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The Full Story

FLW Tour: Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes

FLW Tour Event # 2 of 6

Day 1: Grigsby Leads FLW Tour Event

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –Pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn., drew cheers from an appreciative crowd Thursday when he crossed the stage with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces to lead day one of the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by BP on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes. Fishing for Team BF Goodrich, Grigsby now holds a slim 12-ounce lead in the tournament featuring 200 pros and 200 co-anglers from 36 states, Australia and Japan.

“I like it when they are shallow,” said Grigsby, who has seven top-10 finishes and has amassed $282,465 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “I haven’t caught a smallmouth all week until today. There are a lot of fish in the area I am fishing and I don’t think I hurt them to bad today. I had my limit by 10:30 this morning and then I just went looking for new stuff following the same pattern I am on now. I’m looking for certain banks with similar structure. Once I find that, I back off the bank and slow way down and just fish where I think they should be.”

“My plan for tomorrow is to just go back out, get a limit and look for new water.”

Grigsby was pitching banks with Berkley soft-plastics in bedding areas targeting the bass that are beginning to spawn.

Thanh Le of Las Vegas, Nev., trails Grigsby in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 18-10.

Rounding out the top five pros are Harmon Davis of Marlow, Okla. (five bass, 18-5); Snickers pro John Sappington of Willard, Mo. (five bass, 17-13) and Frank Meyer of Marianna, Fla. (five bass, 17-4).

Tommy Martin of Hemphill, Texas, also earned the day’s $750 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass.

Overall there were 714 bass weighing 1,554 pounds caught by 192 pros Thursday. The catch included 96 five-bass limits.

Pros are competing for a top award of $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award. The top 40 pros after six qualifying events will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup.

Land O’Lakes Co-angler, Aaron McManaway of Altamont, Ill., leads the Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 13-8 followed by Chad Hicks of Rockville, Va., in second place with five bass weighing 9-10.

“I had a really good day today,” said McManaway, who has amassed a total of $78,960 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. His winnings came from 12 top-10 finishes and three first place victories including the Co-angler title of the 2005 BFL All-American. “I fished with Rob Kilby and he was an excellent partner. He kept me around fish all day. I really had no key bait that worked the best. I nearly caught one on everything in my tackle bag. I was just trying to follow in behind Rob and throw something different than he was.”

McManaway caught his bass using a an array of hard baits and soft-plastics while fishing with pro Rob Kilby of Hot Springs, Ark., who is currently in 21st place with five bass weighing 13-10.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Thomas Helton of Charleston, Tenn. (five bass, 9-9); Beecher Strunk of Somerset, Ky. (three bass, 9-8) and J.B. Young of Deer Park, Texas (four bass, 9-00).

Charles Ward of Greer, S.C., also earned $500 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to an impressive 5-pound, 9-ounce bass. If the bass holds up Friday as the biggest of the two-day opening round, Ward will earn an additional $1,000.

Overall there were 275 bass weighing 498 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 137 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included five five-bass limits.

Paul Teutul Jr. from the hit reality television show, “American Choppers” is competing in this event as a co-angler. Today he was paired with the Slim Jim pro Michael Murphy of Gilbert, S.C. The pair faired well placing Teutul in 82nd place with two fish weighing, 2-pounds, 11-ounces. With a good catch tomorrow, Teutul could make a move up the standings and possibly make a run for top-10 cut at the conclusion of Fridays weigh-in.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week.

Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp in Lenoir City at the junction of highways 321 and 444. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center located at 701 Henley Street in Knoxville beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Knoxville Convention Center from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Family Fun Zone is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other manufacturers while children are treated to fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator. The first 300 children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone Saturday will also receive a free FLW Outdoors hat from WNML “The Sports Animal” AM 990 and FM 99.1 On Sunday, WIVK-FM 107.7 will give the first 300 children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone a free rod and reel combo. One lucky person attending the final weigh-in Sunday will even win a trip for two to the Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., courtesy of the Knoxville News Sentinel, where they could ultimately win a $53,000 Ranger Z20 powered by Yamaha.

Day 2: Jones Leads on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Team National Guard pro Derek Jones of Chicago, Ill., caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to capture the lead in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by BP on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 37-4. He now holds a 6-pound, 1-ounce lead in the tournament featuring 200 pros and 200 co-anglers representing 36 states, Australia and Japan.

