KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 11, 2005) - FLW Tour rookie Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces Friday to lead the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Lake Toho. The four-day event, which concludes Saturday, began with 200 pros and 200 co-anglers in the hunt for top awards of $100,000 and $20,000 cash, respectively, and was narrowed to the top 10 anglers in each division Thursday evening.
While weights dropped off for the start of the final round Friday, enthusiast spectators witnessed a near-record catch in the opening round when co-angler Richard Lowitzki of St. Charles, Ill., hoisted an 11-pound, 3-ounce largemouth onto the scale Thursday. The behemoth bass fell just 11 ounces short of the record and ranks as the second heaviest bass in FLW Tour history, surpassing the 11-pounder caught by Bobby Curtis of Siloam Springs, Ark., on Lake Okeechobee last month and the 11-pounder caught by Ray Beck of Beaumont, Texas, on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in 1998. Only the 11-pound, 14-ounce bass caught by Jim Nolan on the Santee Cooper lakes in 1996 is heavier.
Counting Lowitzki and Curtis' fish, plus a 10-pound, 2-ounce bass caught by co-angler Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark., on Lake Okeechobee, three of the top seven weights for the Big Bass Award have come in the last two events. Only fish landed on the first two days of competition count toward the Big Bass Award.
Cold temperatures and windy conditions made fishing tough for anglers who survived the cut, and only two pros and one co-angler caught five-bass limits Friday. Overall, 48 bass weighing 107 pounds, 14 ounces where brought to the scale.
"I didn't think 10 pounds would lead, so it turned out to be a good day," said Lane, a two-time All-American qualifier who is making is second top-10 appearance in as many FLW Tour events this season. "I'm going to go out and fish as hard as I possibly can, and if I'm meant to win, I'll catch fish."
Lane qualified for the FLW Tour after earning three EverStart Series top-10 finishes and finishing sixth in the EverStart Series Eastern Division points race in 2004. He caught four of his bass on a 3/8-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait and a 7-inch Gambler worm while fishing arrow head grass near staging areas in Lake Kissimmee. His fifth, and final, fish of the day came on a Gambler BB Cricket in Lake Toho. "I grew up fishing these lakes with my dad and brothers," Lane said. "All the guys I'm fishing against are my heroes, so when they come up and congratulate me, I'm living a dream."
Eight-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Tom Mann Jr. of Buford, Ga., caught five bass weighing 8 pounds, 2 ounces on a Senko to secure the No. 2 spot heading into the final day of competition, while JT Kenney of Frostburg, Md., caught three bass weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces to grab the No. 3 spot. Kenney was flipping a black and blue Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver in lakes Kissimmee and Toho.
Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala. (three bass, 6 pounds, 5 ounces) and Art Berry of Hemet, Calif. (three bass, 6 pounds, 5 ounces) rounded out the top five pros. Ties on day three are resolved by day two standings.
Retired Master Sgt. Ken Chapman of Woodlawn, Tenn., who served with the Army's 5th Special Forces Group in Afghanistan and Iraq, took top honors and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces. He caught the fish on green pumpkin and pearl Zoom Horny Toads while fishing grass mats in Lake Kissimmee with Mann.
"There is so much grass out there, and it's so thick, if you don't throw it over one's head, you won't get hit," said Chapman, who has earned three top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors competition since 2003, including a fourth-place finish at the 2004 EverStart Series tournament on the Red River. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I figured I would fish all of these for a year and the EverStarts to qualify (for the FLW Tour Pro Division). I'm learning from some great guys, and that's what fishing as a co-angler is all about."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Tim Peek of Sharpsburg, Ga. (five bass, 10 pounds, 2 ounces, $10,000); Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich. (two bass, 6 pounds, 2 ounces, $9,000); Judy Israel of Clewiston (one bass, 3 pounds, 9 ounces, $8,000); and Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas (two bass, 3 pounds, 7 ounces, $7,000).
Israel, a former teacher from the Bronx, N.Y., made fishing history last year by winning the FLW Tour stop on the Atchafalaya Basin. She is the first woman to win an FLW Tour event, and this is her 11th top-10 finish in FLW Outdoors competition.
Anglers will take off from Kissimmee Lakefront Park at 7 Saturday morning. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1471 E. Osceola Pkwy. in Kissimmee beginning at 3 p.m.