MURRAY, Ky. – Team Chevy pro Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces Friday to retain his lead in the Walmart FLW Tour event presented by Pringles on Kentucky and Barkley lakes with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 44-9. He now holds a 1-pound, 12-ounce lead in the tournament featuring pros and co-anglers from across the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan.
“I caught five keepers all day,” Nixon said. “I did try to cull fish. I wanted rid of a 2 1/2-pounder I had.”
Nixon remained tight-lipped about his methods that produced, although he did admit he caught them on the bottom. Nixon said Thursday he hit six or seven spots during the course of the day and estimated he caught another limit of fish during the day that would have weighed 19 pounds. However, the fishing was slower Friday, and Nixon said he caught only 15 to 20 fish total – down from 45 to 50 the day before.
Nixon said after he caught his big fish that ran his weight to 20 pounds he left his spot but never caught more keepers. Nixon said the lack of current or calm waters may have affected his bite.
“What I could have caught had I stayed there, I don’t know,” Nixon said. “I may have caught two or three more big ones. Who knows?
“I’m just going to go back fishing again,” Nixon added. “The hard part’s over. We’ve got the cut made and there won’t be as many boats out there. I think I’ve got two or three places that will get freed up from a couple of guys.”
Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught five bass weighing 21-6 Friday for a combined two-day catch of 10 bass for 42-13.
“I’m throwing a Bomber Switchback and throwing it as far as I can and turning the rattle off in it and getting bites the other guys are missing, said Christie, who now has 25 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events.
Christie said his Foxy Shad-colored Switchback bite depends largely on current on Barkley Lake. The Switchback is a deep-diving crankbait with the option to turn the internal rattle silent.
“I’m just keying on current,” Christie said. “Today wasn’t very good, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’ve got four schools of fish and I’m rotating among the schools. Sometimes they bite and sometimes they don’t.”
Rounding out the top five pros who will continue competition Saturday and Sunday are David Young of Mayfield, Ky. (10 bass, 42-10); Team Land O’Lakes pro Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn. (10 bass, 42-3); and Kenneth Woods of Hazard, Ky. (10 bass, 42-2).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 38 pounds, 10 ounces and adding to this already power-packed top-10 field are Travis Fox of Springdale, Ark.; Keith Williams of Conway, Ark.; Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo.; Team PSI pro Ron Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark.; and Mark Rose of Marion, Ark.
Woods earned the day’s $750 Folgers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 7-pound, 14-ounce bass.
Pros are competing for a top award of $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa., where they could win as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.
Dirk Davenport of Delaware, Ohio, leads the Co-angler Division with an opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Rodney Brown of Eddyville, Ky., in second place with 10 bass weighing 35-4.
“The fishing was great,” Davenport said. “I’ve got a bait this week that I’ve had a limit out of the back of the boat the first 20 minutes or half hour every day. It’s amazing. You throw it in and the fish eat it.”
Davenport said he was using a “big plastic bait” on a 1/4-ounce jig dragged across, not directly down, ledges in 15 feet of water.
“I’m fishing the shells,” Davenport added. “Once you get your bait in the shells, they’ll bite.”
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are Scott Gibson of Wiggins, Miss. (10 bass, 33-7); Mark Horton of Nicholasville, Ky. (10 bass, 33-5) Shawn Murphy of Nicholasville, Ky. (10 bass, 31-10); Larry Carter of Little Rock, Ark. (10 bass, 31-1); Brandon Hunter of Benton, Ky. (10 bass, 30-12); Chuck Lee of South Bend, Ind. (10 bass, 29-10); Matt Hoffman of Cold Spring, Ky. (10 bass, 29-6); and Frank Divas Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark. (10 bass, 28-8).
Davenport earned $500 for the day’s Folgers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Neil Russell of Nampa, Idaho.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday from Kenlake State Park Marina located at 542 Ken-Lake Rd. in Hardin. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Regional Special Events Center at Murray State University located at 1401 State Route 121 North in Murray, Ky., beginning at 4 p.m.
In conjunction with the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Regional Special Events Center at Murray State University beginning at noon 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. Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone on Sunday will receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last. One lucky member of the audience will even win a new Ranger boat during the final 4 p.m. weigh-in Sunday, June 14. 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 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 day three, 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 days three and four.
Coverage of the Kentucky/Barkley Lakes tournament, hosted by the Marshall County Tourist Commission and the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau, will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air Aug. 2 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.
The FLW Tour will award more than $8 million cash to the world’s top bass anglers in 2009. Regular season competition includes three qualifiers and three opens. Each event takes anglers a step closer to the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol, which will be held July 30-Aug. 2 on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, Pa. The prestigious championship and outdoor show hosted by Visit Pittsburgh will feature 77 pros, 77 co-anglers and bass fishing’s largest cash award – a potential $1 million first-place prize for the winning pro.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.