Tim Fernandes and Mike Quesnelle Win 2015 Top Bass Classic with 32.27lbs!

Anglers succeed despite horrible weather.
By Luigi De Rose

Tim (r) and Mike are crowned 2015 Classic Champs!

The top 75 teams from the 2015 Top Bass season did battle on Balsam Lake, Ontario this weekend. Despite a dramatic cooling trend, wind, rain and high drama (alleged cheating scandal) anglers brought good limits of smallmouth and largemouth to the scales. None faired better than the team of Tim Fernandes and Mike Quesnelle. In second place after Day 1, they rallied for the win. Claiming $12 000 in prize money, they also got the title of Classic Champs this season.  The team of Gerrard Cocks and Jarrod Dean won Team of the Year again and Mike Williams won Angler of the Year for the 4th year in a row.

Here's the Top 10:

POS	Day 1	Day 2	Total	Captain, Surname	Captain, Given	Partner Surname	Partner, Given
1	16.45	15.82	32.27	FERNANDES	TIM	QUESNELLE	MIKE	$12,000.00
2	16.83	12.21	29.04	GUARD	BILL	COOK	CRAIG	$4,000.00
3	15.29	12.99	28.28	LACEY	TJ	VIVIAN	TRAVIS	$3,000.00
4	16.10	12.10	28.20	WILLIAMS	MIKE	JACOBS	DUANE	$2,000.00
5	15.79	11.85	27.64	JENKINS	STEVEN	WESTERINK	JOSH	$1,800.00
6	14.63	12.86	27.49	ADLER	BOB	CRUPTON	JOEY	$1,100.00
7	13.98	12.65	26.63	BULLOCK	JIM	GRAHAM	JARROD	$1,075.00
8	16.06	10.22	26.28	BALIN	BERNARD	O'CONNER	PAT	$1,050.00
9	12.40	13.58	25.98	GONSALVES	DUANE	HASHIMOTO	STEVE	$1,025.00
10	13.48	12.36	25.84	PILKEY	RON	MARTIN	JAY	$1,000.00

2015 TOP BASS CLASSIC Balsam Lake Day 1: Guard and Cook Lead Tight Race with 16.83lbs.

Ounces Making the Difference!
By Luigi De Rose

Cold, wet and windy weather greeted the top 75 teams to end the season on Balsam Lake, Ontario. Despite the weather, the bass bit and the race is super tight. Here are the top five:

1. Bill Guard & Craig Cook 16.83lbs
2. Tim Fernandes & Mike Quesnell 16.45 lbs
3. Greg Scott & Jeff Barton 16.20lbs
4. Mike Williams & Duane Jacobs 16.10lbs
5. Bernard Balian & Pat O'Connor 16.06lbs

Stay tune to see you wins.

2014 Walmart FLW Tour San Rayburn Day 2: Rose Leapfrog with Lunker

Heavy fog then warm weather flip flops leaderboard

by Curtis Niedermier
FLW Press Release

Weathermen lie, but Mother Nature never does.

Mark Rose always seems to have the magic.
(Photo: FLW)

Her power was on display on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Chevy. Forecasts called for a gloomy, potentially stormy day. But other than a light mist at takeoff and a dense fog that hung around until mid-morning, the weatherman couldn’t have been more wrong.

By lunchtime, sunshine and slick conditions spread across Sam Rayburn. The bass responded quickly by repositioning deeper into shallow cover and, in some areas, heading for the bank to answer nature’s spawning call.

The pros atop the day-two standings experienced mixed results. For some, the bite was better and should continue to improve over the weekend with more warm weather expected. For others, it was a day of scrambling and grinding, trying to make the most of what their primary areas had left.

Casey Ashley Wins the 2014 FLW Tour Lake Hartwell Event.

