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DAYTON, Tenn. (May 3, 2019) – Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt of Port St. Lucie, Florida, brought a five-bass limit of largemouth to the Dayton Boat Dock scale Friday weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces, to vault into the lead after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude in Dayton, Tennessee. Greenblatt’s two-day total of 10 bass weighing 43 pounds, 2 ounces gives him a slim 8-ounce advantage heading into Day Three of the four-day competition that features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.

Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, who led after Day One, fell to second place, just 8 ounces behind Greenblatt with 42-10. Former FLW Cup champion and three-time Angler of the Year Polaris pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, is just 15 ounces behind Greenblatt in third place with 42-3. The field is now cut to 30 for Saturday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to championship Sunday.

“I pretty much did the same exact thing that I did Thursday – same spot, same bait, same everything,” said Greenblatt, a six-year FLW Tour veteran with one career FLW Cup appearance. “I thought I had milked it for everything it was worth yesterday, but it replenished overnight. Hopefully there is two more days of bass in there, but I really don’t know what it has left.”

Greenblatt described his key area as a slope, in 8 to 12 feet of water.

“I don’t know why the fish are setting up there. There really is nothing there,” Greenblatt said. “Thursday I caught the heck out of them, all day long. Today it slowed down a lot – I think because of the pressure and we had a little different conditions. I’m catching fish on three different baits, and there seems to be a lot of bait in the area so hopefully it keeps them where they are.”

Greenblatt declined to name his main two baits, but did divulge that a Yamamoto Senko has also been a key piece of his arsenal this week.

“There is definitely a shallow Senko bite that is developing,” he said. “Wacky-rigged seems to be best, but I’ve got them rigged up four different ways. I’m dyeing the tail a little bit, giving them a little more to see.

“Hopefully tomorrow my area is not all blown out,” Greenblatt went on to say. “I’m going to get everything I can there and see what happens. If it’s not happening by noon I’m going to drop back, punt, and go to the dock pattern.”

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

1^st:          Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 10 bass, 43-2
2^nd:         Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 42-10
3^rd:          Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 10 bass, 42-3
4^th:          Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 10 bass, 39-1
5^th:          Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Mich., 10 bass, 39-1
6^th:          Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 10 bass, 38-15
7^th:          Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 38-14
8^th:          Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., 10 bass, 38-10
9^th:          Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 10 bass, 38-6
10^th:        Clark Reehm, Elm Grove, La., 10 bass, 36-3
11^th:        Aaron Britt, Yuba City, Calif., 10 bass, 35-15

12^th:       Bass Pro Shops pro James Niggemeyer, Van, Texas, 10 bass, 35-9

13^th:       Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., 10 bass, 35-6

14^th:       Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 10 bass, 35-1

15^th:       Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, 10 bass, 35-1

16^th:       Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-13

17^th:       David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 34-11

18^th:       T-H Marine pro Sam George, Athens, Ala., 10 bass, 34-11

19^th:       Charlie Ingram, Centerville, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-4

20^th:       Miles Howe, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., 10 bass, 34-1

21^st:        Glenn Chappelear, Acworth, Ga., 10 bass, 33-11

22^nd:       Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-4

23^rd:       Chris Whitson, Louisville, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-12

24^th:       Rapala pro Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 32-11

25^th:       David Gaston, Sylacauga, Ala., 10 bass, 32-9

26^th:       Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 32-8

27^th:       Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 32-6

28^th:       Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-4

29^th:       T-H Marine pro Luke Dunkin, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 32-3

30^th:       Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 32-1

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

Ingram won the Big Bass Award and the $500 prize on the pro side Friday with a largemouth weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

Overall there were 765 bass weighing 2,171 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 162 pros Friday. The catch included 138 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 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 Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council.

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. ET Saturday and Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Weigh-ins will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock, beginning at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with 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 1^st and 2^nd 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 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 Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by FLW Tour veteran 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.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

LAKE FORK, Texas — When Chad Pipkens suffered a broken collarbone playing hockey back in early March, some people automatically assumed he was done fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series for the year.

But not only has he kept fishing, he’s actually been better since the freak accident happened.

The veteran pro from Lansing, Mich., caught five bass Thursday that weighed 31 pounds, 15 ounces and took the opening-round lead in the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Lake Fork.

