Category: MLF BIG-5

February 25, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. – 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, March 7-10, with the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa. Hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tournament will feature 170 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 Seminole just once prior in FLW’s 24-year history. When the Tour visited the Georgia reservoir in 1996, Mississippi pro Jeff Magee averaged just over 15½ pounds a day to win just the fourth event in FLW Tour history. The 2019 event will mark the 213th tournament in FLW Tour history. The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa is more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division.

“Hurricane Michael really changed the lake, 180-degrees,” said local FLW Tour angler J. Todd Tucker of Moultrie, Georgia. “It has opened up some new areas that haven’t been open for years. It’s scattered the grass and completely changed the grasslines. But, overall, Lake Seminole has been fishing pretty good and it’s going to be a very fun tournament.

“The fish are going to be shallow,” Tucker continued. “There should be quite a bit of spawning going on, and we’re going to see bass caught in all three phases – prespawn, spawn and postspawn. The key to winning this event will be to find the staging fish – areas with both prespawn and postspawn bass moving in and going out.”

Tucker said that fans following the action should expect to see a strong crankbait bite, along with lipless crankbaits, Carolina rigs, topwater baits and vibrating jigs all playing a role.

“A lot of guys are going to be fishing the lily pad stems and hydrilla up shallow, but the sand bars have always been a big player at Seminole,” Tucker said. “Guys are going to be able to catch them in a lot of different ways and we’re going to see some big fish.

“I think to make the top-30 cut to fish on the weekend, it’s going to take 31 pounds,” Tucker went on to say. “I predict the four-day winner will have right around 88 pounds. We should see quite a few 25- to 28-pound limits. If the tournament hits the lake at just the right time, the potential is definitely there for 33- to 34-pound bags.”

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST Thursday through Saturday and 7:45 a.m. Sunday from the Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin, located at 100 Boat Basin Circle, in Bainbridge. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins, March 7-8, will be held at the boat basin beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, March 9-10, will also be held at the boat basin, but will begin at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at the Bainbridge Earle May Boat Basin 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 boat basin on Saturday, March 9 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 students, guests and staff at the Hutto Middle School, located at 1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, in Bainbridge on Wednesday, March 6 from 8:30-10 a.m. to introduce students to fishing and outdoor activities in their community. During the presentations the pro anglers will reinforce how science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) relate to outdoor activities and the life as a professional angler as well as discussing different career paths within the outdoor industry.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa 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. New for 2019, host Travis Moran will be joined by veteran FLW Tour pro 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 170 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.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2019) – Pro Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, brought a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 12 ounces, to the scale Sunday towin the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by RangerBoats. Gross’ four-day total of 20 bass weighing 85-12 earned him the victory by a 4-pound, 10-ounce margin over second-place pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, and the $100,000 first-place prize.

“I’m ecstatic. It has been an awesome, awesome journey. To beat the competition that we have – it’s unbelievable,” said Gross, who earned his second career FLW Tour victory. “I came into this event just wanting to cash a check. When I made the top 30, I just wanted stay in the top 10. All I wanted to do was finish strong.

“I got the majority of my weight early today – I’m guessing I had 18 or 19 pounds by 9 (a.m.) and after that it was a grind,” continued Gross. “I worked a long time between bites, but I upgraded two more times – maybe three – at my spot. I can’t believe this place that I caught these fish at held up – I really believe the Lord just blessed me.”

The spot Gross is referring to was on the main span of Lake Toho, just north of the lock at the lake’s southern end. It was his most productive area throughout the event, producing 19 of his 20 fish. He described it as a “pocket” in the grass line that was 30 feet wide and 50 feet in, but that didn’t break through to the other side.

“It was special because it had two ditches with clumps in the middle, and the fish were sitting in the clumps,” said Gross. “There were 20-foot gaps between each clump, and they’d set up in them [the clumps]. The first day I caught them, it was in the ditch, but after that, everything was on the clumps.”

Though Gross described the area as having two ditches, he said the “ditches” weren’t any deeper than the surrounding area. They were just open lanes with no grass. The entire spot was about 7 feet deep.

