SOMERSET, Ky. (April 7, 2017) – Pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, grabbed the lead Friday at the FLW Tournament at Lake Cumberland after bringing a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces to the scale. Wendlandt’s two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass totaling 35 pounds, 6 ounces, is enough to give him a thin 2-ounce advantage heading into day three of the four-day event that features 164 of the world’s premier bass anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000. Wendlandt said he spent his day targeting both smallmouth and largemouth bass in main-river creeks. He said he worked through the same area on day one, and bounced back and forth between the two species to craft his limit.
“I caught a lot of fish today, but they were smaller,” said Wendlandt, a 21-year Tour veteran and 3-time FLW Angler of the Year winner. “Usually I get more largemouth the farther back I go, and more smallmouth toward the mouths of the creeks or the fronts. But today, it started mixing up. I caught my biggest largemouth of the day today from a place that looked good for smallmouth and vice versa. It’s pretty intriguing.
“I think sight-fishing may play a role toward the end of this tournament as well,” continued Wendlandt. “I know where about 20 largemouth are on beds, but I haven’t gone to any of them. It just hasn’t made sense for me to focus on them yet.”
Wendlandt said that Lake Cumberland’s expansive layout is working to his advantage.
“This lake is intriguing because it’s big and boats don’t dictate what you do, fish do,” said Wendlandt. “I saw other boats today, but they didn’t affect me. I wish every tournament was like this.”
For day three, Wendlandt said he may sift through some new locations but doesn’t have anything specific he needs to target.
“I don’t even know exactly where I’m going to start tomorrow,” said Wendlandt. “I’m just going to fish what feels good at the time. I’m going to run, and the first place that looks good I’m going to pull in and fish.”
The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Cumberland are:
1st: Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas, 10 bass, 35-6
2nd: Casey Scanlon, Lenexa, Kan., 10 bass, 35-4
3rd: Cody Bird, Granbury, Texas, 10 bass, 32-14
4th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 31-14
5th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 31-7
6th: Chris McCall, Palmer, Texas, 10 bass, 31-3
7th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 30-11
8th: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 10 bass, 30-6
9th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 30-2
10th: Terry Bolton, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 30-0
11th: Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 29-10
12th: Matthew Stefan, Junction City, Wis., 10 bass, 29-10
13th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-4
14th: Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 29-3
15th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., nine bass, 29-2
16th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-15
17th: Gary Yamamoto, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 28-14
18th: Shane LeHew, Catawba, N.C., 10 bass, 28-14
19th: Bill Day, Frankfort, Ky., 10 bass, 28-12
20th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, 10 bass, 28-11
Todd Auten of Lake Wylie, South Carolina, earned the Big Bass award on the pro side Friday, weighing a 6-pound, 4-ounce fish to win the $500 prize. Overall there were 609 bass weighing 1,503 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 153 pros Friday. The catch included 88 five-bass limits.
Jeff Clark of Fort Smith, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division and $20,100 Friday with a two-day total of eight bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce, followed by Frank Divis Sr. of Farmington, Arkansas, who finished in second place with six bass weighing 19 pounds, 8 ounces, worth $7,550.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jeff Clark, Fort Smith, Ark., eight bass, 20-1, $20,100
2nd: Frank Divis Sr., Farmington, Ark., six bass, 19-8, $7,550
3rd: Brad Myers, Winchester, Ky., nine bass, 18-5, $5,000
4th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., six bass, 17-15, $4,000
5th: J.B. King, Byrdstown, Tenn., six bass, 17-11, $3,000
6th: Jerry Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., seven bass, 17-3, $2,500
7th: Kevin Simpson, Monticello, Ky., seven bass, 16-14, $2,000
8th: Kevin Medine, Port Allen, La., seven bass, 16-8, $1,800
9th: Brandon Johnson, Owingsville, Ky., eight bass, 16-3, $1,700
10th: Chuck Kavros, Grass Valley, Calif., six bass, 15-7, $1,600
Richie Eaves of Nauvoo, Illinois, earned $250 for the Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division Friday with a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass.
Overall there were 224 bass weighing 455 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 109 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 7 five-bass limits.