PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (June 30, 2019) – After starting the day in second place, pro Casey Scanlon of Lake Ozark, Missouri, caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces, Sunday to vault to the top of the leaderboard and win the FLW Tour at Lake Champlain presented by T-H Marine with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 76 pounds, 2 ounces. Scanlon’s weight was enough to edge second place angler Jackson Kayak pro Eric Jackson by 1 pound, 11 ounces, in the event that featured 163 of the world’s most decorated bass anglers competing over four days on Lake Champlain.
Missouri Pro Commits to Largemouth Bite, Wins $100,000 at FLW Tour Regular Season Finale on Lake Champlain
“It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been doing this for eight years now and on a couple of different tours. I’ve had the opportunity to win several times and haven’t gotten it done, so today is a pretty special day,” said Scanlon, who earned his first career win in FLW Tour competition. “I’ve been fishing tournaments since I was 15 and it’s not easy out here, but days like this make it all worth it.”
Scanlon spent the event targeting largemouth down near Ticonderoga. Early in the tournament, most of his bass came off shallow rock inside of a milfoil edge. As the tournament progressed, though, he caught more fish from the grass, with all of his keepers today coming from the grass.
“I did junk it up a little bit, but I got myself in some decent areas, and I tried to make the most out of them by switching baits and trying some different stuff throughout the tournament,” said Scanlon.
Scanlon did have a primary area that produced his initial limits on days one through three – a pair of main-lake points along Champlain’s eastern shoreline that were swept by current. Today, the area didn’t produce, but he was able to make the necessary adjustments to put together a solid limit.
“The fish were obviously using the current to feed, and there was bait there, which was a big key,” said Scanlon. “You’d see a lot of activity in the grass. That’s probably the main reason those fish were there.”
In his areas, Scanlon used a 3/8-ounce chartreuse and white Z-Man ChatterBait with a white soft jerkbait trailer for rocks and scattered milfoil, and a green copper shad-colored Luck-E-Strike square-billed crankbait on rocks and in looser grass. A few fish early in the tournament bit a Luck-E-Strike Pow Stik, rigged with either a 3/16- or 1/4-ounce Bass Pros Shops tungsten weight, and a black and blue Bass Pros Shops tube. He also ran a 1/2-ounce Trophy Swim Jig through lily pads and pencil reeds in shallow water.
“Depending on the cover I’d always start with a moving bait, usually the ChatterBait, and when it was sparser grass I’d use the crankbait. When I’d catch a few, I would slow down and pick it apart with the Pow Stik,” said Scanlon. “I was just fortunate to dial into the fish every day – locations and baits changed daily on me.”
With his win, Scanlon earned enough points to qualify for the FLW Cup – the world championship of bass fishing – August 9-11 on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
“I needed a big derby to make the FLW Cup,” said Scanlon. “I knew I probably needed a top-12 [finish] here to make it and we’re sitting here now. I’m ready to go to Hot Springs.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Champlain finished:
1st: Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 20 bass, 76-2, $102,700
2nd: Jackson Kayak pro Eric Jackson, Walling, Tenn., 20 bass, 74-7, $30,000
3rd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 73-15, $25,100
4th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 20 bass, 73-15, $20,000
5th: Hensley Powell, Whitwell, Tenn., 20 bass, 73-12, $19,000
6th: Daryl Biron, South Windsor, Conn., 20 bass, 72-6, $18,000
7th: Polaris pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 20 bass, 72-4, $17,000
8th: A.J. Slegona, Pine Bush, N.Y., 20 bass, 71-9, $16,000
9th: Tyler Stewart, West Monroe, La., 19 bass, 68-10, $15,000
10th: Tom Redington, Royse City, Texas, 18 bass, 62-3, $14,000
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 47 bass weighing 164 pounds, 1 ounces, caught by pros Sunday. The catch included eight five-bass limits.
Polaris pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Virginia, won the prestigious 2019 FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) Saturday, becoming the first angler in the history of the FLW Tour to claim four titles (2019, 2012, 2011 and 2008). He narrowly edged out Berkley pro John Cox of DeBary, Florida, by just 17 points in a tightly contested race that was too close to call until Cox’s 28th place finish. Dudley, who received $100,000 for the title, will also receive an automatic berth into the 2020 FLW Cup.
Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, clinched the Polaris 2019 FLW Tour Rookie of the Year (ROY) award Saturday, which is awarded to the rookie pro angler who finishes the season with the highest point total. For his efforts, Nelson won a Polaris Sportsman® 570 ATV.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Lake Champlain presented by T-H Marine will premiere in 2019. The exact air-date will be announced soon. 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 total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Champlain presented by T-H Marine was more than $860,000. The tournament was hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau. The next event for FLW anglers on Lake Champlain will be the Costa FLW Series at Lake Champlain presented by Polaris in Plattsburgh, July 18-30. A limited number of co-angler spots are still open. To register or see more information, visit FLWFishing.com.
In FLW Tour competition, the full field of 163 pro anglers competed in the two-day opening round on Thursday and Friday. The top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advanced to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continued competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
Throughout the season, anglers were 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.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW and their multiple tournament circuits 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, YouTube and Snapchat.