CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Sept. 15, 2010) - Pro Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., landed five bass weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces Wednesday to lead day one of the FLW Series Eastern Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Chickamauga. He holds a slim 4-ounce lead in the tournament.
"It started off real slow, but later on in the day I was able to get things going," Montgomery said. "I hit a couple of places that had a lot of fish in them. Basically I'm just fishing shallow."
Montgomery said he caught "25 or 30" fish during the course of the day including "10 or 12" keepers. Montgomery said he was moving around quite a bit on the lake but preferred to keep his fishing locations a secret on the first day of competition.
"I had a lot of places by myself," Montgomery said. "I feel pretty good about it. If I can just get one big one a day - I caught a 4 1/2-pounder today. If I don't catch a big one, I think I'll catch 11 or 12 pounds.
"The one (I) worry about is Mark Rose," Montgomery added. "He's hard to beat on the Tennessee River. He's got the Tennessee River really figured out. He'll be tough. I'm sure he's catching them out on the ledges. He's probably one of the best ledge fishermen in the world."
Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., trails Montgomery in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 16-7.
Rounding out the remainder of the top-10 pros after day one at Lake Chickamauga are:
3rd: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., five bass, 15-11
4th: Damiki pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 15-4
5th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 15-1
6th: Derek Remitz, Grant, Ala., five bass, 15-0
7th: Tom Mann Jr., Buford, Ga., five bass, 14-7
8th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., four bass, 12-15
9th: Darrin Schwenkbeck, Varysburg, N.Y., five bass, 12-10
10th: Scott Suggs, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 12-2
Overall there were 343 bass weighing 775 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 102 pros Wednesday. The catch included 35 five-bass limits.
In FLW Series competition, pros are competing for a potential top award of $50,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.
Aaron Combs of Jackson, Ky., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 16-4 followed by Patrick Roy of Syracuse, N.Y., in second place with five bass weighing 12-2.
The remainder of the top-10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Gerrit Goins, Cleveland, Tenn., five bass, 11-6
4th: Roger Wideman, McCormick, S.C., four bass, 9-15
5th: Ralph Mulleins, Cumberland, Va., five bass, 9-9
6th: Pat Lay, Cleveland, Tenn., five bass, 8-5
7th: James Sharp, Leesburg, Ga., three bass, 8-1
8th: Anthony Hunt, Tamarac, Fla., four bass, 7-15
9th: Jason Law, Waycross, Ga., two bass, 7-12
10th: D.L. Tanner, Hixson, Tenn., three bass, 7-3
Overall there were 181 bass weighing 366 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 86 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included six five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are competing this week for a Ranger 177TR with a 90 horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard motor as well as valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off from Chester Frost Park located at 2318 Gold Point Circle North in Hixson, Tenn. at 7 each morning. Thursday's and Friday's weigh-ins will also be held at Chester Frost Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's final weigh-in will be held at Chester Frost Park beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will be treated to a Family Fun Zone at Chester Frost Park prior to Saturday's weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. There will be a drawing for a $300 Cabela's gift card and drawings for rod and reel combos will be held every 30 minutes during the event. All activities are free and open to the public.
Coverage of the Lake Chickamauga tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. "FLW Outdoors", will air Nov. 7 from 12:30 to 1:30 ET. "FLW Outdoors," hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide.