APPLING, Ga. (Oct. 23, 2008) – Chevy pro David Fritts of Lexington, S.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing13 pounds, 1 ounce Thursday to retain the lead in the $1 million Walmart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Clarks Hill Lake with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 36-10.
“Yesterday was an exceptional day,” said Fritts, who has 15 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors competition. “I didn’t expect to do that good. My weight today is what I thought that I would catch going into the tournament. After yesterday I actually thought that I would have had a better bag today.”
Fritts said that the bite was a lot tougher today. He has 12 spots that he can fish but has only touched five of those. “I have three or four groups of fish that haven’t been touched,” he said. “I can easily catch 8-10 pounds in about five minutes from my key area but I am trying to conserve that spot by only catching three or four then moving spots.”
Fritts said that he is catching his Clarks Hill bass in different depths but that his bigger bites are coming in 5-7 feet of water. He wouldn’t disclose his exact technique but did say that he was throwing four different baits.
“I feel confident in catching 10 pounds a day or I could catch 20 pounds,” Fritts said. “It is getting harder but it is getting harder for everyone. I am going to be happy with 13 pounds a day for the next two days.”
Fritts now holds an 10-pound, 15-ounce lead over second place National Guard pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 25-11 during the first two days of competition.
“I caught a lot of keepers today even though the numbers were down from yesterday,” said Martin, who has amassed more than $840,500 in career earnings. “Maybe the wind will pick up tomorrow and that should improve my bite.”
Rounding out the top five pros are National Guard angler Jonathan Newton of Rogersville, Ala. (10 bass, 24-06); Pat Golden of High Point, N.C. (10 bass, 24-02) and Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (10 bass, 23-09).
Kyle Mabrey of McCalla, Ala., earned the day’s $392 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass.
Overall there were 609 bass weighing 1,026 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 151 pros Thursday. The catch included 87 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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Robert Rikard of Lexington, S.C., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 18-01 followed by Kim Fischer of High Ridge, Mo., in second place with nine bass weighing 16-09.
“I had a really fun day today,” Rikard said. “I fished with Biffle and I have always heard he was hard to fish behind. I knew that he gave me a shot that I better take it. I fished hard and fast today.
“Tomorrow, I am fishing with Scott Suggs and I think that he is on some good fish so hopefully I will make the cut.”
Folgers pro Scott Suggs of Bryant, Ark., is currently in 14th.
Rikard caught five bass weighing 7-11 while fishing with pro Mark Shepard of Clewiston, Fla., Wednesday and five bass weighing 10-06 while fishing with pro Tommy Biffle of Wagnor, Okla., Thursday.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ron Fabiszak of South Bend, Ind. (eight bass, 15-14); Michael Maxfield of Hanahan, S.C. (eight bass, 13-14) and Beecher Strunk of Somerset, Ky. (10 bass, 13-00).
Kenneth Peterson of Ankeny, Iowa, earned $253 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 7-pound, 15-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait while fishing with pro Craig Dowling of Grant, Ala.
Overall there were 288 bass weighing 456 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 130 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 10 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 8 each morning from Wildwood Park located at 6212 Holloway Rd. in Appling. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 4471 Washington Rd. in Evans, Ga., 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 Walmart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the Land O’ Lakes 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 Clarks Hill Lake 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 Dec. 28. “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 also took 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.