PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Sept. 10, 2008) – Pro Pete Gluszek of Mt. Laurel, N.J., landed five bass weighing 21 pounds, 7 ounces Wednesday to lead day one of the Walmart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Champlain. He now holds a slim 12-ounce lead in the $1 million tournament featuring 200 pros and 200 co-anglers representing 34 states.
“I love fishing Lake Champlain this time of year,” said Gluszek, who won a Stren Series event on Lake Champlain in 2006. “On this lake I try to find areas where the largemouth and smallmouth are getting together. If you can find that you can make adjustments real quick.”
Gluszek explained that the fish go threw cycles throughout the day or from day to day. The smallmouth bite might be hot one day and the largemouth bite might be hot the next day or the next hour. This plays a key part in the way he locates bass and the areas that he likes to fish.
“I basically have one key area that I am focusing on which creates some concern,” Gluszek said. “If the fish in this area decide to stop biting I will have to fish a few backup spots that I have. These areas require traveling long distances. If my patterns fail, I am going to be scrambling and I would be lucky to get 15 pounds. To stay around the winning fish I am sticking to my one key area.”
Gluszek started on a largemouth pattern today and as the day progressed the smallmouth bite developed. He said that the one smallmouth that he weighed-in was mixed in with a school of largemouth. Gluszek weighed in four largemouths and one smallmouth.
“The key to winning here is a close proximity mix of largemouth and smallmouth,” Gluszek added.
Fishing for Team Keebler, Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., trails Gluszek in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 20-11.
Rounding out the top five pros are David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C. (five bass, 20-07); Prilosec pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla. (five bass, 20-05) and Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas (five bass, 20-00).
Lefebre earned the day’s $464 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth.
“The 7 pound, 2 ounce bass that I caught was the first fish of the day on the third spot that I fished,” Lefebre said. “I wanted to start on my big fish areas in the morning and I was stunned that it paid off.”
Overall there were 855 bass weighing 2,322 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 185 pros Wednesday. The catch included 148 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing this week for a top award of $125,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the BP East-National Guard West Fish-Off and a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
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Michael Tanksley of Crossville, Tenn., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 18-14 followed by Sam Mitchiner of Garner, N.C., in second place with five bass weighing 18-11.
“This is the first time that I have ever been on Lake Champlain,” Tanksley said. “I have missed all the Champlain tournaments in the past and I am so happy to be able to come here. This is a great fishery loaded with smallmouths. It doesn’t get much better than this.”
Tanksley caught his bass while fishing with Iams pro Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind., who is currently in 10th place with five bass weighing 18-07.
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner today,” Tanksley said. “I caught 20 keepers throughout the day and Chip put me on all the fish I caught.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Andy Jenkins of Elkhart, Ind. (five bass, 18-06); Derrick Snavely of Rogersville, Tenn. (five bass, 17-10) and Scot Keefe of Hinesburg, Vt. (five bass, 17-04).
Clinton Cody Jr. of Charleston, Tenn., earned $285 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Chad Brauer of Osage Beach, Mo.
Overall there were 655 bass weighing 1,519 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 175 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 87 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are competing this week for a top award of $25,000. Like the pros, the top 30 co-anglers from both FLW Series divisions after four qualifying events are complete will advance to the East-West Fish-Off for a shot at qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Dock Street Landing located at 5 Dock Street in Plattsburgh. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at Trinity Park located at City Hall Place in Plattsburgh, beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Trinity Park. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include a trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.
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. The entire field competes for the first three days, and 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.
Coverage of the Lake Champlain FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Nov. 9. “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. 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 FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
FLW Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its bass tournaments.