NASHVILLE (June 12, 2006) - The tournament may have been hosted by Craig Morgan, but it was Lila McCann and Team Chevy pro Luke Clausen who stole the show during Saturday's weigh-in at Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville. Best known for her hit songs "Down Came A Blackbird," "I Wanna Fall In Love," and "With You," McCann proved she is quite an angler by catching five bass weighing 9 pounds, 7 ounces while fishing with Clausen on Old Hickory Lake to win the inaugural Craig Morgan FLW Outdoors Fishing Tournament held during the 35th annual CMA Music Festival. "I fished a lot when I was growing up, but I don't get out very often anymore," McCann said. "When I get the chance, I enjoy fishing (Percy Priest Lake) with my friends."
Always looking for a victory, Clausen, who earlier this year became one of the youngest professional anglers in history to surpass $1 million in tournament winnings, opted to lock into Old Hickory Lake, where he finished second in a Wal-Mart FLW Series tournament the preceding week.
"We hit a few of the spots I fished during the FLW Series event," Clausen said.
McCann and Clausen used Texas-rigged, 6-inch trick worms to catch their limit. "If I can fish with Luke again, I'll definitely be back next year to defend my title," McCann said. "We had a lot of fun."
Finishing a close second with four bass weighing 9 pounds, 5 ounces were Doni Harris and Team Land O'Lakes pro Jeremiah Kindy. Daniel Lee Martin and Team Wal-Mart pro George Cochran, the reigning FLW Tour Champion, took third with five bass weighing 9 pounds.
Rounding out the top five were Teresa Jordan and Team Fujifilm pro Wesley Strader (two bass, 3 pounds, 10 ounces) and Craig Morgan and Team Berkley pro David Walker (three bass, 3 pounds, 3 ounces).
The Craig Morgan FLW Outdoors Fishing Tournament launched from Riverfront Park on the Cumberland River Saturday morning. The weigh-in wrapped up the day's performances on the Greased Lightning stage.
The tournament - along with many other CMA Music Festival activities - helped raise funds for the Nashville Alliance for Public Education in support of music education ("Keep the Music Playing") in metro Nashville public schools.
In addition to fishing the tournament, FLW Tour anglers participated in autograph and question and answer sessions in the Sports Zone in Downtown Nashville and the Steve Azar Celebrity Sports Challenge.
The CMA Music Festival featured Country Music's top artists performing more than 70 hours of live music at venues throughout Nashville plus more than 40 hours of autograph signings and family activities at the Nashville Convention Center.
ABC-TV will air a two-hour special featuring highlights from the CMA Music Festival later this summer. The CMA Music Festival is organized and produced by the Country Music Association. For additional information, visit CMAfest.com
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 presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
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