PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Chevy pro Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., retained control of the leaderboard on Lake Champlain for a third straight day with five largemouth bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces after making another 60-mile run south of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour launch site to fish grass beds in Ticonderoga. If he retains his lead Saturday, Hibdon will earn his second FLW Tour win and pocket $100,000.
“I’m throwing a big bait and trying to get big bites,” said Hibdon, who is flipping a 5/8-ounce green pumpkin Luck “E” Strike jig and Guido Bug trailer tied to 20-pound-test fluorocarbon line. “I caught 10 keepers in the first hour, but as soon as I started moving around, I could tell that something was wrong. The north wind kind of changed things, so I might have to make some adjustments depending on the conditions.”
Hibdon dominated the opening round with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 11 ounces. He caught five largemouth bass weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces on opening day then added four largemouth bass and one smallmouth bass weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces Thursday.
Tyson pro Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C., caught five largemouth bass weighing 16 pounds, 12 ounces Friday to secure the No. 2 spot heading into the final day of competition. Like Hibdon, he has fished grass beds in Ticonderoga all week. His lure of choice, however, is a green pumpkin Zoom brush hog.
Adams advanced to the final round as the No. 7 seed after catching four largemouth bass and one smallmouth weighing 16-8 on opening day and five largemouth bass weighing 17-11 on day two.
Rounding out the top five pros are Banana Boat pro Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich. (five bass, 15-13); Thomas Lavictoire of West Rutland, Vt. (five bass, 15-5) and Land O’Lakes pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark. (five bass, 15-4).
Mark Myers of Minneapolis took top honors and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division Friday with five largemouth bass weighing 14-6. He fished the Ticonderoga stretch of Lake Champlain with Tyson pro Tracy Adams of Wilkesboro, N.C., to secure his win. The pair was fishing grass, with Myers throwing a green pumpkin Senko. When fishing the deeper edges of grass he paired the lure with a 1/8-ounce sinker on 10-pound-test fluorocarbon. While fishing grass flats, he switched to a 3/16-ounce weight and 12-pound fluorocarbon.
“I knew I would be in contention, but I really thought it would take over 15 pounds to win,” said Myers, who won the Stren Series Northeast Division tournament on Lake Erie in 2005.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bill Gift of Alix, Ark. (five bass, 13-14, $10,000); Doug Weiser of Springdale, Ark. (five bass, 11-1, $9,000); James Schneider of Albany, N.Y. (five bass, 10-14, $8,000); and Matthew Parker of Whitesburg, Ga. (five bass, 10-12, $7,000).
Overall, 88 bass weighing 228 pounds, 15 ounces were caught Friday, including 16 five-bass limits.
The 10 remaining pros will take off at 6:30 Saturday morning from Plattsburgh Boat Basin located at 5 Dock Street in Plattsburgh. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 25 Consumer Square in Plattsburgh beginning at 4 p.m.
The community is invited to attend the free Family Fun Zone outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone, which opens at noon, features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy.
The top 48 pros and top 48 co-anglers in the Angler of the Year standings following the end of competition Saturday will qualify for the FLW Tour Championship for a shot at $500,000 cash – the sport’s biggest award. Complete standings will be posted at FLWOutdoors.com.
Coverage of the Lake Champlain tournament presented by Kellogg’s and hosted by the Champlain Shores Visitors and Convention Bureau will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Aug. 27 and Sept. 3 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.