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Lefebre Claims Early Lead at 2009 Forrest Wood Cup Presented by BP and Castrol

Category: press release

 Jul 30th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jul 30th, 2009 at 12:00 AM

PITTSBURGH (July 30, 2009) – Team Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., weighed in a five-bass limit that weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces during the first day of competition at the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol – the World Championship of Bass Fishing – on the Three Rivers in Pittsburgh and ended the day with a slim one-ounce lead. The Forrest Wood Cup presented is the richest bass fishing tournament in the world and features a $1 million first-place cash award.

“I probably caught 25 keepers,” said Lefebre, who has won more than $1 million in FLW Outdoors events. “I didn’t want to get all excited about this tournament, because I didn’t know what was going to happen.

“I tried to make my spot work for today and hopefully make me the cut,” Lefebre added. “And then I’ve got all my other stuff to fall back on.”

Lefebre remained tight-lipped about his methods, refusing to give up bait, technique or fishing location. He did, however, reveal that the area he fished consisted of two spots about 50 yards apart. Lefebre said he targeted rocks that were holding fish.

“It’s so exact,” Lefebre said. “It’s like casting into a bucket 30 feet away.”

Lefebre said his area is holding a good number of fish and he intends to return to the area again Friday.
   
Rounding out the top five places are David Curtis of Trinity, Texas (five bass, 8-12); Team Chevy pro Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark. (five bass, 8-4); Team Folgers pro Scott Suggs of Bryant, Ark. (five bass, 7-12); and Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J. (five bass, 7-10).

Rounding out the top 10 spots are Kellogg’s pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark., 2009 BFL All-American winner Adam Wagner of Cookeville, Tenn., Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., Rusty Salewske of Alpine, Calif., and Cody Meyer of Redding, Calif.

Former Forrest Wood Cup champion and Team Tums pro David Fritts of Lexington, N.C., inadvertently made a cast into an-off limits area and reported the rules infraction to tournament officials. As a result, Fritts’ Day One weight was voided.

Overall there were 228 bass weighing 262 pounds, 1 ounce caught by pros Thursday. The catch included 25 five-bass limits.

Tommie Goldston of Gardnerville, Nev., leads the Co-angler Division with five bass weighing 7-10 followed by Teddy Bradley of Mishawaka, Ind., in second place with four bass weighing 5-5.
   
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ralph Myhlhousen of Council Bluffs, Iowa (five bass, 4-14); Greg Schultz of Wayzata, Minn. (four bass, 4-4) and John Bitting of Westminster, Calif. (three bass, 3-15).
   
Overall there were 102 bass weighing 114 pounds, 3 ounces caught by co-anglers Thursday. The catch included two five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $50,000 this week.

The total purse for the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup is $2 million, including $10,000 through 40th place in the Pro Division.

Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. each day from Steelers Quay, North Shore Riverfront Park located at Art Rooney Drive across from the South Plaza of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Daily weigh-ins will be held at Mellon Arena at 66 Mario Lemieux Pl. in Pittsburgh beginning at 5 p.m.
                   
In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW Outdoors will host a free Family Fun Zone and outdoor show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center located at 1000 Ft. Duquesne Blvd. in Pittsburgh. The Family Fun Zone will be open from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Family Fun Zone offers fans a chance to meet their Fantasy Fishing team anglers face-to-face and review the latest products from Berkley, Lowrance, Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha and other sponsors while children are treated to giveaways, fishing themed games and rides like the Ranger Boat simulator. Children 14 and under visiting the Family Fun Zone on Sunday will receive a free rod and reel combo while supplies last. One lucky member of the audience will even win a new special edition Three Rivers Ranger Z20boat powered by Evinrude during the final 5 p.m. weigh-in Sunday, Aug. 2, courtesy of Froggy Radio. Admission is free, and you must be present to win.

In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in Saturday’s competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and co-angler competition concludes following Saturday’s weigh-in. The top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.

Coverage of the Forrest Wood Cup, hosted by VisitPittsburgh and sponsored locally by Range Resources and Verizon Wireless, will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network which brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most-trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated “FLW Outdoors,” will air Aug. 30 and Nov. 8 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. “FLW Outdoors,” hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to approximately 500 million households worldwide, including internationally through agreements with WFN (World Fishing Network) and Matchroom Sport to such countries as Canada, Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.
 
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage to get your edge and win.
 
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.