More than 300 fisherman launched 167 boats from Green Pond Landing this morning to kick off the the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour at Lake Hartwell presented by Evinrude.
After a week of local appearances and events, the anglers got down to business on a picture perfect morning. By late afternoon, Darrel Robertson led the field's first weigh-in with five fish totalling 20 pounds, six ounces. Follow the live leaderboard updates here.
The tournament will continue through Sunday, with launches from Green Pond each morning at around 7:30 a.m.
On Saturday, the FLW Foundation and Anderson County will hold a Unified Fishing Derby, designed for young anglers and the Special Olympics athletes (all ages) in the area, at Chris Taylor Memorial Park near the Civic Center of Anderson. The derby, set from 9-11 a.m., will be hosted by FLW Foundation Pro Cody Kelly. Special goodie bags will be given to the first 50 participants who sign up for the event. Rods and Reels will be available for use, however, children are welcome to bring your own. Bait will be donated by DMF Baits. First and Second Place awards for biggest fish caught will be given from the FLW Stage. For more information or to register, email Judith.allen@flwfishing.com
Hosted by the Anderson Convention & Visitors Bureau, the FLW tournament will bring many of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals and co-anglers casting for top awardsof up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division.