Month: April 2019

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

WHEELER MAINTAINS MOMENTUM WITH DOMINANT PERFORMANCE IN SHOTGUN ROUND AT STAGE FIVE

CULLMAN, Ala. (April 30, 2019)  – If you ever wondered if momentum is a thing in professional bass fishing, look no further than the five names at the top of SCORETRACKER™ after the first Shotgun Round of the Bass Pro Tour Phoenix Boats Stage Five Presented by Mercury: Jacob Wheeler, Andy Morgan, Wesley Strader, Ott DeFoe and Edwin Evers. Led by Wheeler’s record-breaking 38-fish, 61-pound, 15-ounce performance, that quintet of Major League Fishing® (MLF) pros racked up 138 scorable bass for just over 236 pounds to leave Smith Lake with comfortable cushions to carry into their Elimination Round competition on Thursday. It was a continuation of recent success for all five anglers: Evers has four top-10 finishes in four events this season and leads the Bass Pro Tour points race; DeFoe is just a month removed from a Bassmaster Classic win; Strader has seven Top 20s in his last season-and-a-half; Morgan is shooting for back-to-back wins; and Wheeler has two Top 5s in his last four events. “Momentum makes you a little fearless, for lack of a better term,” said Morgan, who entered the week fresh off a win two weeks ago at Stage Four on Lake Chickamauga. “You’re just kinda ‘with it’ from the get-go, whether you’re getting bites from the get-go or not. Everybody is at their best when they’re relaxed, and that’s what everybody is after in this sport: to be relaxed, and to just keep it rolling.” 

Wheeler Was Dominant on Day 1  No matter how you measure Wheeler’s performance, “rolling” is an accurate description. On a fishery that showed signs of being in a slight post-spawn lull before the event started, Wheeler figured out the right patterns and the right locations early in the day, piling up 36 of his 38 fish in the first two periods and overtaking Morgan, who had rang up 18 fish and a big lead in Period 1. “That morning bite is definitely a key opportunity to catch a majority of your fish,” Wheeler admitted. “Your goal is to try to catch as much as you possibly can in the Shotgun Round so you’re not under the pressure to have to catch them in the Elimination Round. You see this day in and day out in this format: a good Shotgun Round puts guys in position to try to go dial in new patterns – or just stay on top of what’s going on – in the Elimination Round, so they can make it to the Knockout Round, and then make the Top 10 cut.” Wheeler’s assessment of the morning bite is accurate: 238 fish were recorded on SCORETRACKER in the first period; that total dropped to 203 and 195 in Periods 1 and 2.

Group B Up Next  The 40 anglers in Group B compete Wednesday in Shotgun Round 2. Based on Day 1 results, the Elimination Line will hover around 25 pounds, but and if weather forecasts are correct, Group B’s round could be even more of a smashfest than Day 1. “Day 2 is supposed to be a little overcast and maybe blowing a little bit, so I think we’ll have a little bit better conditions for fish to bite,” said Group B competitor Jeff Sprague.

Looking Ahead  The field will carry their Shotgun Round weights into the two Elimination Rounds on Thursday and Friday for the Elimination Rounds. The Top 20 anglers from each group will advance to the Knockout Round on Saturday. The Top 10 anglers in the Knockout Round will advance to the Championship Round on Sunday. 

How, Where, When to Watch  Competition begins daily at 6:30 a.m. CT, with live, official scoring available via SCORETRACKER on MajorLeagueFishing.com and on the MLF app. The MLF NOW! live stream starts at 9 a.m. CT, with live, on-the-water coverage continuing until lines out at 2:30 p.m. The Berkley Postgame Show live stream will start at 4 p.m. daily. 

The Day’s Results


Place		AnglerTotal WeightTotal # FishLargest Fish
1stJacob Wheeler61 – 15383 – 04
2ndAndy Morgan46 – 12293 – 05
3rdWesley Strader43 – 01214 – 10
4thOtt DeFoe42 – 12243 – 14
5thEdwin Evers41 – 11263 – 00
6thJosh Bertrand38 – 13252 – 12
7thStephen Browning36 – 11253 – 02
8thLuke Clausen32 – 05232 – 01
9thMatt Lee30 – 07202 – 09
10thJordan Lee28 – 13183 – 03
11thBoyd Duckett28 – 07173 – 03
12thBrandon Palaniuk27 – 10162 – 11
13thCody Meyer27 – 01143 – 07
14thMark Davis26 – 11192 – 03
15thShaw Grigsby26 – 08153 – 00
16thBobby Lane25 – 15154 – 12
17thGerald Swindle25 – 11153 – 00
18thAlton Jones25 – 05172 – 02
19thDustin Connell25 – 01162 – 15
20thGerald Spohrer24 – 13182 – 04
21stBrent Ehrler24 – 06154 – 06
22ndCliff Crochet24 – 06122 – 12
23rdKeith Poche23 – 13172 – 05
24thGreg Hackney22 – 13163 – 04
25thKevin VanDam21 – 04142 – 02
26thJames Elam20 – 13123 – 04
27thTommy Biffle20 – 06122 – 15
28thJustin Atkins20 – 00134 – 03
29thMarty Robinson19 – 08161 – 12
30thDavid Walker19 – 01133 – 08
31stChris Lane16 – 11103 – 15
32ndTakahiro Omori16 – 00112 – 07
33rdJason Lambert14 – 1483 – 02
34thAlton Jones Jr.14 – 1092 – 11
35thScott Suggs14 – 0792 – 06
36thTerry Scroggins12 – 1582 – 06
37thMike McClelland11 – 1182 – 06
38thJonathon VanDam11 – 0982 – 02
39thKelly Jordon11 – 0581 – 14
40thBrandon Coulter9 – 0052 – 12
Categories
Crappie USA

