Livingston Lures the Dive Master Jr Jacob Porozink
Angler's Choice Team Tournament Trail VA Division Stop #1 SML 3-8-14
1st Place with five fish 18.94lbs. Jerame Edwards & Butch McMurray
2nd place with five fish Craig Blankenship & Robert Hoyt with 18.92
3rd place with four fish Toby Peters & Nathan Hale with 17.99lbs
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Click Here to See the rest of the results
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Angler’s Choice Team Tournament Trail VA Division Stop #1 SML 3-8-14
1st Place with five fish 18.94lbs. Jerame Edwards & Butch McMurray
2nd place with five fish Craig Blankenship & Robert Hoyt with 18.92
3rd place with four fish Toby Peters & Nathan Hale with 17.99lbs
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Click Here to See the rest of the results
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Local angler David Kilgore claims berth in 2015 Bassmaster Classic via Southern Open #2
Smith Lake slam dunk for Kilgore
James Overstreet
David Kilgore, who at 6′ 9″ looks better suited to basketball than bass fishing, went wire-to-wire to win the Southern Open #2.
At 6-feet, 9-inches, Jasper, Alabama’s David Kilgore appears better suited to basketball than bass fishing.
His victory at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Allstate was an impressive slam-dunk.
Kilgore lead the tournament from start to finish. His three-day tally of 54-pounds, 11 ounces of chunky largemouth and spotted bass earned him $6,741 and a Nitro Z9 powered by a Mercury 225 Pro XS. Even more important is an invitation to compete in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.
Ashley adds to lead at Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell presented by Ranger Boats – FLW Communications
Pro leader Casey Ashley caught a 15-pound, 7-ounce limit Saturday and increased his lead to over 9 pounds with one day of competition remaining. (Photo by Brett Carlson)
Texan Redington wins Co-Angler title, $25,000
08.Mar.2014
SENECA, S.C. – Walmart FLW Tour competitors arrived to Lake Hartwell early Saturday morning only to find a thick blanket of fog that forced FLW Tournament Director Bill Taylor to delay takeoff. After approximately a three-hour delay, anglers were allowed to start day three of the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Ranger Boats. Local pro Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., increased his lead after again bringing the largest five-bass limit of the day to the scale weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces.
Ashley’s three-day total of 52 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a commanding 9-pound, 10-ounce lead over pro Clent Davis of Montevallo, Ala., heading into the fourth and final day of competition in the tournament that features the world’s best bass-fishing anglers casting for the top cash award of up to $125,000.
“I was really worried because we had such a short day today,” said Ashley, who is seeking his first Walmart FLW Tour win. “I’m not catching a lot of fish in one place, and I’m having to move around a lot. I’ve still got some stuff that I haven’t even fished yet, just because of time. It takes some time to keep fishing how I have been, and there is just not enough time in the day, especially today.
Ashley said that he wasn’t really doing anything special, and most of his fish were still coming on a jig and a shaky-head rig. After weighing in all largemouth bass on day one and mostly spotted bass on day two, Ashley brought a mixed bag to the scale on day three consisting of two largemouth and three spots.
“I’m going to go out there tomorrow and just pound on them,” Ashley said. “If I catch them, I catch them. If I don’t, I don’t.
“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. This is the greatest feeling ever – to do well in your home state. You can’t take away from winning anywhere, but winning this close to home would mean a lot. Most of the time I have to scratch and claw to get where I’m going. Taking a 10-pound lead into the final day is new to me, but I’m ready for it.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake Hartwell are:
1st: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 15 bass, 52-11
2nd: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 43-1
3rd: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 41-9
4th: Repel pro Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 40-0
5th: Ryan Davidson, Huntington, W. Va., 15 bass, 38-9
6th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 11 bass, 35-8
7th: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 12 bass, 35-1
8th: George Foreman pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., 13 bass, 34-4
9th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 13 bass, 34-2
10th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 13 bass, 33-12
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 15 bass, 32-10, $12,000
12th: Barton Aiken, Greenville, S.C., 10 bass, 31-11, $12,000
13th: Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla., 12 bass, 30-14, $12,000
14th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 11 bass, 29-13, $12,000
15th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 11 bass, 28-14, $12,000
16th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 28-6, $12,000
17th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 11 bass, 27-1, $12,000
18th: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 11 bass, 26-15, $12,000
19th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., nine bass, 26-0, $12,000
20th: Rayovac pro Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., 10 bass, 25-2, $12,000
Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Day-one Dave delivers co-angler title – FLW Communications
Day-one Dave delivers co-angler title
Co-angler David Redington celebrates with his older brother Tom Redington after winning the FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell. (Photo by Brett Carlson)
Texas rookie wins Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell
08.Mar.2014 by Brett Carlson
SENECA, S.C. – Despite being a Walmart FLW Tour rookie, David Redington was developing a reputation back home in Texas for starting bass tournaments with a bang. The only problem was that he tended not to back up those strong day-one weights. That trend followed him to the FLW Tour where in his first tournament he caught 14 pounds, 12 ounces on opening day at Lake Okeechobee. True to form, he only boxed two keepers on day two and slid down the leaderboard.
