GROVE, Okla., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rookie pro Bailey Boutries of Daphne, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Friday weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces, to take the lead after Day Two of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury Marine. Boutries’ two-day total of 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 4 ounces gives him a slim 4-ounce advantage heading into Day Three of the four-day competition that features 165 of the world’s best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
Link to photo of pro leader Bailey Boutries
The 2016 FLW Cup Champion John Cox of DeBary, Florida, sits in second place, just 4 ounces behind Boutries with 35-0. Pro Bradley Hallman of Norman leads the Okie contingent with 31-12, good for ninth place, while Grove’s Sheldon Collings sits in 21st place with 24-12. Legendary pro Jimmy Houston of Cookson also made the top-30 cut and will start Day Three in 22nd place with 24-12. The field is now cut to 30 for Saturday’s competition with only the top 10 anglers advancing to championship Sunday.
Boutries said he caught 11 keepers throughout the day Friday, doing the majority of his damage with a War Eagle spinnerbait thrown on a 7-2 medium-heavy Profishiency rod, with a 6.5:1 Ardent reel spooled with 17-pound P-Line Tactical fluorocarbon.
“I caught a good one yesterday (Thursday) on the spinnerbait, but the rest of my limit came dragging a Texas-rigged creature bait. Today, all of my fish that I caught came on the spinnerbait,” said Boutries, who is fishing in his fourth career FLW Tour event. “That storm today really helped. When it started raining and got really windy, they really bit. The wind was a huge factor for me.
“I probably hit 10 different spots,” Boutries continued. “I was doing the same thing and it seemed that they like to be in a certain combination of rock.”
Saturday’s weather forecast calls for more rain and a drop in temperatures, but Boutries is confident that his fish will withstand the changing condition.
“I’m not even worried about the money, I just love fishing and I love being out here and competing against the best,” Boutries said. “I’m competing against Scott Martin, David Dudley, Bryan Thrift. And I’m leading the tournament. It’s so exciting.
“I don’t want to say that I’m going to really catch them again tomorrow, but I’m confident that I can go back out and catch five,” Boutries went on to say.
The top 30 pros that made the cut and will fish Saturday on Grand Lake are:
1st: Bailey Boutries, Daphne, Ala., 10 bass, 35-4
2nd: John Cox, DeBary, Fla., 10 bass, 35-0
3rd: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 34-15
4th: Jamie Horton, Centerville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-14
5th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 32-14
6th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., eight bass, 32-11
7th: Kyle Weisenburger, Ottawa, Ohio, eight bass, 32-7
8th: Billy McCaghren, Mayflower, Ark., 10 bass, 32-2
9th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., 10 bass, 31-12
10th: Terry Bolton, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 31-8
11th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 10 bass, 31-5
12th: Braxton Setzer, Montgomery, Ala., nine bass, 29-13
13th: Michael Matthee, Centurion, Gauteng, South Aftrica, eight bass, 29-0
14th: Miles Burghoff, Hixson, Tenn., eight bass, 28-14
15th: Larry Nixon, Quitman, Ark., 10 bass, 28-11
16th: Joel Willert, Prior Lake, Minn., eight bass, 27-12
17th: Costa pro Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, eight bass, 27-6
18th: Ron Farrow, Rock Hill, S.C., eight bass, 26-15
19th: Jon Canada, Helena, Ala., seven bass, 26-10
20th: Nick LeBrun, Bossier City, La., nine bass, 26-5
21st: Sheldon Collings, Grove, Okla., 10 bass, 24-12
22nd: Jimmy Houston, Cookson, Okla., eight bass, 24-12
23rd: Tyler Stewart, West Monroe, La., seven bass, 24-10
24th: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, eight bass, 24-8
25th: David Wootton, Collierville, Tenn., nine bass, 24-6
26th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 24-4
27th: Josh Douglas, Isle, Minn., 10 bass, 23-13
28th: Joey Cifuentes, Clinton, Ark., eight bass, 23-11
29th: Matt Reed, Madisonville, Texas, nine bass, 23-1
30th: Ryan Chandler, Hebron, Ind., 10 bass, 22-14
Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Andy Young of Isle, Minnesota, earned Friday’s $500 Big Bass award in the pro division after bringing a largemouth weighing 7-pounds, 4-ounces to the scale.
Overall there were 422 bass weighing 1,195 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 139 pros Friday. The catch included 31 five-bass limits.
In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 165 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight now advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury is more than $860,000. The tournament is hosted by the City of Grove and the Cherokee Casino Grove.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2019 FLW Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2019 FLW Cup will be on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 9-11 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST Saturday and Sunday from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16th St., in Grove. Weigh-ins will be held at the park beginning at 4 p.m.
In conjunction with the weigh-ins, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Wolf Creek Park from 2 to 6 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at the park on Saturday, March 30 from Noon-2 p.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to anyone under the age of 18 and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1st and 2nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Grand Lake presented by Mercury will premiere in 2019. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs each Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST and is broadcast to more than 63 million cable, satellite and telecommunications households in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean on the World Fishing Network (WFN), the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. FLW television is also distributed internationally to FLW partner countries, including Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.
The popular FLW Live on-the-water program will air on Saturday and Sunday, featuring live action from the boats of the tournament’s top pros each day. Host Travis Moran will be joined by Oklahoma Costa FLW Series pro Matt Pangrac to break down the extended action each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-the-water broadcasts will be live streamed on FLWFishing.com, the FLW YouTube channel and the FLW Facebook page.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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