ROGERS, Ark., April 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The weather threw
anglers another curveball Friday morning at the Walmart FLW Tour at
Beaver Lake presented by Rayovac. After cold and wind greeted
anglers on Thursday, heavy rainfall and lightning was the story
today, prompting FLW Tournament Director Bill Taylor to delay takeoff 45 minutes due to
the lightning and low visibility.
Link to photo of pro leader Andy Morgan
After the morning storm passed, 154 anglers embarked on day two
of the four-day competition. After starting the day in 15th place,
pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, brought a five-bass limit to
the scale weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces to vault to the top of the
leaderboard in the competition, hosted by the Rogers Convention and
Visitors Bureau, that features the best bass-fishing anglers in the
world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
Morgan's two-day cumulative total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds,
9 ounces gives him a slim 11-ounce cushion over second place,
former Forrest Wood Cup Champion Darrel
Robertson of Jay, Oklahoma,
who has weighed 10 bass totaling 27-14.
"I caught my fifth fish on my very last cast of the day," said
Morgan, the reigning back-to-back FLW Tour Angler of the Year
winner. "The rain delay this morning hurt me bad because I was in
the first flight to check in today. It was storming and nasty, but
the fish were biting.
"I'm mostly spawn fishing and looking for bedders," Morgan
continued. "All of the fish that I had marked are gone, though. I
came in with around 15 marked. I caught 10 keepers yesterday and
five today, so I'm going to have to start from scratch
(tomorrow)."
The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut and will fish
Saturday on Beaver Lake
are:
1st:
|
Livingston Lures pro
Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-9
|
2nd:
|
Darrel Robertson,
Jay, Okla., 10 bass, 27-14
|
3rd:
|
Quaker State pro Matt
Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 27-2
|
4th:
|
Bryan Thrift, Shelby,
N.C., 10 bass, 26-4
|
5th:
|
Livingston Lures pro
Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 26-1
|
6th:
|
Tracy Adams,
Wilkesboro, N.C., 10 bass, 25-10
|
7th:
|
Larry Nixon, Bee
Branch, Ark., 10 bass, 25-3
|
8th:
|
Quaker State pro
Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 25-0
|
9th:
|
Rayovac pro Cody
Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 24-13
|
10th:
|
Peter Thliveros,
Saint Augustine, Fla., 10 bass, 24-12
|
11th:
|
Darrell Davis, Dover,
Fla., 10 bass, 24-8
|
12th:
|
Vic Vatalaro, Kent,
Ohio, 10 bass, 24-3
|
13th:
|
John Cox, Debary,
Fla., 10 bass, 24-3
|
14th:
|
Brandon Cobb,
Greenwood, S.C., 10 bass, 24-2
|
15th:
|
Wesley Strader,
Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-10
|
16th:
|
Scott Martin,
Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 23-10
|
17th:
|
Clark Wendlandt,
Leander, Texas, 10 bass, 23-9
|
18th:
|
Mike Surman, Boca
Raton, Fla., 10 bass, 23-5
|
19th:
|
Lowrance pro Ishama
Monroe, Hughson, Calif., 10 bass, 22-14
|
20th:
|
Keystone Light pro
Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 10 bass, 22-13
|
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Nixon won the Bridgford Big Bass Award on the pro side Friday
with a bass weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces to win the $500 prize.
Overall there were 601 bass weighing 1,094 pounds, 6 ounces
caught by 147 pros Friday. The catch included 87 five-bass
limits.
Pro Drew Benton of Panama City, Florida, has his day one weight
disqualified from the tournament Friday for violating FLW Tour rule
No. 13, which contains provisions regarding permitted fishing
locations. FLW officials were made aware that Benton fished within
50 feet of a marked No Fishing Zone in a commercial marina on
Thursday. Benton caught two bass for 3 pounds, 8 ounces Friday and
finished in 153rd place.
