Rose Grabs Lead at Walmart FLW Tour Event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Presented by Chevy

Louisiana's Crawley Paces Co-Anglers

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Mar 28, 2014, 09:52 ET

LUFKIN, Texas, March 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Seasoned veteran Walmart pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Ark., brought a five-bass limit to the scale on Friday weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces to snatch the lead after day two of the Walmart FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Chevy. Anchored by a monster 9-pound Sam Rayburn largemouth, Rose now has a two-day total of 10 bass worth 43 pounds even. He will hold a narrow 1-pound, 9 ounce lead going into day three of the four-day event, presented by the Lufkin Convention and Visitors Bureau, that features 176 of the world's best bass-fishing anglers competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.

Link to photo of leader Walmart pro Mark Rose

"I really struggled today," said Rose, who has earned more than $1.75 million dollars in FLW competition. "Most of the 19 pounds that I weighed in was the big 9-pounder. I didn't catch but seven fish all day today, and one was a little 12-inch spotted bass.

"I'm fishing the outside and inside edges of grass lines," Rose continued. "When the weather is calm and sunny like today, they get buried up in the grass. I'm going to do the same thing tomorrow, but I'm going to pray for some clouds and wind."

Rose said that he was fishing around 15 different areas throwing a lot of plastics, crankbaits and a Strike King Red-Eye Shad. He said that most of the fish that he is catching are post-spawn.

"Most of my fish that I'm weighing in are post-spawn," the Arkansas pro said. "But, it seems like every day I'm weighing in one big pre-spawner. Even in practice I would catch one big pre-spawn bass each day.

"I'm pretty committed to this pattern," said Rose. "I may just have to adapt a little better and get in the grass and figure out how to catch them."

The top 20 pros that will fish Saturday on Sam Rayburn are:

1^st: Walmart pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 43-0

2^nd: Jason Meninger, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 41-7

3^rd: Steve Kennedy, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 40-10

4^th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 39-10

5^th: Rick Cotten, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 37-14

6^th: Greg Hackney, Gonzales, La., 10 bass, 36-11

7^th: John Cox, Debary, Fla., 10 bass, 36-10

8^th: Andy Montgomery, Blacksburg, S.C., 10 bass, 34-10

9^th: Jonathan Newton, Rogersville, Ala., nine bass, 34-7

10^th: Tony Davis, Williston, Fla., nine bass, 33-7

11^th: Cheez-It pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, five bass, 33-3

12^th: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 10 bass, 33-1

13^th: Castrol pro Mike Surman, Boca Raton, Fla., 10 bass, 33-0

14^th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 10 bass, 32-2

15^th: Austin Terry, San Angelo, Texas, 10 bass, 31-11

16^th: Rob Kilby, Hot Springs, Ark., 10 bass, 31-7

17^th: Tom Monsoor, La Crosse, Wis., 10 bass, 31-4

18^th: Brad Knight, Wartburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-0

19^th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 10 bass, 29-15

20^th: Gary Yamamoto, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 29-13

For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.

Rose also won the FLW Big Bass Award and $500 on Friday on the pro side with a brute weighing 9 pounds even.

Overall there were 741 bass weighing 1,744 pounds, 13 ounces caught by 173 pros Friday. The catch included 114 five-bass limits.

Pro Shawn Murphy of Nicholasville, Ky., was assessed a 2-pound penalty Friday for a violation of FLW Tour rule No. 8. Murphy finished the tournament in 35th place and earned $10,000.

Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing. The top 35 anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify. The 2014 Forrest Wood Cup will be in Columbia, S.C., Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray and is hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country. Anglers could win as much as $500,000 – professional bass-fishing's richest prize.

Stephen Crawley of Bush, La., leads the co-angler division with 10 bass weighing 26-6 followed by Eric Self of Lawndale, N.C., in second place with eight bass weighing 26-4.

The top 20 co-anglers fishing Saturday are:

1^st: Stephen Crawley, Bush, La., 10 bass, 26-6

2^nd: Eric Self, Lawndale, N.C., eight bass, 26-4

3^rd: Nick Loeffelman Jr., Valles Mines, Mo., 10 bass, 25-11

4^th: Billy Billeaud, Lafayette, La., eight bass, 25-2

5^th: Bryan Partak, Marseilles, Ill., seven bass, 25-0

6^th: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 10 bass, 23-13

7^th: Glenn Day, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 23-1

8^th: Gary Runyon, Decatur, Tenn., nine bass, 22-13

9^th: Spiro Agouros, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 22-12

10^th: Kerry Barnett, Waldron, Ark., 10 bass, 22-11

11^th: Michael Stricklin, Vidalia, La., eight bass, 21-13

12^th: Jason Johnson, Gainesville, Ga., nine bass, 21-1

13^th: Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., nine bass, 20-14

14^th: Billy Dehart, Burlingame, Calif., 10 bass, 20-12

15^th: Rob Hicks, Lula, Ga., six bass, 20-9

16^th: Dennis Cameron, Travelers Rest, S.C., eight bass, 20-8

17^th: Forrest Smith, Pickerington, Ohio, eight bass, 20-7

18^th: Perry Dawson, Spring City, Tenn., seven bass, 20-6

19^th: J.R. Wright, Truckee, Calif., nine bass, 20-5

20^th: Chuck Kavros, Grass Valley, Calif., 10 bass, 20-4

For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.

Partak caught Friday's FLW Big Bass in the co-angler division weighing 10 pounds, 2 ounces to win $250.

Overall there were 520 bass weighing 1,076 pounds, 14 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included 52 five-bass limits.

Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart. The top 35 co-anglers in the point standings from the six events on the 2014 Walmart FLW Tour will qualify.

Anglers will take off from Cassels-Boykin County Park located at FM Road 3123 (off State Highway 147) in Zavalla, Texas, at 7 a.m. on Saturday. On Sunday the top 10 anglers will take off at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday's final weigh-ins will be held at the Walmart located at 2500 Daniel McCall Drive in Lufkin beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will also be treated to the FLW Expo at Walmart on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public. Also on Sunday, country music star Michael Ray will perform a free live concert on the Walmart weigh-in stage at 3 p.m.

Coverage of the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when "FLW" airs June 7 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

ABOUT FLW

FLW is the industry's premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport's richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the "Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water." For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

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