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Nation Eastern Regional At Douglas Lake
Canadian angler Mark Cavanaugh catches a three-day today weight of 45 pounds, 3 ounces to win the 2016 Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Eastern Regional on Douglas Lake held out of Dandridge, Tenn., Friday.
Photo by Craig Lamb/Bassmaster
DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Canadian angler Mark Cavanaugh caught his winning bag of largemouth within the first half hour of fishing this morning to win the Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Eastern Regional presented by Magellan Outdoors.
Cavanaugh, of Port Perry, Ontario, Canada, won the tournament after three days with a total weight of 45 pounds, 3 ounces. A five-bass limit weighing 19-7 anchored his Friday catch.
“They were feeding fast and furious as soon as I arrived,” said Cavanaugh, a member of the Port Perry Bassmasters. “It didn’t slow down until after I caught my limit and then the fish just shut down.”
William Lortz of Rochester N.Y., finished second with 41-7. Jason Vaughn of Bridgeville, Del., took third with 40-12. Casey Smith of Macedon, N.Y., was fourth with 40-7. Mike Wolfenden of Warwick, R.I., was fifth with 39-11.
With the exception of Smith, those anglers also caught the heaviest individual weights for their states. Each top placing boater and non-boater from the 17 states and Ontario competing in the tournament will advance to the Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Outdoors. Date and location of the championship will be announced soon.
Jonathan Robia of Norawood, N.Y., won the non-boater division with a total weight of 25-10. John Bernard of McKees Rocks, Pa., took second with 25-3, and Matt Becker of Finleyville, Pa., was third with 25-2.
Cavanaugh’s fishing area improved daily as evidenced by his weights. On Wednesday, the Canadian returned to the scales with a limit weighing 10-8 to put him in 52nd place. The next day he moved to 10th based on the lift provided by a limit weighing 15-4. He finished the tournament with the limit weighing 19-4.
Cavanaugh focused on two primary areas. Both functioned as staging areas in deeper water for largemouth migrating from the shallow spawning areas. A series of secondary points near the main lake were his primary focus. The other spot was a deepwater hump, where he caught his heaviest weight.
Rotating between the shallow and deep fishing patterns gave him more flexibility and options for staying in the game.
“I started deep and worked shallow,” he said. “There was a short feeding window on the deep spot, so I began each day on that offshore hump.”
A depth of 40 feet surrounded the hump in 14 feet of water. Cavanaugh reasoned the bass moved from the deep water to the hump to feed on baitfish. When they did, he was there with a Strike King Pro Model 6XD olive shad color crankbait. The lure is capable of running to depths of 18 feet. That allowed Cavanaugh to probe the hump and surrounding drop off at varying depths.
When the action ceased in deep water, he rotated through the series of points. Success came as he slowly retrieved a simple tube jig down the sloping bottom contour.
His choice was a 3 1/2-inch, green pumpkin color First Mate Lures plastic tube rigged to a 3/8-ounce jighead.
“The male bass were staging, coming and going from shallow and deep water, on those points,” he said.
The presence of bait was key for the payoff pattern in deep water.
“The bass had everything they needed there to keep coming back after spawning,” he said. “There was habitat, bait and a rest stop between shallow and deep water.”
Anglers earned these sponsorship contingency awards.
Livingston Lures Leader Award: William Lutz earned the $250 boater division bonus by leading second day of the tournament with 31-7. John Bernard won Livingston Lures merchandise for leading Day 2 with 17-13.
Big Bass: Boater Larry Beebe of Griswold, Conn., caught a largemouth weighing 6-1 on Wednesday to win the $250 big bass award. Non-boater Scott Murphy of Edison, N.J., caught a largemouth weighing 6 pounds to win a $125 bonus.
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Title Sponsor: Academy Sports + Outdoors
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Presenting Sponsor: Magellan
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Premier Sponsors: Toyota, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Yamaha, Berkley, GoPro, Huk, Humminbird
2016 B.A.S.S. Nation Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance, Nationwide, Power-Pole, Rapala, Shell Rotella, Shimano, A.R.E. Truck Caps, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures
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 500,000-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), social media programs and events. For more than 45 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, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.
