ROGERS, Ark. (April 12, 2013) – Pro Brandon Coulter of Knoxville, Tenn., caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 12 ounces Friday to grab the lead on day two of the FLW Tournament at Beaver Lake. Coulter now has a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 31-15 and holds a 1-pound, 12-ounce lead over Austin Terry of San Angelo, Texas, in a tournament featuring bass-fishing pros competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
“Yesterday I caught my limit in 15 minutes,” said Coulter, who has more than $240,000 in career earnings with FLW. “Today I went back to the same area thinking I would catch a limit of spotted bass for 7 or 8 pounds and just get myself going. There was nothing there. I didn’t catch a fish.
“I moved to some areas where I thought the largemouth might be pulling up and I was a little more fortunate,” Coulter continued. “I’m fishing transition areas where the bass are starting to stage about 5 or 6 miles up the lake.”
Coulter weighed in four largemouth and one spotted bass in his five-bass limit, and estimated that he caught around a dozen keepers throughout the day. All of his fish that he caught came on an umbrella rig.
“I haven’t made a cast with anything other than an umbrella rig the past two days,” Coulter said. “When you can get a 5- or 6-pound bite on this lake, why would you throw anything else?”
When asked if he was confident that his pattern would hold up for Saturday, Coulter was hesitant to give any predictions.
“It’s Beaver Lake – you can’t be confident,” he said. “I have no preconceived notion on what is going to happen out here day to day. I don’t really feel any pressure because I know that it’s just as likely for me to zero as it is for me to weigh 17 pounds. I’m just going to go out and work as hard as I can and we’ll see what happens.”
The top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Beaver Lake are:
1st: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-15
2nd: Austin Terry, San Angelo, Texas, 10 bass, 30-3
3rd: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., nine bass, 29-13
4th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 29-10
5th: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 28-14
6th: Christopher Brasher, Hallsville, Texas, 10 bass, 28-3
7th: Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 27-15
8th: Shawn Murphy, Nicholasville, Ky., 10 bass, 27-7
9th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 27-4
10th: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 10 bass, 27-3
11th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 26-10
12th: Cody Bird, Granbury, Texas, eight bass, 25-13
13th: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 10 bass, 25-11
14th: Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., nine bass, 25-10
15th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 25-6
16th: Ishama Monroe, Hughson, Calif., 10 bass, 25-5
17th: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 25-5
18th: Jim Dillard, West Monroe, La., 10 bass, 25-4
19th: Scott Suggs, Bryant, Ark., 10 bass, 25-3
20th: James Watson, Waynesville, Mo., nine bass, 25-1
Christie won Friday’s Big Bass Award on the pro side with a fish weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces to win the $500 prize. Overall there were 596 bass weighing 1,292 pounds, 11 ounces caught by pros Friday. The catch included 79 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. 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., leads the co-angler division with 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 1 ounce followed by Steven Meador of Bella Vista, Ark., in second place with 10 bass weighing 24-1.
The top 20 co-anglers fishing Saturday are:
1st: Jason Johnson, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 27-1
2nd: Steven Meador, Bella Vista, Ark., 10 bass, 24-1
3rd: David Lauer, Loxahatchee, Fla., 10 bass, 20-8
4th: Rommel Bagay, Pleasant Hill, Calif., 10 bass, 20-1
5th: Ken Keirsey, Owasso, Okla., 10 bass, 20-0
6th: David Lashua, Leesburg, Fla., 10 bass, 18-13
7th: Andrew Owens, Dividing Creek, N.J., 10 bass, 18-13
8th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala, 10 bass, 18-6
9th: Benjie Seaborn, Guin, Ala., 10 bass, 17-14
10th: Jonathan Henry, Grant, Ala., 10 bass, 17-3
11th: Mike Hardin Sr., Robertsdale, Ala., 10 bass, 17-2
12th: Ryan Eckman, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 16-14
13th: Jake Gipson, Niceville, Fla., 10 bass, 16-4
14th: T.J. McDonald, Prestonsburg, Ky., 10 bass, 16-4
15th: Ed Knight, Little Rock, Ark., 10 bass, 16-3
16th: Ryan Maxwell, Bryant, Ark., 10 bass, 16-1
17th: Anthony Goggins, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 15-3
18th: Mark Myers, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 10 bass, 14-15
19th: Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 14-13
20th: Sean Stepp, Stafford, Va., 10 bass, 14-13
Jack Minnig of Levittown, Pa., caught Friday’s 3M Peltor Big Bass weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces in the co-angler division to win $250. Overall there were 299 bass weighing 574 pounds, 10 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 21 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. 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 Prairie Creek Park located at 9300 N. Park Road in Rogers at 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at the John Q. Hammons Center located at 3303 Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers beginning at 4 p.m.