CRAPPIE USA PRO DIVISION VICTORY AT GRAND LAKE/ST. MARYS GOES TO KOESTERS AND HENGSTLER //YEAKLE AND DUNCAN TAKE AMATEUR DIVISION

Louisville, KY – April 28, 2019 – Crappie anglers from several states traveled to Grand Lake/St. Marys, St. Marys, OH to participate in a Crappie USA (CUSA) Super Event. The April 26 and 27 event is presented by Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s. Local and traveling anglers fished for cash, prizes, and an opportunity to compete at the 2019 CUSA Classic which will feature a guaranteed payout of $125,000 in cash and prizes.

A total of 53 boats fished the St. Marys event—14 in the Pro Division and 39 in the Amateur Division. A total of $12,950 was distributed to the winners.

Crappie anglers were greeted with a flooded weigh-in site and closed roads around the area. Nevertheless, the schedule Kids Rodeo on Saturday was blessed with a letup in the rain and the kids actually caught a few fish and had a great time.

The Friday highs were around 48 degrees with rain all day and winds at 25 to 40 mph.

The city started closing all roads around weigh-in by noon and anglers had to find a way to get to the new weigh-in site under a picnic shelter in a different area of the park.

Flooded streets and roads continued into Saturday but the rain let up for the morning with temps in low 40’s. The rain returned around 1:30 pm and continued through the weigh-in.

“Overall it was the worst water and weather pattern we faced in 34 years of running events,” said CUSA Operations Manager Darrell Van Vactor. “I am glad to know all our anglers are safe and sound and the crew is home.”

Day one in the Pro Division ended with Jason Koesters and Jake Hengstler in the lead with 6.64 pounds. Mark N. Puthoff and Mike Shroyer led in the Amateur Division with 4.72 pounds. The stage was set for day two.

Pro Division Results

When all the weights were tallied in the Pro Division Koesters and Hengstler had held on to their day-one lead to take top honors. Koesters from New Bremen, OH and Hengstler from Botkins, OH teamed up to bring a two-day total of 10.68 pounds to the scales.

Their rainy encounter earned them $3,000 for first place, 250 for the Gamma Line Bonus, $300 for the Driftmaster Rod Holder Bonus, and $280 for second place Big Fish.

The team fished the south end of the lake using 2.5-inch stinger jigs in silver/black and silver chartreuse. In a tough bite, they caught 8 crappies on Friday and 5 on Saturday.

Kerry August and Mike Deiters claimed the runner up spot with 10.05 pounds. The Ohio team earned $2,000 for the placement and added the $250 Ranger Cup Bonus.

Their fishing covered several creeks on the south end of the lake. They targeted docks in shallow water. They were shooting chartreuse/pearl jigs and minnows. August and Deiters caught a total of 25 fish for the weekend.

Third place went to Zack and Mike Fishbaugh from St Henry, OH. They weighed 9.4 pounds to earn a check for $1,000.

Team Fishbaugh fished the south end of the lake in 6 feet of water. They were targeting channels and creeks with clearer water. The result was catching the females that were holding in deeper water. They used minnows to catch about 30 fish for the weekend.

Robert Denen from Youngstown, OH and Anthony Domitrovuch from Dubois, PA took the fourth spot with 8.66 pounds. They earned a check for $200.

The team found a brushpile on the south end of the lake in 8 feet of water. They noted that the water was fairly clear.

“We sat on that brushpile for both days,” reported Denen. “We fished live bait to catch about 24 fish for the weekend.”

The Big Fish winners were local anglers Jeremiah Moyar and Jack Ray. The St Marys, OH team, who also placed eighth in the Pro Division, weighed a 1.26-pound crappie to earn a check for $740.

Amateur Division Results

Marvin Yeakle and Jeff Duncan made a move from 8th place on day one to take the win in the Amateur Division on Saturday. The Marion, IN team brought 8.64 pounds to the scales in some of the worst weather in CUSA history. They earned a check for $1,600.

Yeakle and Duncan fished the east side of the lake in 4 to 5 foot of water. They found a beaver hut to target with live bait. They caught about 25 fish for the two days of tournament fishing.

Second place went to Ryan Wendel from Maineville and Randy D Wendel from Celina, OH. They brought 8.31 pounds to the scales to earn a check for $1,000.

Team Wendel fished the south side of the lake in shallow water. They were making casts just off the bank with darker color jigs. They mainly use purple to catch about 13 crappies for the two-day event.

Dominic Dugic from Warren, OH, and Jeffrey Lee from Newton Falls, OH took the third spot with 7.31 pounds and earned a check for $500.

Dugic and Lee fished the south end until it got muddy due to all the rain. Those conditions convinced them to move to the north end. They were spider rigging minnows

in shallow water to catch 15 fish for the weekend.        

Fourth place went to Carl McAdams from Fredonia, PA and Monte Martin from W. Lafayette, IN. They weighed 5.59 pounds to earn $400. They added the Ranger Cup Bonus for another $125.

McAdams and Martin fished the south end of the lake in the 12 Mile Island area. They trolled in 8 feet of water. They were pulling live bait and white Jenko jigs to catch about 15 fish during the two-day Super Event.

Rounding out the top five was Dustin Fast from Fort Loramie, OH and Phil Stone from Sidney, OH. They teamed up to bring 4.84 pounds to the scales and earn a check for $300.

