PARIS, Tenn. (June 28, 2014) –Tom Redington of Royse City, Texas, brought a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 13 ounces to retain his lead after day three of the FLW Tournament at Kentucky Lake. Redington now enters the fourth and final day of competition as the No. 1 seed in the event featuring 162 of the best bass-fishing anglers in the world casting for the top cash award of up to $125,000.
Redington has brought a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 65 pounds, 12 ounces to the scale, which gives him a slim 1-pound, 2-ounce lead over second-place pro Skip Johnson of Goodells, Mich., who caught five bass today weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces. Johnson has weighed in 15 bass totaling 64 pounds, 10 ounces in his three days of competition.
“It was way tougher today and my fish just weren’t there,” said Redington, who made his first top-10 cut of the season. “I didn’t get a limit until mid-morning. The schools that I had yesterday were kind of broken up and I was forced to scramble around and find some new fish today.
“The numbers of fish that I caught were about the same, but they were way smaller in size. And I didn’t see nearly as many fish there on my electronics. The weather was a little different today. We’d been getting storms in the afternoon, but today we had storms in the morning. I had to use finesse tactics today, like the first day. I tried throwing the big power baits, but I still only caught small fish.”
Redington said that he threw five different baits today, but only caught fish on three. He said that because the top-10 weights were so close he isn’t really feeling much pressure heading into the final day.
“Less than four pounds separates me from 10th place,” Redington said. “Whoever catches the biggest bag tomorrow will win. It’s basically a one-day tournament now, so there isn’t much pressure.
“The worst that I can do is 10th place, so I’m not going to try to put together a small limit to save my ego,” Redington went on to say. “I’m going to fish for the big ones and if I don’t get them, then so be it. I’m going for the win.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Kentucky Lake are:
1st: Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 15 bass, 65-12
2nd: Skip Johnson, Goodells, Mich., 15 bass, 64-10
3rd: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 15 bass, 64-10
4th: Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 15 bass, 64-6
5th: Jim Moynagh, Carver, Minn., 15 bass, 63-11
6th: Tim Malone, Gatlinburg, Tenn., 15 bass, 63-6
7th: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 15 bass, 63-2
8th: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 62-11
9th: Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 15 bass, 62-6
10th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 62-2
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., 15 bass, 61-8, $12,000
12th: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 61-7, $12,000
13th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 60-15, $12,000
14th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 59-6, $12,000
15th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 58-14, $12,000
16th: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 15 bass, 58-7, $12,000
17th: Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 15 bass, 57-14, $12,000
18th: Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 15 bass, 57-11, $12,000
19th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 57-10, $12,000
20th: Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 51-12, $12,000
Overall there were 100 bass weighing 373 pounds, 11 ounces caught by pros Saturday. All 20 professionals weighed in 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.
For the second straight season, Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., wrapped up the Angler of the Year title on Saturday. He narrowly edged out Cody Meyer of Auburn, Calif., by just 9 points in a tightly contested race that thrilled fishing fans throughout the season. Morgan clinched the second Angler of the Year title of his career after finishing the tournament in 14th place. Morgan, who received $100,000 for the title, also will receive an automatic berth into the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup.
Cody Kelley of Conway, Ark., won the co-angler division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 54 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Joe McClary of Kirkwood, Mo., in second place with 15 bass weighing 54 pounds, 1 ounce worth $7,500.
“These pros that we fish with are so good and they are so tough to fish behind,” said Kelley. “You have to find one little bait or one thing unique that you can do to catch a few. This week for me, it’s been a new bait from Crock-O-Gator bait company called a Swamp Bug Sr. I was able to get 8 or 9 keepers each day by slow rolling it and it was the key for me this week.”
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Cody Kelley, Conway, Ark., 15 bass, 54-9, $20,000
2nd: Joe McClary, Kirkwood, Mo., 15 bass, 54-1, $7,500
3rd: John Wilson, Six Mile, S.C., 15 bass, 50-6, $5,000
4th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., 15 bass, 49-5, $4,000
5th: Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 15 bass, 49-4, $3,000
6th: Dennis Cameron, Travelers Rest, S.C., 14 bass, 48-9, $2,500
7th: Timothy Curran, Huntsville, Ala., 15 bass, 48-7, $2,000
8th: Doug Back, Fort Myers, Fla., 14 bass, 47-7, $1,800
9th: Kyle Prskalo, Hobart, Ind., 15 bass, 47-2, $1,700
10th: Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 46-11, $1,600
Overall there were 84 bass weighing 247 pounds even caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included 12 five-bass limits.
In addition to the top award of $25,000, co-anglers were also fishing this week for valuable points that would 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 FLW Tour will qualify. Jason Johnson of Gainesville, Ga., clinched the Walmart FLW Tour Co-Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg’s title Saturday and won a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard plus an automatic berth into the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup.
“I’ve been fishing as a co-angler for three years,” said Johnson. “My first year on Tour I practiced with Brett Hite. Last year I practiced with Cody Meyer. This year, I’ve been practicing with Brent Ehrler. Those guys are the best in the world and when you practice and fish with them, these kinds of things tend to happen.”
The final 10 pros will take off from Paris Landing State Park located at 16055 Highway 79 N. in Buchanan at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 1210 Mineral Wells Ave. in Paris beginning at 4 p.m.