Mississippi pro Roger Stegall leads $1 Million Forrest Wood Open
Texan Clark Wendlandt wins Angler of the Year
FLORENCE, Ala. – Roger Stegall of Iuka, Miss., caught five bass weighing 13 pounds, 9 ounces Thursday to lead the Wal-Mart FLW Tour $1 million Forrest Wood Open with a first-round total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 13 ounces.
During Friday’s semifinal action, Stegall will face nine of the world’s best professional bass anglers in a bid to make Saturday’s five-man final for a shot at the tourney’s $200,000 first-place cash award. Weights are cleared for the final two rounds.
“I thought I was going to have to get a loan to pay my entry fee, but a chance to turn $2,500 into $200,0000 is a pretty big deal,” said Stegall, who is fishing his first FLW Tour event. “With the tournament being here, near my home, I had to fish it.”
Day-one leader Marty Stone of Linden, N.C., finished the round in second place with eight bass weighing 27-7, and Arlie Napier of Middlesboro, Ky., finished third with 10 bass weighing 26-10. Both men will be among the pros vying for a spot in Saturday’s finale.
Clark Wendlant of Cedar Park, Texas, secured the final top-10 spot with a first round total of nine bass weighing 20-15. Wendlandt’s four-bass catch that registered 10-14 Thursday also won him Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year and a spot on the covers of Kellogg’s brand Corn Flakes and Frosted Mini-Wheats. Wendlandt also will receive $25,000 and a Johnson- or Evinrude-powered Ranger 518 VX bass boat.
Co-Angler Andy Heinkelein of Cincinnati led that division with a 5-pound, 10-ounce catch that pushed his two-day, round-one total to seven bass weighing 15-15.
David Hudson of Jasper, Ala., won the Co-Angler of the Year race despite failing to catch a fish Thursday. As Co-Angler of the Year, Hudson will receive priority entry into the 2001 FLW Tour Pro Division and a Ranger R91 boat powered by an Evinrude or Johnson outboard. Co-angler competition ends Friday with the winner receiving $40,000.
Big bass honors for the day went to pro Chuck Pratt of Lindale, Texas, and co-anlger Jeff Carreker of Stockbridge, Ga., who caught a 4-pound, 14-ounce and a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass respectively. Pratt received $1,250 for his trophy catch and Carreker received $750.
Frank Ippoliti of Mount Airy, Md., won the Coca-Cola Big Bass award of $1,000 for the heaviest bass caught during round one, a 7-pound, 5-ounce largemouth that he landed on opening day. At the end of the season, Coca-Cola will award $5,000 for the biggest bass of the year. Quinten Stacy of Bassett, Va., is leading the Coca-Cola Big Bass race with an 8-pound, 10-ounce largemouth he caught on Lake Murray near Lexington, S.C.
Overall, 427 bass weighing 994 pounds, 8 ounces were brought to the scales Thursday, including 16 five-bass limits. More than 95 percent of the bass were released into Pickwick Lake alive. Historically, the FLW Tour maintains a 98 percent live release rate. If the tour continues that rate through 2000, BFGoodrich Tires will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Friday’s weigh-in will start at 5 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Florence, Ala. Saturday’s final weigh-in, which will be broadcast live to Wal-Mart stores nationwide, begins at 3:30 p.m. at Wal-Mart. The weigh-in also will air July 8 as part of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour series on ESPN at noon EST.
Kellogg’s is presenting the Forrest Wood Open.