FLW Tour News

Lake Quachita
March 2002

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Copyright 2002

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Strader Wins Ouachita's $550,000 Wal-Mart
FLW Tour Showdown

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--(BW SportsWire)--March 16, 2002--Lake
Ouachita's $550,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop presented by Alpo promised
to be a true clash of the titans Saturday, but when the scales
settled, it was Team Fujifilm angler Wesley Strader of Spring City,
Tenn., who claimed victory over some of the sport's biggest names.

Wielding a final-round catch of four bass weighing 14 pounds, 10
ounces, Strader vanquished such fabled bass pros as two-time FLW Tour
champion Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas; three-time FLW Tour
champion Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo.; and reigning Land O'Lakes Angler of
the Year and Chevy Pro staffer Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., to
claim his first $110,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour victory.

"I've always had confidence in my fishing ability, but everything
has just come together for me this year," said Strader, who finished
ninth at last month's Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop on Alabama's Wheeler
Lake. "If I get focused on Gary Klein, Rick Clunn or VanDam, I'd be
nervous all day. I just have to do what Wesley Strader knows how to
do."

Strader gained the upper hand thanks to a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass
that he caught on a green pumpkin Lake Fork Tackle Mega Jig with a Pig
Claw trailer. The rest of his fish came on a spinner bait that he was
casting to laydowns. He entered Friday's semifinal round of 20 pros in
eighth place with a two-day total of six bass weighing 15 pounds, 8
ounces. After starting from zero with the rest of the field, he then
advanced to Saturday's 10-man finale in fifth place with three bass
weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces. Anglers started from zero again Saturday
and fished for the heaviest five-bass limit.

VanDam (five bass, 13 pounds, 5 ounces, $40,000); Craig Powers of
Rockwood, Tenn. (five bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces, $24,500); Shad Schenck
of Waynetown, Ind. (three bass, 8 pounds, 7 ounces, $20,000); and Mark
Rose of Marion, Ark. (three bass, 8 pounds, 5 ounces, $17,500) rounded
out the top-five anglers.

Combined, Saturday's finalists have earned 48 top-10 Wal-Mart FLW
Tour finishes, seven victories and nearly $2.5 million in winnings.
VanDam's second place finish was his fourth in 10 FLW Tour career
events.

Competition began Wednesday with a 350-angler field comprising 175
pros and 175 co-anglers who fish from the back of the pros' boats.
Co-angler Bobby Hendricks of Bullard, Texas, won $15,000 cash plus a
$500 Castrol bonus Friday with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces.

The next stop on the seven-event, $5.1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour
is the $1 million Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake near Rogers, Ark.,
April 17-20 where the winning pro will walk away with $210,000 cash.

Klein Leads Top-10 Anglers in $550,000
Wal-Mart FLW Tour Event Co-Angler Hendricks Wins $15,000

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--(BW SportsWire)--March 15, 2002--Gary Klein of
Weatherford, Texas, will lead an all-star Wal-Mart FLW Tour cast into
Saturday's lucrative final round on Lake Ouachita after landing four
bass weighing 9 pounds, 1 ounce Friday.

Of the 10 finalists fishing the $550,000 tournament presented by
Alpo, all but two have previous top-10 experience and three have
earned Wal-Mart FLW Tour victories. Together they have earned 38
top-10 finishes, six victories and $2.2 million in winnings. By any
measure, this is a showdown of bass-fishing titans worthy of the
tournament's $110,000 first-place check.

Rounding out the top-five finalists are Kenneth Strickland of Oak
Ridge, N.C. (five bass, 9 pounds); FLW Tour champion Craig Powers of
Rockwood, Tenn. (four bass, 8 pounds, 5 ounces); three-time FLW Tour
champion Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. (three bass, 8 pounds, 3 ounces); and
Team Fujifilm angler Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., (three
bass, 6 pounds, 8 ounces). Reigning Land O'Lake Angler of the Year and
Chevy Pro staff angler Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., also advanced
to the final round in ninth place with two bass weighing 5 pounds, 10
ounces.