Gross Wins Pickwick
FLORENCE, Ala. (May 8, 2016) – Just six months ago pro Buddy Gross of Ringgold, Georgia, was an accomplished Costa FLW Series angler that daydreamed of competing against the best anglers in the world on the Walmart FLW Tour.
After a great season at the AAA-level, Gross qualified for priority entry into the 2016 FLW Tour. After the incredible week that Gross has had at the Walmart FLW Tour at Pickwick Lake presented by Quaker State, it’s safe to say that Gross has proven that he can compete with the best.
With a four-day total of 17 bass weighing 74 pounds, 5 ounces, Gross won by a 3-pound, 1-ounce margin, despite starting Sunday with a near 15-pound lead. Gross weighed just two bass totaling 4-14, but it was still enough to best 162 of the best bass-fishing anglers in the world and earn him $100,000.
“Today has been the biggest roller coaster of my life,” said Gross. “It was a long ride back to weigh in today – I really thought I was coming back for a second-place finish. Michael (Neal) is a true competitor and is the best fisherman that I know, and I knew that I had to catch at least 10 pounds to feel safe. Thank the Lord that I caught two, and it worked out like it did.”
Gross said that he caught the majority of his fish during the first three days of competition on a 200-yard bar running off of the bottom of an island. He found the fish keying in on eelgrass, and was catching them in 8 to 10 feet of water.
“I found the eelgrass on my Lowrance unit and I could see the fish setting up on it on my graph. I caught all of my fish there this week, except for the two today. There was no wind and no current today and that hurt, but I think I just ran out of fish. I had to scramble to catch the two that I did.”
Gross’ key bait throughout the week was a 1-ounce white Hog Farmer hair jig, but he also mentioned a Fringe Tackle Swimbait, a spinnerbait and a Tennessee River Tackle Tremor scrounger with a Zoom Magnum Fluke as baits that produced for him.
“The hair jig was by far the best bait for me in this event,” Gross said.
“Last year after I qualified through the Costa Series I really questioned whether I should take the risk, and if I could compete on the FLW Tour,” Gross went on to say. “It took every last dime that I had to come out here and compete this year, but my wife was behind me 100-percent and she said go. This win gives my family and I security and that is truly what means the most to me.”
The top 10 pros finished the tournament:
1st: Buddy Gross, Ringgold, Ga., 17 bass, 74-5, $100,000
2nd: Michael Neal, Dayton, Tenn., 20 bass, 71-4, $30,000
3rd: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 19 bass, 65-1, $25,000
4th: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 19 bass, 64-14, $20,000
5th: Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 19 bass, 63-11, $19,000
6th: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 20 bass, 57-13, $18,000
7th: Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 20 bass, 56-2, $17,000
8th: Travis Fox, Rogers, Ark., 17 bass, 56-0, $16,000
9th: Stephen Patek, Dallas, Texas, 18 bass, 50-3, $15,000
10th: Lew’s pro Peter Thliveros, Saint Augustine, Fla., 18 bass, 49-7, $14,000
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 41 bass weighing 124 pounds, 7 ounces caught by pros Sunday. Five of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.
Keith Diffey of Elk Grove, California, won the co-angler division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of seven bass weighing 25 pounds, 7 ounces, followed by Tyler Meredith of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, who finished in second place with nine bass, also weighing 25-7, worth $7,500. Diffey won via tiebreaker – the heaviest one-day catch between the two anglers – with his 13-2 limit weighed on Friday.
In addition to casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division, anglers are also competing for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. The 2016 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 4-7 on Wheeler Lake.
Coverage of the Pickwick Lake tournament will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) September 21 from 1 p.m.-2 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
The Walmart FLW Tour at Pickwick Lake was presented by Quaker State and hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the Walmart FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Mercury.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, 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, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.
Dents Couldn’t Derail Team Swindle From Fishing on Sunday at Wheeler
Under heavy Sunday morning clouds at the Ingalls Harbor boat ramp, Gerald and LeAnn Swindle laughed, chatted with friends, and paused for a photo rich with love at the end of a very trying week at the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite at Wheeler Lake.
