Altman Jr. earns $40,000 as co-angler winner
ROGERS, Ark. – The quest for a $200,000 payday continued on Beaver Lake Friday, as red hot Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., caught five bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces to establish a 9-ounce lead in the lucrative $1.26 million Wal-Mart Open. Perhaps more important to the Evinrude pro, however, is his mounting lead in the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year points race.
“I’d like to build as much of a cushion [in the points race] as I can,” said Morehead, who has only missed the top-10 cut once this season. “I feel good about Kentucky Lake, but I’d like to have a nice lead heading into Wheeler.”
Coming into the Wal-Mart Open Morehead led the Angler of the Year race with 596 points, 19 points ahead of Team Castrol’s David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., who finished 33rd Thursday. Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., Morehead’s next closest challenger, finished 27th. The FLW Tour stops on Kentucky Lake, where Morehead has earned five FLW Outdoors titles, May 14-17 and wraps up the regular season on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake June 18-21.
A past FLW Tour champion with eight top-10 finishes to his credit, Morehead caught three largemouths and two spotted bass Friday using a Mann’s Minus 8 crankbait that he was casting parallel to rocky banks in 8 to 10 feet of water. He opened the tournament Wednesday is 29th place with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces then added five bass weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces Thursday to enter the finals as the No. 3 seed with an opening round total of 10 bass weighing 22 pounds, 4 ounces. Weights were cleared for the final round, so the winner will be determined by the combined weight of Friday and Saturday’s catch.
“I think it will take another 14 pounds or so to win it,” Morehead said.
Randall Hutson of Washburn, Mo., enters the final day of competition as the No. 2 seed after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces Friday. He entered the finals as the No. 6 seed after boating 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces in the two-day opening round.
Rounding out the top five pros are opening round leader and Team Evinrude angler Russ Moran of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (five bass, 9 pounds, 15 ounces); Team Lawry’s angler Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn. (four bass, 8 pounds); and Rock Monteith of Columbia, S.C. (five bass, 7 pounds, 14 ounces).
Roy Altman Jr. of Augusta, Ga., caught three bass weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to win the Co-angler Division by a 7-ounce margin. He pocketed $40,000 cash plus a $500 Wal-Mart gift card from Castrol and $500 worth of Castrol products thanks to the spotted bass he caught using a standup jig that he designed called the Spot Remover. He matched the 1/8-ounce jig with a green pumpkin finesse worm dipped in chartreuse coloring to land the win Friday while fishing with Hutson. Interestingly, Hutson’s partner won the Wal-Mart Open last season as well.
“I had a good practice and a good tournament,” said Altman, who entered the final round of co-angler competition as the No. 6 seed. “To get into the top 10 with 11 pounds, 5 ounces is hard enough. But to win this thing is just awesome.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Darrell Stevens of Roseland, Va. (three bass, 4 pounds, 13 ounces, $20,000); Curtis Thompson of Flint, Texas (two bass, 2 pounds, 6 ounces, $10,000); Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C. (one bass, 2 pounds, 4 ounces, $9,000); and Kelly Greer of Green Forest, Ark. (one bass, 1 pound, 4 ounces, $8,000).
Fifty-two bass weighing 94 pounds, 14 ounces were caught Friday and 100 percent were released alive. If the FLW Tour maintains a 98 percent live-release rate throughout the season, Energizer will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Hutson earned a $500 Wal-Mart gift card as the winner of the Energizer Keeps on Going Award, which is awarded to the angler who came from the farthest behind to advance to the final round. He finished in 86th place on opening day with three bass weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce then bounced back on day two with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 2 ounces – the second heaviest catch in the tournament.
Moran earned the Shop-Vac High Performance Award, which is given to the angler with the heaviest total catch after the first two days of competition. His 10-bass catch weighing 28 pounds, 8 ounces earned him a 10-gallon, stainless-steel Shop-Vac.
The Wal-Mart Open is the fourth of six qualifying events in the $5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour and one of three million-dollar events on the tour. The $1 million Forrest Wood Open takes place on Wheeler Lake in June and the historic $1.5 million Jacobs Cup world championship of bass fishing and outdoor show runs Sept. 10-13 on the James River in Richmond, Va. The winner of the Jacobs Cup earns an unprecedented $500,000 cash, the largest guaranteed award in the history of competitive bass fishing, so every point is critical to anglers looking for a shot at the record books. Points toward qualifying for the Jacobs Cup are awarded at each tour stop and only the top 48 pros and 48 co-anglers advance.
Competition resumes at 6:30 a.m. Saturday at Prairie Creek Marina in Rogers followed by the final weigh-in at 3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 2110 W. Walnut in Rogers. The community is encouraged to attend the final takeoff and weigh-in as well as visit the Family Fun Zone, which is located outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone, a free event featuring games, product giveaways and interactive displays, opens at 11 a.m.
Following Friday’s weigh-in, multi-platinum recording artist Tracy Byrd performed a free concert for thousands of fishing fans who gathered in the Fun Zone.
Coverage of the Wal-Mart Open will be featured on the “FLW Outdoors” television show, which is broadcast to 55 million Outdoor Life Network subscribers. The program features fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon alongside hosts Charlie Evans, Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr. Parker’s preview of the event airs Saturday at 7 p.m. and again Sunday at 1 p.m. EST. Tournament highlights air April 19 and 20 followed by a tournament recap featuring Nixon April 26 and 27. “FLW Outdoors” airs every Saturday at 7 p.m. and every Sunday at 1 p.m. EST on OLN through July 5. Special Jacobs Cup episodes will air in September.
The FLW Tour features a pro/co-angler format in which the pro supplies the boat, fishes from the front deck against other pros and controls boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. One hundred and seventy-five pros and 175 co-anglers comprise a full field. After two days the field is cut to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers who advance to day one of the final round Friday based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for Friday’s competition, and co-anglers compete for one day to determine the winner. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997.
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.