Gross primarily used a 5- or 6-inch, natural-light-colored Scottsboro Tackle Co. Swimbait on an 8/0-sized Owner Beast Flashy Swimmer and a ½-ounce white custom swimjig with a 4-inch Scottsboro Tackle swimbait trailer of the same color. The same swimjig with a black-and-blue skirt and a green-pumpkin Zoom Z-Craw trailer also came into play. For line, he used 50-pound-test braid on a Daiwa Tatula SV reel. He fished the swimbait on a 7-foot, 3-inch Fitzgerald Rods All Purpose Series extra-heavy rod, but switched to a heavy-action rod of the same length and series for the swim jig.

The top 10 pros on Lake Toho finished:

1^st: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 20 bass, 85-12, $102,700

2^nd: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 20 bass, 81-2, $30,600

3^rd: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 20 bass, 78-7, $25,000

4^th: Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, 20 bass, 76-14, $20,000

5^th: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 20 bass, 72-8, $19,000

6^th: Wade Strelic, Alpine, Calif., 20 bass, 71-4, $18,000

7^th: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., 20 bass, 66-0, $17,000

8^th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 20 bass, 65-10, $16,000

9^th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 19 bass, 64-7, $15,000

10^th: Nitro pro Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., 20 bass, 64-3, $14,000

Full results for the entire field can be found atFLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 49 bass weighing 157 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Sunday. Of the final 10 pros, nine caught five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats was more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament was hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Seminole presented by Costa, in Bainbridge, Georgia, March 7-10. The tournament will be hosted by the Bainbridge Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 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.

February 9, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – After an exciting day of movement atop the leaderboard, FLW Tour pro Buddy Gross of Chickamauga, Georgia, took the lead Saturday after the final bass had been weighed at the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces. Gross’ three-day cumulative catch of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds even paces the final 10 pros as they head into Championship Sunday at the competition that features the world’s finest bass anglers casting for a top award of up to $125,000.

Right behind Gross (15 bass, 62-0) is hard-charging local angler Darrell Davis of Dover, Florida. Davis started the day in 13th place but moved into second after weighing a huge 25-pound, 12-ounce limit this afternoon – the largest of the day – bringing his three-day total to 15 bass weighing 60-15. Josh Douglas of Isle, Minnesota, (15 bass, 60-3) rounds out the top three, and was the only other pro to top the 60-pound mark after three days.

“I’ve got a good little spot – I think I’ve weighed in 14 of my 15 fish from it – but I’m really pushing it to its limits,” said Gross, who is seeking his second career FLW Tour win. “I keep looking for another spot, and I might have found one this afternoon. I caught one that culled – almost a 4-pounder – at the very last place I stopped on the way to weigh-in.”

Gross’ main area is an offshore stretch of hydrilla on Lake Toho. He said he’s been able to put a limit in the boat by 10 a.m. each day on the first two days of competition, but today it took until noon.

“The spot has both pre and postspawn bass. When the prespawners show up, they’re feeding, and when they feed I can see it and I can catch them – that’s my little flurry,” said Gross. “Tomorrow I’m going to catch what I can catch there and then start looking. I had some giant fish, but I still haven’t gotten a kicker. I haven’t had anything over 5½ [pounds] in three days and there’s a lot of stretches where I’ve caught some 7s, 8s and 9s in practice, so I’m going to have to move around a little more.”

Gross said he’s mostly relied on a swimbait and a pair of swimjigs, citing a natural light-colored Scottsboro Tackle swimbait, black and blue-colored swimjig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Z-Craw trailer and a white swimjig with the Scottsboro swimbait as a trailer. He’s also utilized a Nichols spinnerbait this week.

“The swimjig probably caught more weight than the swimbait today, but every other day it’s been the swimbait. I’m using a little underspin-type blade on the hook – an Owner Flashy Swimmer. It’s got a little extra flash and I think that’s what’s triggering the fish.”