Walmart pro Mark Rose of
West Memphis, Arkansas, and
co-angler Nick Loeffelman Jr., of
Valles Mines, Missouri had their
day two weights disqualified, also for violation of rule No. 13.
After mechanical failure both Rose and Loeffelman left the boat,
leaving it unattended and violating the rule regarding abandoning a
boat and leaving it adrift without proper tie-off or anchoring
after a mechanical failure. Rose finished in 142nd place
with five bass weighing 8 pounds even. Loeffelman weighed one bass
totaling 1 pound, 12 ounces and finished in 141st place
in the co-angler division.
Luke Dunkin of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the co-angler
division and $20,000 Friday with a
two-day total of 10 bass weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by
Todd Lee of Jasper, Alabama, who finished in second place
for the second consecutive tournament with 10 bass weighing 17
pounds, 15 ounces worth $7,500.
"It's hard to describe my feeling right now," said Dunkin, who
earned his first win as a co-angler on the Walmart FLW Tour. "I
have a bunch of friends and family calling and texting me right now
with so man messages. This is awesome."
The top 10 co-anglers
finished:
1st:
|
Luke Dunkin,
Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 18-2 $20,000
|
2nd:
|
Todd Lee, Jasper,
Ala., 10 bass, 17-15, $7,500
|
3rd:
|
Dustin Evans, Eads,
Tenn., eight bass, 16-4, $5,000
|
4th:
|
Clint Williams,
Fayetteville, Ark., 10 bass, 15-0, $4,000
|
5th:
|
Billy Dehart
Burlingame Calif., 10 bass, 14-15, $3,000
|
6th:
|
Bryan New, Belmont,
N.C., eight bass, 14-13, $2,500
|
7th:
|
Kerry Barnett,
Waldron, Ark., seven bass, 14-9, $2,000
|
8th:
|
Alan Lane, Church
Hill, Tenn., eight bass, 14-9, $1,800
|
9th:
|
Timmy Thompkins,
Myrtle Beach, S.C., nine bass, 14-8, $1,700
|
10th:
|
Sean Richards, Carson
City, Nev., eight bass, 14-8, $1,600
|
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Lee caught Friday's Bridgford Big Bass in the co-angler
division, a bass weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces to win the
$250 prize.
Overall there were 341 bass weighing 530 pounds, 4 ounces caught
by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 23 five-bass limits.
In addition to casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to
$25,000 cash in the co-angler
division, anglers are also competing for valuable points in hopes
of qualifying for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship
of bass fishing. The 2015 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 20-23 on Lake Ouachita and is hosted by
Visit Hot Springs. The Forrest Wood Cup Champion could win as much
as $500,000 – professional
bass-fishing's richest prize.
Anglers will take off from the Prairie Creek Park Marina located
at 9300 N. Park Road in Rogers at
6:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Weigh-ins will be held at the John Q. Hammons Center, located at
3303 Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers beginning at 4
p.m. each day.
Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo on Saturday and Sunday
from noon to 4 p.m. at the John Q.
Hammons Center prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes a
Ranger boat simulator, the opportunity to interact with
professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and
giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of
fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and
open to the public. Also on Sunday, country music artists Backroad
Anthem will perform a free live concert on the Walmart weigh-in
stage at 3 p.m. Pros Rich Dalbey and Todd
Hollowell's "Hooked on Helping" foundation will also be
hosting a food drive to benefit the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.
FLW fans who donate five or more cans of food will be entered to
win a $50 Walmart gift card.
Coverage of the Beaver Lake tournament will be broadcast in
high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) October 12 from 7 p.m.-8
p.m. ET. when Season 20 of "FLW" returns this fall. The
Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit
Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than
564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely
distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the
world.
For complete details and updated information visit
FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and
more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on
Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry's premier tournament-fishing organization,
providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete
for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of
240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which
provide an avenue to the sport's richest payday and most coveted
championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing
can be seen on the Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show and is
broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it
the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show
in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com
and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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SOURCE FLW