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Elias Continues to Lead Pack at Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Guntersville Presented by Mercury

Category: press release

 Oct 22nd, 2011 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Oct 22nd, 2011 at 12:00 AM

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Oct 22, 2011) – Pro Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., endured a 1-hour, 45-minute fog delay Saturday morning and caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 5 ounces to continue his domination of the field at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury and advance to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 79-8, he now holds a 14-pound, 9-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition.

	Paul Elias (Photo FLW Outdoors)

“This is one awesome lake,” Elias said. “I’ve had some great Octobers on this lake.”

Elias said he relied on the Alabama Rig again on the third day of competition to land another massive Guntersville limit of bass.

“This rig I’m throwing is crazy,” Elias said. “A lot more guys were throwing it today than were the first two days. It’s obvious by the weights. A bait comes along every now and then and it just makes a lot of sense, and this is just one of those kinds of baits.”

The Alabama rig consists of a hard-bait body that trails four or five wires that have a swivel attached to the end of each wire. Fishermen then tie a variety of baits – swimbaits, grubs or a variety of other artificial baits – to the swivels. The baits fan out and are retrieved and mimic a school of baitfish. Elias said he has been fishing the rig in deep water for suspended fish and has eight spots he wanted to target during the tournament. He’s hit five of those spots during the first three days of competition.

“I’ve tried other stuff, but it just wasn’t working,” Elias said. “I think I can catch another good bag tomorrow. I’ll feel comfortable with 15 or 16 pounds. But I feel like if I catch another limit the way I’ve been fishing I’ll catch another 20-plus-pound bag.”

Pro Robert Behrle of Hoover, Ala., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 64-15.

Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are:

            3rd:      Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 59-4

            4th:      Duracell/Gillette pro Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 15 bass, 51-10

            5th:      Chevy pro Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 15 bass, 51-1

            6th:      Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 50-15

            7th:      Russell Lane, Prattville, Ala., 15 bass, 49-15

            8th:      Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi, Prosperity, S.C., 15 bass, 49-8

            9th:      Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 47-5

            10th:    Chevy pro Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 14 bass, 44-7

Finishing in 11th through 20th are:

            11th:    Christopher Lane, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 43-3, $12,121

            12th:    National Guard pro Brett Hite, Phoenix, Ariz., 14 bass, 42-12, $12,121

            13th:    Kelley Jaye, Dadeville, Ala., 14 bass, 41-12, $12,121

            14th:    Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 12 bass, 41-9, $12,121

            15th:    Trevor Fitzgerald, Belleview, Fla., 15 bass, 41-4, $12,121

            16th:    Christopher Brasher, Spring, Texas, 12 bass, 39-6, $11,634

            17th:    National Guard pro Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., 12 bass, 36-4, $11,634

            18th:    Wesley Helton, Calhoun, Tenn., 12 bass, 36-4, $11,634

            19th:    Blake Nick, Adger, Ala., 10 bass, 32-1, $11,634

            20th:    Snickers Peanut Butter Squared pro Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 11 bass, 31-13, $11,634

Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 77 bass weighing 265 pounds, 12 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 12 five-bass limits.

Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top five anglers in the point standings from the four FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

Casey Martin of New Market, Ala., won the Co-angler Division, his second FLW Tour event in a row, and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Marc Marsh of Prosperity, S.C., in second place with nine bass weighing 32-6 worth $7,291.

“That Alabama Rig is the way to go,” said Martin, who also won the FLW Tour event on Lake Champlain in September. “I had three fish pretty early and I threw that Alabama Rig in there, and it’s got five swimbaits on it. I set the hook and came back with two fish that weighed about three pounds each and another swimbait was missing. I don’t know how big the big one was that got off.”

Martin said he flipped matted grass the first two days of competition, but the Alabama Rig boosted him to victory on Saturday.

“It’s almost like live bait fishing,” Martin said. “It’s almost too easy.”

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are:

            3rd:      Ben Due, Mauston, Wis., 10 bass, 31-13, $4,857

            4th:      Mark Horton, Nicholasville, Ky., 12 bass, 31-11, $4,134

            5th:      Will Yelverton, Hazel Green, Ala., 13 bass, 31-7, $2,911

            6th:      Cory Leonard, Castalia, N.C., nine bass, 30-10, $2,424

            7th:      Benny Roberts, Jacksboro, Tenn., 11 bass, 30-8, $1,937

            8th:      Tripp Pittman, Holly Springs, Miss., 11 bass, 29-13, $1,743

            9th:      Chad Billiot, Raceland, La., eight bass, 29-3, $1,895

            10th:    Charlie Evans, Gilbertsville, Ky., 11 bass, 28-8, $1,548

Final results for the remaining field can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 52 bass weighing 172 pounds, 13 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included seven five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top five co-anglers in the point standings from the four Walmart FLW Tour Open tournaments will qualify.

The top 10 pros will take off at 7 Sunday morning from Lake Guntersville State Park located at 7966 Alabama Highway 227 in Guntersville, Ala. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 11697 Hwy. 431 S. in Guntersville beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to the FLW Outdoors Expo at Walmart on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-in. The Expo provides the opportunity for fans to interact with professional anglers, ride Ranger boat simulators, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

Coverage of the Lake Guntersville tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. “FLW Outdoors” will air Dec. 4 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to more than 500 million households worldwide.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
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