“We’re keepin ‘er held together with duct tape like Dale Jr. at Talledega, but we’re laughing and fishin’ on Sunday,” said Swindle while hugging his bride and best friend “Lulu” – a nickname he tagged her when they began dating 13 years ago.
Every Elite Series pro will tell you that making Sunday’s Top 12 cut is the end goal of each week on tour, but for the Swindles, surviving Thursday was a victory.
“We had an unusually hectic week – and Thursday was pretty much a catastrophic fail,” said Swindle, sitting on his boat’s front deck as LeAnn backed him down the ramp. “I preach the importance of having a Positive Mental Attitude, and Thursday was a test to see if I believed my own preachin’.”
LeAnn had just returned to their RV, and began to sip her first coffee Thursday morning, when Gerald phoned for help. He had trolling motor issues, and she rushed to meet him at a ramp several miles away to provide a replacement motor.
The stressful and hurried pit crew maneuver seemed to provide the perfect fix, but while at the ramp, 5’ 2” LeAnn, who maneuvers a 21-foot bass boat trailer better than most men, accidentally hit a boat trailer used by B.A.S.S. media, doing minimal damage to the trailer, but significantly gouging the passenger door of the Swindle’s Toyota Tundra.
“My wife raced to come help me, and then she had an accident in the parking lot as she headed back to the campground,” explained Swindle. “She was dreadin’ telling me about it, because she absolutely hates to make mistakes – she was really beating herself up,” said Swindle.
“The bottom line is, it’s pretty minor in the big scheme of life. I mean, heck, nobody got hurt, and bless her heart, she and the sweet lady we were camping next to ran to Lowe’s and bought black Gorilla tape to patch it up the best they could,” smiled Swindle. “She’s already called our insurance company, the Toyota dealer, and the graphic wrap company – she’s on top of taking care of business just like always.”
However, Swindle’s woes didn’t end with a long dent in the boat ramp parking lot. His trolling motor issues continued – even with the replacement. “By the time I rolled into weigh-in on Thursday, I was on my third trolling motor. I beat that first one up worse than I realized at Winyah Bay, and the second one was a spare with a bad motor, I guess,” says Swindle.
Swindle, who wears the initials PMA for Positive Mental Attitude on a bracelet and the back of his hats, provided powerful proof of such mental strength when drifting down Wheeler completely powerless, with a dead trolling motor.
“I had taken the bad motor off, I had nothing but a bracket, while I waited for the replacement, but I managed to catch two keepers, and lost a 4-pounder while drifting with no motor – so I asked myself, “If you can hook three good ones with no trolling motor – what can you catch once you get a motor on here?”
The answer: 16 pounds 8 ounces.
At the end of one of the absolute worst days Team Swindle had ever endured on tour, they sat in 11th place Thursday.
Two much smoother days on Friday and Saturday, mostly on the strength of a new Zoom swimbait, vaulted Swindle into 8th place entering Sunday’s final round.
By Sunday morning, long after the last angler had idled out of Ingalls Harbor, LeAnn sat behind the wheel of their slightly dented Tundra reflecting while her trusted dog Myrick slept in the passenger seat beside her.
“Think how bad this week could have been if the Lord hadn’t been watching out for us,” she stated with a tone of gratefulness.
“Thank goodness the trailer I hit belonged to people we know– it could have been a stranger’s trailer that might have been really mean about it. And at the end of a very rough week, it’s pretty hard to complain when you’re fishing on Sunday,” she added, before driving off with plans to head back to their RV, sip a coffee, watch GUTS Church online, and reflect a little more.
“Word of the Week” from Wheeler Lake
There always seems to be at least one statement or word that that you hear flying around between the field of Elite Series anglers. When we arrived at Wheeler Lake for stop number four of the Bassmaster Elite Series we heard rumors of just how tough the fishing was going to be, in fact was going to be down right bad. Most anglers agreed 16lbs would get you into the to 50 cut. As the day one weigh in proceeded one thing was evident, the best bass anglers in the world smashed them again. The word of the week quickly turned from tough to “sandbagger’.
Here is how the Elite anglers define the word “sandbagger”.
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Takahiro Omori Speaks to Earthtquake Victims
Shortly after winning the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Wheeler Lake, Tahiro Omori had this message for the victims of the recent earthquake in Japan.
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