Day-one Dave caught them again at Lake Hartwell, opening his week in second place with 13 pounds, 11 ounces. But this time, he bucked the trend on day two and caught the heaviest co-angler stringer of the entire tournament – a whopping 17-pound, 13-ounce limit that had even the best pros in awe. He needed all of that weight because on a shortened day three (3-hour fog delay) he failed to bring in a keeper bass. His 6-pound, 10-ounce cushion was just enough to hold off hard-charging Todd Lee.
“When we came off the water, I thought there was no chance I won,” said Redington, the younger brother of FLW Tour pro and Lake Fork guide Tom Redington. “I was just hoping to stay in the top five. It almost doesn’t feel right.”
While brother Tom favors reading electronics and understanding the offshore game, the younger Redington prefers shallow-water fishing. Without any practice, he figured his best chance this week was to throw a big-fish bait and hope for quality versus quantity.
“Everything I caught this week was on a custom vibrating jig with a Lake Fork Live Magic Shad as a trailer. I have a buddy in Dallas that makes them for me and they are awesome.”
Redington used three colors on the vibrating jig – tilapia, watermelon red and white. His swimbait was 3 1/2 inches in length.
Ashley widens home-lake lead on Day 2 at Lake Hartwell March 7th 2014
Ashley widens home-lake lead
Pro leader Casey Ashley holds up part of his 15-pound, 13-ounce day-two stringer. (Photo by Brett Carlson)
Local stick switches to spotted bass on rainy, miserable second day
07.Mar.2014 by Brett Carlson
SENECA, S.C. – It was inconceivable to think the conditions could get any worse at the Walmart FLW Tour event, but that’s exactly what happened on day two at Lake Hartwell. In addition to the wind and cold, steady rain pounded the field and changed the water color in many of Hartwell’s popular creeks from stained to burnt orange.
The bite changed for pro leader Casey Ashley, but he was still able to build his lead to nearly 3 pounds. Instead of catching mainly largemouths, today Ashley weighed four sizeable spots and just one bucketmouth.
“Yesterday was really a freak thing,” said Ashley who lives in nearby Donalds, S.C. “I made every right move yesterday. It took me until 1 p.m. to get a limit today, but then I culled six or seven times. It’s slow fishing. I’m picking off one here, and one there. I was able to fish some new stuff today because the wind blew out of another direction and I was able to fish where I couldn’t get to yesterday.”
Ashley said that he has been catching most of his fish this week on a jig and a shaky head. The lone largemouth that he weighed Friday came via a swimbait in the back of a creek, something he rarely throws. Other than starting each morning on schooling fish, Ashley’s overall pattern is still unclear.
“I’m spending a lot of time in the right areas and just fishing methodically and precisely. The sun doesn’t really help or hurt me. The fish that I am catching now are relating to what they relate to for different reasons. They just live there, like a brush pile under a dock.”
With a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 4 ounces, Ashley has nearly a 3-pound lead at the halfway point in the tournament.
“This is a dream come true to fish a big tournament on your home waters like this and have it work. The weather has been nasty, but it’s changing every day. I’m just taking it day by day, because I know that the fish are going to change, too. Right now, they are not real active. I think that if we get another warming trend we’ll get another wave of them to pull up. I’ve got three Shad Raps tied on just waiting for that bite to emerge.
The top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Lake Hartwell are:
1st: Casey Ashley, Donalds, S.C., 10 bass, 37-4
2nd: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 34-8
3rd: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 10 bass, 33-14
4th: Barton Aiken, Greenville, S.C., 10 bass, 31-11
5th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-12
6th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 28-12
7th: Ryan Davidson, Huntington, W. Va., 10 bass, 28-8
8th: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-2
9th: Randall Tharp, Port St. Joe, Fla., 10 bass, 28-2
10th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 10 bass, 27-11
11th: George Foreman pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 27-4
12th: Repel pro Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 27-2
13th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 10 bass, 27-2
14th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 26-10
15th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-10
16th: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 25-8
17th: Rayovac pro Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., 10 bass, 25-2
18th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., eight bass, 25-1
19th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., eight bass, 25-0
20th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 10 bass, 24-15
Kilgore Cruising at Smith Lake Open by: BASS Communications
The cold, wet, miserable weather that brutalized the fishermen yesterday at Smith Lake was nowhere to be seen today at the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Southern Open presented by Allstate. After the fog lifted this morning, the lake and the anglers were bathed in bright, warm sunshine.
