ROGERS, Ark. (April 15, 2016) – Last year when the FLW Tour visited Beaver Lake, Oklahoma pro Darrel Robertson was in second place as the tournament progressed into the third day of competition. Robertson struggled on day three and didn’t advance to championship Sunday. Friday, at the FLW Tournament at Beaver Lake, Robertson earned a shot at redemption. After catching 14 pounds, 14 ounces Thursday, good for 12th place, Robertson added four largemouth and one spotted bass weighing 16-4 Friday and vaulted into the lead with a two-day total of 31-2.
Right behind Robertson looms the entire Quaker State pro fishing team – Scott Canterbury of Springville, Alabama, (31-1) in second, Jimmy Houston of Cookson, Oklahoma, (30-0) in third and Matt Arey of Shelby, North Carolina, (29-14) in fourth. Arey has won this tournament in the FLW Tour’s last two visits.
The field is now cut to 20 as the tournament heads into day three of the four-day event that featured 166 of the best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
“I felt like I had a little bit better of a day yesterday because the quality of my fish were better, but today I caught two big ones,” said Robertson, who won the Forrest Wood Cup in 1999. “One was a 5½-, one was a 4½- and the rest were 2-pounders. Yesterday, I weighed in 14-14 and they were all alike.
“The Good Lord has blessed me, though,” Robertson continued. “I’ve had bites that I probably should not have caught – the 5½-pounder today came out of a bunch of trees, on very light line. I have a plan for tomorrow and I’m confident that I can go out and catch 8 or 10 pounds. If I could have done that last year, I would have been fishing on that fourth and final day.”
Robertson said that he was fishing slow, throwing a Yamamoto Senko worm.
“I have two areas that I have been fishing. I caught three bass yesterday out of some muddy water, but when I pulled in there today there was 20 boats already in there. I left and decided to fish the clear water and that is where I caught all of my fish today. The area isn’t very big, but there are a lot of fish there. I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut and will fish Saturday on Beaver Lake are:
1st: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 10 bass, 31-2
2nd: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 31-1
3rd: Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., 10 bass, 30-0
4th: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 29-14
5th: Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 10 bass, 28-8
6th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 28-5
7th: Kurt Mitchell, Milford, Del., 10 bass, 27-15
8th: J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 27-11
9th: Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 27-11
10th: Jeff Gustafson, Keewatin, Ontario, 10 bass, 27-11
11th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 27-9
12th: Chris Whitson, Louisville, Tennessee, 10 bass, 27-6
13th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 27-5
14th: Andrew Upshaw, Sapulpa, Okla., 10 bass, 27-5
15th: Jacob Wheeler, Indianapolis, Ind., 10 bass, 27-3
16th: Kerry Milner, Bono, Ark., 10 bass, 27-3
17th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-2
18th: Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., 10 bass, 27-1
19th: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 10 bass, 26-13
20th: Jim Moynagh, Carver, Minn., nine bass, 26-12
Robertson earned the Big Bass Award on the pro side Friday, weighing a 5-pound, 8-ounce largemouth to win the $500 prize. Overall there were 739 bass weighing 1,596 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 164 pros Friday. The catch included 122 five-bass limits.
Joey Cifuentes of Clinton, Arkansas, won the co-angler division and $25,000 Friday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 25 pounds, 12 ounces, followed by Mike Devere of Berea, Kentucky, who finished in second place with 10 bass weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces worth $7,500. Cifuentes said that the nine bass that he weighed came on three different lures – a 1/2-ounce pro’s choice-colored War Eagle Spinnerbait, a 3/8-ounce Missouri craw-colored Jewel Bait Football Jig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Fat Albert Twin Tail Grub and a green-pumpkin Jewel Baits Squirrel Head Jig.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., nine bass, 25-12, $25,350
2nd: Mike Devere, Berea, Ky., 10 bass, 23-6, $7,500
3rd: Jerry Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., 10 bass, 18-10, $5,000
4th: David Larson, Mound, Minn., eight bass, 17-10, $4,000
5th: Tim Cales, Sandstone, W. Va., 10 bass, 17-8, $3,000
6th: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., eight bass, 17-1, $2,500
7th: Jason Sandidge, Centerton, Ark., six bass, 16-0, $2,000
8th: Jaime Luengo, Mexico City, Mexico, seven bass, 15-14, $1,800
9th: David Hudson, Jasper, Ala., eight bass, 15-13, $1,700
10th: Rocky Hopkins, Fayetteville, Ark., six bass, 15-7, $1,600
Cifuentes also caught Friday’s Big Bass in the co-angler division, a bass weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces to win the $250 prize. Overall there were 412 bass weighing 663 pounds, 10 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 36 five-bass limits.
In addition to casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division, anglers are also competing for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 4-7 on Wheeler Lake.
Anglers will take off from the Prairie Creek Park Marina located at 9300 N. Park Road in Rogers at 6:30 a.m. each day of competition. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at Walmart, located at 2110 W. Walnut St., in Rogers beginning at 4 p.m.