The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake Toho are: 

 1st: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 15 bass, 62-0 

 2nd: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 15 bass, 60-15 

 3rd: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 15 bass, 60-3 

 4th: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 15 bass, 57-8

 5th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 15 bass, 57-7 

 6th: Wade Strelic, Alpine, Calif., 15 bass, 57-3 

 7th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 54-12 

 8th: Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, 15 bass, 54-3 

 9th: Nitro pro Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., 15 bass, 53-1 

 10th: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., 15 bass, 51-6

Finishing 11th through 30th are:

 11th: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 15 bass, 50-5, $12,000

 12th: Nitro pro Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 15 bass, 49-12, $12,000

 13th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 15 bass, 48-14, $12,000

 14th: J. Todd Tucker, Moultrie, Ga., 15 bass, 47-11, $12,000

 15th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., 15 bass, 47-10, $12,000

 16th: Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 47-10, $11,500

 17th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., 14 bass, 46-15, $11,500

 18th: Nitro pro David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 15 bass, 46-15, $11,500

 19th: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 15 bass, 45-9, $11,500

 20th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 15 bass, 45-9, $11,500

 21st: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 44-5, $10,500

 22nd: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 15 bass, 43-14, $11,000

 23rd: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 43-3, $10,500

 24th: Austin Wilson, Citrus Heights, Calif., 15 bass, 43-1, $10,500

 25th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 15 bass, 42-9, $10,500

 26th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 42-1, $10,500

 27th: Brandon McMillan, Clewiston, Fla., 14 bass, 41-9, $10,500

 28th: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., 15 bass, 41-0, $10,500

 29th: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 15 bass, 40-6, $10,500

 30th: Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 13 bass, 39-12, $10,500

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 146 bass weighing 401 pounds, 8 ounces caught by the 30 pros Saturday. The catch included 27 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 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. Now, only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats is more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament is hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission.

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.

Anglers will take off for the final day of competition at 7 a.m. EST Sunday from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive, in Kissimmee. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will also be held at the marina, beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-in Sunday FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Big Toho Marina from 2 to 6 p.m. 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.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by veteran FLW Tour pro Peter Thliveros 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.

February 8, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo courtesy of FLW

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, brought five bass to the scale weighing 17 pounds, 4 ounces, to hold the lead after day two of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats. Cox’s two day total of 10 bass weighing 48-13 will give him a 3-pound, 9-ounce advantage over second place angler Aaron Britt of Yuba City, California, (45-4). The field of 170 anglers is now cut to just the top 30 as the world’s best bass fishing professionals continue their competition for the top award of up to $125,000.

Cox said he fished a lot of the same areas from Thursday, rotating in some new areas as well. He said the sight-fishing bite was tough once again and it forced him to move deeper to salvage the day.

“I looked at a lot of beds and nothing was happening – it was dead again,” said Cox, who looks to earn his 19th top-10 finish in FLW Tour competition. “There were four or five other guys that ran into big ones and I never ran into any. Yesterday, I got one before anyone else got any. There are only a handful of spots and everyone is rotating them.

“At about 1 (p.m.), I finally was like ‘man I need to put some fish in the boat’,” continued Cox. “I started fishing and caught two nice ones and a couple of other keepers to try and save the day.”

Cox’s two “nice ones” were a 5-pounder and one that was close to 4. He said he caught them on the Berkley Windup Worm – the same bait he relied on Thursday.

“This place has always had my number – I’ve never made the cut here,” said Cox. “I’ve won some one-day tournaments, but I’ve never done well in a multi-day event. The fish always seem to change.”

The Florida veteran said that for Saturday, he plans on doing something completely different.

“I’m going to go try something else where I think there might be some real big ones. I got a feeling about this one area. I’ll give it an hour, and if it happens, I’ll bust them big time. If it doesn’t, I’ll leave and try and do something else.”