“It’s fun out there right now,” said Jones, who claimed his first FLW Tour top-10 finish as a professional today. “I’m really excited. The area I have been fishing seems to be replenishing itself everyday. The fish I am targeting are bedding fish, but I can’t sight-fish for them. The water is a little muddy and too deep. This really boosts my confidence, I am on some really quality fish. I just have to go catch them and not make any mistakes.”

Jones is fishing about 25 miles from the launch site on Fort Loudoun Lake, targeting bedding fish with swimbaits and a drop-shot rig.

Fishing for Team Kellogg’s, Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 31-3.

Rounding out the top five pros who will continue competition Saturday and Sunday are Yamaha pro Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark. (10 bass, 30-4); Castrol pro Darrell Robertson of Jay, Okla. (10 bass, 29-1); and Thanh Le of Las Vegas, Nev. (10 bass, 27-3).

Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 25 pounds, 15 ounces were pros Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas, fishing for team BP; Harmon Davis of Marlow, Okla.; M&M’s pro John Sappington of Willard, Mo.; Land O’Lakes pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark.; and Yamaha pro Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas.

Day one leader Chad Grigsby of Maple Gove, Minn., zeroed Friday but still earned a $10,000 check for 50th place thanks to his impressive opening-day limit of smallmouth weighing 19-6 – the second heaviest limit of the tournament thus far.

Dwayne Horton of Knoxville, Tenn., earned the day’s $750 Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass. The fish also earned him the tournament’s overall big bass award of $1,000.

Overall there were 637 bass weighing 1,301 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 180 pros Friday. The catch included 54 five-bass limits.

Pros are competing for a top award of $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by Castrol in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 2-5, where the winning pro will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award. The top 40 pros after three $1 million qualifiers and three $1.5 million opens will advance to the Forrest Wood Cup.

John Barrett of Fayetteville, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division with an opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 18 pounds, followed by Kenta Kimura of Livingston, Texas, in second place with seven bass weighing 16-8.

“I got the right bites today,” said Barrett, who now has two top-10 finishes fishing as a co-angler on the FLW Tour. “I’m just trying to do something different than my pro. I think the key is to just change things up a little. I have been dead-sticking a Senko worm trying to target spawning fish. I’m not sight-fishing, but I am making long casts out behind the boat in the area where the fish are. I think a Senko is a co-anglers best friend.”

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ryan Valentine of Jonesboro, Ga. (eight bass, 16-8); J.B. Young of Deer Park, Texas (seven bass, 15-13) and Land O’Lakes co-angler Aaron McManaway of Altamont, Ill. (four bass, 13-8).

Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 11 pounds, 10 ounces in the Co-angler Division were Kevin Olivet of Greenback, Tenn.; Eddie Griggs of Richmond, Va.; Thomas Helton of Charleston, Tenn.; Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C., and David Hudson of Jasper, Ala.

Kenta Kimura earned $500 for the day’s Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound, 1-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Norman Seat of Branson West, Mo.

Overall there were 248 bass weighing 448 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 130 co-anglers Friday. The catch included six five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week.

Anglers will take off at 7 Saturday and Sunday morning from the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp followed by 4 p.m. weigh-ins at the Knoxville Convention Center at 701 Henley Street in Knoxville.

Prior to the weigh-ins, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the Knoxville Convention Center from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Family Fun Zone is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other manufacturers while children are treated to fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator. The first 300 children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone Saturday will also receive a free FLW Outdoors hat from WNML “The Sports Animal” AM 990 and FM 99.1. On Sunday, WIVK-FM 107.7 will give the first 300 children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone a free rod and reel combo.

Day 3: Davis Leads FLW Tour Event on Loudoun-Tellico

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Team Yamaha pro Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to capture the lead in a top-10 field that includes some of the greatest anglers in the world. Davis now holds a sturdy 7-pound, 14-ounce edge over his closest competitor, Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, heading into the final day of competition in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by BP on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes. If he holds on for the win, Davis will pocket $100,000.

