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CHERRY
LEADS WAL-MART FLW TOUR NATIONAL GUARD OPEN ON
$1.5 million bass tournament richest ever held
in
CHARLOTTE,
N.C. (April 27, 2007) –
Pro Hank Cherry of
Maiden, N.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds Friday to capture
the lead in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour’s $1.5
million National Guard Open on Lake Norman
with a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 26-13.
He now holds a slim 9-ounce lead
in the tournament featuring 200 pros and 200 co-anglers representing 37
states,
“This is awesome,” said Cherry, who has already
qualified to fish the 2007 BFL All-American and is fishing in his first FLW
Tour event. “It’s great that I am leading, especially in a National Guard
event. My dad served in the Guard for 25 years, and it’s really special and
would be great honor if I won.”
Cherry was throwing a jig around isolated
docks and brush to catch quality five-bass limits in the opening round on
his home waters.
“I’ve lived on this lake all my life, and I
know of about 150 places to catch fish here. I didn’t fish any of my spots
today, though,” Cherry said. “I mainly focused on community holes to catch a
solid limit and make the cut. The lake is going to have a ton of pleasure
boat traffic tomorrow, and being a local here I can adapt to that. This
being a clear water lake, the waves will muddy up some water on the shore.
When that happens, the fish school up in the more stained areas, and it is a
little easier to locate them.”
Fishing for Team BP, Jim Moynagh of Carver,
Rounding out the top five pros who will
continue competition Saturday and Sunday are Gain pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent,
Ohio (10 bass, 26-2); Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C. (10 bass, 26-1); and
Pedigree pro of Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala. (10 bass, 25-6).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 24
pounds, 13 ounces and adding to this already power-packed top-10 field are
pros Scott Suggs of Bryant, Ark., fishing for team Folgers; Tylenol pro Gabe
Bolivar of Ramona, Calif.; Yamaha pro Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas; Duracell
pro Michael Bennett of Roseville, Calif.; and Chevy pro Larry Nixon of Bee
Branch, Ark.
Bolivar also earned the day’s $1,000 Snickers
Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 4-pound, 15-ounce bass.
Thursday’s Snickers Big Bass Award winner, Chris Malone of
Overall there were 874 bass weighing 1,667
pounds, 13 ounces caught by 195 pros Friday. The catch included 143
five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for a top award of $200,000 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.
Wal-Mart angler Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon,
Mich., leads the Co-angler Division with an opening-round total of 10 bass
weighing 19 pounds, 15 ounces, followed by Toby
Stanphill of High Point, N.C., in second place with 10 bass weighing 18-5.
“It was definitely a fun day,” said Jancasz,
who won the 2005 FLW Tour Championship in the Co-angler Division and has
amassed $115,460 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “I wouldn’t be where
I am now if it weren’t for my partner today, Scott Suggs. We got off to a
little bit of a slow start this morning, and I finally finished out my limit
in the last 30 minutes. I have been fishing really clean lately. I think I
have only caught three short fish in the last two days. It feels great to be
back in the top-10.”
Jancasz was throwing an array of tubes and finesse gear around docks and
stumps in 3 to 15 feet of water.
Rounding out the top five
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 16
pounds, 12 ounces in the Co-angler Division were Alessandro Debbi of Italy;
Dino Caporuscio of Coto De Caza, Calif.; Mark Rouse of La Porte, Texas;
Nathan Webber of Kernersville, N.C., and Jeff Taylor of Olmstead, Ky.
“It means a lot for me to make the top-10. It
is like a dream come true,” said Debbi, who has traveled to the
This is Debbi’s first top-10 appearance on the
FLW Tour.
Hannah earned $500 for the day’s Snickers Big
Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 4-ounce bass he
caught while fishing with BFGoodrich Tires pro Jerry Green of Del Rio,
Texas.
Overall there were 489 bass weighing 884
pounds, 2 ounces caught by 177 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 31
five-bass limits.
Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of
$40,000 this week.
Anglers will take off at 7 Saturday and Sunday
morning from Blythe Landing followed by 4 p.m. weigh-ins at the Cabarrus
Arena and Events Center located at 4751 Highway
49 North in Concord, N.C.
Prior to the weigh-ins, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and
outdoor show at the Cabarrus Arena and
Sunday’s festivities will also include the
FOX Charlotte Big Bass Challenge tournament featuring area residents fishing
with FLW Tour pros to benefit
In FLW Tour 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. The full field competes Thursday and Friday
for 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated
weight. Weights are cleared Saturday, and
Coverage of the tournament will be broadcast to
81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the
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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series,
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 of nearly $43 million through 241
events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its
tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
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