The top 30 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Toho are: 

 1st: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 48-13

 2nd: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 10 bass, 45-4 

 3rd: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., 10 bass, 42-12 

 4th: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 42-11 

 5th: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 10 bass, 42-4 

 6th: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 10 bass, 42-3 

 7th: Nitro pro Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 10 bass, 40-10 

 8th: Power-Pole pro Tyler Woolcott, Port Orange, Fla., 10 bass, 39-5 

 9th: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 35-12 

 10th: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., 10 bass, 35-7 

 11th: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 10 bass, 35-6

 12th: Joseph Webster, Winfield, Ala., 10 bass, 35-4 

 13th: Darrell Davis, Dover, Fla., 10 bass, 35-3 

 14th: J. Todd Tucker, Moultrie, Ga., 10 bass, 34-8 

 15th: Wade Strelic, Alpine, Calif., 10 bass, 34-6 

 16th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., 10 bass, 33-13 

 17th: Nitro pro David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 33-12 

 18th: Austin Wilson, Citrus Heights, Calif., 10 bass, 33-6 

 19th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 32-11 

 20th: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 32-7 

 21st: Bass Pro Shops pro Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 32-7 

 22nd: Brandon McMillan , Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 31-15 

 23rd: Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 10 bass, 31-14 

 24th: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 10 bass, 31-9 

 25th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 31-2 

 26th: Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 10 bass, 30-13 

 27th: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., 10 bass, 30-3 

 28th: Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, 10 bass, 30-2 

 29th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 30-1 

 30th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 29-13

Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Horton caught the heaviest fish in the pro division Friday – a 10-pound, 5-ounce largemouth – and earned the day’s Big Bass Award of $500.

Overall there were 794 bass weighing 1,902 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 165 pros Friday. The catch included 148 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now 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.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats is more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament is hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission.

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.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EST each day from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive, in Kissimmee. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the marina, beginning at 4 p.m.

Prior to the weigh-ins FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Big Toho Marina from 2 to 6 p.m. 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 marina on Saturday 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.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by veteran FLW Tour pro Peter Thliveros 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.

February 7, 2019  by FLW Communications

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, hauled in a massive five-bass limit weighing 31 pounds, 9 ounces – the largest limit ever weighed in FLW Tour competition at Lake Toho – to grab the lead after day one of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats. Cox will bring a 6-pound, 10-ounce advantage over second-place pro John Voyles of Petersburg, Indiana, into Day Two of the four-day tournament that features 170 of the world’s most decorated bass-fishing professionals casting for a top award of up to $125,000 cash.

“When I got up this morning, I was just excited to go fishing,” said Cox, the 2016 FLW Cup Champion who has more than $1.1 million in career earnings. “The weather was warm – for once – and it was going to be sunny and not windy. It was an awesome day.

“I ran a ton of spots. I ran all around this lake [Toho] and then went down and ran around the other lakes and just kept spot-hopping,” continued Cox. “I caught one good one early and then it was steady – you’d get one here, get one there.”

Cox said he made roughly 30 stops throughout the day.

“I tried to do the sight-fishing thing, but there’s just no movement. There’s no fish moving,” said Cox. “There’s a few fish still there, but most of them left for some reason, so I just started fishing and caught two good ones.”

One of Cox’s two “good ones” was a 10-pound, 9-ouncer that he wrangled a bit deeper using a Berkley Windup Worm. It ended up being the third-largest bass ever weighed in FLW Tour competition at Lake Toho.

Overall, three of Cox’s fish came from beds, and two came from the Windup Worm. He said he culled three times as well.

“I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow – probably run a lot of the same spots.”

The top 10 pros after day one on Lake Toho are:  

 1st: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., five bass, 31-9

 2nd: John Voyles, Petersburg, Ind., five bass, 24-15 

 3rd: Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 24-12 

 4th: Austin Wilson, Citrus Heights, Calif., five bass, 21-11 

 5th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 21-10 

 6th: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., five bass, 21-7 

 7th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., five bass, 21-6 

 8th: Wade Strelic, Alpine, Cal., five bass, 21-4 

 9th: Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., five bass, 21-2 

 10th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., five bass,   19-10 

 10th: Jim Jones, Big Bend, Wis., five bass, 19-10

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Cox’s 10-pound, 9-ounce largemouth was the heaviest fish weighed in the pro division Thursday, and earned him the day’s Big Bass Award of $500.

