Family Fun Zone and Outdoor Show Opens at Noon Saturday, Sunday
charlotte, N.C. (April 25, 2008) – Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, caught five bass weighing 12 pounds, 11 ounces Friday to overcome a 3-pound, 5-ounce deficit and take the lead in the $1.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour National Guard Open on Lake Norman with a two-day, opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 27-11.
Hoernke, a Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League standout who moved up to the Stren Series in 2001 and the FLW Tour in 2004, opened the tournament Thursday in second place with a 15-pound limit of bass that he found gorging on spawning shad shortly after takeoff.
“When we have warm nights like we’ve had the last few nights, the shad move up and spawn on the banks, on docks and just anywhere their eggs will stick to some algae,” he said. “The spawn goes on all night, so the bass feed all night long, and it lasts a couple of hours into the morning.”
After about 9 a.m., Hoernke says, the shad-spawn bite is finished. That’s when he switches gears and starts sight-fishing. The combination proved to be exactly the one-two punch he needed in the opening round, as a strong spawn bite on opening day allowed him to save several good sight-fish for Friday, and presumably Saturday and Sunday’s final round.
So how does it feel to be leading at this point in the tournament?
“It’s a two-sided coin,” Hoernke said. “The good news is you know you are doing the right thing. The bad news is that every guy who made the cut is probably doing the same thing. I think from here it is going to be an all-out slugfest to the end. The bottom line is that it will come down to ounces. Three-pounders are the name of the game. I’m leading the tournament because I caught eight 3-pound bass out of 10. I think if a guy can catch seven more 3-pounders and put some 2-pounders with them, he is going to be the guy who goes home with the big money.”
While Hoernke seems dialed in to a specific pattern, National Guard pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., advanced to the final round as the No. 2 angler with 10 bass weighing 27-5 using a more eclectic approach.
“I caught a few on swimbaits this morning then just started running around,” he said. “I’m fishing docks. I’m fishing little dark spots and stumps and everything. I’m just running around fishing a lot of different areas.”
Ehrler, a former Forrest Wood Cup champion who only narrowly missed the top-10 cut on Lake Norman last year, has already earned two top-10 finishes in the Wal-Mart FLW Series this season.
Rounding out the top five pros who will continue competition Saturday and Sunday are BP pro Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn. (10 bass, 27-00); Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C. (10 bass, 26-14); and Berkley pro Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla. (10 bass, 26-12).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 26 pounds, 1 ounce were Art Ferguson of St. Clair Shores, Mich.; Castrol pro Mike Surman of Boca Raton, Fla.; opening-day leader Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala.; Snickers pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala.; and Bud Pruitt of Houston, Texas.
Ferguson earned the day’s $1,000 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division with a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass that he caught on a prototype finesse jig rigged with a Yamamoto 3-inch craw. “I must have made 150 casts at it today,” he said. “It took at least a half hour.” Ferguson also won an extra $1,000 for having the biggest bass of the tournament.
Overall there were 954 bass weighing 1,914 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 199 pros Friday. The catch included 182 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of $200,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17, where they could win as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones hoping to win big on Lake Norman. The National Guard Open is the third stop of the year for the most lucrative fantasy sports league in history, FLW Fantasy Fishing™, which offers total awards of $7.3 million, including $100,000 cash guaranteed to the top Fantasy Fishing player following every FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. To play FLW Fantasy Fishing, simply log on to www.fantasyfishing.com and pick a team of 10 anglers for the next FLW Tour stop. Fans can even become a virtual pro with access to exclusive insider information and tips by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which could help them earn a record $1 million as the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Player’s Advantage members also receive a complimentary $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Dirk Davenport of Delaware, Ohio, leads the Co-angler Division with an opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 20-13 followed by Shane Lehew of Charlotte, N.C., in second place with 10 bass weighing 20-09.
Davenport fished with last year’s National Guard Open champion, Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., Friday and caught his limit on a shaky-head worm around docks.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich. (10 bass 19-07); David Hudson of Jasper, Ala. (10 bass, 19-06) and Teddy Bradley of Mishawaka, Ind. (10 bass, 19-01).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 18 pounds, 4 ounces were Deirdre Davison of Tega Cay, S.C.; Butch Zadlo of Boone, N.C.; Beecher Strunk of Somerset, Ky.; Andrew Lemle of Perrysburg, Ohio; and Mark Swink of Shelby, N.C.
Ray Pettit of Pacolet, S.C., earned the day’s $500 Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 3-pound, 5-ounce bass.
Overall there were 611 bass weighing 1,011 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 179 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 60 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $40,000 this week.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Blythe Landing located at 15901 NC Highway 73 in Huntersville, N.C. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center, located at 501 S. College St. in Charlotte, beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Charlotte Convention Center from noon to 6 p.m. each day. The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face-to-face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator. Saturday and Sunday children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone will also receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last. On Sunday, during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in, one lucky member of the audience will win a new Ranger boat. Admission is free and you must be present to win.
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, and the full field of 400 anglers competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for Saturday, and co-angler competition concludes following Saturday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the final two days.
The National Guard Open is hosted by the Charlotte Sports Commission, Visit Lake Norman and Visit Charlotte. The tournament is being held in conjunction with The Bass Federation National Championship presented by the National Guard on Lake Wylie. The final weigh-in for the TBF National Championship, which features the best of the nation’s TBF club anglers, will be held at the Charlotte Convention Center on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Coverage of the National Guard Open will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television programs airing June 15 and June 22. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit www.flwoutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit www.fantasyfishing.com.