Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury of Springville, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce, Friday to take the lead after Day Two of the Walmart FLW Tour Invitational at Lake Norman presented by Lowrance. Canterbury, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds even, will bring a slim 6-ounce lead over second-place angler Scott Beattie of Lincolnton, North Carolina, into the third and final day of competition. The field is now cut to 20 in the event that features competitors casting for a top prize of up to $85,000 and a coveted spot in the world championship of bass fishing – the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup.
“I’ve got an area that I’m fishing slowly, and another 30 spots that I’m hitting as quickly as I can,” said Canterbury, who won the regular-season FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake earlier this year. “I wouldn’t say I had a better day than yesterday, but I did bring in two more ounces of bass.
“I spent three hours working through my primary area today,” Canterbury continued. “Yesterday I caught a good limit there and culled twice before leaving. Today I only culled once. I don’t think it has the bigger fish, but they’re quality-sized. I’m finesse fishing for a limit and then going and looking for a big one.”
Canterbury said the bigger bass are feeding on bream in areas scattered around the lake.
“The bream are in shade and under docks,” said Canterbury. “A lot of bass are up shallow eating them. I’ve been throwing a buzzbait and fishing fast, just trying to get one or two bites. One of those bites gave me an additional two pounds this afternoon. I would love to be able to go after them all day, but I don’t think I could get five bites.”
The nine-year FLW Tour veteran said he plans on following the same route tomorrow.
“I’m going to run and catch as many bass as I can and try to win this thing,” said Canterbury.
The top 20 pros heading into the final day of competition on Lake Norman are:
1st: Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 24-0
2nd: Scott Beattie, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 23-10
3rd: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-7
4th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-6
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 23-1
6th: George Hirapetian, Charlotte, N.C., 10 bass, 22-14
7th: Tracy Adams, Wilkesboro, N.C., 10 bass, 22-9
8th: William Shelton, La Crosse, Va., 10 bass, 22-5
9th: Quaker State pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 22-1
10th: Michael Stephens, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 21-14
11th: Shane LeHew, Mooresville, N.C., 10 bass, 21-13
12th: Walmart pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 21-3
13th: Joseph Webster, Fulton, Miss., 10 bass, 21-3
14th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 21-2
15th: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., 10 bass, 20-15
16th: T-H Marine pro Luke Dunkin, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 20-10
17th: Chris Gosselaar, Fresno, Calif., 10 bass, 20-3
18th: Jason Meninger, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 19-12
19th: Ronald Farrow, Rock Hill, S.C., nine bass, 19-11
20th: Rodney Morrow, Hickory, N.C., 10 bass, 19-9
Overall there were 283 bass weighing 532 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 66 pros Thursday. The catch included 46 five-bass limits.
The final 20 anglers will take off from Blythe Landing Park located at 15901 N.C. Highway 73 in Huntersville at 7 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Weigh-in will be held at the park, beginning at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The Walmart FLW Tour Invitational at Lake Norman presented by Lowrance is being hosted by Visit Lake Norman, Visit Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
