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Evinrude Angler Has First Career Win at the FLW Season Opener at Sam Rayburn Reservoir
KENTUCKY’S BOLTON WINS FLW TOUR AT SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR PRESENTED BY POLARIS
KENTUCKY’S BOLTON WINS FLW TOUR AT SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR PRESENTED BY POLARIS
23-Year FLW Tour Veteran Earns First FLW Tour Win of Career, Earns $125,000
Link to HD video of Bolton’s Winning Moment
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BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 14, 2019) – After fishing the FLW Tour for 23 years, competing in his 168th career event, Rapala pro Terry Bolton of Benton, Kentucky, finally got it done. Bolton earned his first career victory in a dramatic final-day weigh-in Monday at the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale. Bolton’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 91-3 earned him the victory by a 12-ounce margin over second-place pro Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, Louisiana, and the $125,000 first-place prize.
“This is pretty big for me,” said Bolton, a 13-time FLW Cup qualifier. “I was going to retire at the end of last year, but my wife talked me into coming back. I didn’t think that I’d ever see this moment and today, it finally happened. This is only 30 years in the making right here.”
Bolton caught most of his fish throughout the event – including his entire 33-pound, 9-ounce Day Two limit – in an area that he described as a drain or void in a grassline. He said the key for him was working his crankbaits at different depths around the grasslines.
“I threw a Rapala DT10 (demon), DT14 (demon) and DT16 (Caribbean shad) to make sure that I could hit the different depths,” Bolton said. “I had one drain that was really special that I found at 3:30 on the last day of practice. I idled across it and saw them all on the depth finder, made two casts and caught a 6-pounder and a 2½-pounder. I left right away and didn’t really know what was there.
“I caught 20 pounds, 10 ounces there the first day and left it at 12:30,” Bolton continued. “Then, I pulled in the next day and got up to 27-28 pounds and was going to leave but I was afraid that a local boat would get in there. I decided to stay and then, lo and behold, I catch the 9-8 and end up weighing in 33 pounds. I don’t know if you call it dumb luck or a good decision, but staying there Friday is what won me this tournament.”
Bolton said that he also mixed in a chartreuse and white-colored ¾-ounce Accent Lures spinnerbait with double-willow blades to catch a couple of keepers throughout the week. He credited his 7-foot, 11-inch Lew’s rod paired with a Lew’s BB1 Pro reel as being crucial to his success.
“That Lew’s crankbait rod and reel combo is truly the best on the planet,” Bolton said. “The key for me was definitely the crankbaits. I had to put the bait just above them in order to get bit.”
The top 10 pros on Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:
1st: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 20 bass, 91-3
2nd: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 20 bass, 90-7
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 88-13
4th: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., 20 bass, 83-13
5th: Evinrude pro Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 20 bass, 78-7
6th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., 20 bass, 70-7
7th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, 20 bass, 67-10
8th: Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 20 bass, 67-10
9th: Sam George, Athens, Ala., 15 bass, 67-10
10th: Charles Sim, Nepean, Ontario, Canada, 19 bass, 60-2
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 49 bass weighing 160 pounds, 6 ounces caught by pros Monday. Nine of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris will premiere on the World Fishing Network (WFN) in 2019. The exact air-date will be announced soon. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the WFN, the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris was more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament was hosted by the Jasper County Development District. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats, in Kissimmee, Florida, Feb. 7-10. The tournament will be hosted Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission.
In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to fish on Saturday. Competition was postponed on Sunday due to inclement weather, so the top 10 pros continued the competition Monday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagra
Nominations Now Open For 2019 Class Of Bassmaster High School All-Americans
| Jan. 14, 2019 |
Nominations Now Open For 2019 Class Of Bassmaster High School All-Americans
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — B.A.S.S. is seeking nominations for the best and brightest high school bass anglers in the country.
The Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team recognizes the 12 most outstanding high school anglers in the nation. The program is designed to reward young athletes for their performance in tournaments, leadership in their communities and involvement in conservation efforts.