Overall there were 815 bass weighing 2,032 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 169 pros Thursday. The catch included 154 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 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.

The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats is more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament is hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission.

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.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EST each day from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive, in Kissimmee. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, Feb. 9-10, will also be held at the marina, but will begin at 4 p.m.

Prior to weigh-in each day FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Big Toho Marina from 2 to 6 p.m. 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 marina on Saturday, Feb. 9, 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.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 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 veteran FLW Tour pro Peter Thliveros 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.

February 2, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo Courtesy of FLW

CLEWISTON, Fla. – Florida boater Nick Thliveros of Saint Augustine, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 10 pounds, 15 ounces – enough to win the 2019 Costa FLW Series at Lake Okeechobee presented by Power-Pole. Thliveros, son of legendary bass angler Peter Thliveros, weighed in 15 bass over three days of competition totaling 46 pounds, 1 ounce, besting second-place angler Cody Nichols of Fayette, Alabama, by more than 4 pounds. For his victory, Thliveros earned the grand prize package worth $54,000.

“This feels amazing – one of those things that you lay in bed and dream about at night,” said Thliveros, who was fishing in his 11th career tournament as a boater in FLW competition. “I’ve won fishing as a co-angler before, but to win as a pro in an event that I fished alongside my father is really, really cool. He is an amazing mentor, a heck of a teacher, and I wouldn’t be here today without him.”

Thliveros’ limits weighing 15-14 on Thursday and 19-4 on Friday came from the same area of Lake Okeechobee – the Hendry Canal. He threw a crack-colored Lucky Craft RC 2.0 squarebill crankbait to catch all of his fish on the first two days of competition, an estimated 8 keepers on Thursday and 10 keepers on Friday.

“The key for me was the condition of the lake,” Thliveros said. “I went and found the most stable water that I could find, where the weather and low water wouldn’t affect the fish. That was in the rim ditches, catching fish that were trying to spawn.

“Today, the fish moved up and I couldn’t figure them out,” Thliveros continued. “I only had two little fish on the crankbait this morning, so I had to scrap that whole pattern around 10:45 (a.m.) and just went junk-fishing. I made my way to the back of the Monkey Box and was able to salvage 10 pounds and thankfully that was enough.”

Thliveros fished a black and blue Nichols jig with a blue bug-colored Strike King Rage Craw and a Texas-rigged black, blue and silver-colored Bitters Salty Sling with a 1/32-ounce tungsten Bullet Weight to catch his limit Saturday.

“The rest of the southeastern division events set up really well for me, so I’m excited to see how everything shakes out this season,” Thliveros went on to say. “This was definitely a great way to start the year.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Okeechobee finished:

 1st: Nick Thliveros, Saint Augustine, Fla., 15 bass, 46-1, $54,000

 2nd: Cody Nichols, Fayette, Ala., 15 bass, 42-0, $22,200

 3rd: Jason Abram, Piney Flats, Tenn., 15 bass, 42-0, $15,350

 4th: Brett Preuett, Monroe, La., 14 bass, 39-9, $13,250

 5th: Sandy Melvin, Boca Grande, Fla., 15 bass, 38-2, $12,250

 6th: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 15 bass, 38-2, $9,625

 7th: Lance Oligschlaeger, Gallatin, Tenn., 13 bass, 38-1, $8,300

 8th: David Parsons, Dothan, Ala., 15 bass, 35-10, $7,300

 9th: Billy Hall, Greenback, Tenn., 15 bass, 34-6, $6,300

 10th: Val Osinski, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 15 bass, 32-4, $4,700

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Casey Warren of Galivants Ferry, South Carolina, weighed a 7-pound, 14-ounce, bass Friday – the biggest of the tournament in the Pro Division. For his catch, Warren earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $300.

