Georgia’s Johnson Continues to Pace Co-Anglers
Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., brought a five-bass limit to the scales weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces to take the lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Eufaula presented by Straight Talk Wireless. Thrift’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 37-5 gives him a 2-pound, 7-ounce lead over second-place pro Randy Haynes of Counce, Tenn., heading into day three of the four-day competition featuring the world’s best bass-fishing anglers casting for the top cash award of up to $125,000.
“I’m fishing at least 50 different spots throughout the day,” said Thrift, who has two previous top-10 finishes at Lake Eufaula in FLW competition.”I’m pulling in and making four or five casts, and then I’m moving somewhere else. All of the big fish that I have caught over the last two days have been biting on the first or second cast.
“Every stop I make, there is something down there- hard spots, standing timber, brush piles- something that is up off of the bottom a couple of feet,” Thrift continued.”If you make the right cast and they are there, they’re going to bite it.”
Thrift said that he found and marked all of these areas during his practice period.
“I spent 12 hours a day idling around for three days,” the Chevy pro said.”It was boring, it was hot and it was not very fun.”
Thrift said that his areas were mainly offshore, and varied in depths from 6 to 15 feet. He said that he only caught seven keeper fish throughout the entire day, and three of them were well under 2 pounds. Thrift also said that he was using only one bait, but was not yet ready to divulge any specifics.
“There’s really no rhyme or reason to it,” Thrift said about his areas.”I can’t tell which spots I’m going to get a bite out of. I caught a 5?-pounder today where I never had a bite yesterday. The spot where I caught two 5-pounders yesterday, I never had a bite today. It’s just totally random, and you just have to keep running and have the confidence that sooner or later you are going to pull up on the right place and make that right cast and catch a good one.”
The top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Lake Eufaula are:
1st: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift Shelby, N.C. 10 bass 37-5
2nd: Randy Haynes Counce, Tenn. 10 bass 34-14
3rd: Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney Palm Bay, Fla. 10 bass 34-6
4th: Justin Lucas Guntersville, Ala. eight bass 33-9
5th: Scott Martin Clewiston, Fla. 10 bass 31-15
6th: Andy Morgan Dayton, Tenn. 10 bass 31-13
7th: Kelley Jaye Dadeville, Ala. 10 bass 31-7
8th: Joe Don Setina Pittsburg, Texas seven bass 31-4
9th: John Devere Berea, Ky. eight bass 30-7
10th: Stetson Blaylock Benton, Ark. 10 bass 30-5
11th: Castrol pro David Dudley Lynchburg, Va. 10 bass 29-13
12th: EverStart pro Randall Tharp Gardendale, Ala. 10 bass 29-1
13th: Ray Meredith Smiths Grove, Ky. 10 bass 28-13
14th: Dan Morehead Paducah, Ky. 10 bass 28-13
15th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi Prosperity, S.C. 10 bass 28-13
16th: Jason Meninger Gainesville, Ga. 10 bass 28-8
17th: Todd Hollowell Fishers, Ind. 10 bass 28-6
18th: Clent Davis Montevallo, Ala. 10 bass 28-2
19th: Zell Rowland Montgomery, Texas 10 bass 28-1
20th: David Fritts Lexington, N.C. 10 bass 27-15
Jason Reyes of Huffman, Texas, won Friday’s 3M ScotchBlue Big Bass Award on the pro side with a fish weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces to win the $500 prize.
Overall there were 551 bass weighing 1,350 pounds, 12 ounces caught by pros Friday. The catch included 68 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top 35 anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2013 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify. The 2013 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Shreveport, La., Aug. 15-18 on the Red River.
Jason Johnson of Gainesville, Ga., maintained his lead in the co-angler division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds, 13 ounces followed by Bryan New of Belmont, N.C., in second place with 10 bass weighing 24-7.
The top 20 co-anglers fishing Saturday are:
1st: Jason Johnson Gainesville, Ga. 10 bass 24-13
2nd: Bryan New Belmont, N.C. 10 bass 24-7
3rd: Randy Clark Pascagoula, Miss. 10 bass 21-11
4th: Ronnie Green Tampa, Fla. seven bass 18-4
5th: Richard Peek Centre, Ala. seven bass 17-14
6th: Jeff Sprague Point, Texas 10 bass 17-11
7th: Justin Jones Apex, N.C. seven bass 15-10
8th: John Devries Fishers, Ind. six bass 15-4
9th: James Mignanelli Harmony, Pa. five bass 15-0
10th: Tony O’Neal Thomaston, Ga. five bass 14-14
11th: Howard Poitevint Bainbridge, Ga. seven bass 14-11
12th: Mark Horton Nicholasville, Ky. seven bass 14-10
13th: Kenny Moser Alba, Texas six bass 14-4
14th: John Kite Festus, Mo. seven bass 13-13
15th: Andrew Owens Dividing Creek, N.J. six bass 13-4
16th: Jordan Lee Auburn, Ala. six bass 13-1
17th: Michael Smith Pickerington, Ohio seven bass 12-13
18th: Ron Shearer Nicholasville, Ky. six bass 12-11
19th: Keeton Blaylock Benton, Ark. five bass 12-8
20th: Brandon Bolton West Point, Miss. five bass 12-8
Jack Minnig of Levittown, Pa., caught Friday’s 3M Peltor Big Bass weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 235 bass weighing 509 pounds even caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included seven five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart. The top 35 co-anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2013 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify.
Anglers will take off from Lakepoint Resort State Park located at 104 Lakepoint Drive in Eufaula at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at the Walmart located at 3176 S. Eufaula Ave. in Eufaula beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will also be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at Walmart on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
Coverage of the Lake Eufaula tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs June 23 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
For complete details and updated information visit the FLWOutdoors website. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter/FLWFishing.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy- the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated”FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the”Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
