2015 Walmart FLW Tour Beaver Lake Day 3: Morgan Maintains Lead into Final Day.

Beaver Starting to Fish Very Small

FLW Press Release

One of Andy Morgan’s fishing mottos is to make the best of what you have got “in front of you” to survive and fish another day. Beaver Lake doesn’t give much. So when an angler as resourceful as Morgan gets to a lake that doesn’t give out many resources, the two work well together.

Instead of worrying about hitting it out of the park or putting immense pressure on himself to come up with a grand winning strategy, Morgan just scraps, scrapes and claws at the ground right in front of him, making the best of what he’s got.

Junk fishing save Andy Morgan as Beaver become difficult.
(Photo: FLW)

Morgan’s performance on day three of the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Rayovac on Beaver Lake was a prime example of his “make the best of it” attitude. After burning up the spawning fish he had located in practice during the first two days of the tournament, he was forced to fish by the seat of his pants today – something he thoroughly enjoys.

“My sight fish are done, so I just went hunting new opportunities,” Morgan says. “It got sunny and windy today. The wind blew onto classic flat points and created mud lines down the river. That’s something that has not occurred the last two days. It’s something new to work with; something that wasn’t there yesterday and might not be there tomorrow. But all I care about is now – right this minute. This truly is a fish-for-the-moment lake. The playing field on this old lake changes day to day, and over the years of coming here I’ve learned to appreciate that and now downright enjoy that aspect of it.”

2015 Walmart FLW Tour Beaver Lake Day 2: Morgan Climbs to Lead!

Andy Morgan Vacuums Shallows

by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE

“Hidden largemouths” is quickly becoming the buzz term at the Walmart FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake presented by Rayovac, as those atop the leaderboard are using the term to refer to spawning largemouths that are so well hidden that other competitors never found them. These hidden fish are covered by thick brush, hidden so deep that they were only found during the very rare windows of sunshine during practice or located off the beaten path. The latter are not in obvious pockets or places where one would expect to find beds, but rather out on the main bluff channels where few ever look.

Andy is moving a lot. Sight fishing when he can. (Photo:FLW)

On day one, Jacob Wheeler caught hidden largemouths to take the lead. On day two, former Beaver Lake champion Andy Morgan caught hidden largemouths to take over the pole position going into the weekend. His catch of 15 pounds, 7 ounces today gives Morgan a two-day total of 28-09 to take the lead by just 11 ounces.

“All the ones I’ve caught the last two days are spawning bass I found in practice and marked on my GPS,” says Morgan. “I never saw them because the water is just a touch too dirty to see them with all the cloud cover and wind. I would just fish along, and every bite I got I would shake off and mark on the GPS. In all I had about 15 of these fish marked, and I have caught just about every one of them now. I caught No. 15 just before weigh-in today, so I’m fresh out.”

2015 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open #1 Lake Tohopekaliga Day 2: Brandon McMillan Leads as Standing Flip Flop!

Local McMillan grabs lead with fickle Florida bass.

By Louie Stout

BASS PRESS RELEASE

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Florida’s fickle bass not only played with the heads with the first-round leaders in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open presented by AllState, but they also scrambled the leaderboard.

Local favorite takes lead as bite dies.

On a day when the sun shined and the fish were supposed to bite, big bags were few and far between. That was just fine for Brandon McMillan of Clewiston, Fla, whose 13-pound, 15-ounce limit gave him a two-day total of 38-8, good enough to move him from third to first.
To illustrate how goofy fishing was Friday, New York’s Andrew Slegona – who caught 31 pounds to lead the event after the first day, only had two small bass Friday but fell no farther than fourth (34-9).
“Man, hard to believe that I could stay in the top five with a day like that on a lake like this,” Slegona marveled.
Meanwhile, Todd Auten of South Carolina jumped from 13th to second (36-8), Bobby Lane Jr. moved from 18th to third (34-13) and Gerald Swindle climbed from 17th to fifth (34-3). Only 4 pounds, 5 ounces separate the top five who will join seven other anglers in Saturday’s final.
In the co-angler division, Floridian Alan Agnoli stunned the crowd with three bass weighing 17-11 to take the lead with 24-15. Other Floridians in the top five include Steve Jarrett (18-2), Robbie Anderson (17-13), Terry Law (17-10) and Daniel Lanier (17-9).