Fast and Stone fished the south end of the lake in 8 feet of water. They spider rigged minnows to catch 13 fish for the weekend.

Epilogue

Darrell Van Vactor, CUSA Operations Manager, extended a special thanks NK Telco and Brushpile Fishing with Russ Bailey for all their help hosting the event and covering it with a live feed. He also thanked Mayor Hazel for presenting the Mayors trophy to Mayson Lietchfield for winning the Kids Fishing Rodeo.

“Our anglers faced the toughest conditions I have seen in years,” said Van Vactor. “They fished with high winds, constant rain, muddy water, and severe flooding. They are the toughest of the tough!”

The CUSA Classic Championship will be held October 23 – 26, 2019 on Old Hickory Lake, Gallatin, TN. It features a guaranteed payout of $125,000 in cash and prizes.

National Sponsors

National Sponsors of Crappie USA are: Bass Pro Shops Cabela’s, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Mustad Hooks, Minn Kota, Humminbird, Talon, Lake Master Maps, Gamma, B’n’M Poles, Driftmaster Rod Holders, Ego Nets, Xtreme Bait Systems, Cumberland Crappie Double Seats, Brushpile Crappie, Charlie Brewer Slider, Crappie Now Magazine, Church Tackle Co., Jenko Fishing, Big Bite Baits, Lake Cumberland CVB, Crappie Magnet, AWD Baits, EFX Graphics, Fin n’ Frames, Crown Trophy, and JR Madd Breading.

For more information on the Classic and other CUSA events visit the website at  www.crappieusa.com and Crappie USA Tournament Trail Facebook Page. The CUSA office is available by phone at 502-384-5924.

Categories
Minnow Blog

MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING CONSIDERS BANK FISHING TO GROW GRASSROOTS EVENTS AFTER KEITH POCHE’S RECENT LUCK ; )

At Major League Fishing Stage 4 on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton TN, MLF Pro scored a record catch from a less than an ideal location; a boat dock. MLF being the newest professional fishing tournament is probably looking for ways to grow its grassroots programs to build the next generation of MLF angler.

The bank may just be that place to take professional fishing to the next level. Having a new bank fishing series aimed at bringing in the next generation of anglers inspired by Keith Poche himself. Keith found his luck was much better fishing from the dock forgoing his expensive boat.

The Minnow Blog also has received word that Major League Fishing may move to bank fishing for the 2020 season altogether. Insider knowledge from a professional angler who has recently made it big due to his 100 sponsors from National Pro Staff stated he was offered a spot on this team. He also mentioned that anglers would now be required to submit pictures of catches with backgrounds blurred out to not spot burn any locations.

Wouldn’t that be some shit if they actually did this!!! ; ‘ )

The Minnow Blog

Categories
MLF BIG-5

BEAVERS WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT ON SANTEE COOPER LAKES PRESENTED BY POWER-POLE

April 27, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

SUMMERTON, S.C. – Pro Bradford Beavers of Summerville, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the weather-shortened Costa FLW Series on Santee Cooper Lakes presented by Power-Pole. The tournament was shortened from three days to two after competition was canceled Friday due to high winds. Bradford’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 54 pounds, 9 ounces, was enough to earn him the victory at the Southeastern Division finale and $86,700, including a new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

“To win on my home lake is quite an accomplishment,” said Beavers, who won the Costa FLW Series Championship on Kentucky Lake in 2017. “I know how good the anglers are here, and it’s a little redemption for the 2014 [FLW Series] event here. I started that final day in second place, but zeroed and ended up finishing ninth. That’s been on my mind for years, so this is great.”

Beavers said he started out fishing on Lake Moultrie each day, targeting shallow cypress trees.

“I started at the best cypress trees I knew of, where the bass were either spawning or coming off the bank,” said Beavers. “I had four areas of trees that I fished there.”

Beavers said that he headed to Lake Marion around 1 p.m. each day, running pretty much ran the same pattern in two general areas, but with one small adjustment.

“I fished even shallower trees on Lake Marion because I felt more [bass] were truly spawning on the upper lake versus Lake Moultrie, so I’d hit trees more in the pocket rather than out in the open,” said Beavers.

The South Carolina pro said he caught seven keepers Thursday and added another nine today. He weighed nearly every fish from a wacky- or Texas-rigged, 5-inch green-pumpkin Yamamoto Senko. One keeper each day came on an Eye Strike Texas Eye jighead with a 3.3-inch shad-colored Keitech swimbait.

“The Eye Strike is like a wobble head with an eye protruding from it. I’d throw it the first 30 minutes because I felt there was a shad spawn going on.”

The top 10 pros on Santee Cooper Lakes finished:

 1st: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 54-9, $86,700

 2nd: Lex Costas, Daniel Island, S.C., 10 bass, 50-1, $15,600

 3rd: Mike Watson, Sumter, S.C., 10 bass, 48-6, $12,300

 4th: Joey Sabbagha, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 46-2, $10,000

 5th: Kyle Welcher, Cleveland, Tenn., 10 bass, 44-0, $10,500

 6th: Todd Smith, Bonneau, S.C., 10 bass, 43-12, $8,000

 7th: William Fletcher, Dallas, Ga., 10 bass, 42-4, $7,000

 8th: Brent Riley, Cross, S.C., 10 bass, 40-13, $6,000

 9th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 40-7, $5,000

 10th: Mark Hutson, Moncks Corner, S.C., 10 bass, 40-3, $4,000

A complete list of results will be posted at FLWFishing.com.