“Today was the big day I needed,” said Davis, who has amassed nearly $1.5 million in career winnings between the BASS and FLW tours. He also weighed in the tournament’s second-heaviest limit. “I think I have the potential to win this. I am around some really good fish. I was extremely lucky to catch that 6-pounder today. Everything seems to be going as planned.

“Even with this good lead going into the final day, one can never feel too comfortable competing against the caliber of fishermen who are still in this. I could go out and blank tomorrow. This thing is far from over,” Davis said. “My plan for tomorrow is to fish the conditions. If the weather changes like it is forecast, and the wind blows all day, it’s going to hurt me. I need a few hours early in the morning of calm winds to catch my fish. I feel like I am going to need at least 12 pounds tomorrow to win this.”

Davis has been working bedding areas, sight-fishing for prespawn bass with a combination of swimbaits and wacky worms.

Yelas, the FLW Tour’s Land O’Lakes angler of the year in 2002, caught four fish weighing 11 pounds, 15 ounces to advance to the final round as the No. 2 seed.

“I made a run at it today,” said Yelas, who has been sight-fishing most of the week. “Davis has us by nearly 8 pounds, but I’m going to do my best to catch him. He is one of my best friends on tour, so if I can’t win it, I’ll be happy to see him win.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros are Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (five bass, 11-6); Land O’Lakes pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark. (five bass, 10-15); Harmon Davis of Marlow, Okla. (five bass, 10-3); Castrol pro Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla. (five bass, 9-15); National Guard pro Derek Jones of Chicago, Ill. (three bass, 9-8); M&M’s pro John Sappington of Willard, Mo. (five bass, 8-15); BP pro Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas (five bass, 7-12) and Thanh Le of Las Vegas (four bass, 6-2).

“I had a lot tougher day today,” said Jones, who led the tournament Friday. “The fish today seemed really spooky. I’m just going to go back out there and try it again. I think there are still some good fish in my area, and if the weather holds, I think I can catch them tomorrow. If I have a good bag, I might still have a shot at this.”

Overall there were 46 bass weighing 106 pounds, 8 ounces caught in the Pro Division Saturday. The catch included seven five-bass limits.

Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Saturday with a five bass limit weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Land O’Lakes co-angler Aaron McManaway of Altamont, Ill., in second place with four bass weighing 7-1 worth $10,000.

Chapman opened the tournament in 39th place Thursday with two bass weighing 4-3 while fishing with pro Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich. On Friday he jumped to ninth place on the strength of a three-bass catch weighing 7-10 while fishing with pro Katsutoshi Furuswa of Tokyo. He wrapped up his win while fishing with Williams.

“This is great,” said Chapman, who now has two FLW Tour victories as a co-angler. “It has been a while since I have made a top-10. We fished some points really close to the dam today because Keith thought he had exhausted his area. This new pattern was a co-anglers dream. There was a lot of open-water and easy fishing. I only had five fish today, and luckily they were the right ones. I’m going to go home and put this money in the bank and keep fishing.”

Chapman was throwing a combination of a ChatterBait, spinnerbait and wake baits to catch his fish all week.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are David Hudson of Jasper, Ala. (three bass, 5-5, $9,000); Ryan Valentine of Jonesboro, Ga. (one bass, 4-3, $8,000); J.B. Young of Deer Park, Texas (one bass, 4-2, $7,000); Kenta Kimura of Livingston, Texas (two bass, 3-15, $6,000); Eddie Griggs of Richmond, Va. (one bass, 1-11, $5,000); Thomas Helton of Charleston, Tenn. (one bass, 13 ounces, $4,000); John Barrett of Fayetteville, N.C. (zero bass, $3,000) and Kevin Olivet of Greenback, Tenn. (zero bass, $2,000).

Overall there were 18 bass weighing 36 pounds, 8 ounces caught in the Co-angler Division Saturday. The catch included one five-bass limit.

Anglers will take off at 7 Sunday morning from the Tellico Recreational Area Ramp. Sunday’s weigh-in will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center located at 701 Henley St. in Knoxville beginning at 4 p.m.

Day 4: Davis Wins on Fort Loudoun-Tellico Lakes

Knoxville, Tenn. – Yamaha pro Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark., caught a final-round total of eight bass weighing 27 pounds, 11 ounces to win $100,000 in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by BP on Fort Loudoun-Tellico lakes. Davis topped his closest rival, Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., by more than two pounds to earn the win and 200 points toward qualifying for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., where the winner will earn as much as $1 million – the biggest award in bass fishing – Aug. 5.