Applications for the team, which is now in its fifth year, will be accepted today through Feb. 8.
To be considered, a student must be nominated by a parent, coach, teacher or other school official. Students currently enrolled in grades 10 through 12 with a current grade point average of 2.5 or higher are eligible.
Judges will select up to two student anglers in each state. These All-State Fishing Team members will become semifinalists in the selection of the 12-member All-American Team. Criteria include success in high school fishing tournaments and involvement in conservation efforts and other community service activities.
The anglers chosen will compete in a one-day Bassmaster High School All-American fishing event to be held in conjunction with the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — one of nine regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments being held this year. Elite Series anglers will serve as “coaches” for the student anglers in the one-day fishing event near Emory, Texas. The high school standouts and Elite Series coaches will be honored before the weigh-in crowd.
“The applicants for our High School All-American program continue to amaze me with their dedication to the sport, as well as academic excellence and community involvement,” said Hank Weldon, senior manager of the Bassmaster High School program. “We’re very proud to offer a platform that recognizes successful student athletes on their many accomplishments, and we can’t wait to see what this 2019 class of anglers has in store.”
All students who compete in high school fishing events are eligible, regardless of whether they are affiliated with B.A.S.S. or another fishing organization.
Notices have been sent to youth fishing directors of the B.A.S.S. Nation and other organizations, as well as leaders of state high school fishing programs. Adults can nominate students by filling out an online form at Bassmaster.com/allamerican. Nominations must be submitted before midnight on Feb. 8.
‘Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.’
| Jan. 14, 2019 |
‘Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.’
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It’s T-minus 24 days and counting to the launch of one of the most momentous seasons in the history of professional bass fishing. With the biggest bass on the biggest stage in the sport, the 2019 Bassmaster Elite Series is making dreams reality.
“I’m really excited,” said Elite angler Bill Lowen of Brookville, Ind. “I’ve been in the Elite Series for 12 years, and today I feel just like I did right before my very first season. I can only imagine how exciting this has to be for the new guys over what I feel is fixing to take place.”
What is “fixing” to take place is a 10-event series of tournaments on some of the best big-bass lakes in the nation. The trail features a smaller field, bigger payouts per angler, lower entry fees and more media coverage than ever in the 14-year history of the nation’s premier bass fishing circuit.
Elite No. 1 gets underway Thursday, Feb. 7, on the St. Johns River at Palatka, Fla. — a storied fishery where, three years ago, four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Rick Clunn won his 15th B.A.S.S. competition at age 69. Clunn’s tournament heroics included a five-bass limit weighing 31 pounds, 7 ounces. The St. Johns River is also where Florida-native Cliff Prince landed the largest bass in Elite Series competition since 2016, weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces.
Monstrous catches like that are part of the reason B.A.S.S. and the Elite anglers have adopted the mantra, “Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.” to describe the Elite Series in 2019.
Big Bass
“We’re visiting some of the hottest fisheries at the best times this year to catch the biggest bass,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “If you want to talk ‘Big Bass’, this is the tried-and-true tournament format that rewards anglers who have the skill to catch the heaviest five-bass limits each day. We can’t wait to see what our anglers bring to the scales from the waters of places like the St. Johns River, Lake Guntersville, Lake Fork and the St. Lawrence River.”
Big Stage
With more than 130,000 fans attending Elite events on average the past five years and the unparalleled media exposure for the Bassmaster Elite Series, B.A.S.S. continues, by far, to be the “Big Stage” in professional fishing. Bass fishing’s digital flagship, Bassmaster.com, averages 1.8 million page views on competition days, while Bassmaster LIVE in Elite events (excluding the Classic) reach more than 2.2 million fans. In addition, the 2019 Elite Series will include 214 hours of television coverage on ESPN networks and the Pursuit Channel, reach millions of readers of Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times magazines, and receive extensive coverage by independent media nationwide.
Elite angler Chris Zaldain said media coverage already has been remarkable. “I was averaging one major interview per day leading up to the Christmas break,” he said. “My social media following has been growing every single day. Fishing fans will have a lot to see and digest this year.”