Watson weighed a 9-pound bass Saturday – the heaviest of the tournament in the Pro Division and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $300.

Rodney Tapp of North Augusta, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division with a two-day total catch of 10 bass weighing 32 pounds, 10 ounces. For his win, Tapp took home a prize package including a Ranger Z175 with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Santee Cooper Lakes finished: 

 1st: Rodney Tapp, North Augusta, S.C., 10 bass, 32-10, $27,300

 2nd: Daniel Taylor, Elizabethton, Tenn., seven bass, 21-8, $5,000

 3rd: Oakley Connor, Travelers Rest, S.C., four bass, 20-8, $4,000

 4th: Bart Beasley, Mount Pleasant, S.C., seven bass, 19-13, $3,550

 5th: Adam Haithcock, Butner, N.C., six bass, 19-1, $3,000

 6th: Kevin Gordon, Aiken, S.C., eight bass, 18-10, $2,500

 7th: Thomas Clark, Wildwood, Fla., seven bass, 18-9, $2,000

 8th: Spencer Sato, Warner Robins, Ga., six bass, 18-8, $1,750

 9th: David Williams, Fredericksburg, Va., six bass, 18-7, $1,750

 10th: Mitch Avant, Pawleys Island, S.C., six bass, 18-7, $1,250

Jamie Booth of Erin, Tennessee, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Booth earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200 for his catch.

The Costa FLW Series on Santee Cooper Lakes presented by Power-Pole was hosted by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce. It was the third and final Southeastern Division tournament of the 2019 regular season. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will be the Costa FLW Series at Table Rock Lake presented by Power-Pole, held May 9-11 in Branson, Missouri. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the International division. Each U.S. division consists of three regular-season tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to compete in the season-ending Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

FLW AND KBF ANNOUNCE INITIAL SPONSORS FOR KAYAK FISHING EVENTS

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April 26, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

MINNEAPOLIS – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, and Kayak Bass Fishing, LLC, (KBF) the nation’s foremost organization supporting kayak bass anglers, announced today the first group of companies named as sponsors of the two kayak bass fishing tournaments scheduled in 2019.

Dee Zee, a staple brand in the truck accessory market since 1977, has signed on as title sponsor of the events. YakAttack, an industry leader specializing in kayak fishing gear and kayak rigging has been named as the presenting sponsor. Bass Pro Shops, FishUSA, Jackson Kayak, Bonafide Kayak, B&W Hitches, Dakota Lithium Batteries and Polaris have all signed on as associate sponsors with the organizations, ensuring that the brands will be showcased at all FLW/KBF Kayak events and through exclusive digital content and on-site activations. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

“Dee Zee is excited to explore new marketing opportunities with FLW and KBF. These established brands have proven their ability to empower their athletes through their business models and showcase their sport,” said Scott Moyer, Director of Marketing for Dee Zee. “We are thrilled to have the chance to engage their audience and display how closely our products align with their lifestyles.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to be part of the FLW/KBF Open and the FLW/KBF Cup,” said Luther Cifers, President of YakAttack. “Kayak fishing is something that every angler should experience, and this partnership will help us introduce it to more anglers than ever before.”

Per terms of the agreements, all brands will receive prominent exposure at the FLW/KBF tournaments and expos, FLW Bass Fishing magazine, FLW and KBF social media channels and websites. They also will receive the opportunity to provide contingency program rewards for winning or highest-placing anglers with cash and/or prizes for anglers complying with their program guidelines. Bonafide Kayak and Jackson Kayak have already implemented their contingency programs, offering an extra $5,000 to anglers who win the event fishing out of a Bonafide- or Jackson-brand kayak.

“We’re excited that these nationally-recognized brands are joining KBF and FLW to take kayak fishing competitions to the next level,” said Chad Hoover, president of the KBF. “These events will be a big success and create excitement that gets anglers fired up, whether they have been fishing for several decades or just getting started.”

The first event, the Dee Zee FLW/KBF Open at Nickajack Lake presented by YakAttack, will be hosted by Fish Dayton and Fish Lake Chickamauga next week, May 4-5, 2019. Entry fee for the event is $200 per kayak, with a $5,000 payout guaranteed for first place – $10,000 if contingency guidelines are met. The top 100 anglers will qualify to compete in the second event, the Dee Zee FLW/KBF Cup in Hot Springs, Arkansas presented by YakAttack. Of these 100 qualifiers, the top 20 receive free entry. All other qualifiers pay a $500 entry fee. The Dee Zee FLW/KBF Cup will be held Aug. 8-10, 2019, on a lake to be announced in conjunction with the Aug 9-11 FLW Cup on Lake Hamilton.

Anglers can register for the FLW/KBF Open at KayakBassFishing.com/FLW.

KBF was formed in 2009 to offer kayak anglers the opportunity to compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes at premier fisheries around the country. Currently in its seventh season for live events, KBF offers more than 25 professional-level bass-fishing tournaments to kayak anglers. For complete KBF details, schedules and updated information, visit KayakBassFishing.com.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

2019 TOYOTA BASSMASTER TEXAS FEST COULD BE TOURNAMENT OF THE CENTURY BELT

April 17, 2019 EMORY, Texas — Photo courtesy of BASS

Everyone recognizes the shiny blue trophies that are presented to each of the nine winners of regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series events.

Likewise, all fans of professional bass fishing instantly know the hulking trophy that is awarded every year to the Bassmaster Classic champion.

But there’s one piece of B.A.S.S. hardware that isn’t seen nearly as often.

