Pringles Renews FLW Sponsorship for 2012 Season
FLW, the world’s premier tournament-fishing organization, announced that it will continue its partnership with Pringles for the upcoming 2012 season.
Professional angler Vic Vatalaro will once again represent Pringles on the Walmart FLW Tour. Vatalaro has more than $800,000 in career tournament winnings, has 18 career top-10 tournament finishes and has qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup four times.
Through its sponsorship agreement, Pringles will receive exposure across all of FLW’s platforms, including its tournaments and Expos, multiple websites, FLW Bass Fishing and FLW Walleye Fishing magazines and the “FLW” television show on NBC Sports Network. “FLW” is broadcast Sundays in high-definition (HD) to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Pringles,” said Trisha Blake, President of FLW Marketing Division. “Their line of snack products are enjoyed by people around the world, and are a great fit with the FLW family of sponsors.”
Pringles offers consumers a variety of snacking options including Original Pringles, Pringles Multigrain, Pringles Xtreme, and Pringles Stix.
Tharp Leads Wire-to-wire, Wins Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Okeechobee Presented by Evinrude
EverStart pro Randall Tharp of Gardendale, Ala., had endured three days of tough weather and wind and managed to lead the first three days of competition at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Okeechobee presented by Evinrude. All he needed was one more solid day’s weight to claim his first FLW Tour title.
Tharp caught a five-bass limit weighing 23 pounds, 2 ounces Sunday to win $125,000 with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 101-12. The catch gave him the win by a massive 23-pound, 9-ounce margin over John Cox of Debary, Fla., who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 78-3 and earned $35,000. Tharp’s margin of victory broke the FLW Tour record set by National Guard pro Brett Hite (20-4, Lake Toho, 2008).
Link to photo of pro winner Randall Tharp
“I felt like I could catch 30 pounds a day if I fished perfect,” said Tharp, who adds an FLW title to his four BFL wins and one EverStart Series victory. “I would have liked to have caught more, but I’m pretty tickled with the way things turned out.
“When I caught the first big one today and it put me at 19 (pounds) and I caught the second big one I didn’t say anything, but when I caught the third one I knew it was over,” Tharp added.
Tharp said the one constant during the tournament was the wind. High winds wreaked havoc on anglers’ plans as water clarity went south. Many anglers struggled to adapt and catch fish. Read more
David Wolak Wins Walmart FLW Tour Open on Lake Champlain
David Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 7 ounces Sunday to win $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Champlain presented by Snickers Peanut Butter Squared with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 81-0.
The catch gave him the win by a solid 6-pound, 4-ounce margin over pro Gary Yamamoto of Palestine, Texas, who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 74-12 and earned $31,329.
“The key for me this week was being able to make the proper adjustments,” said Wolak who finally got redemption from a second place finish at Lake Champlain in 2007 and fifth in 2010 in FLW Series competition. “I fished in rain and cold and wind and was able to adapt correctly for every situation.
“On Thursday and Friday when we had the cold, wind and rain grass was gold,” Wolak continued. “Yesterday and today I looked for clean hard bottom. I covered a lot of water using my history and experience on this lake to make wise decisions. I was very fortunate and was able to capitalize on my past failures this week. Read more
Rose Goes Wire-to-Wire, Wins Walmart FLW Tour on Pickwick Lake Presented by AMP Energy
National Guard pro Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces Sunday to take his lead wire-to-wire and win $125,500 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Pickwick Lake presented by AMP Energy with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 77-11.
The catch gave him his first FLW Tour win by a solid 5-pound, 1-ounce margin over Kevin Snider of Elizabethtown, Ky., who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 72-10 and earned $28,392.
“This means a lot to me right here in front of these people,” said Rose, who now has posted an EverStart Series Championship title on Pickwick Lake as well as victories in FLW Series and FLW Tour competition. “They’ve been good to me over the years. They’ve come out and watched when I’m in the lead. They’re the most courteous people while I’m out on the water and I really appreciate them.”
