Chris Jones Wins 2020 Bassmaster Central Open Arkansas River with 42-13lbs!

Going for broke pays of win!
BASS PRESS RELEASE

Worm and swim jig key to wicked last day limit.
(Photo: BASS)

Chris Jones knew he had his work cut out for him, but he stuck to what he knows best and overcame a significant deficit to win the Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Open on the Arkansas River with a three-day total of 42 pounds, 13 ounces.

Starting Championship Saturday in eighth place, Jones’ biggest decision was whether to stay local or make the long run downriver to the Kerr Lake Pool. The latter option requires locking, which greatly diminishes a competitor’s fishing time, but this fertile reservoir’s renowned fish population often justifies the sacrifice.

After drawing the last flight on Day 1, the pro from Bokoshe, Okla., fished Kerr and placed 17th with 12-10. The next day’s reversed checkout order gave him a shorter day, so he stayed in local waters and secured a final-round spot after adding 11-3.

Championship Saturday allowed him a longer fishing day, so he returned to Kerr and locked up the win by adding a 19-pound limit — the tournament’s second-largest behind Keith Poche’s 19-5 on Day 2.

“I knew the wind was going to blow today, I knew a front was coming and I knew there was a chance to catch a giant bag [in Kerr] and I just wanted that chance,” said Jones, who earned $45,300. “I knew I was 4 pounds behind [Day 2 leader] Dale Hightower, so I knew I had to go.

2019 FLW Tour Lake Champlain Day 3: Tyler Stewart Making it 3 Days in a Row!

Canadians Sim 18th. 

by Curtis Niedermier

FLW PRESS RELEASE

Sunday will be the battle of Ticonderoga.
(Photo: FLW)

There’s a showdown looming on Lake Champlain tomorrow, and how it’s going to end up is anybody’s guess. 

Louisiana pro Tyler Stewart is in the lead for the third consecutive day at this week’s FLW Tour event, which is presented by T-H Marine. But Stewart, who weighed, 18 pounds, 5 ounces today, has been catching his fish down at Ticonderoga. That’s all he has, and he says a hurricane can’t keep him from making the long run to Ti tomorrow. 

Getting there doesn’t look to be an issue, but if the weather forecast is correct, getting home from Ti tomorrow afternoon could get a little dicey. The wind is supposed to blow out of the north at a clip that pro Daryl Biron, who’s fished Champlain for years, thinks might build big enough waves to more than double the normally 50-minute run down there. 

Stewart isn’t the only one making the run. Four of the top five and seven of the top 10 are fishing in Ticonderoga, including Biron in fifth, second-place pro Casey Scanlon and third-place pro Eric Jackson. The only one in the top five staying up north is Bryan Thrift, who’s in fourth. It’s highly likely that Thrift will have a limit in the boat before anyone fishing at Ti even gets to his starting spot – and that’s during the calm period forecast for the morning. The fact that Thrift is nipping at their heels and they’ll have a shorter day doesn’t seem to be dissuading any of the top pros from making the run to Ti. 

“I’ll zero tomorrow before I don’t go down there,” Stewart says.

The thing Stewart has in his favor this week is that Ti continues to churn out postspawn largemouths that exceed 4 pounds. A 4-pound bass is worth a lot of money in a tournament at Champlain. Stewart probably needs at least a few of them and another upper teens limit tomorrow if he wants to hold off the competition. So far, he’s weighed in 58-6 in three days.

“It started off kind of slow,” Stewart says of his morning today. “I got down there to my main places, and it was crowded. There was a tournament out of Ti, and on one of my main holes, there was a guy fishing it just fun fishing. 

“I didn’t get to fish that. I had two places that were covered up with people today – where I was really planning on smackin’ them today. I ended up catching a 4 1/2-pounder and got some momentum going and just grinded all day and ended up catching some good fish and just kept the wheels going.” 