The catch gave Pipkens a 4-ounce lead over Brandon Cobb of South Carolina (31-11) and a 1-5 advantage over Texas pro Chris Zaldain (30-10) on a day when 19 competitors managed at least 20 pounds for their five-bass limits.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to break anything else,” Pipkens said, laughing. “But being injured has definitely caused me to slow down and fish a little differently than I did before — and I think it’s showed in the way I’ve finished.”

Before Pipkens’ injury, he had 51st- and 54th-place finishes in the first two Elite Series events on the St. Johns River and Lake Lanier. After breaking his collarbone in three places and enduring a surgery that left him with a massive scar, he finished ninth in his next event at Lake Hartwell — his highest finish on the Elite Series since a fifth-place showing at the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship at Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., in 2015.

He actually got off to a slow start Thursday when he went looking for a couple of large bass he’d found on spawning beds during practice. When he realized those fish were gone, he tried to exploit a shad-spawn bite that has been hot all over the lake.

Since that particular bite happens early — and since he had wasted some time on the bedding fish — that didn’t work either.

Once he finally gave up on the supershallow possibilities, he started putting fish in the boat.

“I think my timing was just off in the morning, but it got right in the afternoon,” he said. “I rolled up to a place and caught a 4 1/2-pounder and nothing else. Then I went to another place and just lit them up.”

Since bass are weighed and released immediately after they’re caught during Texas Fest, Pipkens knew the weight of each individual bass he caught. His five biggest weighed 7-0, 6-14, 6-8, 6-5 and 5-4.

He said the major thunderstorms that moved through the region Wednesday night may have been the reason his early-morning tactics didn’t work.

“That thunder and lightning we had last night even shook me and woke me up,” Pipkens said. “I don’t know for a fact that it had anything to do with the fishing this morning. I just know the fishing wasn’t like it was in practice.”

Cobb, who grew up fishing for bass during the blueback herring spawn this time of year on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina, devoted some of that knowledge to fishing the gizzard shad spawn on Fork Thursday — and it eventually paid off with 31-11.

His biggest five bass weighed 8-12, 7-2, 7-0, 4-12 and 4-1.

“I think the lightning had them a little messed up last night,” Cobb said. “I didn’t have a fish at 10 o’clock — and after the practice I had, I really didn’t expect to catch a fish after 10.

“It was a really tough day for me until I hit one little flurry.”

That flurry produced most of his weight in about 15 minutes.

“That’s the way it’s been for me all week long,” Cobb said. “If you run into them, it’s good. But if you don’t, it’s really tough.”

While the other anglers were tightlipped about which baits they were using and where, Zaldain was open about using a swimbait to catch the bulk of his 30-10 weight.

His bass weighed 7-6, 7-4, 5-12, 5-12 and 4-8.

“I’ve had some good days this year, but this was the most fun I’ve had all season,” Zaldain said. “This morning was just unbelievable with two 7 1/2-pound fish, two that were almost 6 pounds and a 4 1/2.

“I’m around them. I have a good idea of what the fish are doing right now.”

In addition to the $100,000 first-place prize and the $1 million total purse that will be split by the 75-angler field, the angler who catches the Toyota Tundra Big Bass of the week will earn a new Tundra. The competition for that award could be as interesting as the overall tournament itself.

The Top 10 bass caught Thursday each weighed 7-2 or better, and Cobb and Oklahoma pro Luke Palmer tied for first place, each with an 8-12.

The tournament will resume Friday with takeoff at 7 a.m. from Sabine River Authority in Quitman and weigh-in back at the same site at 3 p.m. The anglers will take a break from competition Saturday to sign autographs, conduct seminars and meet fans at a special Outdoors Expo.

The Expo will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with free demo boat rides, prize giveaways, food vendors and a live performance by country star Chris Knight at 4:15 p.m.

2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota

2019 Bassmaster Texas Fest Title Sponsor: Toyota

2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors:  Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Skeeter Boats, Talon, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Humminbird

2019 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Bass Pro Shops, Carhartt, Lowrance, Mossy Oak Fishing, T-H Marine, Academy Sports + Outdoors

2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest Beneficiary: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest Host Sponsors: Lake Fork Chamber, Wood County Industrial Commission, the Sabine River Authority, Quitman Economic Development Commission, Emory TX Tourism

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 510,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, BassPro.com Bassmaster Open Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.