Known as the Century Belt, it’s only awarded to anglers who catch more than 100 pounds of bass during a four-day Elite Series event — and it could be making a rare appearance soon.

The third annual Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is scheduled for May 2-6 on Lake Fork near Emory, Texas. That means some of the best bass anglers in the world will converge on a lake with a reputation for producing giant bass at just the right time on the calendar.

“To sit and think about the possibilities is really exciting,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “We’ve never had a major B.A.S.S. event on Lake Fork. Now, we’ll be visiting in the spring — at the perfect time for giant bass to be caught.”

To put the possibilities into perspective, consider this:

In 2014, the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) — the predecessor to Texas Fest that included the top anglers from B.A.S.S. and the FLW Tour — was held on Lake Fork. Current Bassmaster Elite Series pro Keith Combs took first place with a gigantic winning weight of 110 pounds.

That was a three-day event that recorded the weights of only 15 fish.

Anglers will spend four days on the water at Texas Fest and record the weights of their 20 biggest fish. All fish will be weighed in the boat. Anglers will be allowed to bring one bass over the slot limit to the weigh-in; all others will be immediately released. 

“To get to 100 pounds in four days is a major accomplishment, and to do it in three is unheard of,” said Combs. “It’s nothing about the angler — it wasn’t about me when I did it there. It’s just a testament to the quality of fishing at Lake Fork.”

In the 10 years TTBC was held and the two years since its transition to Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest, the event has generated millions of dollars for TPWD’s youth fishing and urban outreach programs.

“We’re excited to head back to Lake Fork and be the official sponsor of the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest,” said Brent Hillyer, Gulf States Toyota’s senior vice president of marketing and vehicle supply. “There’s no better way to continue to benefit Texas Parks and Wildlife Department than by holding this competition at one of Texas’ most admired reservoirs.”

The Elite Series was formed in 2006, and Century Belts have only been awarded at nine events (out of more than 100 total). No angler has earned one of the belts since the 2013 Elite Series event on Falcon Lake when Combs (111-5), Rick Clunn (105-6) and John Crews (103-13) all topped the 100-pound mark.

Many believe Century Belts could be claimed again at Texas Fest because Lake Fork — a 27,000-acre impoundment on the Sabine River — has been intensely managed for giant bass since it was impounded in 1980.

Through 2018, Texas Parks and Wildlife has stocked nearly 14 million Florida-strain largemouth — and the bass have flourished in habitat that includes vast areas of standing timber, hydrilla, milfoil and duckweed.

To help the fish reach exceptional sizes, TPWD implemented a slot limit that protects all bass that measure between 16 and 24 inches. Anglers can keep up to five bass per day, but only one of them can be over 24 inches.

Those management efforts have created a fishery that has produced 30 of the 50 largest bass ever caught in Texas, including the current state record of 18.18 pounds, which was in 1992 by Barry St. Clair.

The slot limit won’t be a problem for the 75-angler Elite Series field since all bass will be immediately released — and the springtime conditions at Fork could lead to great things. The catch/weigh/release format made its debut at the first Toyota Texas Bass Classic, which was held on Lake Fork in 2007.

“Our Department is very proud of the fact that we helped create and rollout the nation’s first catch/weigh/immediate release tournament,” said Dave Terre, chief of Fisheries Management and Research for TPWD. “For the past 12 years, we’ve used them to showcase some of Texas’ best bass fisheries, including Lake Fork. The unique format emphasizes fish care, supports catch and release and honors our fisheries management goals. At Lake Fork, our goals are to produce big bass. We’re now delighted to have the opportunity to showcase this great fishery for the first time in a Bassmasters Elite Series event. We think four-day catch records could be broken.”

During that 2014 TTBC when Combs won with 110 pounds, he had one five-bass limit that weighed 42 pounds. That’s a little more than 3 pounds shy of the all-time B.A.S.S. record for largest single-day, five-bass limit.

The full field of Elite Series anglers will fish Thursday and Friday, May 2-3. Anglers will then take a break from competition on Saturday, May 4, for a special Fan Appreciation Day with festivities, including Bassmaster University seminars, the Bassmaster Outdoors Expo and the annual Bassmaster High School All-American Fishing Team Tournament. A highlight of the Expo will be the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Outdoor Adventure experience, including a catfish tank, wildlife viewing tent, fly casting and tying center, Texas State Fish Art exhibit, Toyota Sharelunker Trailer and many others.

2018 Champion

The Top 35 Elite Series pros will resume competition on Sunday, May 5, and the Top 10 will compete on Championship Monday, May 6.

The tournament will feature a total payout of $1 million, with $100,000 going to the champion. A Toyota Tundra pickup truck will be awarded to the angler who weighs in the heaviest bass of the week.

“The Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce and our partners the Wood County Industrial Commission, Emory Tourism and Quitman EDC are excited to be hosting such an elite tournament such as the Bassmaster Elite Series,” said Michael Rogge, president of the Lake Fork Area COC. “This the first time in Lake Fork’s history to hold such a tournament. This event will show that major tournament organizations, such as Bassmaster, can hold events on a lake with restrictive size limits. Catch-and-release tournaments are becoming more popular, and this tournament will show the world that it can be done and exciting at the same time.”

The event will be covered in real time on Bassmaster LIVE, which streams on Bassmaster.com and the ESPN app, and it will be featured in a special episode of The Bassmasters television program to be aired later on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic.

