PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (Sept. 6, 2007) - Pro Danny Correia of Marlborough, Mass., caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce Thursday to capture the lead in the FLW Series Eastern Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Champlain with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 37-7.
"I have multiple spots, including two key areas," said Correia, who has earned more than $140,000 in FLW Outdoors events. "I have a good drop-shot area and then I have a spinnerbait area. I'm really milking the spinnerbait area because people can see you fish that and they tend to pretty much get all over it. I had it pretty much to myself yesterday, and there were boats all over it today."
Correia said he caught eight keepers throughout the course of the day, including four he weighed in. His fifth fish he weighed came off of the drop-shot rig. Correia, who feels his two strongest techniques are drop-shotting and fishing the spinnerbait, said the spinnerbait will be the big-fish producer for the tournament.
"The quality of fish with the spinnerbait usually is better," Correia said. "The fish will be more aggressive and you'll get the big bite.
"Both of my key areas are big-fish spots," Correia added. "My co-angler yesterday caught 19 pounds. I caught big ones yesterday and I lost a 4 ½-pound fish there today. The fish are there and the quality is there."
Correia now holds a slim 3-ounce lead over second-place team Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 37-4 during the first two days of competition.
Rounding out the top five pros are David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C. (10 bass, 37-1); Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas (10 bass, 36-5) and first-day leader team Guido Hibdon of Gravois Mills, Mo. (10 bass, 35-12).
Wolak earned the day's $476 Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 772 bass weighing 1,918 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 180 pros Thursday. The catch included 124 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing this week for a top award of $125,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the East-West Fishoff and a shot at advancing to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million - the sport's biggest award. The top 30 pros from both FLW Series divisions after four qualifying events are complete will advance to the East-West Fishoff, which will be held Jan. 17-19, 2008. The location for the fishoff has not yet been announced. Thirty winners from the fishoff will advance to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Charles Dubroc of Hessmer, La., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 32-6 followed by Lynn Baciuska of Afton, N.Y., in second place with 10 bass weighing 29-2.
Dubroc caught five bass weighing 14-13 while fishing with Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., Wednesday and five bass weighing 17-9 while fishing with pro Gaspare Costabile of Niagra Falls, Ontario, Thursday.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jason Perry of Plattsburgh, N.Y. (10 bass, 29-1); Dana Perrotte of Winooski, Vt. (10 bass, 28-1) and Mark Phillips of Fayetteville, Ark. (10 bass, 27-9).
Kurt Chelminiak of Delafield, Wis., earned $290 for the Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Pat Eichmann of Nancy, Ky.
Overall there were 509 bass weighing 1,145 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 175 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 48 five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are competing this week for a top award of $25,000. Like the pros, the top 30 co-anglers from both FLW Series divisions after four qualifying events are complete will advance to the East-West Fishoff for a shot at the $2 million, 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Dock Street Landing located at 2 Dock St. in Plattsburgh. Friday's weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 25 Consumer Square in Plattsburgh, beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone prior to Saturday's weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. at Wal-Mart. Activities in the Family Fun Zone include the Fujifilm trout pond, a Ranger boat simulator and assorted fishing-themed games. All activities are free and open to the public.
In FLW Series competition, the entire field competes for the first three days, and co-angler competition concludes on day three with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.