JASPER, Ala. – Pro Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, landed five bass weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces Thursday on Lewis Smith Lake to jump from ninth place into the lead on day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Series’ final regular-season tournament. His two-day total of nine bass weighing 23 pounds gives him a 2 pound, 9-ounce lead over pro Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., who is currently in second place with six bass weighing 20-7.
“It was another tough day,” said Hoernke, who has 14 top-10 finishes and has earned $175,712 in prize money while fishing FLW events. “The bite was a little better today. It was a perfect fall largemouth day. We had low pressure, cooler temperatures and cloud cover, which made the fish really active and super shallow.”
The rain that moved through the area on opening day subsided Thursday but left the anglers with cool temperatures, overcast skies, gusty winds and finicky bass as they compete for top awards of $100,000 in the Pro Division and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division.
Hoernke is keeping his productive technique under wraps for now, other than to say he is throwing a small crankbait in shallow water targeting largemouth.
Rounding out the top five pros are Tim McDonald of Hagerhill, Ky. (seven bass, 19-11); Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala. (eight bass, 18-2) and Brian Mathis of Charlotte, N.C. (eight bass, 17-12).
Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., landed the day’s biggest bass in the Pro Division, a 4-pound 15-ounce bass that could earn him the tournament’s Snickers Big Bass Award of $1,500 if it holds up through Friday.
Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces followed by T Fuller of Auburn, Ala., in second place with five bass weighing 11-11.
Lee caught his bass Wednesday while fishing with pro Justin Pruett of Cullman, Ala., who is currently in 150th with one bass weighing 2-10. He then added two more bass weighing 4-10 to his total Thursday while fishing with pro Deron Patrick of Cullman, Ala., who is currently in 89th with three bass weighing 6-12.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark. (five bass, 11-11); Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark. (four bass, 10-10) and Spencer Lynn of Vinemont, Ala. (four bass, 10-6).
Todd Lee and Chad Parks of Olive Branch, Miss., are still tied for the biggest bass in the Co-angler Division. The largemouths they caught on Wednesday weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces and could be worth $500 as the Co-angler Division Snickers Big Bass of the tournament if it holds up through Friday.
Overall, 415 bass weighing 978 pounds, 4 ounces were caught Thursday, including six five-bass limits.
Also at stake this week are berths in the historic $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5, 2007, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash. The top 30 pros in the Angler of the Year standings following Saturday’s final weigh-in will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup along with the top 25 co-anglers. Overall, the Forrest Wood Cup will feature qualifiers from the FLW Series, Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, The Bass Federation (TBF) and Ranger owners’ tournaments.
Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Lewis Smith Lake will take off each morning at 7 from Lewis Smith Lake Dam. Friday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1801 Highway 78 E. in Jasper beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler competition concludes on day three with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.
Coverage of the Lewis Smith Lake FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Dec. 17. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 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 tournaments, browse 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.