Klein, a two-time FLW Tour champion who ranks fourth on the
all-time winnings list with $412,685, advanced to Friday's semifinal
round in 17th place after a six-bass, 12-pound, 15-ounce performance
in the two-day opening round. All week he has relied on a 4-inch
Berkley drop-shot worm that he is fishing 45- to 60-feet deep on
6-pound test line.

"It has been a fun week, but I still haven't had a day where I
felt totally in control," Klein said. "We have a short day (Saturday)
so the first couple of hours are going to be crucial for me. I have to
stay focused because flawless execution is going to win this
tournament."

Strickland earned the Energizer Power to Keep Going and Going
award Friday for advancing to the finals in second place after coming
up empty on opening day Wednesday. Powers landed the Shop-Vac High
Performance award for the heaviest total catch during the first three
days of competition with 12 bass weighing 35 pounds, 7 ounces.

Co-angler Bobby Hendricks of Bullard, Texas, won $15,000 cash plus
a $500 Castrol bonus Friday with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 8
ounces -- the heaviest catch in either division. He advanced to the
final day of co-angler competition in third place with a two-day,
opening-round total of four bass weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces.

T.R. Fuller of Auburn, Ala. (three bass, 7 pounds, 13 ounces,
$6,000) and Frank Smith of Shepherdsville, Ky. (two bass, 5 pounds, 3
ounces, $4,000) finished second and third respectively.

The final weigh-in at the Hot Springs Wal-Mart on Albert Pike
Blvd. starts at 2 p.m. CST and will be televised live on PAX TV.

Powers Grabs Lead in $550,000 Wal-Mart FLW
Tour Event; Anglers Rebound from Opening Day Fog

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--(BW SportsWire)--March 14, 2002--Thursday's
warm temperatures and overcast skies gave many anglers fishing Lake
Ouachita's $550,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour event presented by Alpo a much
needed boost after a four-hour fog delay left a record number of the
nation's top pros in the cold Wednesday.

The improved conditions allowed pro Craig Powers of Rockwood,
Tenn., to jump from second place into the lead with a two-day,
opening-round total of eight bass weighing 27 pounds, 2 ounces. Powers
caught four bass weighing 13 pounds, 6 ounces on opening day when a
record 78 of 175 pros failed to produce a single fish for weigh-in.
The addition of Thursday's four-bass catch weighing 13 pounds, 12
ounces makes him the No. 1 seed entering Friday's semifinal round
featuring the top-20 pros.

Powers caught his bass Thursday using a crankbait and jig. As
fishing conditions continue to improve and weights are cleared for the
final two rounds, he'll have to step up his performance even further
to fend off his rivals as they strive to win $110,000 cash.

"I've had a bad year so far, so it feels great to be back," said
Powers, who won the tour's Red River event in Shreveport, La., last
season. "I just hope I can keep it going (Friday)."

Opening day leader Greg Hackney of Oak Ridge, La., claimed the No.
2 spot Thursday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 27 pounds,
1 ounce, and Team Conseco pro Shad Schenck of Waynetown, Ind.,
retained his third place ranking with nine bass weighing 24 pounds, 2
ounces. Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., climbed from 11th place into fourth
with a total of eight bass weighing 20 pounds, 2 ounces, and Kellogg's
pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, jumped from 35th place into fifth
with seven bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces.

Thursday's biggest comeback belongs to Team Castrol pro David
Dudley of Manteo, N.C., who earlier this month won the largest award
in freshwater fishing history -- $700,000 -- in the Ranger M1 on the
Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Dudley zeroed on opening day, but clinched 10th
place with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 2 ounces -- the day's
heaviest catch. Chris Daniels of Clayton, N.C., and Kenneth Strickland
of Oak Ridge, N.C., also qualified for the semifinal round after
coming up empty on opening day. Daniels qualified in 11th with five
bass weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces, and Strickland qualified in 19th
with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 12 ounces.

