Kato wins $40,000 as co-angler champ
FLORENCE, Ala. – Pro Timmy Horton of Muscle Shoals caught five bass Friday that weighed 15 pounds, 13 ounces to sit atop the leaderboard heading into the final day of the $1 million Forrest Wood Open presented by Kellogg’s on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake. The competition is stiff at the final regular-season Wal-Mart FLW Tour event of 2003, as the 10 remaining pros will fish another day for a top pro award of $200,000 cash.
The 10 pros who worked hard to make the top-10 cut during the opening round were rewarded with pristine weather for Friday’s competition, as bright sunshine replaced the clouds and intermittent rain that dominated the opening round. The change in weather appeared to make the fishing a bit more challenging, however, as limits of bass were a little harder to come by. Horton caught a limit Friday that gave him a 4-pound, 1-ounce advantage heading into Saturday’s final day, and anglers will fish for a combined two-day weight.
“It’s been quite a day,” said Horton, who got into the Wheeler Lake event via the waiting list. “I’ve been saving this spot, but I didn’t know how good it was going to be. I had some guys follow me, so that was kind of disappointing. The place where I caught two 5-pounders earlier this week didn’t pan out. Then we pulled up on this spot and really went to catching them. It was that 15 minutes you dream of.”
As a local angler, Horton has something of a home-court advantage, but he says that sometimes familiarity with a lake makes fishing for the lead even more challenging. “You don’t allow yourself to be patient for places to pan out, and you leave too quickly,” he said. “I haven’t been nervous, but $200,000 is starting to hit me a little bit.”
Rounding out the top five pros were Aaron Martens of Castaic, Calif. (five bass, 13 pounds, 4 ounces); Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla. (five bass, 11 pounds, 5 ounces); Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich. (five bass, 11 pounds, 2 ounces); and Chad Cook of Summerville, S.C. (five bass, 10 pounds, 11 ounces).
Masafumi Kato of Ishikawa, Japan, claimed $40,000 cash Friday as the winner of the Co-angler Division. He caught five bass Friday weighing 9 pounds, 14 ounces to score his first tournament win. Kato, who has been in the United States for only six months, caught 10 keepers Saturday in two hours using a june bug worm.
Kato fished the season opener on Lake Okeechobee in January and quickly became friends with fellow co-angler Jason Knapp of Uniontown, Pa. Kato has since been staying with Knagg in Pennsylvania and has fished the entire FLW Tour schedule this season.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Alex Ormand of Bessemer City, N.C. (four bass, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, $20,000); Kelly Greer of Green Forest, Ark. (five bass, 8 pounds, 8 ounces, $10,000); Simon Morrow of Alexander City (four bass, 6 pounds, 12 ounces, $8,000); and Robert Bogard Jr. of Conway, Ark. (five bass, 5 pounds, 9 ounces, $7,000).
A total of 78 bass were caught Friday, including 11 five-bass limits.
Pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., earned 2003 Snickers Big Bass Award honors and $5,000 for catching the heaviest opening-round bass of the season. Morgan caught a hefty 9-pound, 15-ounce bass during the season opener on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee in January to claim the award.
Keith Williams of Conway, Ark., 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 30th place on opening day.
Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., earned the Shop-Vac High Performance Award, which is given to the angler with the heaviest total catch weight after the first two days of competition, with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 1 ounce. His prize was a 10-gallon, stainless-steel Shop-Vac.
Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville will host the final takeoff Saturday at 6:30 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3100 Hough Road in Florence beginning at 3 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. With games, interactive displays and product giveaways, the Family Fun Zone offers enjoyment for fishing fans of all ages. The Family Fun Zone opens Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
Wheeler Lake is one of three $1 million-plus tournaments on the 2003 Wal-Mart FLW Tour and is the last stop on the road to Richmond, Va., site of the historic $1.5 million FLW Tour world championship of bass fishing and outdoor show that will be held Sept. 10-13 on the James River. The winner of the championship will earn an unprecedented $500,000 cash, the largest guaranteed award in the history of competitive bass fishing. The top 48 pros and 48 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the championship, which will also feature a free country music concert, more than 150,000 square feet of exhibits and the FLW Outdoors Celebrity Challenge to benefit prostate cancer research at City of Hope in southern California. In 2003, the road to Richmond, Va., is paved with gold.
Coverage of the Wheeler Lake tournament will be featured on the “FLW Outdoors” television show, which is broadcast to 55 million subscribers on the Outdoor Life Network. The program features fishing legends Hank Parker and Larry Nixon alongside hosts Charlie Evans, Carlton Wing and Taylor Carr. Parker’s preview of the Wheeler Lake tournament will air Saturday at 6 p.m. and again Sunday at noon CST. Tournament highlights from Wheeler Lake will air June 28 and 29 followed by a tournament recap featuring Nixon July 5 and 6.
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. 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. Pros continue competition Saturday, with final positions determined by Friday and Saturday’s combined weight. 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. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please explore FLWOutdoors.com.