Texan Redington wins co-angler title, $25,000

FLW Press Release

SENECA, S.C. – Pro angler Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., brought the largest stringer to the scale on Sunday – for the third time in four days of competition – to win the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Ranger Boats. Ashley weighed in a five-bass limit worth 15 pounds, 10 ounces to win the $100,000 prize after leading wire-to-wire in the four-day event that showcased 176 of the best bass-fishing professionals in the world.

Casey went wire to wire to win this event by 15 pounds!
(Photos: FLW)

Ashley’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 68 pounds, 5 ounces gave him an impressive 14-pound, 8-ounce margin of victory over second-place finisher Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., whose four-day total of 20 bass weighed 53 pounds, 13 ounces and earned him $30,000.

“This week has been magical,” said Ashley, who earned the first Walmart FLW Tour victory of his career. “I’m not taking away from any major tournament that I’ve won, but it really means a lot to win at home. When you win at home, everybody you know is here. A lot of times my family gets to travel to my closer tournaments, but at home everybody gets to be there. A lot of them were out on the water watching me. I think the whole town of Donalds is here. It’s just an awesome feeling.”

Ashley said that he concentrated his efforts this week fishing the lower end of Lake Hartwell in the clear water. He targeted deep brush piles from 25 to 40 feet deep.

2014 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Hartwell Day 3: Casey Ashley Advances with 10 Pound Lead!

Fog shortened day 3 makes for difficult day.

FLW Press Release

SENECA, S.C. – Walmart FLW Tour competitors arrived to Lake Hartwell early Saturday morning only to find a thick blanket of fog that forced FLW Tournament Director Bill Taylor to delay takeoff. After approximately a three-hour delay, anglers were allowed to start day three of the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Ranger Boats. Local pro Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., increased his lead after again bringing the largest five-bass limit of the day to the scale weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces.

Casey working his first bass of the day to the boat.
(Photo: FLW)

Ashley’s three-day total of 52 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a commanding 9-pound, 10-ounce lead over pro Clent Davis of Montevallo, Ala., heading into the fourth and final day of competition in the tournament that features the world’s best bass-fishing anglers casting for the top cash award of up to $125,000.

“I was really worried because we had such a short day today,” said Ashley, who is seeking his first Walmart FLW Tour win. “I’m not catching a lot of fish in one place, and I’m having to move around a lot. I’ve still got some stuff that I haven’t even fished yet, just because of time. It takes some time to keep fishing how I have been, and there is just not enough time in the day, especially today.

Ashley said that he wasn’t really doing anything special, and most of his fish were still coming on a jig and a shaky-head rig. After weighing in all largemouth bass on day one and mostly spotted bass on day two, Ashley brought a mixed bag to the scale on day three consisting of two largemouth and three spots.

2014 Walmart FLW Tour Lake Hartwell Day 1: Ashley Breaks 20lb Mark as Pack Averages 10.

by Brett Carlson
FLW Press Release

SENECA, S.C. – Casey Ashley may be fishing his first Walmart FLW Tour season, but he’s no stranger to big-time tournaments on Lake Hartwell. One in particular still sticks with him and not for good reason. Today, he put some big-time revenge on the Hartwell bass – catching a 21-pound, 7-ounce stringer on a day where less than half the field cracked double digits.

Casey, uses local experience on Hartwell
during cold, wet day 1.
(Photo: FLW)

With temperatures in the mid-40s and a steady 20 mph northeast wind, the conditions made a tough bite even tougher. Right as the day-one weigh-in commenced, the rain started and isn’t supposed to let up until Friday afternoon. None of this affected Ashley, who fishes Hartwell often and knew the bite was screwy thanks to a cold and unpredictable spring.

“Four weeks ago the lake was on fire and you could catch them any way you wanted to, from 2 feet to 50 feet,” said the 30-year-old pro leader. “ Now they are just roaming. I had some good stuff that I found in practice and I caught some pretty good fish. I fished some stuff that had gone well in practice and didn’t get bit today. I caught my better fish today on stuff that I didn’t even practice. And the wind was so bad I didn’t get to fish all my stuff. I really only hit what was protected.”