Andy Niles of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division, a Ranger Z175 with a 115-horsepower outboard motor and $5,000 with a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Okeechobee finished:

 1nd: Andy Niles, Ocean Springs, Miss., 10 bass, 40-8, Ranger Z175 w/115-horsepower outboard + $5,000 Ranger Cup

 2nd: Todd Scherr, Coral Springs, Fla., 15 bass, 32-11, $6,725

 3rd: Rodney Tapp, North Augusta, S.C., 15 bass, 32-7, $5,350

 4th: Kyle Gelles, Pingree, Idaho, 14 bass, 32-6, $4,350

 5th: Darin Mitchell, Rutledge, Ga., 13 bass, 30-12, $3,650

 6th: Don Lewis, Jacksonville, Fla., 12 bass, 27-14, $3,150

 7th: James Hatch, Gainesville, Fla., 11 bass, 27-1, $2,650

 8th: Josh Driver, Hiram, Ga., 14 bass, 24-8, $2,075

 9th: Calvin Clatterbuck, Conway, S.C., 10 bass, 22-4, $1,630

 10th: Bryan Ray, Lake Leelanau, Mich., 11 bass, 19-9, $1,390

Gelles caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces. For his catch, Gelles earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200.

The Costa FLW Series on Lake Okeechobee presented by Power-Pole was hosted by Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort and the Hendry County Tourism Development Council. It was the first of three Southeastern Division tournaments of the 2019 regular season. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be the Western Division opener, held Feb. 28 – March 2 on Lake Mead in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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.

January 24, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo Courtesy of FLW Tour

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Tour, professional bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit, heads to Lake Toho, Feb. 7-10, for the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats. The event, hosted by Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission, will feature 170 of the world’s most decorated bass-fishing professionals casting for a top award of up to $125,000 cash in the Pro Division.

Now in its 24th season of competition, the FLW Tour has made the trek to Lake Toho five times in its history. When the circuit last visited in 2015, pro J.T. Kenney took top honors primarily working pad fields in Lake Toho and Lake Kissimmee with a black-and-blue stick worm. This year, the fishery is expected to host another productive week of bass fishing.

“If the weather slowly warms up it could be really good fishing. It’s possible to break 100 pounds [in four days] there,” said FLW Tour pro John Cox, a former FLW Cup champion with 12 career top-10 finishes in Florida – including one on Lake Toho. “I hear the water is still really high at Lake Toho, but the grass bite will probably be pretty good. There’s usually a couple of guys who figure out something in Kissimmee, Cypress and Hatchineha, too. There’s a lot of water to cover, and it’s always exciting when the Tour visits Florida.”

Cox predicted that the majority of the fish would be in the pre-spawn to spawn phase, but said that doesn’t necessarily mean close to the bank.

“There is not much spawning that happens inside the grass like in years past,” Cox said. “They used to scrape the lake and you’d have a nice clean bottom, but they haven’t scraped in a long time, so a lot of those fish actually spawn offshore now. There will be a lot of anglers out in the open-water hydrilla. Those bigger groups of fish are off the bank.”

Cox said that lipless crankbaits and Carolina rigs would be popular with anglers fishing off the bank, while Texas-rigged Yamamoto Senkos and Berkley Power Worms would likely see a lot of action shallow. The Florida veteran predicted it would take around 18 pounds a day – 72 pounds total – to win the tournament.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Fishing League Worldwide Tour to our destination,” said John Poole, Executive Director of Kissimmee Sports Commission. “We pride ourselves on our area’s championship bass fishing lakes, which have been home to many marquee tournaments throughout the years. We appreciate the opportunity to host an event of this prestige and impact in the fishing industry, as well as raise awareness about the sport and the opportunities for anglers in the destination.”

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. EST each day from Big Toho Marina, located at 69 Lakeview Drive, in Kissimmee. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins, Feb. 7-8, will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, Feb. 9-10, will also be held at the marina, but will begin at 4 p.m.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats 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 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 veteran FLW Tour pro Peter Thliveros 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.

Prior to weigh-in each day FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Big Toho Marina from 2 to 6 p.m. 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 marina on Saturday, Feb. 9, 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.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 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.

