PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Sept. 11, 2008) – Pro Pete Gluszek of Mt. Laurel, N.J., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces Thursday to retain the lead in the $1 million Walmart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Champlain with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 39-11.
“I had a lot of good things happen to me today,” said Gluszek, who has amassed more than $201,000 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “I didn’t have as much weight today but none the less I caught quality fish.”
Today Glusek caught four largemouths and one smallmouth on a largemouth pattern that he developed today.
“The boat pressure got to me today,” Gluszek added. “There were two other boats in the area that I fished and it seemed that every time I wanted to get on the sweet spot one of the other boats would be there.
“My timing was bad and I didn’t get a lot of opportunities there. So I decided to go to some backup areas and I ended up developing a pattern that I hadn’t been on before.”
Gluszek explained that this pattern is something that he hasn’t been doing and that the weather is going to be conducive to it.
“Today, I caught some big fish and caught numbers on this pattern,” Gluszek said. “The smallmouth pattern that I had been fishing didn’t work today. This area is less than two miles apart and is more of a largemouth area but I have caught smallmouths as well.”
Gluszek now holds a 2-pound, 10-ounce lead over second place Keebler pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 37-01 during the first two days of competition.
“The hardest thing to do in tournament fishing is to win wire-to-wire,” Gluszek added. “It’s a challenge but I feel like I am on the right patterns and I am in an excellent area.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Prilosec pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla. (10 bass, 36-09); Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas (10 bass, 36-08) and Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va. (10 bass, 36-06).
Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla., earned the day’s $464 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 15-ounce bass.
Overall there were 881 bass weighing 2,397 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 183 pros Thursday. The catch included 167 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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Sam Mitchiner of Garner, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 35-00 followed by Wayne Frierson of Manning, S.C., in second place with 10 bass weighing 32-11.
“Everything worked out great today,” said Mitchiner, who is looking for his first top-10 in the FLW Series. “I did lose a few fish that would have given me a better weight but that’s how it goes sometimes. My goal today was 15 pounds so I think I did really well.”
Mitchiner caught nine keepers on a Carolina-rigged Zoom Speed Craw.
“I am a little nervous going into the final day,” Mitchiner said. “This is something you dream about and I am so happy to be leading.”
Mitchiner caught five bass weighing 18-11 while fishing with Chevy pro Kim Stricker of Howell, Mich., Wednesday and five bass weighing 16-05 while fishing with pro Jacob Powroznik, Thursday.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bob Snyder of Marion, Ind. (10 bass, 32-04); Andy Jenkins of Elkhart, Ind. (10 bass, 31-12) and Ronald Mueller of Prosperity, S.C. (10 bass, 31-08).
James Soden of Grant, Ala., earned $285 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Overall there were 654 bass weighing 1,570 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 176 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 88 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. 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, 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.