ROGERS, Ark., April 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Livingston
Lures pro Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tennessee, caught a five-bass
limit weighing 10 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to retain the lead on
day three of the Walmart FLW Tour at Beaver Lake presented by
Rayovac. Morgan's three-day total of 15 bass weighing 39 pounds, 2
ounces gives him a 1-pound, 9-ounce lead as competitors enter the
fourth and final day of competition in the event that featured 154
of the best bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top
cash award of up to $125,000.
Link to photo of pro leader Andy Morgan
"Today was extraordinarily tough," said Morgan, whose numerous
career accolades include only one previous win on the FLW Tour,
which came on Beaver Lake in 2007. "I caught my first fish around
9:30 a.m., then my second around
noon. I caught my third keeper just five minutes later, and then in
the last 30 minutes of the day I caught my last two. Just like
yesterday I only caught five fish all day long and it was a
grind."
Morgan said that he is all out of the bed fish after catching
them on the first two days of competition and that Saturday was all
about junk fishing. Sunday will be more of the same.
"I've used a hodge podge of baits all week," Morgan said. "I've
caught them on a Zoom Finesse Worm, on a spinnerbait, on a Zoom
Z-Craw and on a War Eagle jig. I caught a couple of fish this week
on a buzzbait, too, but nothing that I weighed in. The key for me
has just been to cover enough water and make enough casts that by
the end of the day I've gotten five.
"Tomorrow, anybody in this top-10 can legitimately win this
tournament. You're going to have to have one big bite to win this
thing – if somebody can catch a four- or five-pounder, that's going
to be golden.
"I like having the lead, because that means that someone can
beat me by just a little bit tomorrow and I can still win," Morgan
went on to say. "It's been a long time since I won one of these
(FLW Tour events). I've had a lot of second place finishes, but I
really, really want to get a W."
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition Sunday
on Beaver Lake are:
1st:
Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan,
Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 39-2
2nd:
Quaker State pro Matt Arey,
Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 37-9
3rd
Livingston Lures pro Stetson
Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 15
bass, 37-3
4th:
John Cox, Debary, Fla., 15 bass, 37-0
5th:
Rayovac pro Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., 15 bass, 36-7
6th:
Vic Vatalaro, Kent, Ohio, 15 bass, 35-6
7th:
Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 35-1
8th:
Tracy Adams, Wilkesboro, N.C., 15 bass, 34-9
9th:
Peter Thliveros, Saint Augustine, Fla., 15 bass, 34-8
10th:
Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 34-5
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th:
Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 34-4, $12,000
12th:
Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 15 bass, 34-1,
$12,000
13th:
Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., 15 bass, 33-10, $12,000
14th: Quaker
State pro Scott Canterbury,
Springville, Ala., 15 bass, 33-2,
$12,000
15th:
Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., 15 bass, 33-1, $12,000
16th:
Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 31-15, $12,000
17th: Keystone
Light pro Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 14 bass, 31-6,
$12,000
18th:
Clark Wendlandt, Leander, Texas, 14 bass, 31-5, $12,000
19th:
Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 13 bass, 30-15, $12,000
20th: Lowrance
pro Ishama Monroe, Hughson, Calif., 15 bass, 30-6, $12,000
Final results for the remaining field can be found at
FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 96 bass weighing 187 pounds, 2 ounces caught
by pros Saturday. 17 of 20 pros 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.
Anglers will take off for the fourth and final day of
competition from Prairie Creek Park Marina located at 9300 N. Park
Road in Rogers at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Sunday's final weigh-in will be
held at the John Q. Hammons Center, located at 3303 Pinnacle Hills
Parkway in Rogers beginning at
4 p.m.
Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo on Sunday from
noon to 4 p.m. at the John Q. Hammons
Center prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes a Ranger
boat simulator, the opportunity to interact with professional
anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided
by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other
outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
Also on Sunday, country music artists Backroad Anthem will perform
a free live concert on the Walmart weigh-in stage at 3 p.m. Pros Rich
Dalbey and Todd Hollowell's
"Hooked on Helping" foundation will also be hosting a food drive to
benefit the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. FLW fans who donate five
or more cans of food will be entered to win a $50 Walmart gift card.
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.
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