Big Dreams
Part of the buzz is attributed to the new field size, with 75 anglers now competing on the Elite Series. The lineup includes 40 Elite anglers returning from the 2018 season joined by a mix of top-ranked Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens anglers, former Elite Series anglers and a handful of accomplished pros from other circuits. Five new international anglers from three continents also add a new element to the competition.
Akin added, “For many, if not all of them, this season fulfills a lifelong dream. At least six of the new Elite anglers worked their way up from our grass-roots program, the B.A.S.S. Nation, and 15 out of the 75 are former standouts on their college fishing teams who clawed their way to the pinnacle of professional fishing through the Bassmaster Opens.”
Elite angler Matt Herren says he’s pleased to see the “new blood” in the Elite Series. “I’m really looking forward to it. I’m really excited about the year. There are a lot of fresh faces and fresh attitudes — positive attitudes — among the anglers. The fans are positive, too. I looked around Lake Lanier and the St. Johns River a couple of days before the cutoff, and the folks I ran into in both areas are really looking forward to us coming to their areas.”
A two-time tournament champion and four-time Classic qualifier, Zaldain is impressed with the newcomers’ fishing skills, as well.
“I’m waiting for that one tournament finish where someone says, ‘Oh, the competition is diluted,’” he said. “It’s not diluted. It’s just as fierce as it has been. Maybe we’ve never heard of some of these guys, but a quarter of the way through this season, the fishing community is going to know who these guys are. They’re no slouches, and there won’t be any ‘gimmes.’”
Adding to the thrill of the approaching season is the knowledge that 40 of the 75 Elite anglers will qualify for the 2020 Bassmaster Classic, the 50th edition of what is inarguably the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing.
Lowen, a nine-time Classic qualifier, said he is motivated to return to the world championship.
“As a kid growing up, all I wanted was to fish the Classic,” he said. “That’s where you want to be. It’s the biggest stage there is.”
For more information and to follow the 2019 Bassmaster Elite Series action, visit Bassmaster.com.
2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule
Event
Elite No. 1
Elite No. 2
Elite No. 3
Elite No. 4
Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest Lake Fork Emory, Texas May 2-6
Elite No.6
Elite No. 7
Elite No. 8
Elite No. 9
Toyota Bassmaster AOY Championship
Positioning for the Future St.Croix Rods
Positioning for the Future
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Park Falls, WI (January 14, 2019) – St. Croix Rod CEO Paul Schluter announced a planned transition of leadership to St. Croix Team Members on January 3. Sometime in 2019, Schluter will step aside from his current role with the Park Falls, Wisconsin-based company. Paul will continue serving as a member of St. Croix’s Board of Directors, guiding strategy and monitoring performance, along with his sister Pamela Smylie, and brothers Jeff and Dave, and Chairman, John Smylie.
An internal and external search for a new CEO is underway.
Not retiring, Paul is stepping aside to allow the next CEO and trusted management team to advance the company in alignment with the goals established by St. Croix’s Board of Directors. Timely to this transition, St. Croix has adopted a Balanced Scorecard approach to operationalize and measure company performance.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity my father gave me at St. Croix. I can’t imagine a more rewarding experience,” said Paul. “We’re a family company and will continue being so. To me, it’s wonderful how we work together with the St. Croix team to create great fishing experiences.
“Someone else will be responsible for the daily operation of St.Croix, and I’ll be freer to focus on those aspects of the business which I love best.”
Brothers Dave, Jeff & Paul Schluter.
Paul’s journey with St. Croix started in 1983 when Gordon hired him to manage retailer accounts in Minnesota. A year later, Paul was promoted to Sales Manager. In 1989, Gordon stepped aside, and Paul assumed the role of President. Brothers Paul, Jeff and Dave, along with sister Pam purchased St. Croix from Gordon and Irene in 1990.
For 40 of its 70 years in business, St. Croix has been owned by the Schluter family…and continues to be today.
