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The Full Story

FLW Series: Old Hickory Lake, TN

Series Event # 3 of 5

Day 1: Lashlee Leads FLW Series on Old Hickory

GALLATIN, Tenn. – Pro Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., fished day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., without any practice due to work and family obligations. Lashlee has done well on Old Hickory in the past however, and proved his prowess again Wednesday by catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces to lead the event.

As did many of the pros posting big limits on day one, Lashlee began his day by fishing shallow cover but soon moved away from the banks and covered water in the 3- to 6-foot range with Strike King Series 5 crankbaits and a black and blue Strike King jig to catch his fish.

“These fish are just coming off their beds, but they’re not quite on offshore structure yet,” Lashlee said. “They’re in what I would call ‘no man’s land.’

“I think not practicing helped me,” Lashlee continued. “I didn’t have any preconceived notions on what the fish were doing, so I just went fishing.”

Several local anglers found their way to the top slots on the leaderboard, but Lashlee was quick to point out that this one could be anyone’s tournament. “I wish it was about three weeks later,” Lashlee said. “Then I think it would really be dominated by the locals. But these are the best anglers in the world, and with the fish up shallow, anyone can win.”

Lashlee also shares the lead for the Snicker’s Big Bass award in the Pro Division with fellow Tennessee pro and second-place angler Ashley Hayes of Rockvale. Hayes caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces, one of which was a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth that was a near-perfect match for a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth landed by Lashlee.

Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, is an angler who traveled a long distance to find his way into the third-place slot on the leaderboard. Hoernke caught five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces.

“These fish are in a classic postspawn pattern,” Hoernke said. “They’re super spread out, and there’s some shallow and some deep. I had 15 rods on the deck this morning.”

Hoernke began his day fishing shallow, where he quickly caught a limit, then was able to upgrade when he received bites from some larger, offshore bass.

Rounding out the top five pros are Gary Clouse of La Vergne, Tenn. (five bass, 15 pounds, 5 ounces); Michael T. Brown of Rocky Face, Ga. (five bass, 14 pounds, 9 ounces); and tied for fifth was Stacy King of Reeds Spring, Mo. (five bass, 14 pounds, 9 ounces).

Gregory Jones of Mount Juliet, Tenn., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 1 ounce.

“I had a good practice,” Jones said. “My pro wasn’t on many fish himself, so we hit some of the areas I had in practice. We were targeting secondary channel drops with soft plastics and crankbaits. We had our limits by 11 this morning.”

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are T.R. Fuller of Auburn, Ala. (five bass, 10 pounds, 13 ounces); David J. Barnett of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (five bass, 10 pounds, 5 ounces); Ben Kurth of West Saint Paul, Minn. (five bass, 10 pounds, 1 ounce) and Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala. (five bass, 9 pounds, 11 ounces).

James Key of Troy, Ala., caught the day’s biggest bass in the Co-angler Division, which weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces.

Overall, 1,109 bass weighing 2,143 pounds, 12 ounces were caught Wednesday.

The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.

Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Old Hickory Lake will take off each morning at 6 from Bull Creek Marina in Gallatin. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three 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.

In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.

Coverage of the Lake Lanier FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 2: Brown Takes the Lead on Day 2

GALLATIN, Tenn. – Pro Michael Brown of Rocky Face, Ga., caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 11 ounces to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn. Brown, along with a full field of 200 professional anglers, is competing for his shot at a $100,000 first-place check.

The bite has varied for many anglers fishing Old Hickory this week. Some have been catching their bass from submerged, offshore cover, while others have been beating the banks. Brown has been concentrating on throwing a shallow-running crankbait.

“I’m just throwing it around any cover I can see and some that I can’t see and making 1,000 casts,” Brown said. “I never could find a good offshore school of bass during practice, so I’ve just been fishing shallow.”

Brown has been targeting his shallow-water bass in several small creeks. He echoed the words of many pros coming through the weigh-in line on day two, saying that the fishing had gotten significantly tougher.

“I caught three limits yesterday,” Brown said. “But I only caught six keepers today.”

Local anglers continue to fare well in this event. Gary Clouse of La Vergne, Tenn., sits in third place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 2 ounces. “Each day is a new day,” Clouse said. “Anyone is subject to come out here and zero.

“The bite was much tougher today,” Clouse continued. “I probably caught 10 keepers yesterday, but I only had six keeper bites today and I caught five of them.”

Also in the top five is day one leader Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn. Lashlee followed up his day-one limit with three more bass on day two, bringing his two-day total weight to 25 pounds, 6 ounces.

In second place is Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala. Herren caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 6 ounces. Woo Daves of Spring Grove, Va., is sitting in fourth place with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 25 pounds, 9 ounces.

Pro Chris Baumgardner caught the heaviest bass of the tournament thus far – a 6-pound, 8-ounce lunker that is in the lead for the Snicker’s Big Bass Award in the Pro Division.

Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division with nine bass weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Aaron Fahnestock of Enterprise, Ala. (nine bass, 17 pounds, 13 ounces); Pat Hatcliff of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (eight bass, 17 pounds, 4 ounces); Gregory Jones of Mount Juliet, Tenn. (seven bass, 16 pounds, 15 ounces) and Ben Broughton of Day, Fla. (eight bass, 16 pounds, 11 ounces).

James Key of Troy, Ala., holds the biggest bass in the Co-angler Division, caught on day one, which weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces.

The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.

Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Old Hickory Lake will take off each morning at 6 from Bull Creek Marina in Gallatin. Friday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three 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.

In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.

Coverage of the Old Hickory Lake FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 3: Lashlee Re-Takes Lead on Old Hickory

GALLATIN, Tenn. – Pro Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., caught a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 43 pounds to lead day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn. Lashlee, along with nine other pros making the top-10 cut, will advance to competition on day four, where the winner will take home a $100,000 first-place check.