Eight pros weighed in five-bass limits Thursday and all but 39
pros weighed in at least one bass. A total of 409 bass were weighed in
Thursday compared to 226 Wednesday. No limits were caught in the
co-angler division.

Co-angler Armil Morgan of Mineral Springs, Ark., claimed the No. 1
spot heading into the final day of co-angler competition Friday with a
two-day total of four bass weighing 11 pounds, 9 ounces. Japan native
Kentaro Amagai recovered from an opening round zero to qualify second
with three bass weighing 9 pounds, 15 ounces, and Bobby Hendricks of
Bullard, Texas, slipped from second to third with a total of four bass
weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces.

The real co-angler drama played out for the 20th and final
qualifying position as Arch Cornett of Huntsville, Ala., and Greg
Lineberry of Galax, Va., squared off in the first one-hour fish-off
tie breaker in Wal-Mart FLW Tour history. Both anglers had
opening-round catches weighing exactly 5 pounds, 10 ounces. Neither
angler caught a fish, however, during the allotted fish-off time and
fading daylight forced a coin toss to decide who would advance.
Cornett called heads and the coin landed on tails, giving Lineberry a
berth in the final round for a shot at $15,000 cash.

$5.1 Million Wal-Mart FLW Tour
Heading to Lake Ouachita

MT. IDA, Ark.--(BW SportsWire)--March 5, 2002--Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers will visit a new stop on the $5.1 million 2002 tour
March 13-16 when they compete on scenic Lake Ouachita for a share of
$550,000.

With its crystal clear water and an abundance of deep grass, Lake
Ouachita promises to be one of the most productive lakes on tour. The
45,000-acre lake located at the base of the Ouachita Mountain Range
near Hot Springs National Park may also be one of the most beautiful
tour stops according to Team Coleman pro Mike Wurm.

Wurm is one of the 175 pro anglers who will be fishing the
tournament presented by Alpo Pet Foods. Other top pros looking to cash
in on the event's $110,000 first-place award are Team Castrol pro
David Dudley, who made fishing history Saturday with a $700,000 win in
the Ranger M1; Chevy Pro Staff angler and two-time Wal-Mart FLW Tour
champion Larry Nixon; Team Alpo pro and Wal-Mart FLW Tour champion
Dwayne Horton; and Team Kellogg's angler and current
Angler-of-the-Year points leader Clark Wendlandt.

One hundred and seventy-five co-anglers will also fish the event,
bringing the total tournament roster to 350 anglers representing 30
states and Japan. Each co-angler fishes from the back of a pros' boat
for a top award of $15,000 cash.

Lake Ouachita contains both largemouth and spotted bass. Wurm
believes that the top 10 patterns will center exclusively on
largemouth though. "My favorite pattern for this time of year is slow
rolling a big 3/4-ounce or 1-ounce Strike King spinner bait off the
ends of the deep grass points," he says.

The tournament's final weigh-in will be broadcast live on PAX TV
to more than 84 million households as part of the "FLW Outdoors"
television series airing Saturdays at 3 p.m. EST, 2 p.m. CST and
3 p.m. PST.

Competition on Lake Ouachita is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m.
March 13 at Mountain Harbor Resort. The resort, located off Highway 270
East, will host each day's take-off plus the opening round weigh-ins
March 13 and 14 at 3 p.m. On March 15, fishing fans are invited to
join Wendlandt, Dudley, Wurm and other Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers in
the Family Fun Zone at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 1601 Albert
Pike Boulevard in Hot Springs, Ark., from 3 p.m. until the semifinal
round weigh-in starts at 5 p.m. The Fun Zone reopens at 11 a.m. March
16 followed by the final weigh-in at 2 p.m.

The Fun Zone offers fishing enthusiasts a chance to meet the
nation's top anglers, collect autographs and receive expert fishing
advice. Admission to the Fun Zone and weigh-ins is free. Only anglers
who do not qualify for the semifinal and final rounds will be
available in the Fun Zone.