Stewart had to adjust and run some new water on the fly to stay on the caliber of fish he’s been catching. His primary tactic all week has been flipping shallow cover on the main lake where the bass are keying on a particular type of baitfish. Today, he did get a few bites on a square-bill just “showing them something different,” which produced one of the keepers he brought to weigh-in. Then he lucked into a 3 1/2-pound smallmouth that culled one of his largemouths once he got back to Plattsburgh.

The leader says the smallmouth bites he’s gotten have been all luck, and he has no other pattern to run in the north end of the lake. He’s all in on the shallow largemouths in Ticonderoga, no matter the wind or waves. Stewart is gunning for his first-ever FLW Tour victory, and he’ll have to earn it in challenging conditions tomorrow.

2. Casey Scanlon – Lake Ozark, Mo. – 56-8 (15)

Midway through the day today, it looked like Missouri’s Casey Scanlon was on pace to overtake Stewart’s lead. Scanlon’s unofficial weight estimate was around 20 pounds, and it looked like Stewart might slip. 

As estimates sometimes go, the predictions were a little off. Scanlon weighed in 18 pounds, 13 ounces and will start day four 1 pound, 14 ounces behind Stewart.

Edwin Evers Wins BPT Lake Conroe Event with 51-12lbs!

A big 8-pounder seals deal for Evers

By Joel Shangle

BPT PRESS RELEASE

Evers adds a win and a 2nd place in 2 BPT tournaments.
(Photo BPT)

In the immediate aftermath of the first MLF Bass Pro Tour event in Kissimmee, Florida two weeks ago, Edwin Evers’ dissatisfaction with finishing second was palpable. Ever the professional, Evers complimented his fellow competitors and smiled for photos at the Berkley Postgame Show, but no talk of Cup points could bring the Oklahoma pro comfort.

Sunday afternoon on Lake Conroe, Evers made sure that the only postgame talk would be of how he earned his first-ever MLF Bass Pro Tour trophy.

Evers racked up 51 pounds, 12 ounces to outdistance Jeff Sprague, (40-8), Boyd Duckett (35-15), Brent Ehrler (34-13) and David Walker (34-7) and claim the win at the Bass Pro Tour Huk Stage Two presented by Favorite Fishing. The Oklahoma pro caught 24 scorable fish on the day, including an exclamation point with 9 minutes left in competition: an 8-1 that hit a drop-shot Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper.

“You can’t imagine how good it feels to catch a fish like that,” Evers admitted. “I knew there were big fish in there, because I shook some big ones off the second day of the event. The big females just hadn’t gotten there yet, but they’re coming.”

Evers’ winning area

Evers’ pattern was to flip his way down the bank with a Black Blue Berkley Havoc Pit Boss, picking out small indentations and grassy, undercut banks and flipping his bait as close to the bank as he could. He also caught some fish on a vibrating jig.

Jordan Lee Wins Inaugural MLF Bass Pro Tour with 50-01lbs

Third-period flurry key to win.

By Joel Shangle

BPT PRESS RELEASE

Bladed jig vaults Lee to first MLF BPT Trophy!
(Photo: BPT)

Is there any level of fishing competition that MLF pro Jordan Lee doesn’t excel at? So far in the Alabama pro’s career, it sure doesn’t seem like he has any limitations.

Lee won a national collegiate championship in 2013 at the age of 21, and put back-to-back Bassmaster Classic trophies on his mantle in Grant, Ala., in 2017 and 2018. At the age of 27, Lee owns the most prolific Top 10 success rate in the sport (he’s made the Top 10 in just over 35 percent of his tour-level tournaments).

And now a 43-pound piece of hardware that nobody else will ever be able to claim: the inaugural MLF Bass Pro Tour championship trophy.

After finding an area of clean water on the north end of Lake Garcia, Lee put together a flurry of 2- and 3-pounders in the third period winding a vibrating jig through the grass, adding over 32 pounds to SCORETRACKER in the period to distance himself from Edwin Evers and Jared Lintner.

