CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 21, 2005) - Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to retain his lead in the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Lake Okeechobee. The event featured 200 pros in the hunt for a top award of $100,000 cash. Only 10 anglers remain, however, as the tournament draws to a close Saturday.
"I'm flipping a Gambler crawdad, but these clear skies are killing me," said Kennedy, a former FLW Tour champion who finished fourth in the EverStart Series event on Lake Okeechobee just two weeks ago. "Yesterday when the clouds rolled in, the fish really turned on. During the EverStart, on the day I caught 27 pounds, I caught everything when a patch of clouds came over. There are guys around me and the fish are in there, so it will be interesting."
Kennedy is using a 1 3/4-ounce weight and braided line with his bait. Rounding out the top-five professionals are Skeeter pro Dean Rojas of Grand Saline, Texas (five bass, 16 pounds, 13 ounces); Yamaha pro Terry Bolton of Paducah, Ky. (five bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces); Pedigree pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala. (five bass, 10 pounds, 13 ounces); and Ranger pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla. (five bass, 9 pounds, 10 ounces).
Dwight Ameling of Sebring, Fla., handily won the Co-angler Division title and $20,000 by an astounding 11-pound, 9-ounce margin Friday thanks to a 7-pounder that boosted his five-bass catch to 14 pounds, 3 ounces.
"I threw about 30 feet off the bank and that big one hit," said Ameling, who was fishing with Lane and whose primary pattern was flipping a Texas-rigged watermelon colored crawdad pegged with a 1-ounce weight. "That $20,000 will keep me fishing a lot of years."
Rounding out the top-five co-anglers are Jason Knapp of Uniontown, Pa. (two bass, 3 pounds, 4 ounces); Dino Caporuscio of Coto De Caza, Calif. (two bass, 3 pounds, 2 ounces); Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas (three bass, 2 pounds, 15 ounces); and William Bridges of Tallapoosa, Ga. (one bass, 1 pound, 8 ounces).
Anglers will take off Saturday morning at 7 from Roland and Mary Ann Martin's Marina in Clewiston. Saturday's final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1005 W. Sugarland Highway in Clewiston beginning at 3 p.m.