January 22, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo Courtesy of FLW Tour

CLEWISTON, Fla. – The 2019 Costa Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Series Southeastern division is set to open next week at Lake Okeechobee, Jan. 31- Feb. 2, with the Costa FLW Series at Lake Okeechobee presented by Power-Pole. Hosted by Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort and the Hendry County Tourism Development Council, the three-day tournament will feature 500 of the best regional bass-fishing pros and co-anglers casting for a top prize of up to $110,000, including a brand new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard in the pro division.

Water levels are down at Lake Okeechobee – nearly 3-feet low – according to local FLW Tour pro Brandon McMillan of Clewiston, and it has the world-renowned big-bass factory in a bit of a funk.

“The lake is fishing a little tough right now,” McMillan said. “The lake is lower than it has been in the last 4 or 5 years and the problem is that there is very little, if any, clean water right now. The key to this tournament will be figuring out how to catch them in the dirty water.”

With the water clarity being such a big factor, McMillan said he expects moving baits to play a large role for tournament anglers.

“Rat-L-Traps, squarebill crankbaits and ChatterBaits will be the ticket,” he said. “There will be some kind of flipping bite – off the grass reed line, flipping a big jig – but it seems like the more consistent anglers will be in the rim canals, just working down the bank. That being said, it’s always going to be won somewhere in the main lake.”

McMillan predicted that the winner would likely have a three-day total around 50 pounds.

“It’s really hard to give a good weight prediction because the fishing is tough, but it’s Lake Okeechobee and we know that there are giants that live here,” McMillan went on to say. “If a guy can catch one or two of those during the event it will really go a long way. One thing is for sure – someone is going to catch them, and it should be a pretty exciting event.”

Anglers will take off from Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina and Resort, located at 920 E. Del Monte Avenue in Clewiston, at 7 a.m. EST each day. Weigh-ins will also take place at the Resort, and will begin at 3 p.m. each day. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free to attend and open to the public.

In Costa FLW Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event. At Lake Okeechobee, pros will fish for a top prize of up to $110,000 including a brand new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup qualified. Co-anglers will cast for a brand new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard, and $5,000 if Ranger Cup qualified.

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.

Cover photo courtesy of FLW Tour.

Two crankbaits were some of the top lures to be used at the First FLW Tour event at Sam Rayburn in 2019. Crankbaits were part of all the Top 10 with the exception of one angler. The first FLW was one for the record books with super low temps and the final day being postponed due to high winds. The weather was defiantly one of the biggest topics for this event.  High winds and even higher water really challenge these anglers is winter to pre-spawn fishing conditions. Water levels that were as much as 10ft higher than normal just help cover up the locations of these fish. Crankbaits still came out as the most popular technique of this tournament.

Crankbaits dominated the Top 10 at Sam Rayburn even through very tough conditions. So here is how crankbaits rounded out the top of the list for FLW Tour.

1. The Berkley DT series carried Terry Bolton to his first-ever FLW Tour event win. While Terry was the only person in the Top 10 to use the DT series. He did win with an assortment of DT crankbaits and that’s what puts it at the top of the list. The assortment included the DT 10, DT 14, and DT 16. So, was it the action of the lure and/or colors that made the difference here? The main color for Terry was the demon, click on the link below to check it out and more from Rapala.com. By the way, I went to check out Tackle Warehouse and this color is completely sold out!!

• The prominent crankbait of the Sam Rayburn FLW Tour event was hands down the Strike King XD series. 5 of the Top 10 anglers used Strike King XD series crankbaits to help push them towards the top. This included Nick Lebrun who gave Terry Bolton a run for his money and also put up some major weight on day one with 29lbs 2oz. The Top 10 used a combination of XD5 and XD6 crankbaits. A shad color was a top pick of the pro’s for this event.

• A few other crankbaits were used by Top 10 anglers, those crankbaits included Berkeley Bad Shad, Bandit 300 Series, Bomber Fat A, and the Salmo Rattlin’ Hornet. Some of these aren’t the most popular amongst anglers but they proved just as effective at catching these bass in not so ideal weather condition.