Lee finished the day with 55-1 on 26 to Evers’ 44-3 and Lintner’s 33-9.

“(The third period) was an unbelievable period,” Lee said. “I fished my way into that last area and got bite after bite after bite – and caught good ones, too – and just found myself in a spot with clear water and a lot of fish. Fish were moving in to spawn, so there were bigger fish in there. Edwin was coming on strong right there at the end, it feels pretty darn good.”

Evers did his best to overtake Lee. The Oklahoma pro matched Lee fish-for-fish in the final 2 ½ hours of competition – Evers and Lee both caught 16 fish – but couldn’t match Lee’s quality. Only three of Evers’ fish in the period were over 2 pounds, while 11 of Lee’s were between 2-4 and 4-11.

“I had the bites today, I just wasn’t on the right fish,” Evers said. “It was that simple. I thought I’d find a few bigger ones, but I never could get on bigger ones consistently.”

Lintner looked like he might be the man to beat until Lee and Evers put the hammer down in the final period. The Southern California pro put back-to-back fish of 4-1 and 3-15 on SCORETRACKER late in Period 1 flipping a 3-inch hand-poured black/blue/silver-flake craw, and then took the lead just before the end of Period 2 with the Berkley Big Bass of the day, a 5-5.

His flipping bite faltered in the final period, though. Lintner landed six scorable fish in the final 2 ½ hours, all but one of them between 1-3 and 1-7.

The battle for fourth through seventh was the tightest grouping of the day. Anthony Gagliardi finished fourth with 24-5, trailed by Alton Jones, Jr., (23-3), Randy Howell (22-2) and Michael Neal (21-8). Jess Sprague (18-9), Dustin Connell (14-12) and Takahiro Omori (12-11) finished out the Championship Rounds standings.

Up Next: Conroe here we come

Stage Two of the MLF Bass Pro Tour kicks off Feb. 12-17 in Conroe, Texas, where the 80-angler field will compete on Lake Conroe. This 21,000-acre impoundment of the San Jacinto River north of Houston hosted the 2017 Bassmaster Classic (won by Jordan Lee) and the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (MLF angler Dave Lefebre won the 2009 TTBC there), and is one of Texas’ most prolific producers of trophy-sized largemouth.

2018 Forest Wood Cup Lake Ouachita Day 1: Alex Davis Leads with 13-10lbs!

Cory Johnston in 4th!
FLW PRESS RELEASE

Alex Davis best them all on difficult first day.
(Photo: FLW)

Alex Davis was talking with his dad, Jeff, before the Forrest Wood Cup about who was going to win it.

“I told him whoever was going to win this thing would do it on luck,” Alex says. “By God, that’s exactly what happened today for me.”

He’s not lying. The Albertville, Ala., pro went from a single 1-pounder at noon to a day-one-leading 13 pounds, 10 ounces through a comedy of randomness.

Setting the scene, Alex figured he had some solid stretches where he could catch them shallow on topwater, and they certainly showed they were there, as he had seven blowups throughout the morning. He only landed the lone dink, and he lost another three on a worm.

“I have no idea how,” he says.

Finally, he made a move and caught a pair of small fish. Another move prompted a fourth.

“My dad told me before I left today, ‘Don’t come back with four,’” Alex says. “I knew of one brush pile. So I went there, made one cast and the second it hit the bottom I set the hook. So then I had a limit and decided to head in.”

However, there was still a little time left before the 33-year-old had to check in. He decided to stop on one more area. First cast he caught a 3-pounder on something “special” he didn’t want to discuss until tomorrow.

Again, he was “done,” but he still had a little time left. So with 10 minutes to go he stopped at a random cove he’d never even been in before.

“My last cast I caught my biggest fish of the day,” Alex says. “I slung him in the boat, pulled up my trolling motor, tossed out my smallest and checked in. How crazy is that?”

Obviously, luck can be fickle, so when it comes to day two the pro has “no idea” what he’s going to do or how well.