  2019 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks & Wildlife Department 5/2-5/6
                                Lake Fork, Emory  TX.
                           (PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Chad Pipkens           Lansing, MI              5  31-15  100
  Day 1: 5   31-15
2.  Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC            5  31-11   99
  Day 1: 5   31-11
3.  Chris Zaldain          Fort Worth, TX           5  30-10   98
  Day 1: 5   30-10
4.  Garrett Paquette       Canton, MI               5  28-12   97
  Day 1: 5   28-12
5.  Keith Combs            Huntington, TX           5  27-01   96
  Day 1: 5   27-01
6.  Luke Palmer            Coalgate, OK             5  26-14   95
  Day 1: 5   26-14
7.  Drew Cook              Midway, FL               5  25-12   94
  Day 1: 5   25-12
8.  Brandon Card           Knoxville, TN            5  25-11   93
  Day 1: 5   25-11
9.  Micah Frazier          Newnan, GA               5  22-13   92
  Day 1: 5   22-13
10. Lee Livesay            Gladewater, TX           5  22-10   91
  Day 1: 5   22-10
11. Jay Yelas              Lincoln City, OR         5  22-05   90
  Day 1: 5   22-05
12. Drew Benton            Panama City, FL          5  21-08   89
  Day 1: 5   21-08
13. Derek Hudnall          Baton Rouge, LA          5  21-02   88
  Day 1: 5   21-02
14. Cory Johnston          Cavan CANADA             5  21-00   87
  Day 1: 5   21-00
15. Shane LeHew            Catawba, NC              5  20-13   86
  Day 1: 5   20-13
16. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY              5  20-10   85
  Day 1: 5   20-10
17. Skylar Hamilton        Dandridge, TN            5  20-06   84
  Day 1: 5   20-06
18. Brett Preuett          Monroe, LA               5  20-05   83
  Day 1: 5   20-05
19. Brandon Lester         Fayetteville, TN         5  20-01   82
  Day 1: 5   20-01
20. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC           5  19-11   81
  Day 1: 5   19-11
21. John Crews Jr          Salem, VA                5  19-08   80
  Day 1: 5   19-08
22. Patrick Walters        Summerville, SC          5  19-02   79
  Day 1: 5   19-02
23. Greg DiPalma           Millville, NJ            5  18-13   78
  Day 1: 5   18-13
24. Jeff Gustafson         Keewatin Ontario CANADA  4  18-08   77
  Day 1: 4   18-08
25. Jamie Hartman          Newport, NY              5  17-14   76
  Day 1: 5   17-14
26. Jesse Tacoronte        Kissimmee, FL            5  17-13   75
  Day 1: 5   17-13
27. Brian Snowden          Reeds Spring, MO         5  17-07   74
  Day 1: 5   17-07
28. Seth Feider            New Market, MN           5  17-04   73
  Day 1: 5   17-04
29. Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR               5  17-00   72
  Day 1: 5   17-00
30. Clifford Pirch         Payson, AZ               5  16-13   71
  Day 1: 5   16-13
31. Kelley Jaye            Dadeville, AL            5  16-02   70
  Day 1: 5   16-02
31. Robbie Latuso          Gonzales, LA             5  16-02   70
  Day 1: 5   16-02
33. Carl Jocumsen          Queensland TX AUSTRALIA  4  16-02   68
  Day 1: 4   16-02
34. Gary Clouse            Winchester, TN           5  16-00   67
  Day 1: 5   16-00
35. Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT            5  15-15   66
  Day 1: 5   15-15
36. Harvey Horne           Bella Vista, AR          5  15-13   65
  Day 1: 5   15-13
37. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN            5  15-09   64
  Day 1: 5   15-09
