Bass Tournament News

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Mississippi pro dominates field with Alabama rig

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Oct. 21, 2011) – Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., caught a massive five-bass limit weighing 29 pounds, 3 ounces Friday to widen his lead on day two of the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury. His two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 55 pounds, 3 ounces gives him a commanding lead heading into the third day of the tournament. Of all of the pros and co-anglers from across the United States that started the tournament, only the top 20 will fish day three and the top 10 will compete for the title on day four.

“I guess the word’s out on what I’m doing,” Elias said. “I’m throwing an Alabama rig. It’s a new-type rig that some guy from around near Pickwick came up with. It’s just an amazing deal.”

The Alabama rig consists of a hard-bait body that trails four or five wires that have a swivel attached to the end of each wire. Fishermen then tie a variety of baits – swimbaits, grubs or a variety of other artificial baits – to the swivels. The baits fan out and are retrieved and mimic a school of baitfish.

“It’s kind of like a crankbait sometimes,” Elias said. “You can’t always catch them on it unless you’re doing it right.

“I’ve been very fortunate this week,” Elias added. “When I got on that pattern I just stayed on it and found as many places to fish it that I could find. Today I fished the same three places I fished yesterday. I feel like if I don’t get too crowded out there I can catch them.”

Elias said current plays a major factor in his pattern and the presence of current until about 2 p.m. helped him with his catch. He’s fishing his Alabama rig on a 7-foot, 11-inch Pinnacle flipping rod, a Pinnacle reel and 65-pound-test Spiderwire Ultracast FluoroBraid line.

“That rig is very hard to throw,” Elias said. “I can manhandle the fish when they bite it. And man, they just really annihilate it when they get it.

“I’m having one of those tournaments where you just say, ‘Thank you, Lord,’” Elias added. “I’m just going to keep going. I’m going to be chunking and winding for two more days. I’ve thrown that (rig) since about noon Sunday and my 60-year-old butt is worn out.”

Robert Behrle of Hoover, Ala., is in the No. 2 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 40-12.

Rounding out the top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Lake Guntersville are:
3rd: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 10 bass, 39-14
4th: Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 10 bass, 35-9
5th: Duracell/Gillette pro Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 10 bass, 34-0
6th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 33-9
7th: Christopher Brasher, Spring, Texas, 10 bass, 33-9
8th: National Guard pro Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 10 bass, 32-14
9th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 32-9
10th: Blake Nick, Adger, Ala., 10 bass, 32-1
11th: National Guard pro Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 32-1
12th: Wesley Helton, Calhoun, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-12
13th: Russell Lane, Prattville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-0
14th: Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 29-11
15th: Chevy pro Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 10 bass, 29-9
16th: Trevor Fitzgerald, Belleview, Fla., 10 bass, 29-8
17th: Snickers Peanut Butter Squared pro Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 29-7
18th: Chevy pro Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., nine bass, 29-5
19th: Christopher Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 28-15
20th: Kelley Jaye, Dadeville, Ala., 10 bass, 28-12
Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.

Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

Casey Martin of New Market, Ala., leads the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 13 ounces, followed by Cory Leonard of Castalia, N.C., in second place with seven bass weighing 21-12.

Rounding out the top 20 co-anglers are:
3rd: Chad Billiot, Raceland, La., five bass, 21-7
4th: Thomas Rizzo, Rochester, Pa., eight bass, 21-3
5th: Mark Horton, Nicholasville, Ky., seven bass, 20-0
6th: Tripp Pittman, Holly Springs, Miss., seven bass, 18-4
7th: Skip Bennett, Mt. Vernon, Ill., eight bass, 16-0
8th: Dan Clark, Cleveland, Tenn., six bass, 15-12
9th: Brandon Ledford, Rome, Ga., seven bass, 15-9
10th: Jesse Schultz, New Albany, Ind., five bass, 15-4
11th: Ty Hester, Russellville, Ala., six bass, 14-15
12th: Richard Dunham, Atlanta, Ga., four bass, 14-7
13th: Will Yelverton, Hazel Green, Ala., eight bass, 14-5
14th: Benny Roberts, Jacksboro, Tenn., six bass, 13-10
15th: Charlie Evans, Gilbertsville, Ky., six bass, 13-9
16th: David Heath, Middletown, Ind., five bass, 13-8
17th: Ben Due, Mauston, Wis., five bass, 13-0
18th: Marc Marsh, Prosperity, S.C., four bass, 12-14
19th: Dennis Sisto, Cottonwood, Calif., four bass, 12-7
20th: Theo Corcoran, Waterford, Mich., four bass, 12-4
Final results for the remaining field can be found on FLWOutdoors.com.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

Anglers will take off from Lake Guntersville State Park located at 7966 Alabama Highway 227 in Guntersville, Ala., at 7 each morning. Saturday and Sunday’s final weigh-ins will be held at the Walmart located at 11697 Hwy. 431 S. in Guntersville beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at Walmart on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the weigh-ins. The Expo provides the opportunity for fans to interact with professional anglers, ride Ranger boat simulators, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

Coverage of the Lake Guntersville tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors” will air Dec. 4 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to more than 500 million households worldwide.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.

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