“I may just go throw topwaters again tomorrow,” he says. “I had all those blowups. I do know I’ll check that one special thing. Everyone will see it tomorrow on live, but if it goes it could be awesome.”

TOP 10 PROS

1. Alex Davis – Albertville, Ala. – 13-10 (5)

2. Nick LeBrun – Bossier City, La. – 13-5 (5)

3. Zack Birge – Blanchard, Okla. – 13-1 (5)

4. Cory Johnston – Cavan, Ontario – 12-8 (5)

5. James Niggemeyer – Van, Texas – 12-2 (5)

6. Wes Logan – Springville, Ala. – 11-9 (5)

7. Bradford Beavers – Summerville, S.C. – 11-6 (3)

8. John Cox – DeBary, Fla. – 11-3 (5)

9. Jason Lambert – Michie, Tenn. – 10-0 (5)

10. Justin Atkins – Florence, Ala. – 9-14 (5)

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)

Rick Morris Wins the 2017 BASS Northern Open James River with 43-15lbs!

Veteran wins first BASS event!
BASS PRESS RELEASE

A worm and experience helps Morris win.
(Photo: BASS)

Thirty years of fishing the James River paid off for Virginia pro Rick Morris, who won the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open No. 2 on Saturday.

The Lake Gaston, Va., angler weighed in a 16-pound, 11-ounce five-bass limit and finished with a three-day total of 43-15 to clinch the pro division title. Morris received the top prize of a $45,000 Skeeter bass boat/Yamaha outboard rig and $6,784 in cash. He also qualified for the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, contingent upon him fishing the Northern Open finale at Douglas Lake in September.

Ledge Fishing! Brad Knight with the new Strike King Bull Worm

The Bull Worm from Strike King is a great bait for pulling over ledges. Rig it Texas or on a jighead it works either way. FLW CUP Champ, Brad Knight explains why you need to buy some packs of these worms.

Senko Fishing with Roland Martin

Nobody knows more about worm fishing then legendary angler Roland Martin. With 9 BASS Angler of the Year awards and 40 years of being a TV host, Roland knows his worming. Listen here as Roland teaches all of us how to be a better worm fisherman.

Berkley Fusion 13 Hooks with Davis Viebeck.

Berkley has created a new series of hooks called Fusion 13 that are super sharp without breaking the bank. Available in 9 styles from magnum, weighted swimbait hooks to tiny drop shot models. They have cool packaging that you keep to help organize your hooks. Top angler Davis Viebeck explains what you need to know about Berkley's Fusion 19 hooks.

ICAST 2015 Pre-view: The Lunkerhunt Core Strength Limit Worm

The Lunkerhunt Core Strength Limit Worm^™ is a new addition to the Core Strength line. It has a lot of great features that will help you catch fish. Available in 4 inch and 6 inch sizes, the Limit Worm^™ is infused with fish protein and comes in a wide range of proven fish catching patterns.

The Core Strength Limit Worm^™ was designed with the help of FLW Touring Pro Matt Arey. The product brings together a significant amount of on-the-water experience, and an equal amount of time in R&D using Lunkerhunt’s award winning engineering techniques. Don’t underestimate its simple shape, the Limit Worm^™ is packed full of features.

Starting with its Core Strength foundation, the Limit Worm^™ is formed around a mylar fabric core which prevents the bait from tearing easily, thereby increases the bait’s lifespan. This translates into more fishing time and less maintenance for the bait.

 The body of the Limit Worm is protein-infused and is made out of quality plastic. It does not require special liquid or oil to stay fresh.

 The Limit Worm^™ has an oval indicator on its head for easy rigging to the mylar. The result is similar to hooking clothing. Once rigged through the mylar, the hook is locked into the bait. The body shape of the Limit Worm incorporates ribs, straight edges, and tapering that maximize performance. The Limit Worm^™ excels when jigging, drop shoting, Carolina rigging, Texas rigging, split shot rigging and even as a worm harnesses bait.