From day one, St. Croix has completely controlled the rod manufacturing process, which is a source of great pride for Paul. “We own and operate two state-of-the-art facilities, including the core operation at our headquarters in Park Falls, Wisconsin, where we engineer and handcraft a broad spectrum of rods for all types of freshwater, saltwater and fly fishing.” Paul adds that St. Croix does not reverse-engineer rods or source from overseas contractors. St. Croix rods are organic from butt to tip…
It’s this dedication to building premium species and technique-specific rods that has helped catapult St. Croix’s growth, as well as garner substantial accolades from the fishing trade. Since 2012, St. Croix has won 11 ICAST (International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trade) New Product Showcase “Best of Show” awards, spanning the freshwater, saltwater and fly-fishing categories.
“Bringing those first two ICAST awards back to Park Falls and sharing the victory with our employees, our extended family, was a watershed moment for St. Croix,” said Paul. “It galvanized, and validated, all of the hard work and dedication that goes into building the Best Rods on Earth.”
American Sportfishing Association’s (ASA) President, Glenn Hughes, spoke of Paul’s commitment to the organization, ICAST and greater wellbeing of the fishing industry: “Paul Schluter, and St. Croix Rod, have been leaders in the sportfishing industry for many years. Paul has always been committed to the success of the association and the entire sportfishing community.
“Paul served on ASA’s Board of Directors for eight years, as well, he served on several committees, including the Trade Show, Consumer Shows and Nominating Committees. The industry is a better place because of Paul’s involvement and leadership over these past 30 years.”
Beyond the ICAST award-winners, St. Croix has literally created rod categories, as well as influenced others. In 2008, the company introduced the iconic Mojo Bass series. The rod’s craftsmanship, componentry and technique-specific applications forever changed consumer expectations in its price-range.
In the realm of timelessness, St. Croix introduced the USA-made Premier series 60 years ago. It remains one of St. Croix’s best-selling rods, covering every freshwater application with 80 unique models in the series.
“Every angler deserves the best fishing experience possible, and St. Croix is positioned to deliver that to a growing number of anglers in all parts of the world,” said Paul.
After 36 years of fulltime employment at St. Croix, Paul is planning to spend more time fishing with a modest handful of the Best Rods on Earth.
This CEO recruitment process is being managed by LymanDoran. Interested candidates should contact Nora Klaphake at [email protected].
DAY FOUR OF FLW TOUR AT SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER
DAY FOUR OF FLW TOUR AT SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER
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BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 13, 2019) – Sunday’s Day Four of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented Polaris has been postponed due to inclement weather. The top 10 anglers scheduled to fish the final day of competition will now compete Monday to close out the season-opening tournament.
Strong winds moved into the area Saturday afternoon and continued throughout the night, creating rough conditions on Rayburn and forcing FLW officials to make the decision to push back the final day.
“After speaking with the entire team, including our pro anglers, we all feel that the best decision to be made for this event is to go ahead and cancel today and finish it up tomorrow,” says FLW Tour Tournament Director Bill Taylor. “The weather conditions are much more favorable for it tomorrow.”
The final 10-angler field will launch at a delayed start time of 8 a.m. CST on Monday in order to give Tour pros better visibility on the water. The added time will also allow for winds to subside and Rayburn’s waters to calm before takeoff. Anglers will still check in at 3:30 p.m., as originally planned. Weigh-in and takeoff will be held at the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 Sam Rayburn Parkway, in Brookeland.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.
The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will now air Monday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Travis Moran will be joined by veteran FLW Tour pro Todd Hollowell to break down the extended action from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagra
About FLW
How To Catch More Bass This Winter – MTB
How To Catch More Bass This Winter
During the wintertime, a key to finding big bass is deeper water with a quick access to the shallows.
Big bass seek deeper water for its warmer temperature zone, yet the fish like to have a spot with a short route to the shallows. This spot allows bass to move up quickly into the shallows on warmer days to feed, but the fish can quickly drop into the comfort of the deep warmer water when wintry weather turns nasty.
