In this report, I want to talk about the SWBA Tournament which was held on April 2nd. There are 6 tournaments every year and it was the 2nd one this year (Also sponsored by Lucky Craft & IMA)!

It was located in Marina del Rey and over 80 boats participated in this competition. Every year there are more and more teams participating, but regardless, there were all eyes on our Lucky Craft pro staff Team Gerry (right image) and Team Jimmy (left image). They both had a very nice Bass limit!! They didn’t win the competition, but they were able to make it in the top 10 rank!! What skilled anglers… I asked Gerry in private where he was able to catch those fishes and he kindly answered, “in the rocky point”! We also made plans to go fishing together next time!

They use the same measuring system and equipments as the BASS/FLW tournaments, and each year it progresses. I’m confident to say that this SWBA, saltwater fishing tournament will definitely be the next big thing!
This day’s BIG BASS was 7lb!

And the winner was Team Hammer with a 19 pounder!

Sandy
The Daily Flash Minnow

P.S. I got to take a picture with the founder of SWBA!
(From the left is: Matt (IMA), James (SWBA), Eric (SWBA) and Lucky Craft reporter)

FLW Lake Hartwell Result:
2nd Brent Ehrler
4th Stacey King
7th Joe Thomas
72nd Anthony Gagliardi

FLW AOY Standing:
2nd Stacey King
14th Joe Tomas
15th Brent Ehrler
88th Anthony Gagliardi

I was blown away by the size of the crowd at the final days weigh in at the Coliseum here in Greenville. It was a real grind on the water for me, only getting six bites all day, but my 11-15 limit was enough to move me from 10th to 7th place in the final standing on Lake Hartwell. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely happy!
Joe Thomas Blog

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It was a squeaker, but I made the Top Ten Cut! I finished the day in 10th place with 11 pounds 4 ounces. Had it not been for an unfortunate mechanical failure causing Jimmy Houston to be late and ultimately disqualified, I would have finished 11th and sent packing.
Joe Thomas Blog

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I made the 20 cut! It wasn’t pretty, but I hung in there. The cold, bright, calm conditions were really not conducive to the shallow water fishing I’m doing. I got just enough bites on the Chatterbait I’ve been using exclusively to get the job done. I weighed five fish for 11 pounds 4 ounces.
Joe Thomas Blog

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Casey Ashley Blog
Date: 3/23/2011

We just wrapped up the Florida swing of events and I very excited about my results. I ended up in 18th at the Harris Chain and 10th on the St. John’s River. Anytime you can get two top twenty finishes against these anglers you are doing well.

At the St. John’s River I knew it was going to be a sight fishing tournament. So I turned the trolling motor to high and went looking for bed fish. I was 100% committed to sight fishing from the moment I got there. I did cast around a speed worm or Lucky Craft G-Splash or Splash tail just to try to get a bite while I was looking. That didn’t go very well, I just couldn’t get a bite fishing.

On day 1 of the event I fished lake George. In practice I located a couple big fish and knew if I could get on them I could catch them. I just lucked out and got on both of them. I had one about 8 and another one about 7, from then I just kept looking and I found a couple more big ones but couldn’t get them to bite. I was sitting nicely near the top of the standings.

On the second day, I decided not to go to Lake George. I had another area that was closer called Dunns creek. I had some big ones picked out there as well. I went in and some of them were gone and some new ones had moved in. I just couldn’t do anything with them I ended up scratched out 12 pounds.
I returned to Dunns Creek on the third day to try and get some of the fish I didn’t get on day 2, but again I couldn’t get them to go. They wouldn’t lock in or act right.

On the final day, I decided to go somewhere else since Dunns Creek didn’t work out very well. So I went back to Lake George. The fish were everywhere. I had a limit in about 40 minutes. I had a 6-pounder that I tried to catch for about two hours. I nevercould get her to do anything. I found another 7 or 8–pounder and I spent about an hour on her. I did get her to bite, and I stuck her only to have her get off. I blew that one, but that’s part of the game. That’s kind of the way my day went, I never could get a big one.

Overall I finished in 10th and on the heels of a solid finish at the Harris Chain I feel pretty good.

In non-fishing related stuff, I am excited that I finished recording my album. The studio is working on it now and it should be done this week. After that, I’ll be able to check it out and make sure I like how it turned out. After that we’ll be deciding how and where we are going to sell them.

Back to fishing, I start fishing Lake Normantomorrow in the BASS Opens I really like Lake Norman and I expect to do well there. I sure like to win it and qualify for the Classic. We’ll see!

Oh yeah! Sometimes you get the chicken and sometimes you get the feathers! For me it was definitely chicken today. What the heck! After all my whining about my tough practice, the wind blew hard today and I absolutely whacked them.
Joe Thomas Blog

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I slept in ’til 9 A.M. today. I love the FLW off day between practice and competition. It gives me a chance to catch up on emails and phone calls, work out, and prep my tackle.
Joe Thomas Blog

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2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings

After St. Johns River, Palatka, Fla. Ending 03-20-2011, Day 4

Place Name St Pts
1 Alton Jones TX 573
2 Terry Scroggins FL 555
3 Kevin VanDam MI 542
4 Edwin Evers OK 536
5 Pat Golden NC 526
6 Steve Kennedy AL 507
7 J Todd Tucker GA 501
8 Casey Ashley SC 499
9 Todd Faircloth TX 496
10 Cliff Crochet LA 487
28 Kelly Jordon TX 411
47 Gerald Swindle AL 358
52 Skeet Reese CA 342
61 Takahiro Omori TX 314

G-Man Blog
It’s kind of weird that winning the event is more of a feeling of relief than the excitement about winning. You always think you have the potential to win, but Florida has been tough for me. It’s taken a while for it to soak in but, I’ve gotten that monkey off of my back and now I am qualified for next year’s Classic…

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