PARIS, Tenn. (June 27, 2014) – Pro angler Tom Redington of Royse City, Texas, brought five bass to the scale Friday weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces to grab the lead on day two of the FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake. Redington now has a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 46-15 and holds a 1-pound, 8-ounce lead over second-place pro Scott Martin of Clewiston, Fla., in the four-day event, hosted by the Henry County Alliance, that features 162 of the best bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
“I caught a quick limit in the morning, but there was a definite lull and it was getting to be a bit of a grind,” said Redington, who is sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. “Then the storms rolled in and it was hammer down time. It was a short window and only really lasted for about two hours, but I went to four different spots and caught fish. One of the spots was just one after another.
“Yesterday I had to fish with a lot more finesse and work for them,” Redington continued. “I caught 12 keepers. Today was full-throttle power fishing and I caught around 40 keepers. Every bite was a good one. Most of my fish were three pounds or bigger.”
Redington said that he threw shad-type baits throughout the day and that he caught fish on three different baits.
“I’m not even sure if I’m on the right pattern, but I know what they do during the storm. In practice, the whole time it was a lot of wind and storms rolling through. I kind of got dialed in on what was working, so when it storms I know what the fish like to do.”
Redington said that he was not fishing the big community holes, but that there were a few anglers fishing near him Friday.
“I didn’t back off at all today,” Redington said. “You really need to build up a lead, because it only gets tougher in these tournaments. If I could have caught 30 pounds today, I would have. These guys behind me are too good and someone could easily catch 30 pounds, so you better get them while you can.”
The top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Kentucky Lake are:
1st: Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 10 bass, 46-15
2nd: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 45-7
3rd: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 10 bass, 45-0
4th: Skip Johnson, Goodells, Mich., 10 bass, 44-14
5th: Jim Moynagh, Carver, Minn., 10 bass, 44-2
6th: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 10 bass, 43-12
7th: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 10 bass, 43-8
8th: Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 10 bass, 42-10
9th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-10
10th: Tim Malone, Gatlinburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-4
11th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 42-2
12: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 10 bass, 41-11
13th: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 10 bass, 41-9
14th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., 10 bass, 41-7
15th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 10 bass, 40-13
16th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 40-2
17th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 10 bass, 40-2
18th: Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 39-15
19th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 39-13
20th: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 10 bass, 3-13
Castrol pro Mike Surman of Boca Raton, Fla., won the Bridgford Big Bass Award and $500 Friday on the pro side with a bass weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces. Overall there were 712 bass weighing 2,344 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 152 pros Friday. The catch included 131 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 2014 Forrest Wood Cup. The top 35 anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify. The 2014 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country.
Lambert clinched the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour Rookie of the Year award Friday, which is awarded to the rookie pro angler who finishes the season with the highest point total. Cody Kelley of Conway, Ark., leads the co-angler division with 10 bass weighing 39 pounds, 13 ounces followed by Joshua Weaver of Macon, Ga., in second place with 10 bass weighing 36-12. The top 20 co-anglers fishing Saturday are:
1st: Cody Kelley, Conway, Ark., 10 bass, 39-13
2nd: Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 36-12
3rd: Theo Corcoran, Independence, Mo., 10 bass, 36-0
4th: Joe McClary, Kirkwood, Mo., 10 bass, 35-15
5th: Kyle Prskalo, Hobart, Ind., 10 bass, 34-6
6th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., 10 bass, 34-0
7th: Tony Bennett, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 10 bass, 33-3
8th: Mark Howard, Mesquite, Texas, 10 bass, 32-9
9th: John Wilson, Six Mile, S.C., 10 bass, 32-8
10th: Dennis Cameron, Travelers Rest, S.C., 10 bass, 32-7
11th: Casey O’Donnell, Bradenton, Fla., seven bass, 32-1
12th: Doug Back, Fort Myers, Fla., nine bass, 31-15
13th: Dennis Kirby, Lakeland, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-4
14th: Josh Smith, Hamilton, Ohio, 10 bass, 31-4
15th: Mike Hardin Sr., Robertsdale, Ala., 10 bass, 31-4
16th: Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 31-3
17th: Jason Johnson, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 30-15
18th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, nine bass, 30-11
19th: Timothy Curran, Huntsville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-6
20th: Jeff Gengler, Fort Collins, Colo., 10 bass, 30-5
Eddie Laster of Morton, Miss., caught Friday’s Bridgford Big Bass in the co-angler division weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces to win $250. Overall there were 573 bass weighing 1,601 pounds, 4 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 74 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 2014 Forrest Wood Cup. The top 35 co-anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify.
Anglers will take off from Paris Landing State Park located at 16055 Highway 79 N. in Buchanan at 6:30 a.m. each day of competition. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at Walmart located at 1210 Mineral Wells Ave. in Paris beginning at 4 p.m.