“I swung for the fences,” said Davis, who earned his first win on the FLW Tour. “It’s great that I finally won one of these. I have come close many times, and it’s sweet to be here on top. This place is a great fishery, but I had to go to great lengths to figure these fish out. I think the wind kind of hurt me today. I needed slick, calm conditions for my wakebait pattern, so I had to make some adjustments. I tend to fish by the seat of my pants, but I couldn’t do that here. I had to slow down and concentrate on one area and stick to my guns. I thought I was around enough fish to win no matter what the conditions were. I was extremely lucky to win this.”

Davis opened the tournament Thursday in ninth place with five bass weighing 16-5. He then jumped into third place Friday with a five-bass catch weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces and advanced to the final round of 10 pros with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 30-4. On Saturday weights were cleared and Davis caught five bass weighing 19-13 to advance to the final day of competition in first place. Davis added another three bass weighing 7-14 to his final-round total Sunday.

Davis was throwing a combination of swimbaits and wakebaits around points, humps and other submerged structure in 4 to 10 feet of water near spawning areas.

Lefebre caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 25-11 to claim second place and $50,000.

“I lost a key fish today that might have hurt me,” said Lefebre, who was the 2006 FLW Series Angler of the Year. “The fish have been really spooky and tough to sight-fish. Being from up north, I have lots of practice sight-fishing in rough weather so the conditions suited me fine. This area is great. I love the Tennessee River chain. It has a lot of current and good numbers of fish. Overall, I think it was a great event.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros are Land O’Lakes pro Keith Williams of Conway, Ark. (10 bass, 24-12, $40,000); National Guard pro Derek Jones of Chicago, Ill. (six bass, 22-6, $30,000); BP pro Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas (10 bass, 22-3, $20,000); Yamaha pro Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas (nine bass, 22-3, $19,000); Harmon Davis of Marlow, Okla. (10 bass, 21-12, $18,000); M&M’s pro John Sappington of Willard, Mo. (10 bass, 21-6, $17,000); Castrol pro Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla. (nine bass, 20-5, $16,000) and Thanh Le of Las Vegas (eight bass, 12-1, $15,000).

Overall there were 44 bass weighing 113 pounds, 4 ounce caught in the Pro Division Sunday. The catch included six five-bass limits.

On Saturday, Terry Chapman of Stanley, N.C., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 with a five bass limit weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Land O’Lakes co-angler Aaron McManaway of Altamont, Ill., in second place with four bass weighing 7-1 worth $10,000.

Chapman opened the tournament in 39th place Thursday with two bass weighing 4-3 while fishing with pro Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Mich. On Friday he jumped to ninth place on the strength of a three-bass catch weighing 7-10 while fishing with pro Katsutoshi Furuswa of Tokyo. He wrapped up his win while fishing with Williams.

“This is great,” said Chapman, who now has two FLW Tour victories as a co-angler. “It has been a while since I have made a top-10. We fished some points really close to the dam because Keith thought he had exhausted his area. This new pattern was a co-anglers dream. There was a lot of open-water and easy fishing. I only had five fish, and luckily they were the right ones. I’m going to go home and put this money in the bank and keep fishing.”

Chapman was throwing a combination of a ChatterBait, spinnerbait and wake baits to catch his fish all week.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were David Hudson of Jasper, Ala. (three bass, 5-5, $9,000); Ryan Valentine of Jonesboro, Ga. (one bass, 4-3, $8,000); J.B. Young of Deer Park, Texas (one bass, 4-2, $7,000); Kenta Kimura of Livingston, Texas (two bass, 3-15, $6,000); Eddie Griggs of Richmond, Va. (one bass, 1-11, $5,000); Thomas Helton of Charleston, Tenn. (one bass, 13 ounces, $4,000); John Barrett of Fayetteville, N.C. (zero bass, $3,000) and Kevin Olivet of Greenback, Tenn. (zero bass, $2,000).

Coverage of the tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on April 29 and May 6 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed fishing program 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.

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Compiled by Brandon Shook

President/Publisher: Brandon Shook.