NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (June 3, 2011) – Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to capture the lead on day two of the FLW Tour bass fishing tournament on the Potomac River. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 11 ounces gives him a 2-pound, 2-ounce lead heading into the third day of the tournament. There were 154 pros and 154 co-anglers from across the United States and Canada that started the tournament. The top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.
“This river has been good to me,” said Lane, who was in fifth place after day one. “The key factor in being successful on this river is learning the tides. For me there is an hour-and-a-half window when the high tide starts rolling in that gives me my opportunity. All my big fish came in that hour-and-a-half window.
“There is not one area that is going to produce consistently year after year,” Lane went on to say. “The traffic on the river is so heavy that it puts a lot of pressure on the fish and they tend to move to new areas. I have had a lot of success in many different areas on the river. This week I have been fishing some new water. The area I am fishing now seems to be where the brim are spawning and the bass are coming back to feed.
“Basically I am flipping mats with Havoc soft plastic baits,” continued Lane. “I can’t wait to go knock ‘em dead tomorrow.”
Mike Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, N.J., is in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33-9.
Rounding out the top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on the Potomac River are:
3rd: Vic Vatalaro, Kent, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-2
4th: Luke Clausen, Otis Orchards, Wash., 10 bass, 32-3
5th: Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas,10 bass, 31-13
6th: Chad Morgenthaler, Coulterville, Ill., 10 bass, 31-9
7th: Lance Vick, Mineola, Texas, 10 bass, 31-6
8th: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 10 bass, 31-3
9th: Clifford Pirch, Payson, Ariz., 10 bass, 30-9
10th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 30-6
11th: Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 30-1
12th: Cory Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, 10 bass, 29-14
13th: JT Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 10 bass, 29-10
14th: Michael Williamson, Fort Smith, Ark., 10 bass, 29-3
15th: John McGoey, Omemee, Ontario, 10 bass, 29-3
16th: Kyle Mabrey, McCalla, Ala., 10 bass, 29-0
17th: Pete Thliveros, St. Augustine, Fla., 10 bass, 28-15
18th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-13
19th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 28-9
20th: Robert Pearson, Herndon, Va., 10 bass, 28-4
Shinichi Fukae caught the Big Bass weighing 6-3 on the pro side to win $500.
Overall there were 631 bass weighing 1,597 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 153 pros Friday. The catch included 106 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 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four 2011 FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.
David Dudley’s 21-year-old nephew Philip Jarabeck of Lynchburg, Va., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 11 ounces, followed by Cory Leonard of Castalia, N.C., in second place with 10 bass weighing 25-12.
“I understand the tide,” said Jarabeck, who grew-up fishing with Dudley. “The tide positions the fish differently so you need to adjust to the bass.
“Grass fishing is always going to win on the Potomac,” Jarabeck went on to say. “As a co-angler it is a lot easier to adjust to your pro because the grass rotates 360 degrees around the boat and no matter where the pro is casting you can always find an area that is as equally as good to cast into. I have been flipping soft plastic creature baits to get all my fish so far this week.”
Rounding out the top 20 co-anglers are:
3rd: Matt Stoupa, Colonial Heights, Va., nine bass, 25-5
4th: Mark Banks, East Aurora, N.Y., 10 bass, 24-9
5th: Kermit Crowder, Matoaca, Va., eight bass, 24-3
6th: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 23-14
7th: Kenny Kash, Indian Head, Md., eight bass, 23-8
8th: Ben Due, Mauston, Wis., 10 bass, 23-4
9th: Bill Spindler, Turnersville, N.J., 10 bass, 22-8
10th: James Schneider, Watervliet, N.Y., seven bass, 22-7
11th: Andrew Roberts, Spotsylvania, Va., 10 bass, 21-15
12th: William Shelton III, La Crosse, Va., eight bass, 21-12
13th: Skip Bennett, Mt. Vernon, Ill., nine Bass, 21-7
14th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., 10 bass, 21-6
15th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., eight bass, 21-5
16th: Frank Divis, Sr., Fayetteville, Ark., nine bass, 21-3
17th: David Hanson, Welcome, Md., nine Bass, 20-2
18th: Charlie Evans, Gilbertsville, Ky., eight bass, 19-12
19th: Anthony Moscato, Aberdeen, N.J., six bass, 19-0
20th: Jeff Zeisner, Arva, Ontario, nine Bass, 18-15
Kermit Crowder caught the Big Bass weighing 6-13 in the co-angler division to win $250.
Overall there were 355 bass weighing 834 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 145 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 26 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 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four 2011 FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.
Anglers will take off from National Harbor Marina located at 137 National Plaza in National Harbor at 6:30 each morning. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 4 p.m.
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