In addition to the Lake Fork Chamber, the Wood County Industrial Commission, the Sabine River Authority, Quitman Economic Development Commission and Emory, TX Tourism are hosting the Texas Fest event.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

FLW TOUR SET TO VISIT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA FOR SIXTH EVENT OF SEASON

April 22, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

DAYTON, Tenn. – Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament fishing organization, is set to continue the 2019 FLW Tour season – the 24th season of the competitive Tour – next week, May 2-5, with the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude. Hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council, the tournament will feature 168 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals competing for a top award of up to $125,000 and valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup – the world championship of bass fishing.

The FLW Tour has visited Lake Chickamauga four times prior in FLW’s 24-year history. When the Tour visited the East Tennessee fishery in 2015, some of the biggest names in the sport ended up competing on Championship Sunday, including former Forrest Wood Cup champion David Dudley and legendary angler Larry Nixon. Pro Michael Wooley, then of Collierville, Tennessee, won the event, weighing 20 bass totaling 92 pounds, 4 ounces, focusing on a shell bar in Dallas Bay with a shaky-head rig and a football-head jig.

The 2019 event will mark the 216th tournament in FLW Tour history. The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000.

“This tournament is going to be one of the most fun events that we have all year,” said FLW Tour rookie Miles Burghoff of Hixson, Tennessee, who is currently leading both the Angler of the Year (AOY) and Rookie of the Year (ROY) point races with just two events remaining in the season. “Dayton, Tennessee is the most bass-friendly town that I have ever been to and the best bass-fishing community that I have ever seen. It’s going to be great fishing and great crowds all week.”

Burghoff predicted that the majority of the bass would be spawn or post-spawn, and he expects that competitors will be able to fish however they would like to.

“We’re going to have guys that fish the ledges and do great, and we’ll have guys that avoid the ledges and fish shallow that will do great,” Burghoff said. “I think the key will be having multiple options. I don’t think you can win off of one spot very easily. It’s possible, but there are no secrets on Chickamauga – especially offshore. In order to win, you’re going to have to stay fluid and have a few back up plans ready to go.”

Burghoff predicted that standard Tennessee River-tackle would be in play – big spoons, jigs and swimbaits are all expected to play a role for tournament competitors. Burghoff also predicted that many of the FLW Tour pros would likely be seen throwing topwater baits for the first time this season.

“We’re hitting the lake perfectly and there will be plenty of fish well into their summertime patterns,” he said. “I think it’ll take at least a 15-pound-a-day average to make the top-30 cut to fish the weekend. I think it’ll take a four-day total of 87 to 88 pounds to win. It could be a little high, but it’s Lake Chickamauga and we’re going to crush them.”

Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. ET Thursday through Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins, May 2-3, will be held at the park beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, May 4-5, will also be held at the park, but will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Dayton Boat Dock from 2 to 6 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.

Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the Dayton Boat Dock on Saturday, May 4, from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1st and 2nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.

As part of the FLW Tour’s community outreach initiative, FLW Tour anglers will visit shoppers and staff at We Care, a second-hand store benefitting the Safe Haven Light Family Transitional Shelter, located at 420 Market Street in Dayton on Wednesday, May 1 from 3-4:30 p.m. to interact with guests, snap photos and sign autographs, give away goodie bags and share fishing stories.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Days Three and Four of the event, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by Todd Hollowell to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 168 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.

Categories
BASSMASTER Elite Series/Opens

BREAKING NEWS-HISTORIC 2020 BASSMASTER CLASSIC JUST ANNOUNCED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Photo courtesy of BASS

The 50th Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods will come home to its Alabama roots in 2020. The world championship bass tournament will be held in Birmingham, Ala., with fishing competition taking place on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Ala., B.A.S.S. announced today.

The iconic fishing tournament will be held March 6-8, with daily weigh-ins and the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo taking place in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) in downtown Birmingham, B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin said during a press conference Monday afternoon at the BJCC.

“It’s fitting that the golden anniversary Classic be held in Alabama, where B.A.S.S. was founded more than 50 years ago,” Akin said. “Our plans are to make this the most spectacular celebration of bass fishing in history.

“Throughout the current Bassmaster Elite Series tournament season, we are celebrating ‘The Year of the Fan’ — our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the millions of bass fishing fans who make this sport so great. The celebration will culminate at the Classic here in Birmingham.”

The Classic was first held at Lake Mead, Nevada, in October 1971. The tournament was the brainchild of B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott, who wanted a way to determine an ultimate champion at the end of every tournament season. It has since been held in Alabama 12 times, eight of those in Birmingham.

“We are so proud to once again host the 2020 Bassmaster Classic, the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin. “We look forward to the great competition the Classic attracts and the dedicated fans who will gather in Birmingham for this incredible event. While in the region, we invite everyone to experience the inspirational history, legendary food and world class entertainment which make us the Magic City.”

“We are thrilled that the Bassmaster Classic will be returning to the Birmingham region once again,” said John Oros, president and CEO of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This event is the pinnacle of professional bass fishing and it attracts the greatest anglers in the world. The tournament reinforces the fact that the Birmingham area is a great professional and amateur sports destination. We expect that the economic impact of the event will equal or exceed the $32 million spent in hotels, restaurants, attractions and retailers this past year in Knoxville, Tenn.”

Twice previously — in 1976 and 2014 — fishing has taken place on Lake Guntersville, which has become synonymous with bass fishing greatness over the past half-century.

“We are excited that Lake Guntersville has been chosen to be the fishery for this anniversary Classic,” said Katy Norton, president of Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The interest the Classic generates has positive impact for months, even years following the tournament, and we expect Lake Guntersville will be at the top of the list for anglers and B.A.S.S. fans to visit following next spring’s competition. We look forward to the tournament and to continuing our partnership with B.A.S.S.”

