Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces Friday to capture the lead at the FLW Tour event presented by Folgers on Fort Loudoun/Tellico lakes advancing to the top 5 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 47-13, he now holds a 1-pound, 6-ounce lead in the tournament going in to the final day of competition.
“It was a struggle,” said Browne, who has won more than $511,000 in FLW Outdoors events. “It actually started out like gangbusters.”
Browne said he began the day by catching a small keeper off of a small boat ramp after a 35-minute run to where he was fishing on Loudoun. He then moved down the bank where shad were spawning and threw a spinnerbait to catch a 3 1/2-pound bass. He moved around a corner and began flipping and caught another 3 1/2-pounder.
“That was first thing,” said Browne. “Then it kind of got tough. I fished around the whole bay, and on the last little stretch I finally caught my fourth one. I caught one more good one running some other stuff I had. So, it was pretty tough.”
Browne said he caught his fish on a white 3/8-ounce spinnerbait and a Gambler flipping tube paired with a 5/16-ounce weight on 20-pound fluorocarbon line. In addition to his five keepers, Browne said he caught an additional dozen short fish.
”Nothing’s going to stop me tomorrow,” Browne said.
Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., dropped his lead from day two, but advanced to the final round of five pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46-7.
Rounding out the top-5 pros and advancing to the final day’s competition are:
| 3rd: | Goodwill pro Chad Grigsby | Maple Grove, Minn. | 15 bass | 44-5 |
| 4th: | Brandon Coulter | Knoxville, Tenn. | 14 bass | 40-5 |
| 5th: | Chris Baumgardner | Gastonia, N.C. | 15 bass | 37-4 |
The rest of the top-10 pros include some of the greatest anglers in the world, and they are:
| 6th: | J.T. Kenney | Palm Bay, Fla. | 13 bass | 37-3 | $15,731 |
| 7th: | Chris Martinkovic | Liberty Township, Ohio | 13 bass | 36-13 | $14,797 |
| 8th: | Jason Christie | Park Hill, Okla. | 15 bass | 36-4 | $13,864 |
| 9th: | Cabela’s pro Clark Wendlandt | Leander, Texas | 14 bass | 35-12 | $12,931 |
| 10th: | Chevy pro Jimmy Houston | Cookson, Okla. | 13 bass | 35-7 | $11,997 |
Overall there were 437 bass weighing 859 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 128 pros Friday. The catch included 41 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 Forrest Wood Cup which will be held Aug. 5-Aug. 8 at Lake Lanier in Atlanta, Ga., where they could win as much as $600,000 – the sport’s biggest award.
Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by Derrick Snavely of Rogersville, Tenn., in second place with 10 bass weighing 21-15 worth $9,306.
Shuffield opened the tournament in 30th place Wednesday with four bass weighing 5-9 while fishing with pro Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif. On Thursday, he jumped to 8th place on the strength of a four-bass catch weighing 7-9 while fishing with pro Ken Wick of Star, Idaho. He wrapped up the win Friday with a five-bass catch weighing 11 pounds even while fishing with pro Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif.
“I guess it was meant to be,” said Shuffield, who notched his first FLW Tour win. “I’d been praying all week if it was meant to be to let it happen. I went out there today knowing I was going to need to catch them, and I really didn’t even have any worries. I told my partner, ?If I catch one, great, if I don’t, that’s the way it’s meant to be.’ I just fished my hardest.”
Shuffield, 20, said he caught all of his fish during the week on a shaky-head rig consisting of a 3/16-ounce Spot Remover jig head tipped with a 3 1/2-inch Lake Fork Rattlesnake.
“I have to say thank you to Justin Kerr,” Shuffield said. “He knew I had a chance today, and we were going back in a pocket and I saw a 2 1/2-pounder on a bed and he knew that was the only fish he had to have today to make a check, and he let me fish for that fish for 10 minutes and catch it. That’s the only reason I won today.”
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers are:
| 3rd: | Kevin Hawk | Ramona, Calif. | 11 bass | 21-8 | $6,973 |
| 4th: | Darrell Mitchell | Taneyville, Mo. | 11 bass | 20-5 | $4,640 |
| 5th: | Johnny Manning | Arkadelphia, Ark. | 10 bass | 19-13 | $3,706 |
| 6th: | Ralph Myhlhousen | Council Bluffs, Iowa | 11 bass | 19-4 | $2,773 |
| 7th: | Keith Sykes | Clintwood, Va. | 10 bass | 18-11 | $2,306 |
| 8th: | Keith Honeycutt | Temple, Texas | 10 bass | 18-3 | $1,840 |
| 9th: | Alan Hults | Gautier, Miss. | nine bass | 16-15 | $1,606 |
| 10th: | Chris Myer | Hendersonville, Tenn. | nine bass | 15-13 | $1,373 |
Overall there were 175 bass weighing 322 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 95 co-anglers Friday. The catch included five five-bass limits.
Snavely won a $2,500 gift card as part of the new Cabela’s Angler Cash program. Beginning in 2010, Cabela’s is offering pros and co-anglers the opportunity to register and win a $2,500 gift card for being the highest qualified finisher in each division at all FLW Tour events, making the stakes even higher in an already rich award package.
Long-time co-angler Judy Israel of Wimauma, Fla., ended her full-time competitive fishing career Friday at the Fort Loudoun/Tellico lakes event. Israel, a 14-year veteran of the FLW Tour, said she is stepping down from competitive fishing as a full-time endeavor but will continue to “cherry pick” events she wants to compete in.
“Riding out this morning, I had tears in my eyes,” Israel said. “Just to think that maybe this was my last flight … I was crying. It’s very, very emotional to me. I’ve put my heart and soul into fishing. I really have. I took it very, very seriously. I’m very competitive.
“When I go out in a tournament, I don’t fish for points,” Israel continued. “I fish to win.”
Israel’s long list of accomplishments include two FLW Tour wins, an FLW Series victory and 15 top-10 finishes spread among FLW Tour, FLW Series, American Fishing Series and Bass Fishing League events. Along the way, Israel compiled career winnings of more than $144,000.
Visit http://www.flwoutdoors.com/community/profile/home.cfm?uid=24543 to see Israel’s complete angler profile.
The remaining five pros will take off at 7 Saturday morning from Tellico Recreational Area Ramp east of Lenoir City, Tenn. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center located at 701 Henley St. in Knoxville beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will be treated to a Family Fun Zone & Outdoor Expo at the Knoxville Convention Center Saturday prior to the final weigh-in from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a drawing for a Can-Am ATV courtesy of WNML-AM and rod and reel combos will be given to the first 300 kids under 14 in attendance on Saturday compliments of the Knoxville News Sentinel. The Family Fun Zone & Outdoor Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
Coverage of the Fort Loudoun/Tellico lakes tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors,” will air June 6 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.By: Chad Gay, Public Relations Manager