Defining Depths For Winter Bass Fishing
Defining deep water depends on where you fish throughout the country. A depth change of 2 feet or 20 feet could be a good wintertime bass hideout depending on the geographic location of the fishery.
The water is too cold at the average depth of the flat (about 10 feet deep), so the bass seek out the deepest water they can find for a comfort zone. If you find key vertical cover on parts of that ditch or where there is a lot of forage ganged up you can really find larger bass stacked up. On a natural shallow lake in Florida, the best winter big bass hideout could be a hole 6 feet deep at the edge of hydrilla. There might be only a 2-foot drop from the edge of the vegetation into the hole, but big bass seek refuge there because it is the deepest water in the area.
Best Places To Fish In The Winter
Favorite wintertime spots for big bass vary depending on the body of water. On shallow, lowland reservoirs look for cover such as old house foundations, stump rows and brush piles close to ditches or creek channels.
In the highland reservoirs try to get up in the rivers to fish the bends and turns that have a lot cleaner rock and a lot more vertical drops or bluff points.
The best big bass locations on reservoirs are holes. Big bass really group up in holes in the winter if you have a lake where the average depth is less than what is adequate for the fish to stay in a more stable environment.
An example of a big bass wintering hole is a ditch 20 to 30 feet deep in the middle of a long creek arm featuring an expansive flat.
Where To Look For Winter Bass
You can search for winter big bass hideouts with your electronics. Use the side scan and down imaging features to find the key piece on an area. With side imaging you get a better feel of where those fish are and why they are holding in one spot. For instance when there is an old creek channel that makes a hard bend and there is a big stump row on an outside turn, which is usually a deeper hole than the rest of the creek channel. Spots like that are usually big bass magnets.
Weather conditions can determine which wintertime big bass spots will produce best for you. Lots of sun shining on a winter hideout can be a bonus. You should take the sunshine into consideration but don’t weigh that as heavily as the other factors such as where the fish are coming from, the rocks, the vertical aspect of the spot or the forage. Good spots do become better with sun exposure but it is not a factor in making a nothing spot into a good spot.
How Does Weather Affect Winter Bass?
Wind plays more of a role in determining which winter big bass hideouts to target each day. On sunny days, key on spots receiving the most wind because it causes the warmer surface water to mix with the cooler lower layers of water to warm up the spot a few degrees. The most productive lures for working these spots are crankbaits, suspending jerkbaits and spinnerbaits that can be fished at mid-depth levels.
During cloudy days, concentrate on the deepest winter hangouts where big bass hug the bottom. The best lures for probing these deep spots are a jig or lipless ratting crankbait. So if you want to catch a wall hanger bass this winter, look for a deep hole with quick access to a shallow feeding area.
KENTUCKY’S BOLTON HOLDS LEAD ON DAY THREE OF FLW TOUR AT SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR PRESENTED BY POLARIS
KENTUCKY’S BOLTON HOLDS LEAD ON DAY THREE OF FLW TOUR AT SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR PRESENTED BY POLARIS
23-Year FLW Tour Veteran Closes In on First Win in Texas Shoot-Out
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BROOKELAND, Texas (Jan. 12, 2019) – It was more of the same Saturday on Day Three of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented Polaris – big limits, big bass and big smiles from tournament leader Rapala pro Terry Bolton of Benton, Kentucky. Bolton weighed a solid five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 10 ounces to maintain his lead heading into Championship Sunday in the tournament which features 170 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals competing for a top prize of up to $125,000.
The field is now trimmed to the final 10 pros for Sunday, and Bolton (15 bass, 73-13) will start with a 4-pound, 12-ounce lead over second-place pro Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, Louisiana, (15 bass, 69-1) who led the first day of competition. Also in contention for the win in third place is the angler considered by many to be the best in the world, Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, (15 bass, 68-14). Bolton and LeBrun are both seeking their first career Tour win – Lebrun in his first career Tour event – while Thrift has six career wins and surpassed Andy Morgan Saturday for the most career top-10 finishes in FLW Tour competition with 40.
