Rose Goes Wire-to-Wire, Wins Walmart FLW Tour on Pickwick Lake Presented by AMP Energy

FLORENCE, Ala., July 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 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."

During the first two days of competition, Rose said he targeted ledges on the Tennessee end of the lake and relied on a Strike King shaky-head rig to catch his early limit and then culled fish using a large soft-plastic worm as well as a chartreuse Strike King 6XD crankbait. Rose said his larger fish, including a 5 1/2-pounder he caught Friday, came on the crankbait, and he led the first two days of the competition.

However, Rose said things changed Saturday and he had to get creative and employ a variety of baits. He began throwing a vertical jigging spoon and a shaky-head rig and managed to hold onto his lead for a third day.

On Sunday Rose said he emptied his tackle box and threw a variety of baits to catch his winning limit, including a 3/4-ounce Strike King football jig, Strike King shaky head, Strike King Sexy Spoon, 12-inch worm and a vertical jigging spoon as well as other baits.

"I'm always looking at my graph," Rose said. "I'll throw a shaky-head when there's no current and it's slick and high skies. I'll throw a football jig when there's a lot of current and I want to feel every rock out there because those fish are sitting up on those ambush points. I'll throw a hair jig when the fish are porpoising on minnows because I like the way that hair jig's tail pulsates. I do it all."

"Ledge fishing is reading each ledge and reading each fish and understanding what's going on and figuring it out," Rose added. "I basically try to understand what I see on my screen."

Rose said he had only 9 pounds at 12 o'clock Sunday but wasn't discouraged. He said he had about an hour left to fish when he noticed current running against a buoy and he made the decision to turn around and run 20 miles to a spot near Panther Creek.

"I caught a 5 (pounder) and two 3 (pounders), and that sealed the deal for me," Rose said. "It's those instincts I've learned on the Tennessee River to trust. And the Lord gives me those instincts and knowledge."

Snider did his best to catch Rose, who said Saturday that if he could catch 13 pounds on the last day it would force someone to catch 20 pounds in order to catch him. Snider sat in sixth place after three days of competition with a total of 15 bass that weighed 51 pounds, 2 ounces, which was 9 pounds, 14 ounces out of the lead. Snider's final day weight was five bass for 21 pounds, 8 ounces, but it wasn't enough to capture the title.

"My hat's off to Mark," said an emotional Snider. "He put them in the boat and I didn't. He deserved to win.

"I caught the fire out of them (today)," Snider added. "I stuck them good. I didn't lose any fish. I was just a couple of days late, I guess."

The remaining top 10 pros finished the tournament in:

Ehrler chose not to fish the final day of competition to return to his home in California to be with his family, wife and newborn son who was born Saturday night.

A complete list of results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 45 bass weighing 141 pounds, 7 ounces caught by pros Sunday. The catch included nine five-bass limits.

Clent Davis of Montevallo, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and $20,250 Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 52 pounds, 4 ounces followed by Dan Thill of La Crosse, Wis., in second place with 15 bass weighing 45-5 worth $6,337.

In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers competed for valuable points that helped them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, where they could win up to $600,000 – the sport's biggest award – and $60,000 respectively.

Pros and co-anglers also competed for the prestigious Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg's in 2011 that was determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors.

Castrol pro David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., wrapped up his season-long quest for the Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year title Sunday. Dudley's title is the second of his career.

Dudley, who received $100,000 for the title, joins fellow FLW Tour anglers Clark Wendlandt (2009, 2000,1997) and Jay Yelas (2007, 2002) as the only anglers to win multiple Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year titles. Dudley's first title came in 2008.

Dudley earned 1,102 points during the course of the season. In a race that came down to the final days of competition, Ehrler finished second with 1,087 and Rose was third with 1,079.

Spencer Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., won the Walmart FLW Tour Co-Angler of the Year presented by Kellogg's title and a new Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard by one point over Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark. Shuffield posted 1,045 points during the course of the season. Patrick Bone of Cleveland, Ga., came in third with 1,035 points.

The FLW Tour stop on Pickwick Lake presented by AMP Energy was hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism and was the eighth of 10 Walmart FLW Tour tournaments of the 2011 season. The Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart, the world championship of bass fishing, will be the next tournament and will be held Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ark. The event will be hosted by the Hot Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau and boats will launch from Brady Mountain Resort & Marina in Royal, Ark. For a complete schedule, visit FLWOutdoors.com.

Coverage of the Pickwick Lake tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on VERSUS. "FLW Outdoors" will air Sept. 11 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. "FLW Outdoors," hosted by Jason Harper, is broadcast to more than 500 million households worldwide.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.

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