Despite not practicing prior to the event, Lashlee has been able to establish a dominating lead. On Friday, he caught the heaviest limit of the event – a strong five-bass catch weighing 17 pounds, 10 ounces.

“On the first day, I was fishing creek-channel drops and I hammered ’em,” Lashlee said. “I made the mistake of going back to that area on day two, but I tried some new areas today and caught them again.”

Lashlee moved away from the creeks and began targeting bass on main-river drops, catching them on a shad-colored Strike King Series 5 crankbait as well as a 1/2-ounce jig. “I had seven keepers today, and I caught them throughout the day. I’ve got several areas that I want to try tomorrow where I caught a few today. Now that I know there’s fish there, I should be able to hit them again tomorrow.”

Rounding out the top five pros are Michael Brown of Rocky Face, Ga. (15 bass, 38 pounds, 8 ounces); Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas (15 bass, 36 pounds, 8 ounces); Woo Daves of Spring Grove, Va. (13 bass, 35 pounds, 4 ounces); and Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash. (15 bass, 35 pounds, 2 ounces).

Pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., caught the heaviest bass of the tournament. The big bass earned Baumgardner the Snicker’s Big Bass Award in the Pro Division and a check for $1,500.

Randy Duncan of Killen, Ala., caught a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Co-angler Division competition on day three. Duncan earned a check for $20,000 for his win.

“I fished with Tom Carpenter on the first day, and we caught lots of fish,” Duncan said. “But we had trouble catching the keepers. I measured nine bass to get three in my livewell.

“On the second day, I fished with Ramie Colson. It went well. I had my limit by 9 a.m. and just put my rod down to help Ramie catch his limit. He’s a really nice guy and we had a great time. I caught nine keepers on day two.

“Today, I fished with Ron Shuffield, who is one of my fishing heroes,” Duncan said. “I caught six keepers today to round out my catch.”

Duncan has been throwing soft plastics all week to catch his bass. Most of his bites have been on a green-pumpkin finesse worm dipped in JJ’s Magic dye, although his two largest bass of the week fell to a Carolina-rigged Zoom Brush Hog, also in green pumpkin. On the final day, while fishing with Shuffield,

Duncan said targeting grass beds in the 6-foot range was the key to getting bitten.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ben Broughton of Day, Fla. (12 bass, 25 pounds, 1 ounce, $10,000); Stetson Blaylock of Benton, Ark. (12 bass, 24 pounds, 3 ounces, $9,000); Pat Hatcliff of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (11 bass, 23 pounds, 2 ounces, $8,000) and Matt Arey of Shelby, N.C. (12 bass, 22 pounds, 14 ounces, $7,000).

James Key of Troy, Ala., tied with Jerry Reagan of Byrdstown, Tenn., for the Snicker’s Big Bass Award in the Co-angler Division. Both anglers caught big largemouths weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces to win $250.

The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.

Anglers fishing the FLW Series tournament on Old Hickory Lake have launched each morning at 6 from Bull Creek Marina in Gallatin. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1112 Nashville Pike in Gallatin beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three 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.

In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.

Coverage of the Old Hickory Lake FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Day 4: Lashlee Wins $100,000 on Old Hickory

GALLATIN, Tenn. – Pro Sam Lashlee of Camden, Tenn., caught a four-day total of 18 bass weighing 52 pounds, 10 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn. Lashlee took home a check for $100,000 for his win.

In the end, it came to a shoot-out at the final weigh-in between Lashlee and pro Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash., one of the hottest anglers in professional bass fishing right now who, at only age 27, has more than $1 million in career earnings as well as back-to-back top-10 finishes at FLW Series events.

Lashlee, although he has proven to be very competitive in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and Stren Series, was hunting for his first major win in professional-level competition. “I’m just a country boy living a dream,” Lashlee said. “Luke said he was fishing against the best field of anglers he’s ever fished against in this tournament, so obviously I was fishing against the best I’ve ever fished against.”

All week, a few primary lures have been key to Lashlee’s success. He caught some bass early in the tournament on a Strike King Series 5 crankbait, but it’s been jigs and a hand-poured plastic worm rigged with a 5/16-ounce weight that have yielded most of his strikes. When the bite has been tough, Lashlee has tossed a 1/4-ounce Bitsy Bug with a 3X trailer. Other times, he’s been targeting bass on a main-river ledge with a 3/4-ounce Strike King football-head jig and 3X trailer in Texas craw color.

“I’ve kept close bottom contact with my jigs. I never felt a strike with the big jig – it’d just be heavy,” Lashlee said.

The ledge he’s been fishing is one that he’s fished nearly his entire life. “My family used to go out when I was a kid and we’d troll for stripers out of a houseboat on that ledge,” Lashlee said. “We caught a lot of big bass there too, and that’s where I caught most of my fish this week.”

Rounding out the top five pros are Clausen (20 bass, 47 pounds, 15 ounces, $50,000 ); Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va. (20 bass, 47 pounds, 13 ounces, $40,000); Michael Brown of Rocky Face, Ga. (20 bass, 47 pounds, 2 ounces, $30,000); and Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas (20 bass, 46 pounds, 7 ounces, $20,000).

Co-angler competition concluded on day three. Randy Duncan of Killen, Ala., caught a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Co-angler Division competition. Duncan earned a check for $20,000 for his win.

The new $6.5 million FLW Series features five $900,000 qualifying tournaments, each with a top award of $100,000, that advance anglers to the $2 million, 2007 Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million cash.

The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three 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.

In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers.

Coverage of the Old Hickory Lake FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 16. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.

Articles and images from BASS

Compiled by Brandon Shook

President/Publisher: Brandon Shook.