The inaugural event in Nevada, which was won by Arkansas angler Bobby Murray, featured a 24-angler field and a winner-take-all format with a $10,000 prize. None of the anglers knew the location ahead of time, and they all fished with identical boats and motors.

Much has changed since then — especially the payout, which is now a whopping $1 million for a 53-angler field with $300,000 going to the winner. The winner also adds his name to the most prestigious list in bass fishing.

“The Classic is literally a life-changing event for the angler who wins,” said B.A.S.S. Director Chase Anderson. “It exemplifies what Bassmaster competition stands for: ‘Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams.’ It honors the angler who can catch the biggest bass of the week, and weigh them on the biggest stage in bass fishing, and fulfill the biggest dream any angler can have. No title in professional fishing holds the same clout as ‘Classic champion.’”

It’s hard to imagine a more fitting spot for the 50th renewal of the event than Lake Guntersville, which has hosted 22 major B.A.S.S. events.

The 68,000-acre Tennessee River fishery, which is a popular destination for bass fishing enthusiasts from across the country, will also play host to a regular-season Bassmaster Elite Series tournament June 21-24. That 23rd major B.A.S.S. event will make Guntersville the second-most visited lake in B.A.S.S. history, behind only Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas.

Weigh-ins and the Classic Expo will be held 75 miles away at the BJCC — and recent history says they’ll be plenty busy.

The 2018 Classic attracted 143,323 fans to all activities, including the Get Hooked on Fishing activity center, morning takeoffs, weigh-ins and the Expo. That was an all-time record until this year’s event on the Tennessee River in Knoxville drew 153,809.

The Classic will be covered live and streamed on Bassmaster.com, ESPN3 and the ESPN App, and five hours of original programming will be aired on ESPN2 and the Pursuit Channel following the event. In addition, the Classic annually draws more than 250 credentialed media. The 2019 Classic was covered by journalists from 28 states as well as Japan, China, Australia, Italy, Germany and Canada.

Categories
Major League Fishing - Bass Pro Tour/Cup Events

LOCAL PRO CLAIMS HOMETOWN WIN ON LAKE CHICKAMAUGA AT BASS PRO TOUR ECONO LODGE STAGE FOUR PRESENTED BY WINN GRIPS

DAYTON, Tenn. (April 14, 2019) – From the moment he announced his intention to compete on the Major League Fishing® (MLF) Bass Pro Tour, Tennessee pro Andy Morgan was tabbed by his fellow competitors as an angler to watch. Based on both his exceptional 23-year career and his catch-every-fish-that-swims fishing style, Morgan came into the season as a near-universal pick by his contemporaries to take home one of the eight regular-season Bass Pro Tour trophies.  It turns out that Morgan’s first Bass Pro Tour trophy didn’t have far to travel: 7.1 miles from Lake Chickamauga to the trophy room in his home in Dayton.   Fishing a lake that he grew up on – and finishing the day in a pocket that he and his dad have won “a number of April tournaments in over the years” – Morgan weighed in 34 Lake Chickamauga largemouth for 80-0 pounds to run away with the Championship Round of the Econo Lodge Stage Four presented by Winn Grips.  “I wanted to win one more tournament on Chickamauga,” Morgan admitted. “I can’t explain how hard it is to win an event at this level, and I can’t explain just how bad I wanted to win right here in front of my family and friends – I wanted it bad. It means the world to me to be able to come out here on this lake where I won my first tournament when I was 15, fish against this bunch of guys, and get that trophy. I’m awful proud of it.”  Jared Lintner finished second with 60-7, Todd Faircloth was third with 59-5, Jacob Powroznik was fourth with 54-4 and Mike Iaconelli completed the Top 5 with 54-2.     

Morgan Committed to One Spot Early  Morgan fished Championship Sunday as one would expect a seasoned veteran to work his home fishery, committing his entire championship round to a long backwater north of Dayton that locals refer to as “The Branch”. Morgan woke up on Championship Sunday, looked at the weather forecast calling for heavy morning rain and afternoon winds, and knew immediately that he had an outstanding chance for a big day in two sloughs inside “The Branch”.   “As soon as I saw the weather, I knew that I wasn’t going to leave that area all day,” Morgan confirmed. “I was going to fish it all day long and figure it out, because I thought it had the best population of fish to work on. I knew it could all go down right in those two sloughs, and that I needed to just stay put and be patient.”  Morgan’s patience paid off. The Favorite Fishing pro worked his way around two areas he refers to as “Back Slough” and “Bus Slough” with a jig and Zoom Super Salt Plus Z Craw, a lipless crankbait and a vibrating jig, picking up 11 fish apiece in the first and second periods to claim and hold a 7-1 lead heading into the final period.    Jared Lintner, who spent a good part of his day sight fishing, had crept to within 2 pounds of Morgan midway through Period 2 and had located one spawner that he identified as “a double-digit fish.” But while Lintner added 11 fish to his SCORETRACKER™ total through the final 2 ½ hours of competition, eight of those were under 2 pounds; Morgan, meanwhile, connected with his two biggest fish of the day – a 5-7 and a 6-9 – and a 4-4 to gradually open up his lead.  “I had no other competitors in my area and the weather kept the local traffic out, so I had the whole place to myself,” Morgan said. “I’ve had some pretty special days on Chickamauga – I won my first Angler of the Year title on this lake – but today was the one day in my whole career where the deck was stacked for me to win.”  