“I’ve had a blast this week,” said Bolton, who is fishing in his 168th career FLW Tour event – tied for 5th most all-time. “This lake is fishing phenomenal. I mainly fished the same areas that I have been all week today, but I also tried some new ones. I caught some keepers, but nothing that would really help me. I probably didn’t catch quite as many today, but the wind was a factor.”
Bolton estimated that he caught around 40 fish Saturday, throwing the Rapala DT14 and DT16 crankbaits that used to bring 33 pounds to the scale Friday but also mixing in a ¾-ounce Accent spinnerbait.
“I weighed in one bass on it today,” Bolton said about the spinnerbait. “I caught them with it on the first day, but not the second. I throw it when it’s sunny, to see if I can get quality.”
Bolton has been in this position before, leading an FLW Tour event going into the final day. He has two second-place Tour finishes, two third-place Tour finishes, and four fifth-place Tour finishes. But, the victory has eluded him. His 168 career events without a victory is the most among active FLW Tour pros. Bolton, however, said that he’s not feeling the pressure and just enjoying the moment and going fishing.
“One thing that I’ve learned out here on the Tour is that when it’s your time, it’s your time – you can’t stop it. And if it’s not your time, there’s nothing that you can do about it. So I might as well enjoy it. I’m going to get to fish the final day, on a great fishery. Would I love to win? Sure, it’d be very big for me. But is it the end all, be all, stomp my feet and go home mad if I don’t win? No.
“I’ve been very fortunate this week and I’ve had a lot of fun. We’re going to do the same thing tomorrow.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are:
1st: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 15 bass, 73-13
2nd: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 15 bass, 69-1
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 68-14
4th: Evinrude pro Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 62-13
5th: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., 15 bass, 60-11
6th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 56-12
7th: Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 15 bass, 54-13
8th: Sam George, Athens, Ala., 15 bass, 54-3
9th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., 15 bass, 52-9
10th: Charles Sim, Nepean, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 52-3
Finishing in 11th through 30th are:
11th: Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Va., 15 bass, 51-9, $12,000
12th: Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., 15 bass, 51-8, $12,000
13th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 50-6, $12,000
14th: Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 50-4, $12,000
15th: Kyle Cortiana, Coweta, Okla., 15 bass, 50-1, $12,000
16th: Timmy Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 15 bass, 49-9, $11,500
17th: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., 15 bass, 49-3, $11,500
18th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 49-3, $11,500
19th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 15 bass, 49-1, $11,500
20th: Kurt Mitchell, Milford, Del., 15 bass, 48-15, $11,500
21st: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 48-0, $10,500
22nd: Andy Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., 15 bass, 47-14, $10,500
23rd: Derek Fulps, Broken Arrow, Okla., 15 bass, 47-10, $10,500
24th: Billy Shelton III, La Crosse, Va., 13 bass, 46-11, $10,500
25th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 44-15, $10,500
26th: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 15 bass, 44-4, $10,500
27th: Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 15 bass, 44-3, $10,500
28th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 44-2, $10,500
29th: Jon Englund, Farwell, Minn., 15 bass, 43-14, $10,500
30th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 15 bass, 42-10, $10,500
Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 148 bass weighing 443 pounds, 11 ounces caught by pros Saturday, Twenty-nine of the final 30 pros were able to bring a five-bass limit to the scale.
In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to fish on Saturday. Now, only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris is more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament is hosted by the Jasper County Development District.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11, and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
Anglers will take off for the final day of competition at 7 a.m. CST Sunday from the Umphrey Family Pavilion, located at 5438 Sam Rayburn Parkway, in Brookeland. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will also be held at the pavilion, beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-in Sunday FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Umphrey Family Pavilion from 2 to 6 p.m. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.
