The stuff legends are made of
$100,000 to be awarded to winning pro angler
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – A cool, crisp autumn morning, complete with bright sunshine, changing leaves and a slight breeze greeted the pro finalists on day four of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake of the Ozarks.
Once an early fog burned off, the top 10 pros quickly hustled to their best fishing spots. Leading the star-studded field is local pro and FLW Outdoors veteran Dion Hibdon. After sacking 14-4 yesterday, Hibdon holds roughly a 2 and 1/2-pound lead over No. 2 pro Steve Kennedy. Sitting in third is pro Larry Nixon, perhaps the greatest angler to ever pick up a rod and reel.
Also in the mix is young gun Dave Lefebre, veteran pro Matt Herren, and Clark Wendlandt, arguably the hottest bass angler on tour. A quick glance down the leaderboard reveals that anyone has a chance, even 10th-place pro Marty Sisk. The weights are so close that this tournament will almost certainly come down to the final fish.
Even with such a talented group of anglers, all eyes will be on the younger Hibdon. Despite all the obvious pressure, the Stover, Mo., pro said he slept wonderful last night. He has no catch-goal for today, other than to simply have more weight than second place.
“You really can’t do that,” Hibdon said of placing weight objectives. “Obviously I want to catch as many as I can. I’ll be happy when I get to about 20 pounds.”
While he’s saying all the right things, one gets the feeling that Hibdon realizes this is his tournament to lose.
“I couldn’t really set it up any better. I kind of like this pond. I’m pretty excited.”
Today’s winner will be determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
Saturday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:19 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 41 degrees
Expected high temperature: 63 degrees
Water temperature: 58-65 degrees and dropping
Wind: WNW at 6 mph
Maximum humidity: 34 percent
Day’s outlook: sunny
The final weigh-in will begin at 4 p.m. Central time at the Wal-Mart store located at 4252 Highway 54 in Osage Beach. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public. For those who can’t watch the action in person, FLWOutdoors.com provides FLW Live, a real-time viewing application that is the next best thing to being there.