Harrison wins $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake Champlain
Category: press release
Sep 15th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 15th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Harrison wins $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Series event on Lake ChamplainThurlow wins co-angler title, $20,000PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Iams pro Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind., caught a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win $125,000 in the $1 million Walmart FLW Series® BP Eastern Division tournament on Lake Champlain with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 73-13.The catch gave him the win by a slim 12-ounce margin over Pete Gluszek of Mt. Laurel, N.J., who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 73-01 and earned $46,488. “I just had one of those days,” said Harrison, who claimed his first FLW Series victory. “When it’s your time it’s your time. There is no doubt about it that today must have been my time because I have never weighed-in a largemouth on this lake and today I weighed-in two monsters.”Harrison’s limit consisted of three smallmouths and two largemouths. “I had my limit at 8:15 this morning and ended up catching around 23 keepers today,” Harrison said. “All week I targeted smallmouths and to catch two largemouths’s of that size is amazing.” Harrison was fishing north of Plattsburgh to catch his quality bass. “I fished several of the bays on the New York side and a big flat up north as well,” he added.Harrison caught his bass in and around vegetation throwing a Poor Boys Watermelon Tube and a Poor Boys Drop-shot Darter.”You have no idea what this means to me,” Harrison said. “My dad made it possible for me to fish professionally and I wish that he was here to see me win.”Harrison opened the tournament in 10th place Wednesday with five bass weighing 18-07. On Thursday he added another five bass weighing 16-01. He then caught five bass weighing 17-15 on Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in eighth place.Rounding out the top five pros are BP pro Jim Moynagh of Carver, Minn. (20 bass, 72-12, $37,191); Yamaha pro Takahiro Omori of Emory, Texas (20 bass, 71-15, $27,893) and Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va. (20 bass, 71-05, $18,595).Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Wednesday – an 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $464.Overall there were 50 bass weighing 168 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 10 pros Saturday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits. Chuck Thurlow of Auburn, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Friday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 15 ounces followed by Bob Snyder of Marion, Ind., in second place with 15 bass weighing 46-02 worth $9,492. Thurlow opened the tournament in 10th place Wednesday with five bass weighing 15-15 while fishing with pro Nick Gainey of Charleston, S.C. On Thursday he jumped to seventh place on the strength of a five-bass catch weighing 13-12 while fishing with pro Erwin Cole of Murfreesboro, Tenn. He wrapped up the win Friday with a five-bass catch weighing 18-04 while fishing with pro Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario.”I feel really blessed to get this opportunity,” said Thurlow, who has four top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors competition. “I have come close to winning before but I have never been able to close the deal.”I knew that I had to have 16 pounds today to make it close and after I caught my last fish I knew that I had the tournament won.” Thurlow caught his bass this week on a Carolina-rigged plastic craw. “I came here planning to drop-shot,” Thurlow said. “I had seven rods rigged to fish a tube but once I got on that Carolina bite, I caught every fish that way.”Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ronald Mueller of Prosperity, S.C. (15 bass, 43-15, $8,542); Wayne Frierson of Manning, S.C. (15 bass, 42-06, $7,594) and Sam Mitchiner of Garner, N.C. (15 bass, 41-02, $6,644).Matt Greenblatt of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., earned $285 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught while fishing with pro Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich. Coverage of the Lake Champlain FLW Series tournament will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Nov. 9. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area. The next FLW Series BP Eastern Division tournament, hosted by Columbia County Georgia, will be held Oct. 22-25 on Clarks Hill Lake in Appling, Ga. Boats will launch from Wildwood Park in Appling and the final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart located at 4471 Washington Rd. in Evans, Ga. After four qualifying events are complete in the BP Eastern Division, the top 30 pros and 30 co-anglers will advance to the BP East-National Guard West Fish-Off Nov. 20-22 at a yet to be announced site. There they will face the top 30 pros and 30 co-anglers from the National Guard Western Division for a shot at advancing to the $2 million, 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. The winning pro at the Forrest Wood Cup will earn as much as $1 million – the sport’s biggest award.For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.FLW Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its bass tournaments.