead high tide. And by hard places I mean woody areas like docks. I can only explain that I am doing both power fishing and finesse fishing.

FLW Tour on Red River Day 3: John Cox Ahead by 8 Plus Pounds!

Weigths Down for All Except Red Hot John Cox

by Patrick Baker

John Cox readies his rods on Day 4. It is his tournament
to loose.
(Photo: Patrick Baker FLW)

(FLW Press Release)
SHREVEPORT/BOSSIER CITY, La.
Mercury pro John Cox didn’t need to break his back Saturday to access his incredibly productive, nearly inaccessible fishing hole like the first two days of Walmart FLW Tour competition on the Red River. In fact, he hardly had to work up a sweat to outfish the field yet again ? at least he made it seem effortless.
And that’s just fine with him. After punishing his boat and himself the first two days to wiggle through a small culvert that granted access to a bounty of backwater bass, he said his back was awfully stiff this morning (watch video of the maneuver); and while he began the day with more than a 7-pound lead, the Debary, Fla., angler didn’t rest on his laurels.
Instead of locking down to Pool 4 like Thursday and Friday, he stayed closer to the upstream launch site in Pool 5 and still managed to sack more weight than any other pro with a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce giving him a three-day total of 40-11 and an 8-pound lead going into the final day of competition.
“I wanted to so bad,” Cox said of the temptation to return to his honeyhole, but he knew the water had dropped enough to likely make entry into the backwater area impossible today. “Instead I ran down by the dam (in Pool 5) and fished a little hole down there and then moved a couple ponds up … I hit one hole and caught my limit.”

Bassmaster Elite Evan Williams Bourbon Carolina Clash Day 3

Local Boy Ashley Lead Day 3


By Luigi De Rose

Casey's on top.
(Photos: James Overstreet BASS)

The Bassmaster Elite anglers had a rough ride today. The highs were high but the lows were very low. Many who did very well the last two days barely qualified for the Top 12. South Carolina's Casey Ashley took the lead after Day Three on Lake Murray. His charming grin said it all when he placed his limit on the scales and claimed first place. Being a local might be his saving grace as he understands the moods of schooling largemouth bass.

Look carefully to see the double white flukes.

He seems to be doing most of his damage on a double fluke rig. This employs tandem Texas rigged soft jerkbaits. Jerked on the surface or just below it, bass envision fleeing bait fish and attack. Many are using this technique but Casey has the timing down. He is also been using topwaters and hard swimbaits but he has been tight lipped about confirming or denying specifics.

TOP 20
Place/name/day 3 weight/total
1 Casey Ashley 15-13  45-14
2 Michael Iaconelli 16- 6  43- 5
3 Jeff Connella 14-11  42- 4
4 Kevin Wirth 15- 3  42- 1
5 Tommy Biffle 16- 7 42- 0
6 Jami Fralick 14-15 41- 4
7 Davy Hite  11-12 41- 3
8 Brian Snowden 12-12 41- 1
9 Edwin Evers  18- 8 39-12
10 Rick Clunn 11-13 39- 9
11 Chris Lane 14- 9 39- 0
12 Fred Roumbanis 7-14 38- 7
13 Morizo Shimizu 12-12 38- 3
14 Marty Robinson 11- 8 37-13
15 Clark Reehm 13-11 37-10
16 John Crews 15-10 37- 7
17 Bradley Roy 14-13 37- 5
18 Dustin Wilks  11-13 37- 5
19 Matt Reed  14-15 36-14
20 David Smith 11-11 36- 8

Bassmaster Elite Pride of Georgia West Point Lake: Day 3

Ish Jumps in Front. KVD Still Second & Evers Falls to Third

By Deb Johnson May 7, 2011
(Bass Press Release)

Ish Jumps into First on Day 3
(Photo: David Hunter Jones BASS)

LAGRANGE, Ga.
Securing his second Bassmaster Elite Series top-12 cut in a row, and this time with the lead, Ish Monroe was a happy man Saturday. He has, in fact, been feeling great about his fishing in general
“I’m going out there fishing, and having fun, there’s nothing special about what I’m doing,” Monroe said. “I don’t get mad. I don’t get frustrated. I’m chattin’ it up with the crowd back there near me, and enjoying the day. That’s what it’s all about.”
The Hughson, Calif., pro said his buoyant mood was a case of success breeds success: A great second day  a single sack of 21 pounds  acted as a confidence boost, in turn a springboard to a Day Three catch of 14-0.
Not a 21-pound bag, but still better than almost all other anglers could show after a slow day, and enough to push Monroe up and over Edwin Evers and Kevin VanDam in the Pride of Georgia.
Monroe’s three-day total was 47 pounds, 11 ounces, besting VanDam by 1 pound, 3 ounces. VanDam managed just 9-5 on Saturday to hold at second place. It’s his launching pad for a run at his 21st Bassmaster tournament title, not to mention more points toward a fifth Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.

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:

Bassmaster Elite TroKar Battle on the Bayou Day 3: Rojas Still Reins

Dean Rojas Still Standing Strong on Wind Whipped Day 3
By Deb Johnson
B.A.S.S. Communications
MANY, La. -- He has led for three days running, amassing 57 pounds, 7 ounces of Toledo Bend bass, so there's no reason Dean Rojas shouldn't believe he can close the deal Sunday in the TroKar Battle on the Bayou.
And believe he does.

"I need one more big bite to finish this thing off tomorrow, and I know I can do it," he said Saturday after weighing 14 pounds and 9 ounces for a lead of more than 4 pounds over runner-up David Walker, who had 53-6.
Rojas won a Bassmaster tournament on Toledo Bend in 2001, but it wasn't a Bassmaster Elite Series victory, and that's what Rojas wants now. It would be his fourth win, and second since 2008. He claims not to be thinking about the instant qualification for the 2012 Bassmaster Classic, and not even about the $100,000 he'd get for a win.

"Right now, I'm just fishing for the win," he said.
"I'm in position, I'm just going to go for it. I've been fishing relaxed the last three days -- it's been really weird," he said. "Whatever happens, happens. I know I'm doing the best I can do, and I know I'm fishing for the right fish to win with."
Rojas said his third day of competition didn't go quite as planned -- he wanted one more bass to widen the margin -- but it was close. Like Friday, Saturday started slowly for him, with the bite picking up about 11 a.m. He continued to target spawning fish, moving to new areas each day. He has plenty more fish to go to and wrap it up, he said.
"I saw 20 pounds of bass today, just swimming around," he said.

Walker working the wood.
(Photo: James Overstreet BASS)

Four pounds back, Walker is still in range to catch Rojas. On Toledo Bend, 4 pounds is one decent fish. Besides, Walker has already discovered where one break can get you: On Day Two, thanks to a 24-pound bag, he moved from a dismal 53rd place into fourth.
"It was a grind today," he said. "I tried to not let the demons tell me, 'You need to go do this, you need to go do that.' I knew I was doing the right thing to catch the bigger fish, and I stuck with it."
The "right thing" was flipping, his strength.
"With the wind laid down, I could do it, make better casts. All it takes is one cast -- Ish Monroe proved that yesterday (with his 10-15)."
Gerald Swindle improved two places Saturday, from fifth to third with 52-0. He said he stuck with what he did the first two days -- throwing a square-lipped crankbait, jerkbait, chatterbait, and covering a lot of water.
Wind is his friend. He's been picking out windblown points. More specifically, he's hitting the section of the point that has the most wind on it.
"A couple of my primary spots, guys are finally figuring out where they are, but there's nothing I can do about that so I'm having to dig for nhim into the cut as No. 7.ew water."