“This (FLW Tour win) wasn’t something I’ve been chasing my whole career,” Rose added. “I go out and do my best every day and take what I get. I’ve had a lot of hard knocks through the years where I’ve finished dead last. I’ve finished second in these things and every other position in between, and they’ve all been a learning experience.” Read more
Paulsen Wins National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Event on Green Bay
Pro Stephen Paulsen of Peshtigo, Wis., and co-angler Joe Ebel of Waukesha, Wis., caught five walleyes weighing 32 pounds, 6 ounces to win the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour tournament presented by Evinrude on Green Bay. Paulsen had a three-day catch of 15 walleyes weighing 92-5. He won by more than 11-pounds over his closest competitor, Danny Plautz, in event featuring anglers from 17 states and Canada. Paulsen took home $55,000 for his efforts.
“This is a dream come true,” said Paulsen, who was fishing in his first ever FLW Walleye Tour event. “I really wasn’t doing anything special. Like everyone else I was pulling crawler harnesses. The one thing that helped me was that I didn’t see a single boat in my area for three days. That really kept the pressure off the fish and I didn’t have to worry about guys beating me to my spot.
“I was fishing humps mid lake,” Paulsen went on to say. “I really needed the wind to get them to bite in my area so have just been prayin’ hard all week for wind. Read more
Graves Wins National Guard FLW Walleye Tour Event on Lake Erie
Pro Jeff Graves of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and co-angler Ed Szymczak of Osceola, Ind., caught five walleyes weighing 34 pounds, 13 ounces to win the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour tournament on Lake Erie. Graves had a three-day catch of 15 walleyes weighing 117-6. He won by 1 pound, 1 ounce over his closest competitor. Graves took home $50,000 for his efforts.
“This is fabulous; it’s a dream come true,” Graves said. “I just wanted to get close in a tournament and I can’t believe I got close in this one.
“I was quite worried today,” Graves added. “Day one and day two I pulled over 40 pounds both days and I knew I didn’t have 40 today. I thought we had about 32 pounds and we would be a little shy of Tom (Keenan) … I knew it was going to be a close match.”
Graves said he and Keenan began the day fishing the same area but Keenan quickly got his limit and left. Graves said his last keeper didn’t come until about 11:30 a.m.
“I knew Keenan was hunting and culling,” Graves said. “We had to do a lot of work to catch that fifth fish.”
Graves said he caught the majority of his seven keepers Saturday on Reef Runner 800 Series deep-diving crankbaits.
“Those baits basically brought it home for us today,” Graves said.
Graves said weather did play a role in his fishing Saturday. A fog lingered on Erie most of the day, but Graves said when the sun came out the fish turned on. Read more
Pirch Wins Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga Presented by National Guard
Former Japanese, FLW Angler of the Year places second in fourth event of season
Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces Sunday to win $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga presented by National Guard with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 77-3.
“This is awesome,” said Pirch, who now has won more than $645,000 in FLW Outdoors competition. “It’s exciting. When you’re sitting up there waiting to see what guys have it’s a little nerve wracking.
“The last two fish came late in the day and I knew they were really going to have to catch them,” Pirch added. “You never know what everybody else has got … if they found a pocket that warmed up just a couple of hours earlier than I did and put a hurt on them.”
“I’m pretty spent,” Pirch said. “You fish one of these things and have burned it at both ends … it’s one of those deals where you leave it all out on the lake. I’m worn, but I’m excited. It’s been a fun time.”
Pirch said he employed a Roboworm creature bait as well as a jig-head worm for sight fish and blind bed fishing. As the water levels rose during the week, Pirch said he had to adapt and become mobile and target specific pieces of cover slowly with a jig.
“I caught five fish today,” Pirch said. “I got five bites and I caught five of them. Any time that happens that’s just a blessing. I don’t know how else to explain it. I got exactly what I needed, and man, I’m thankful.
“It was an absolute grind,” Pirch added. “It was one of the most excruciatingly grinding days I’ve ever had. I never got spun out and stressed real bad, but the pressure of knowing you’ve got to get them in order to win and hold onto that lead … it was a lot of pressure.”
The catch gave Pirch the win by a 6-pound, 11-ounce margin over Cheez-It pro Shinichi Fukae of Palestine, Texas, who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 70-8 and earned $35,000. Read more