2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the Potomac River Day 2: Hibdon Continues Lead!

Canadian Erik Luzak 109th

Another generation of the Hibdon clan using a jig to claim the
lead for a second day. (Photo: MLF) 

Kyle Wood

TACKLE WAREHOUSE PRO CIRCUIT 

Press Release 

Day 2 of the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Presented by Bad Boy Mowers on the Potomac River was tougher for some, but not for leader Lawson Hibdon, who bested his Thursday weight and added another 17 pounds, 8 ounces to his total to bring himto 34-8 after two days. Extending his lead to more than 2 pounds, Hibdon is looking to keep on pace for a win in his rookie season, though it won’t be an easy road as some certified hammers sit in the rearview waiting to strike.

Still, Lawson has proven to be one of the most consistent pros in the field, though he says his Day 2 looks better on paper than it actually was.

“It started off a lot slower than I was hoping,” Hibdon said. “I really thought that I was going to be able to pull up to a stretch of docks and catch about 12 pounds in the first 30 minutes and I didn’t.

“It was a lot tougher day today, and it doesn’t look like it, but it was. I only caught eight or nine keepers and had about 15 bites but they were just missing it and it was a weird day.”

With years of experience on Ozark fisheries, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Hibdon has been catching fish off docks. What may come as a surprise is the fact he’s leaning on grass as well and doing a good job of it.

“It’s probably a 50-50 split,” he said of his grass and hard-cover pattern. “Some of the bigger ones I’ve caught have been around docks, rocks and basically anything that looks right. I’m just going until I see something that looks right, but about half of ‘em have been out of the grass too.”

Casey Scanlon Wins 2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain with 76-02lbs!

Mix of chatterbaits and stickbaits sends Casey into winner's circle.
(Photo: FLW)

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASEComing into the 2019 FLW Tour finale at Lake Champlain, Casey Scanlon figured he needed
 to finish 12th or better to lock up a berth in the FLW Cup. He’d previously strung together four consecutive finishes of 90th place or worse leading up to the Champlain event, which was presented by T-H Marine, and he knew he had to turn it around on a lake that he’d never been to before, where weights are notoriously close throughout the standings and anglers constantly weigh the odds of targeting smallmouths or largemouths. 

Despite the complexities of a Champlain tournament and his inexperience on the fishery, Scanlon rattled off four days worth of consecutive quality stringers to rally his season and earn his first FLW Tour win and a spot at the Cup on Lake Hamilton come August.

“Man, I needed it,” Scanlon says. “I’m not that old, but I’ve been at it a long time. I’ve been fishing tournaments since I was 15. It’s not easy out here, and days like this make it all worth it.”

The Missouri pro made the 50-minute run to Ticonderoga every day to target largemouths in the shallow, murky waters of Champlain’s southern end. For three days, all of the pros that ran to Ti, including seven of the top 10, enjoyed mild winds and smooth water on the way down and back. Today, getting to Ti was easy, but getting home involved a battering ride against a stiff north wind that riled up the big Northern fishery. 

Scanlon had to leave Ti at 1:15 to make it back in time for the 3:30 check-in with a limit weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces. His four-day total of 76-2 beat runner-up Eric Jackson’s weight by 1 pound, 11 ounces.

The biggest key to Scanlon’s win was his willingness to adjust each day to stay on the fish. Early in the tournament, most of his bass came off shallow rock inside of a milfoil edge. Yet, each day he caught more fish from the grass. By Sunday, all of his keepers were caught in the grass.

In order to stay consistent, the champ mixed up his presentations with a handful of rods and visited a half-dozen or so areas within a few miles of Fort Ticonderoga.

“I did junk it up a little bit, but I got myself in some decent areas, and I tried to make the most out of them by switching baits and trying some different stuff throughout the tournament,” Scanlon adds.