 Morgan finished the week with 224-8, a record for weight caught in a Bass Pro Tour event. He and Lintner’s 106 fish caught is also a record.   

Lintner Made a Run at It  Lintner made things interesting through the first two periods, catching solid numbers of 1- to 3-pound males in an area in Soddy Creek that had been fished heavily throughout the week. The Aftco pro made a serious run at Morgan’s lead in the second period with a series of 3-pounders, but ultimately couldn’t convince a couple of big females to bite.  “I didn’t know if that area would replenish, or if the ones that were in there would bite again, but the winning fish were in that area,” Lintner said. “I saw a couple of fresh big ones that I thought were going to go, but they just weren’t ready to bite.” 

Bass Pro Tour Stage Four By the Numbers  

Total Weight                     7,415 pounds, 9 ounces     

Total Fish                         3,829 fish

5-plus pounds                  74 fish

6-plus pounds                  36 fish  

7-plus pounds                  17 fish    

Records Broken  

Total Event Weight            7,415 pounds, 9 ounces    

Total Event Fish Caught    3,829

Most Overall Weight          224 pounds, 8 (Andy Morgan)

Most Fish Caught              106 (Jared Lintner & Andy Morgan)

Two-Day Weight                105 pounds, 6 ounces (Zack Birge) 

Next Up on the Bass Pro Tour  The 80-man MLF Bass Pro Tour field will have a two-week break before returning to competition for Stage Five on Smith Lake in Cullman, Alabama, April 30 to May 5.

Categories
MLF BIG-5

THIS OKLAHOMA ANGLER LEADS WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS FLW TOUR ON CHEROKEE LAKE PRESENTED BY LOWRANCE

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (April 14, 2019) – Pro Andrew Upshaw of Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the FLW Tour at the Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance after catching five bass Sunday weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces. Upshaw’s four-day cumulative total of 20 bass weighing 67 pounds, 10 ounces, was enough to edge second-place pro Grae Buck of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, by 1 pound, 2 ounces, at the event that featured 164 of the world’s top bass anglers. For his win – the first of his FLW Tour career – Upshaw earned $100,000.

“This week was phenomenal – there’s no other way to describe it,” a visibly emotional Upshaw said on the FLW Tour weigh-in stage Sunday afternoon. “Through practice, I knew I was on something special, but I didn’t know just how special.”

Upshaw’s week on the water primarily involved targeting spawning bass. Early on, he said he lured bites with a drop-shot rig, using a green-pumpkin-colored Strike King KVD Drop-Shot Half Shell with a 1/8-ounce weight, but ended up switching after breaking it off 30 minutes into day one of competition. He proceeded to pick up a 4-inch, wacky-rigged Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Ocho of the same color and went to work putting together consistent limits around mid-lake islands. He said he preferred 10-pound-test Seaguar Smackdown braid line with a 6-pound InvisX fluorocarbon leader.

“These fish stay around these islands all year long – they don’t leave,” said Upshaw. “I caught some on banks, but all my big ones came on islands. I wanted to be around the deepest water and the steepest banks. It had to have boulders out in front, and more importantly, the bank had to have somewhat of a turn in it. It didn’t have to have a cove, but just a turn – those smallmouth were spawning in them. There was just enough [curve] to get them out of the current where they could spawn.

“I took the Ocho and pitched it behind those boulders because that’s where they were spawning,” continued Upshaw. “Everybody was casting out in front and in the cracks, but they were actually behind the boulders the entire time. Anybody throwing a weighted bait, whether it was a Ned rig or a shaky-head, wasn’t able to effectively fish it because it was dropping so fast. By pitching that very, very light-weight Ocho around, I was able to get the fish that no one else was fishing for.”

On Championship Sunday, Upshaw slipped and surrendered the lead for a significant period of time, but after a last-minute stop at a secondary area he’d been saving – two points a quarter-mile from takeoff – the Oklahoma pro made two culls that would end up putting him over the top.

“Off to the side of one of the points there was a rock pile – it had isolated boulders and only big ones were moving up on it,” said Upshaw. “I caught a 3½-pounder and one that weighed about 2½ pounds to cull out two small fish.”

Upshaw caught his final two fish using a 3.25-inch, Ghost Shad-colored Strike King Rage Swimmer on a ¼-ounce jighead.

The top 10 pros on Cherokee Lake finished:

               1st:          Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 20 bass, 67-10, $100,000

               2nd:         Grae Buck, Harleysville, Pa., 20 bass, 66-8, $30,200

               3rd:          Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 20 bass, 65-12, $25,100

               4th:          Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 20 bass, 65-11, $20,000

               5th:          Andy Young, Isle, Minn., 20 bass, 64-0, $19,000

               6th:          Yamamoto Baits pro Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 20 bass, 63-1, $18,000

               7th:          Tim Cales, Sandstone, W. Va., 20 bass, 62-8, $17,000

               8th:          Derrick Snavely, Piney Flats, Tenn., 20 bass, 61-9, $16,000

               9th:          Matt Becker, Finleyville, Pa., 20 bass, 61-4, $15,000

               10th:        Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 20 bass, 60-12, $14,000

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Overall, there were 50 bass weighing 146 pounds, 14 ounces, caught by pros Sunday. All of the final 10 pros were able to bring five-bass limits to the scale.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance will premiere in 2019. The exact air-date will be announced soon. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Cherokee Lake presented by Lowrance is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the Economic Development Alliance, Jefferson County. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude, in Dayton, Tennessee, May 2-5. The tournament will be hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 164 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.