ROGERS, Ark., April 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Quaker State
pro Matt Arey has been crowned the new "Mr. Beaver Lake." After
winning this same event in 2014, the Shelby, North Carolina, native caught a
five-bass limit Sunday weighing 17 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest
stringer weighed in the four-day tournament – to win the Walmart
FLW Tour at Beaver Lake presented by Rayovac. Arey's four-day total
of 20 bass weighing 55 pounds, 6 ounces earned him the top prize of
$125,000.
Link to photo of winner Quaker State pro Matt Arey
Link to HD video footage of winning moment
Arey became the third angler to win multiple events at Beaver
Lake in the 17 visits the Walmart FLW Tour has made to the White
River impoundment, as FLW Tour pro Clark
Wendlandt won there in 1999 and 2001 while former pro
Andre Moore won in 2002 and 2005.
Arey became the first to win in consecutive years.
"This is an incredible feeling," said Arey, who has won
$250,000 on Beaver Lake in just the
past 379 days. "To win two years in a row here is just unthinkable.
Experience is everything as a professional angler. The more I do
this, the more comfortable and confident I am becoming."
Arey displayed that confidence Sunday when he dramatically
boated his largest fish of the day, an estimated five-pounder. As
he casted out and retrieved his swimbait, he noticed the huge fish
following his bait all the way to the boat. Out of line, Arey had
no choice but to kneel low and drag his bait along the side of the
boat. The big bass hit, and Arey immediately boat-swung the fish in
a dramatic fashion.
"First, that normally doesn't happen," Arey said. "But, back in
the day when I was a rookie, I would have stayed standing and just
kept winding my bait and the fish would have went back under the
dock. Instead, I was able to keep my composure, knelt down and got
the fish to bite and in the boat. It's experience. You just have to
block everything else out and fish against the fish."
Arey credited two key baits for the majority of his catch this
week – a hand-poured homemade swimbait rigged on a 7/0 Gamakatsu
EWG Monster hook and a wacky-rigged Lunkerhunt Lunker Stick.
"Each day I would start in Prairie Creek and work my way six to
eight miles up the river," Arey said. "On the third day I went all
the way to the Rocky Branch and Van
Hollow areas and caught some key bed fish that really saved
my tournament.
"Momentum is huge in this sport, and I really hope that I can
carry some of it over into our next event in two weeks on Lake
Eufaula."
The top 10 pros finished the tournament:
1st: Quaker
State pro Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 55-6
2nd: Tracy
Adams, Wilkesboro, N.C., 20 bass,
49-12
3rd:
Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan,
Dayton, Tenn., 20 bass, 48-10
4th: Rayovac
pro Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 20 bass, 48-10
5th: Bryan
Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass,
46-13
6th: John
Cox, Debary, Fla., 18 bass,
46-4
7th: Peter
Thliveros, Saint Augustine, Fla.,
20 bass, 44-8
8th Livingston
Lures pro Stetson Blaylock,
Benton, Ark., 19 bass, 44-4
9th: Vic
Vatalaro, Kent, Ohio, 20 bass,
43-11
10th:
Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 20 bass, 43-7
A complete list of results can be found at
FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 47 bass weighing 110 pounds, 3 ounces caught
by pros Sunday. Eight professionals weighed in five-bass
limits.
Luke Dunkin of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, won the co-angler
division and $20,000 Friday with a
two-day total of 10 bass weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, followed by
Todd Lee of Jasper, Alabama, who finished in second place
for the second consecutive tournament with 10 bass weighing 17
pounds, 15 ounces worth $7,500.
In addition to casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to
$25,000 cash in the co-angler
division, anglers are also competing for valuable points in hopes
of qualifying for the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship
of bass fishing. The 2015 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 20-23 on Lake Ouachita and is hosted by
Visit Hot Springs. The Forrest Wood Cup Champion could win as much
as $500,000 – professional
bass-fishing's richest prize.
Coverage of the Beaver Lake tournament will be broadcast in
high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) October 12 from 7 p.m.-8
p.m. ET. when Season 20 of "FLW" returns this fall. The
Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit
Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than
564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely
distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the
world.
The Walmart FLW Tour stop on Beaver Lake presented by Evinrude
was hosted by the Rogers Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was
the third of six regular-season events in the FLW Tour's 2015
season. The fourth Walmart FLW Tour event of 2015 will be held at
Lake Eufaula, May 14-17 in
Eufaula, Alabama, and is presented
by Quaker State. The event will be hosted by the Eufaula Barbour
County Chamber of Commerce. Boats will launch from Lakepoint Resort
State Park Marina in Eufaula. For
a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit
FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and
more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on
Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry's premier tournament-fishing organization,
providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete
for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of
240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which
provide an avenue to the sport's richest payday and most coveted
championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing
can be seen on the Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show and is
broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it
the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show
in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com
and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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SOURCE FLW