The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Travis Moran will be joined by veteran FLW Tour pro Todd Hollowell to break down the extended action from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagra
2019 American Bass Anglers Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tour
2019 Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tour
Athens, AL. American Bass Anglers (ABA) announced today the 2019 season for the Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tour (AFT). The tour is a draw format that offers more than seventy divisions with 600-900 tournaments per season across the eastern half of the United States. Members of ABA qualify for the year-end national championship by competing locally in a minimum of four one-day divisional qualifying events and a Divisional two-day championship.
The 2019 Championship will be held on Lake Eufaula, in Eufaula, AL October 13-18, 2019. After competing in their local divisional two-day championships, the top 500 anglers by points are invited to compete in the Championship.
Each AFT division schedules six to ten one-day events and a year-end divisional championship. Members point standings are based on their best four one-day events and their best two-day divisional championship. Many members fish multiple divisions, and they accrue points both within the division(s) and nationally.
In the 2019 Angler of the Year program, divisions will be able to submit more anglers as finalist to the program based on annual participation within their division. A division’s Angler of the Year is the top angler by points within a division who has fished in four one-day tournaments and one two-day divisional championship and fished all five of these events within a division.
• All divisions top points holder (Division Angler of the Year) will advance to the Championship Angler of Year program
• Divisions that average 20 or more anglers will submit one additional finalist to the Angler of Year program (total of two). The additional finalist must be second place by points in the division; no substitutions will be allowed.
• Divisions that average 30 or more anglers will submit two additional finalists to the Angler of Year program (total of three). The additional two finalist must be second and third place by points in the division; no substitutions will be allowed.
• Divisions that average 40 or more anglers will submit three additional finalists to the Angler of Year program (total of four). The additional three finalist must be second, third and fourth place by points in the division; no substitutions will be allowed.
• Divisions that average 50 or more anglers will submit four additional finalists to the Angler of Year program (total of five). The additional four finalist must be second, third, fourth and fifth place by points in the division; no substitutions will be allowed.
The Angler of the Year finalists will compete at the National Championship for the title of Angler of the Year. The highest finishing AOY finalist at the National Championship will be awarded Angler of the Year and win a Triton Bass Boat rigged with a Mercury Marine Outboard.
How are points awarded?
One-day Divisional events are worth up to 200 points for first place with a one-point separation per place. Anglers not catching a fish at a one-day qualifier will be awarded 50 show points. Here is an example of points awarded at a one-day event with 20 anglers.
1st – 200, 2nd – 199, 3rd – 198, 4th – 197, 5th – 196, 6th – 195, 7th – 194, 8th – 193, 9th – 192, 10th – 191, 11th – 190, 12th – 189, 13th – 188, 14th – 187, 15th – 186, 16th – 185, 17th – 184, 18th – 183, 19th – 182, 20 – 181.
Two-day Divisional Championships are worth up to 400 points for first place with a two-point separation per place. Anglers not catching a fish at a two-day Divisional Championship will be awarded 100 show points. Here is an example of points awarded at a one-day event with 20 anglers.
1st – 400, 2nd – 398, 3rd – 396, 4th – 394, 5th – 392, 6th – 390, 7th – 388, 8th – 386, 9th – 384, 10th – 382, 11th – 380, 12th – 378, 13th – 376, 14th – 374, 15th – 372, 16th – 370, 17th – 368, 18th – 366, 19th – 364, 20 – 362.
A perfect score for the season nationally and within a division is a maximum 1,200 points.
What is the advantage of counting only your best four one-days and your best two-day championship? It allows you to only use your best tournament finishes for both your divisional and national points to qualify for the Championship and Angler of the Year Program.
The 2019 Championship will offer two more Triton Bass Boats rigged with a Mercury Marine Outboards. One will be awarded to the winner of the Championship, the second will be given away by a drawing held at the awards banquet on Friday night. To qualify for the draw boat, you must compete in the championship and be in attendance on Friday night when the drawing is held.
The only fishing rule change for 2019: The use of the A-Rig/Umbrella Rig will no longer be banned. There are simply too many forms of the Umbrella Rig to monitor, the ability to use them and which configuration will be left to the state law(s) that governs their use.