Walmart FLW Tour Kentucky Lake Day Winner: Dave Lefebre Win with Swimbait and Jig

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Dave Lefebre charges to win with a single swimbait.
(Photos: FLW Outdoors)

On Saturday, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pa., weighed 23 pounds, 15 ounces of bass — the heaviest limit of fish at the FLW Tour on Kentucky Lake presented by OFF!. Lefebre didn’t duplicate that effort Sunday, but it turns out he didn’t need to. At the end of the day, Lefebre’s five bass worth 19 pounds, 5 ounces gave him a total four-day weight of 77 pounds, 3 ounces as well as a championship trophy and $125,000.
“This feels good,” said Lefebre, who hasn’t won an FLW Tour event since 2004. “I can’t believe it because the Potomac (River) and (Lake) Champlain are the two I look at and say, ‘Those are the ones I have a chance to win.’ And after the Potomac, where I let one get away, this one is a shocker to me.”
Lefebre said he started the final day of competition the way he had previous days — about a mile from the takeoff ramp fishing a swimbait. In past days, he fished that area until he had a limit at about 8:30 a.m., but on Sunday the bite wasn’t as good and he left the spot with three fish at 7:30 and made a 12-mile run to look for more fish. He fished a Tabu 1-ounce brown jig with purple tinsel tipped with a green-pumpkin Yamamoto trailer on ledges and inlets into the main river channel.

Walmart FLW Tour Kentucky Lake Day 3: Baumgardner Leads on Fickle Day

09.Jun.2012 by Jennifer Simmons
MURRAY, Ky. – It was a battle of the haves and the have-nots today on day three of Walmart FLW Tour competition on Kentucky Lake presented by Off!. Strong winds wreaked havoc on most pros’ game plans with two notable exceptions – leader Chris Baumgardner and No. 2 Dave Lefebre.

Chris is fishing in Barkley and not fighting the crowds.
(Photos: FLW outdoors)

Of the top 20 pros, only three did not have their worst day of the tournament, and only two had their best day – the aforementioned Baumgardner and Lefebre. Baumgardner, the Snickers pro from Gastonia, N.C., leads the pack with 58 pounds, just a scant 2 ounces ahead of Lefebre, the Kellogg’s pro from Erie, Pa., who will enter the final day with 57 pounds, 14 ounces to his credit.
Lefebre wowed the crowd with the heaviest stringer of the tournament so far – an incredible five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 15 ounces. A few minutes later, Baumgardner came to the scales with a personal tournament-best 22 pounds, 15 ounces, and the race was on.
Baumgardner and Lefebre may be neck-and-neck, but they left the pros behind them with a lot of work to do. Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., led day two but sits more than 4 pounds behind Lefebre in third, and 11 pounds, 10 ounces separate the leader from No. 10 pro Todd Hollowell of Fishers, Ind. Hollowell knocked local pro Terry Bolton out of the final round by only an ounce.

Walmart FLW Tour Kentucky Lake Day 2: Moynagh Moves to First

08.Jun.2012 by Jennifer Simmons
FLW PRESS RELEASE
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – It was another slugfest on day two of Walmart FLW Tour competition on Kentucky Lake, but even with limits and big bass being weighed in left and right, Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn., still managed to open up a 3-pound, 8-ounce lead heading into day three with a two-day total of 40-6.
Moynagh’s day-one catch of 18 pounds, 11 ounces put him in the top five, but his day-two limit of 21 pounds, 11 ounces – the heaviest of the day and the only stringer on day two to exceed 20 pounds – put him atop the leaderboard.
Competitors have their choice of fishing Kentucky or Barkley lakes – both of them rather massive bodies of water – and Moynagh chose to hit Kentucky today.

The Football jigs is working for Jim.
(Photos: FLW Outdoors)

“This lake’s got a biomass of fish,” Moynagh said. “When you idle over these points, there’s always stuff on my graph.”
Moynagh found the spot in practice, and it continues to pay dividends.
“These fish are relating to a little drop on a gravel bar,” he said. “I happened to wander along this ledge, and lo and behold, I caught a couple.”
The spot has continued to yield fish after heavy fish for the M&Ms pro, who nonetheless says he cannot be sure it will hold up tomorrow.
“I hope it does,” he said.
Moynagh said he’s been catching the majority of his bass on an All-Terrain Tackle football-head jig.

Forrest Wood Cup 2011 Day 1: Martin Off and Running

National Guard pro leads 2011 Forrest Wood Cup with 19 pounds, 2 ounces

11.Aug.2011

by Brett Carlson

Day 1 leader, Scott Martin

FLW PRESS RELEASE
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – With a breeze, periodic showers and overcast skies, day one of the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup provided a rare reprieve from the oppressive summertime heat. And as many predicted, Lake Ouachita responded favorably, churning out several sacks in the upper teens. The biggest came from 10-time Cup qualifier Scott Martin.

Martin managed most of his 19 pounds, 2 ounces within the first two hours of the morning. And the bulk of it came from one area. That’s quite a way to start the richest tournament in professional bass fishing. .