Photo by Rob Newell / FLWOutdoors.com
Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds even Saturday to win $125,000 at the FLW Tour event presented by Folgers on Fort Loudoun/Tellico lakes with a four-day catch of 20 bass weighing 59-13.
The catch gave him the win by a solid 4-pound even margin over Goodwill pro Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn., who caught a total of 19 bass weighing 55-13 and earned $37,197.
“I’m on cloud nine,†said Browne, who notched his first FLW Tour win. “I mean, it hasn’t sunk in totally. I don’t even know what to say. I’ve fished for seven seasons on the Tour, and I’ve come close and had some good finishes. This is what I’ve been looking for for a long time.
“The first three days of this tournament everything just went right,†Browne added. “I mean, you make the right moves, the right stops and I never lost a keeper fish. Everything just went right and I just had that feeling that things were going to happen right.â€
Browne said he was making a 30-mile run each day to his backwater pocket above the Little River on Fort Loudoun. The pocket contained laydown trees and logs and Browne said he caught the majority of his fish flipping a 4-inch Gambler flipping tube in black neon with a chartreuse tail, but admitted he caught fish on a spinnerbait and a swimbait as well. Browne said he matched the tube to a 5/16-ounce weight and 20-pound-test fluorocarbon line.
Browne said Friday he began to think that he had a legitimate shot at winning the Knoxville event.
“It was tougher for me yesterday, but I thought, ‘Man, if I can still go around and catch five fish, they’re going to have to beat me,’†Browne said.
Browne opened the tournament in third place Wednesday with five bass weighing 17-0. On Thursday he added another five bass weighing 16-15. He then caught five bass weighing 13-14 Friday to make the crucial top-5 cut in first place. On Saturday he sealed his victory.
The remaining top-5 pros finished the tournament in:
3rd: Damiki pro Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 55-0, $27,864
4th: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., 20 bass, 49-6, $18,531
5th: Brandon Coulter, Knoxville, Tenn., 17 bass, 46-0, $16,664
A complete list of results can be found below or at FLWOutdoors.com.