38. Yusuke Miyazaki        Forney, TX               5  15-07   63
  Day 1: 5   15-07
39. Rick Morris            Lake Gaston, VA          4  15-07   62
  Day 1: 4   15-07
40. Bernie Schultz         Gainesville, FL          5  15-05   61
  Day 1: 5   15-05
41. Matt Herren            Ashville, AL             5  15-02   60
  Day 1: 5   15-02
42. Steve Kennedy          Auburn, AL               5  14-14   59
  Day 1: 5   14-14
43. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL            5  14-07   58
  Day 1: 5   14-07
44. Caleb Sumrall          New Iberia, LA           5  14-06   57
  Day 1: 5   14-06
45. Chris Johnston         Peterborough Ontario CA  5  14-03   56
  Day 1: 5   14-03
46. Hunter Shryock         Newcomerstown, OH        3  14-03   55
  Day 1: 3   14-03
47. Mike Huff              Corbin, KY               3  13-14   54
  Day 1: 3   13-14
48. Cliff Prince           Palatka, FL              5  13-13   53
  Day 1: 5   13-13
49. Koby Kreiger           Alva, FL                 5  13-10   52
  Day 1: 5   13-10
50. Clark Wendlandt        Leander, TX              5  13-05   51
  Day 1: 5   13-05
51. Matt Arey              Shelby, NC               5  13-04   50
  Day 1: 5   13-04
51. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN           5  13-04   50
  Day 1: 5   13-04
53. Randy Pierson          Oakdale, CA              5  12-15   48
  Day 1: 5   12-15
54. Clent Davis            Montevallo, AL           5  12-14   47
  Day 1: 5   12-14
55. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA             5  12-06   46
  Day 1: 5   12-06
56. Kyle Monti             Okeechobee, FL           5  12-03   45
  Day 1: 5   12-03
57. Chris Groh             Spring Grove, IL         4  12-03   44
  Day 1: 4   12-03
58. Shane Lineberger       Lincolnton, NC           4  12-02   43
  Day 1: 4   12-02
59. Frank Talley           Temple, TX               5  11-14   42
  Day 1: 5   11-14
60. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX              5  11-06   41
  Day 1: 5   11-06
61. Tyler Carriere         Youngsville, LA          5  11-05   40
  Day 1: 5   11-05
62. Brad Whatley           Bivins, TX               4  11-03   39
  Day 1: 4   11-03
63. Chad Morgenthaler      Reeds Spring, MO         5  11-01   38
  Day 1: 5   11-01
63. Bill Weidler           Helena, AL               5  11-01   38
  Day 1: 5   11-01
65. Brock Mosley           Collinsville, MS         5  10-13   36
  Day 1: 5   10-13
66. Ed Loughran III        Richmond, VA             5  09-04   35
  Day 1: 5   09-04
66. Randy Sullivan         Breckenridge, TX         5  09-04   35
  Day 1: 5   09-04
68. Jake Whitaker          Fairview, NC             5  09-02   33
  Day 1: 5   09-02
68. Jason Williamson       Wagener, SC              5  09-02   33
  Day 1: 5   09-02
70. Todd Auten             Lake Wylie, SC           5  08-14   31
  Day 1: 5   08-14
71. Rob Digh               Denver, NC               3  08-06   30
  Day 1: 3   08-06
72. David Fritts           Lexington, NC            4  08-05   29
  Day 1: 4   08-05
73. Rick Clunn             Ava, MO                  4  06-07   28
  Day 1: 4   06-07
74. Quentin Cappo          Prairieville, LA         1  05-10   27
  Day 1: 1   05-10
75. Dale Hightower         Mannford, OK             2  05-08   26
  Day 1: 2   05-08
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day   #Limits    #Fish      Weight
 1        62       354      1221-03
----------------------------------
          62       354      1221-03