Many anglers that struggled yesterday blamed the bone-chilling weather for their slow start. Those that did wellyesterday wished for more nasty weather.
A few of the fishermen that did well yesterday believed they would fare even better today if the sun came out of hiding. One of them was local angler David Kilgore of Jasper, Ala., the leader after Day 1.
“The sun helped me a lot today,” Kilgore said. “It was just what I wanted.”
ULM Leads FLW College Fishing Championship Again by: FLW Communications
University of Louisiana-Monroe teammates Nick LaDart and Brian Eaton (left) maintained their overall lead at the 2014 FLW College Fishing National Championship with a total, two-day catch of 24 pounds, 15 ounces. (Photo by Gary Mortenson)
Defending national champions in strong position to repeat at 2014 FLW College National Championship on Lake Keowee
07.Mar.2014 by Gary Mortenson
SENECA, S.C. – Day two proved to be a lot more difficult than the opening round session for the defending national champions on Lake Keowee. For starters, the University of Louisiana-Monroe team of Brian Easton and Nick LaDart had some significant problems with their trolling motor which forced them to head back to the marina and miss valuable fishing time. Secondly, plenty of their key fishing spots dried up today, which caused them to scramble around for alternatives. Thirdly the team only managed to produce a four-fish stringer weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces in today’s competition – nearly half of what the duo hauled in on Thursday.
However, by the end of the day, Eaton and LaDart found themselves – somewhat amazingly – still atop the leaderboard heading into Saturday’s all-important final day of competition. With the pressure growing with each passing day as defending national champions, the team finally was able to breathe a sigh of relief after the last team brought their fish to the scales.
“Man, it was tough today,” said LaDart. “We had trolling motor problems, battery problems and we had to come back to the marina to get them fixed. We really wasted a lot of time today. The conditions really changed on us as well. The fishing changed. Everything kind of changed. And when we finally had a chance to run to our spots from yesterday and we didn’t get a bite.”
While the day started off as an almost unmitigated disaster, things turned around as quickly as they had soured earlier in the morning.
“Over the last couple of hours we caught three fish – two in the last few minutes of the day,” said LaDart. “And that saved us. We only had six bites all day. And we only had five bites yesterday. I just hope that it’s not going to cost us that we weren’t able to get that fifth fish in the boat. But we really battled out there today.”
Eaton and LaDart did manage to bring four spotted bass to the scales. But the defending champs know that without some quality largemouth kickers, their chances of defending their title will be close to slim and none.
“We got those spots but not the largemouth that we needed,” said Eaton. “I think the rain hurt us as well. I just wish we had more time to fish today. It was too little, too late.”
LaDart said that although the fishing dried up earlier in the day, their change in luck corresponded almost directly with the appearance of the sun.
“As soon as the sun came out we got our first bite,” said LaDart. “On Keowee, the fishing is really starting to pick up later in the day. And I think because of that, this tournament is going to be won during the very last hour on Saturday. Because when that water warms up, the fish really turn on.”
The team also said it was throwing reaction baits most of the day, covering as much water as possible.
“The bottom contours are really important to us as well,” said LaDart, who didn’t want to divulge too many specifics about their particular bait and tackle choices.
However, despite the myriad setbacks today, ULM still believes it has an excellent chance to walk away with a national championship title and automatic berth in the Forrest Wood Cup – the biggest and most lucrative event in all of professional bass fishing.
“Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so that should really help us,” said Eaton. “Today was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had fishing for sure, but we’ve made the finals and have a good chance to win. Another good thing is that I think we’ll have our areas mostly to ourselves because the other teams that were fishing around us didn’t qualify. Overall, we’re happy to be in first place. We’re happy to have a chance. And that’s all you can ask for. But honestly, this tournament is anybody’s game right now.”
Lester Represents MudHole Custom Tackle by: admin
Lester Represents MudHole Custom Tackle
by: admin
While the majority of pros on the Bassmaster circuit have sizeable endorsements and unlimited finished tackle given to them, young Elite Series rookie pro Brandon Lester is finding pure satisfaction as a do-it-yourself custom rod builder.