Rogers, Ark. (May 17, 2008) – Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas, caught five bass weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to lead the $1.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake. He now holds a 6-ounce advantage over his closest competitor, Trilene pro Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla., heading into the final day of competition.
“I was flipping a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver in Big Texan – a color my old roommate Andre Moore, who owns the company, named after me,” said Hawkes, who earned an FLW Series victory on Lake Cumberland in 2006 and has amassed more than $380,000 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “I’m also swimming a black and blue Oldhams jig along the surface of the water.”
Hawkes opened the tournament Thursday with an 11-pound, 10-ounce limit that put him in 22nd place.
He added five more bass weighing 11-02 to his catch Friday to advance to the final round in seventh place with a two-day, opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 22-12.
Hawkes said he has been fishing stretches of shoreline with trees, bushes and boat docks this week.
“There are three different kinds of fish that I’m catching,” he said. “I’m using a jig to catch fish that are guarding the eggs that have already hatched. There are other fish still on beds and some post-spawn fish that are about 2 or 3 feet down in the bushes, and I’m using a Beaver to catch both of those.”
Newby caught five bass weighing 8-15 to advance to the final day of competition as the No. 2 seed.
“I caught four bass in my primary area today,” said Newby, who won the FLW Tour stop on Lake Champlain in 2002 and has amassed more than $642,000 in career earnings. “It just wasn’t producing the big bites today, but I still caught a 2 1/2-pounder, and Stetson caught a 3-pounder there.”
Newby caught his bass flipping a tube and expects to bring in another big bag tomorrow.
“I think I’ll catch a good sack tomorrow – you know, 12 to 13 pounds,” Newby said. “I’ll do whatever I can to catch them.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros are Kyle Mabrey of McCalla, Ala. (five bass, 8-13); Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C. (five bass, 8-09); Wal-Mart pro George Cochran of Hot Springs, Ark. (five bass, 8-00); Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark. (five bass, 7-06); Mark Pack of Mineola, Texas (five bass, 7-05); Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky. (four bass, 6-13); Richard Strother of Tyler, Texas (three bass, 4-02); and Kellogg’s pro Alvin Shaw of State Road, N.C. (two bass, 2-05).
Overall there were 44 bass weighing 71 pounds, 9 ounces caught in the Pro Division Saturday. The catch included seven 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 Beaver Lake. The Wal-Mart Open is the fourth 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.
In the Co-angler Division, Stetson Blaylock, 20, of Benton, Ark., claimed his first FLW Tour victory and $40,000 with five bass weighing 10-09.
Blaylock opened the tournament in 35th place Thursday with five bass weighing 7-00 while fishing with pro Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas. He then added five more bass weighing 9-14 Friday after fishing with Rob Kilby of Hot Springs, Ark., to advance to the final round in second place with 10 bass weighing 16-14. He wrapped up his win Saturday while fishing with Newby.
“It feels good to win,” said Blaylock, who has had four wins and 15 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events. “I’ve won a couple of Series events in the last seven or eight months, but there’s no comparison to what this feels like.”
Blaylock said he caught all his fish close to Prairie Creek Marina, flipping a Berkley 5-inch black neon tube along steep banks in trees and flooded grass.
“I fished a BFL tournament last week at Greers Ferry where I flipped a tube all week,” Blaylock said. “The water was high and dirty – just like it is here. I finished seventh there with 10 pounds, 6 ounces, so I thought I’d try the same thing up here.
“I like fishing in the mud, so that didn’t bother me,” he added. “I only had one fish at 10:30 or 11 o’clock this morning, and I came to win and wanted it so bad – I knew I was going to have to pick it up if I wanted a chance.”
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were Gregory Auzenne of Panama City, Fla. (three bass, 7-06, $10,000); Steven Meador of Bella Vista, Ark. (five bass, 6-08, $9,000); Danny Faught of Rogers, Ark. (five bass, 5-04, $8,000); Bill Jarvis of Carthage, Miss. (three bass, 5-03, $7,000); Burl Smith of Prairie Grove, Ark. (two bass, 3-02, $6,000); Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich. (two bass, 3-00, $5,000); Bryan Talmadge of Pell City, Ala. (one bass, 2-06, $4,000); Jared Taliaferro of Rogers, Ark. (one bass, 2-05, $3,000); and David Lauer of South Bend, Ind. (zero bass, $2,000).
Overall there were 27 bass weighing 45 pounds, 11 ounces caught in the Co-angler Division Saturday. The catch included three five-bass limits.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 Sunday morning from Prairie Creek Marina located at 1 Prairie Creek Marina Drive in Rogers for the final day of competition. Sunday’s weigh-in will be held at the John Q. Hammons Center, located at 3303 Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers, beginning at 4 p.m.
In conjunction with the weigh-in, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the John Q. Hammons Center from noon to 6 p.m. 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. Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone will also receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last, and one lucky member of the audience will win a new Ranger boat. Admission is free and you must be present to win.
In FLW Tour 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. The full field competes Thursday and Friday for 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared Saturday, and co-angler competition concludes with the winner determined by the day’s heaviest catch. The top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the final two days.
The Wal-Mart Open is hosted by the Rogers Convention & Visitors Bureau and Bentonville Advertising & Promotion Commission.
Coverage of the Wal-Mart 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 July 13 and July 20. “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.