DAYTON, Tenn. (May 2, 2019) – A field of 165 of the best bass-fishing professionals in the world began their four-day competition for a top award of $125,000 at the FLW Tour at Lake Chickamauga presented by Evinrude Thursday in Dayton, Tennessee.

Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit of Lake Chickamauga largemouth totaling 24 pounds, 11 ounces to take the early lead after Day One. Cox holds a slim 5-ounce lead over Tour rookie Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, who caught five bass weighing 24-6, good for second place.

“This place is just awesome,” said Cox, a six-time FLW Cup qualifier. “I started out on a real big fish that I had marked in practice – she’s at least a 10 (pounder) – but I couldn’t catch her. I got frustrated and bailed and went and caught a few decent males that I had marked, then came back to her. I caught the male with her, which was a 4-pounder, so I kept it at the time. Then she left.

“I came back an hour later, and she was with another one,” Cox continued. “I accidently caught that male, and she left again. I came back at the end of the day and she was with another male. So I told her to just finish up and that I’d come back tomorrow.”

Cox said he caught six keepers– all sight fishing – but marked 10 more while looking for beds this afternoon. He said he caught his bass using a selection of Berkley PowerBait MaxScent plastics.

“It was not easy today,” Cox said. “The water is coming up and a lot of the banks are getting really stirred up. The visibility is gone on almost every spot that I stopped at. I was guessing as to where they were.

“I’m going to go out tomorrow and try to catch five more decent males and hope I can get lucky and catch a 9- or 10-pounder,” Cox went on to say. “I will stop in and see if the big female I have marked is ready, then after that I really don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”

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

1^st:          Berkley pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., five bass, 24-11
2^nd:         Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., five bass, 24-6
3^rd:         Yamamoto Baits pro Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., five bass, 23-5
4^th:         Ramie Colson Jr., Cadiz, Ky., five bass, 23-2
5^th:         Tim Frederick, Leesburg, Fla., five bass, 23-0
5^th:         Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., five bass, 23-0
7^th:         Randy Allen, Gilliam, La., five bass, 22-14
8^th:         Strike King pro Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 22-7
9^th:         Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 22-2
10^th:       Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., five bass, 21-0

For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.

McCaghren earned Thursday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a 9-pound, 13-ounce largemouth to the scale – the largest fish of the day.

Overall there were 766 bass weighing 2,190 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 164 pros Thursday. The catch included 134 five-bass limits.

In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers compete in the two-day opening round 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 Chickamauga presented by Evinrude is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by Fish Dayton and the Rhea Economic Tourism Council.

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. ET Thursday through Sunday from the Dayton Boat Dock, located at 175 Lakeshore St., in Dayton. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the Dayton Boat Dock, but will begin at 4 p.m.

In conjunction with 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 1^st and 2^nd 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 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 Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by FLW Tour veteran 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.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Once lightning bolts and extremely heavy rainfall finally moved safely away from Lake Fork about 90 minutes after sunrise, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brad Whatley sat dressed in dry Carhartt raingear awaiting the National Anthem, reflecting on simpler times involving simpler lures, before chasing fat largemouth that are chewing on spawning shad.

Whatley made his living as a logging equipment expert not far up the road from Lake Fork, and won roughly $200,000 over the years on Lake O’ the Pines, Texas as an amateur angler.

But after a fantastic 2018 season in the Bassmaster Opens, he qualified for the 2019 Bassmaster Classic, and with the full support of wife Jennifer, accepted an invitation to join the Elite Series and give up the logging gig.

While you might think Whatley has probably fished Lake Fork a lot, given its closeness to his home in Bivins, Texas, he confirmed that’s not the case.

“The only time I fished here was at night way back in the day with my dad. We fished only at night here, and we’d tie our old Kingfisher boat up to a tree because we didn’t even have a trolling motor,” Whatley reflected fondly.

Lure choices were simple too. “About all Dad and I threw was a black Hildebrandt spinnerbait with a big #6 Colorado blade, or a firetail colored plastic worm. We stayed tied to the tree most all night, cast them to submerged grass beds all around us, and we’d do just fine,” remembers Whatley.

Now at age 38, things have gotten far more strategic. Whatley was eager to make his first cast after Day 1’s slight lightning delay because he knows the shad are spawning, and the bass are chewing. But that’s typically a low light bite. The earlier you make that first cast, the better your chances.

“I’ll start the day running secondary and primary points, alternating between a topwater and this “wild shad” colored squarebill from 6th Sense. Some of the points are so covered in brush and timber that you can’t hardly get a crankbait through them. But the topwater and sqaurebill are a good one-two punch when you’re chasing the shad spawn,” he says.

Whatley says the sqaurebill will run about 4’ deep on 20-pound fluorocarbon. And if the shad spawn pattern dies, he’ll move to target spawning bass around shallow grass lines.

But even before big thumper spinnerbaits and firetail worms entered Whatley’s tackle box, it was an equally simple Beetle Spin that first filled his soul with a passion for bass fishing ate age four when he won $50 in a kid’s derby on the little multi-species spinner.

Today, let’s cheer for the 5’ 8” God-fearing family man and his signature goatee facial hair to chase down five fat Lake Fork largemouth amid the shad spawn.

Certainly, you can bet he’s fueled by a heart full of memories made in a boat tied to a tree amid night fishing trips here on Lake Fork with his dad Keith. Those were simpler times that ultimately spawned a pro career.