FLORENCE, Ala. (July 23, 2011) – Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to widen his lead at the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on Pickwick Lake and advanced to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 61-0, he now holds a 7-pound, 2-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.
During the first two days of competition, Rose said he targeted ledges and relied on a Strike King shaky-head rig to catch his early limit and then culled fish using a large soft-plastic worm as well as a chartreuse Strike King 6XD crankbait. Rose said his larger fish, including a 5 1/2-pounder he caught Friday, have come on the crankbait.
Rose said he began Saturday’s competition with the same methods that had earned him the lead on the first two days, but his efforts had different results.
“I had 6 pounds today at 12 o’clock,” said Rose. “At that point in time I started getting a little uneasy. I wasn’t worried because I felt like it was going to happen later on in the day. Had I been on some unfamiliar water, I may not have felt like that.”
Rose said he changed baits and began throwing a vertical jigging spoon and a shaky-head rig. The change netted Rose a total of “13 or 14” keepers. Rose also said his most productive bait Saturday was a soft-plastic worm.
“I had to break out everything I had in the box today,” Rose said.
Rose said his 7-pound lead has boosted his confidence going into the final day of competition.
“I’m not nervous in regard to knowing where I’m fishing and knowing I can catch a few fish,” said Rose. “I’ve been on this body of water a whole lot. If I catch 13 pounds tomorrow, I’d make someone have to catch 20.
“But 13 pounds tomorrow is a lot harder than it sounds,” Rose added. “There’s so many 2 pounders out there, and getting those 3- and 4-pounders is really hard.”
Robbie Dodson of Harrison, Ark., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 53-14.
Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:
3rd: Randall Tharp, Gardendale, Ala., 15 bass, 53-3
4th: Kenneth Woods, Hazard, Ky., 15 bass, 52-5
5th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 15 bass, 52-4
6th: Kevin Snider, Elizabethtown, Ky., 15 bass, 51-2
7th: Jim Dillard, West Monroe, La., 15 bass, 50-6
8th: Lance Vick, Mineola, Texas, 15 bass, 50-1
9th: Brent Ehrler, Redlands, Calif., 15 bass, 49-7
10th: Kyle Mabrey, McCalla, Ala., 15 bass, 49-6
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 49-1, $9,942
12th: Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas, 15 bass, 48-4, $9,942
13th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 47-15, $9,942
14th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 47-1, $9,942
15th: Ray Scheide, Dover, Ark., 15 bass, 44-10, $9,942
16th: Cody Meyer, Grass Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 43-12, $9,532
17th: Ron Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 15 bass, 43-5, $9,532
18th: Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 15 bass, 42-4, $9,532
19th: Christian Romans, Carrollton, Ky., 15 bass, 40-6, $9,532
20th: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 14 bass, 38-11, $9,532
Overall there were 99 bass weighing 295 pounds, 11 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 19 five-bass limits.
Clent Davis of Montevallo, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and $20,250 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 52 pounds, 4 ounces followed by Dan Thill of La Crosse, Wis., in second place with 15 bass weighing 45-5 worth $6,337.
“This feels good,” Davis said. “I’ve been close a couple of times, but (a win) just never happened.”
Davis said he caught “a lot” of fish on a B&M football head paired with a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm during the course of the tournament.
“At 1:30 today I had two fish for 2 pounds and Mark (Rose) went to another hole and we loaded the boat,” Davis said. “Second place really would have had to catch them to beat me. I kind of thought I had it then.”
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Joseph Ellis Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio, 15 bass, 40-14, $4,037
4th: Chris Hults, Vancleave, Miss., 15 bass, 40-7, $3,217
5th: Spencer Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 15 bass, 39-7, $2,397
6th: Mike McDonald, Randelman, N.C., 15 bass, 36-8, $1,987
7th: Jeff Sprague, Forney, Texas, 15 bass, 35-7, $1,577
8th: Nick Hensley, Cumming, Ga., 15 bass, 34-12, $1,413
9th: Dakota Lucy, Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 34-6, $1,331
10th: Dean Tucker, Hiawassee, Ga., 15 bass, 34-5, $1,249
Overall there were 92 bass weighing 213 pounds, 10 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included 18 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 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.
The Walmart FLW Tour Co-angler of the Year was determined Saturday by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors. Shuffield won the FLW Tour Co-Angler of the Year title and a new Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard by one point over Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark. Shuffield posted 1,045 points during the course of the season. Patrick Bone of Cleveland, Ga., came in third with 1,035 points.
The top 10 pros will take off at 6 a.m. Sunday morning from McFarland Park located at 200 James M. Spain Drive in Florence, Ala. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 3100 Hough Rd. in Florence beginning at 4 p.m.