Entry fees remain the lowest in the country for the weekend angler at $70 for a one-day event, $140 for a divisional championship and $170 for the National Championship.
Anglers can register for events online or in person the morning of the tournament. Anglers should register 10 days prior to the event in order to prevent a five-dollar late fee. Angler registering onsite and becoming a member or renewing their membership are not charged a late fee.
Other ways to avoid paying a late fee:
• Active Duty Military
• Life Member
• Platinum Members
• Visiting Director
• Hall of Fame Members
Why fish the Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tour?
1. Guaranteed use of your boat in all events! The top 250 anglers at the end of the season get guaranteed use of their boat at the 2019 Championship.
2. Low Entry Fees $70 for one-day event
3. Qualify for the National Championship by fishing close to home.
4. National Coverage – Directors provide results and information which is posted on americanbassanglers.com
5. No meetings. Just show up the morning of the event and register.
6. Be apart the largest weekend angler tournament circuit and community in the country.
7. Large year-end Championship with three new Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, and many draw prizes and awards.
8. One of the big reasons our members tell us why they fish the AFT is how many close friends they have made over the years. It’s about being a part of something much larger and shared interest.
Ray Scott said it best, “You will never learn as much by fishing with the same person as you do by fishing with different anglers, this is the single best way to learn how catch more bass.”
Learn more about American Bass Anglers and the Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tour at AmericanBassAnglers.com or call your local director or call American Bass Anglers at (256)232-0406
American Bass Anglers commitment is to provide low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers and the Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tour, the Bass Pro Shops Open Series, the Bass Pro Shops Team Tour, or the Bass Pro Shops Couples Series visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
American Bass Anglers, Inc. is supported by Triton Boats, Mercury Outboards, Hydrowave, T-H Marine, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Garmin, Maui Jim, Power Pole, SiriusXM, and GEICO. American Bass Anglers, Inc. can be contacted at (256) 232-0406 or visit AmericanBassAnglers.com.
Jigging Rap Fishing 101: How To Fish A Jigging Rap Like A Pro
Jigging Rap Fishing 101: How To Fish A Jigging Rap Like A Pro
My home waters of Lake of the Ozarks never freezes solid enough to try these baits under ice, but I have been fishing at nearby Table Rock Lake with guides who have shown me how they use this lure to catch suspended bass during the wintertime. The lure falling in a tantalizing circle when it’s yo-yoed or bounced off the bottom is simply irresistible to the largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass the guides are targeting.
Fishing Jigging Raps During The Winter
When Table Rock guides notice wintertime bass start ignoring their jigging spoons and plastic grubs, they change to a Rapala Jigging Rap for their vertical presentation. The rap bait has a different look than a spoon and falls a lot more erratically, which closely mimics the action of a dying threadfin shad.
When vertical jigging 30 to 50 feet deep, the guides use a 3/4-ounce jigging rap in chrome-and-blue or white colors. They impart action to the lure by quickly raising their rods 2 to 3 feet high and then slowly dropping it. The key to the presentation is to allow the lure to fall on a slack line to give the lure its best action and then slowly lower your rod tip to follow the bait as it’s falling.
Jigging Rap Hacks
One of the craziest ways (yet deadly effective) I have seen a guide use the jigging rap is with a three-lure setup he called the “Cluster Rig.” His rig consisted of a swivel tied 4 to 5 inches above two 4-inch drop shot worms attached to number 4 baitholder hooks and a Rapala Jigging Rap. He tied all three lures with Palomar knots and spaced them about 18 inches apart with the 2 3/4-inch Jigging Rap (chrome blue or silver) on the bottom for weight.
Once he found baitfish on his depth finder, the guide dropped his rig and watched to see if any bass moved up to inspect his offering. He employed a dead-stick presentation holding his rod very still so the only action imparted to the lure was from boat movement.
For bass hugging the bottom as deep as 80 feet, the guide let the Jigging Rap hit the lake’s floor and then would reel the rig slowly to the top to trigger strikes.
