The 2nd Largest Bass of the FLW Tour 07 Season
Rounding out the top five contenders for the award were co-angler Clint Bridges of Round Rock, Texas, with a 7-pound, 11-ounce Lake Travis bass. Clint said, “I've fished the same area for years and never caught a bass that size there before. I was very blessed today with a big fish and a great partner for the first day of the tournament.” Clint said he caught the Lake Travis beauty on a 7-foot G-Loomis rod spooled with 12-pound-test Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon. He was working a 1/4-ounce Carolina rigged Luck "E" Strike watermelon ring worm in 25 to 30 feet of water near a steep ledge. “When the fish bit, I thought I had hung on a rock, because I set the hook and the line didn't move, when it swam for deeper water I thought I had a big striped bass or catfish on the line,” Clint said. “I took my time wearing the fish down, because I wanted to see what I'd caught. It took four or five minutes fighting the fish from deep water, I knew it was going to be a big fish, but a dream came true when the bass surfaced. I hear the tour will return to fish Travis in 2009 and I can't wait!”
Co-angler Chad Hicks of Rockville, Va., who also caught a 7-pound, 11-ounce bass on Lake Travis; Snickers pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., who caught a 7-pound, 6-ounce bass on the Potomac River; and BP pro Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas, who caught a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass on the Potomac. Snickers awards $750 ($1,000 at opens) to the pro and $375 ($500 at opens) to the co-angler who catches the heaviest bass on each of the first two days of competition in Wal-Mart FLW Tour regular-season events. Snickers awards an additional $1,000 to the pro or co-angler who catches the heaviest overall bass during the first two days of competition, and at the end of the season, Snickers awards another $5,000 to the pro or co-angler who caught the heaviest bass of the year.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series.