Crankbait Color was another notable item of interest at this event. The colors were equally split between two colors that are some of the most popular. Those two colors consisted of Red Craw and Shad Color. The Shad Color was the color of all anglers who used the Strike King XD and the Red Craw was the color of choice for Bolton and his Rapala DT series. The other notable mention of crankbaits also used the red craw type color.

So, what are your thoughts when it comes to the color and style of crankbait used?

Which crankbait do you prefer? Comment below and let’s see who comes out on top amongst other anglers.

Semper Fish!

Joe, The National Angler

January 14, 2019  by FLW Communications – Photo Courtesy of FLW

BROOKELAND, Texas – After fishing the FLW Tour for 23 years, competing in his 168th career event, Rapala pro Terry Bolton of Benton, Kentucky, finally got it done. Bolton earned his first career victory in a dramatic final-day weigh-in Monday at the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale. Bolton’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 91-3 earned him the victory by a 12-ounce margin over second-place pro Nick LeBrun of Bossier City, Louisiana, and the $125,000 first-place prize.

“This is pretty big for me,” said Bolton, a 13-time FLW Cup qualifier. “I was going to retire at the end of last year, but my wife talked me into coming back. I didn’t think that I’d ever see this moment and today, it finally happened. This is only 30 years in the making right here.”

Bolton caught most of his fish throughout the event – including his entire 33-pound, 9-ounce Day Two limit – in an area that he described as a drain or void in a grassline. He said the key for him was working his crankbaits at different depths around the grasslines.

“I threw a Rapala DT10 (demon), DT14 (demon) and DT16 (Caribbean shad) to make sure that I could hit the different depths,” Bolton said. “I had one drain that was really special that I found at 3:30 on the last day of practice. I idled across it and saw them all on the depth finder, made two casts and caught a 6-pounder and a 2½-pounder. I left right away and didn’t really know what was there.

“I caught 20 pounds, 10 ounces there the first day and left it at 12:30,” Bolton continued. “Then, I pulled in the next day and got up to 27-28 pounds and was going to leave but I was afraid that a local boat would get in there. I decided to stay and then, lo and behold, I catch the 9-8 and end up weighing in 33 pounds. I don’t know if you call it dumb luck or a good decision, but staying there Friday is what won me this tournament.”

Bolton said that he also mixed in a chartreuse and white-colored ¾-ounce Accent Lures spinnerbait with double-willow blades to catch a couple of keepers throughout the week. He credited his 7-foot, 11-inch Lew’s rod paired with a Lew’s BB1 Pro reel as being crucial to his success.

“That Lew’s crankbait rod and reel combo is truly the best on the planet,” Bolton said. “The key for me was definitely the crankbaits. I had to put the bait just above them in order to get bit.”

The top 10 pros on Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

1st: Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 20 bass, 91-3

2nd: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., 20 bass, 90-7

3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 88-13

4th: Chad Warren, Sand Springs, Okla., 20 bass, 83-13

5th: Evinrude pro Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 20 bass, 78-7

6th: Colby Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., 20 bass, 70-7

7th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, 20 bass, 67-10

8th: Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 20 bass, 67-10

9th: Sam George, Athens, Ala., 15 bass, 67-10

10th: Charles Sim, Nepean, Ontario, Canada, 19 bass, 60-2

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Overall there were 49 bass weighing 160 pounds, 6 ounces caught by pros Monday. Nine of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.

Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris will premiere on the World Fishing Network (WFN) 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 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 Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Polaris was more than $860,000, including $9,000 through 65th place in the Pro Division. The tournament was hosted by the Jasper County Development District. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Toho presented by Ranger Boats, in Kissimmee, Florida, Feb. 7-10. The tournament will be hosted Experience Kissimmee and the Kissimmee Sports Commission.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 170 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to fish on Saturday. Competition was postponed on Sunday due to inclement weather, so the top 10 pros continued the competition Monday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.