MONROE, La. (March 12, 2005) – The stage was set for a showdown between Tokyo’s Toshinari Namiki and Matt Herren of Trussville, Ala., Saturday on the final day of the $900,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop on the Ouachita River, and the contenders did not disappoint. Just over three pounds separated the two pros, with Namiki eking out a $100,000 win with a two-day total of eight bass weighing 30 pounds, 14 ounces.
Namiki opened the tournament with a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces to place 21st then climbed to 10th Thursday with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces for a total of 26 pounds, 6 ounces. On Friday, with weights zeroed and the field cut from 200 pros and 200 co-anglers to the top 10 in each division, Namiki jumped into the lead with a limit weighing 20 pounds, 7 ounces. On Saturday he held on for the win with three bass weighing 10 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I still can’t feel anything,” said Namiki, who earned his first FLW Tour top 10 at the 2005 season opener on Lake Okeechobee. “I didn’t imagine I could win (with only three fish). I thought I would be second or third, maybe.”
Namiki fished the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arkansas along with the rest of the top 10 anglers. He was flipping a black tube to buck brush and cypress trees.
Herren, who led the first two days of competition before slipping to second Friday, earned $36,000 for finishing in the runner up position with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 12 ounces. He caught the majority of his bass all week using a prototype Davis M-Series jig with a Net Bait chunk trailer. On opening day he landed the heaviest catch of the tournament – five bass weighing 24 pounds, 14 ounces – then added four bass weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces Thursday. On Friday Herren caught five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce to enter the last day of competition in the No. 2 position. He was one of only three finalists to catch a limit Saturday.
Lawry’s pro Jason Kilpatrick of Satsuma, Ala. (nine bass, 23 pounds, 9 ounces, $25,000); Mickey Bruce of Buford, Ga. (eight bass, 23 pounds, 6 ounces, $20,000); and Mike Hawkes of Sabinal, Texas (seven bass, 22 pounds, 15 ounces, $18,000) rounded out the top five pros.
The effects of a cold front that passed through the region Wednesday all but disappeared for the final round Friday and Saturday.
Overall, 1,786 bass weighing 3,764 pounds, 8 ounces where brought to the scale this week, and more than 99 percent were released alive. If the tour maintains a 98 percent live-release rate throughout the season, Energizer will donate $25,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network.
James Davis Jr., 34, of Ferriday, La., took top honors and $20,000 in the Co-angler Division Friday with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 4 ounces. He caught the fish on a 3/8-ounce chartreuse and white Excalibur spinnerbait while fishing buck brush in Felsenthal with Castrol pro Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla.
“I never let up,” said Davis, who fishes the Pro Division of the Texas Tournament Trail and last month missed a $73,500 win on Lake Amistad by just 1 ounce after catching an incredible 10 bass weighing 45 pounds, 2 ounces during the two-day event. “There was never a point that I thought I had it won, because I’ve been beaten before with 20 pounds in the livewell. If I’m catching them, I figure somebody else is, too.”
Davis has earned an EverStart Series and three TTT top-10s since 2001.
Merle Wells Jr. of Hammond, N.Y. (four bass, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, $10,000); Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala. (three bass, 7 pounds, 12 ounces, $9,000); Roy Altman Jr. of Augusta, Ga. (four bass, 4 pounds, 4 ounces, $8,000); and Bruce Dale of Jamestown, Ohio (two bass, 3 pounds, 11 ounces, $7,000) rounded out the top five co-anglers.
In addition to a top award of $100,000 and cash awards of $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro Division, anglers were also competing this week for valuable points that determine Land O’ Lakes Angler of the Year standings and the field for the 2005 Forrest L. Wood Championship, set for July 13-16 in Hot Springs, Ark., on Lake Hamilton. The $1.5 million championship presented by Castrol awards the winning pro $500,000 cash, the sport’s largest payout, and features a world-class outdoor show.
Complete coverage of the FLW Tour is broadcast to 82 million FSN subscribers as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sundays at 11 a.m. Eastern time.
The next stop on the $7.6 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour is the Wal-Mart Open powered by Tyson on Beaver Lake in Rogers, Ark. The $1.25 million event hosted by the Rogers Advertising and Promotion Commission runs April 13-16.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events.
For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com. For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information on FSN, visit FoxSports.com.
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