Defending champion Rick Clunn heads the list of 12 anglers who'll compete in the second season of Ultimate Match Fishing (UMF) on The Outdoor Channel (TOC). The first round will take place April 10-15 out of Moor's Resort on Kentucky Lake and the second round, semifinals and finals are set for April 24-29 at Lake Guntersville, with the Top of the River restaurant in Guntersville, Ala. serving as the host facility.
Bassmaster pro Joe Thomas will again be the host. The initial broadcast is tentatively scheduled for July 3 at 8:30 p.m. EST, and the show will run in that time slot for 13 consecutive weeks.
"We're really excited about it," Thomas said. "We had tremendous feedback from the fans and (TOC senior VP of programming) Wade Sherman has been behind this the whole way. It did very well (in the ratings) in the third and fourth quarters of '05.
"The whole key is the interaction among the pros. You just don't see that in any other competition format."
Clunn, who defeated Bernie Schultz in the 2005 finals, will square off against Jimmy Houston in the last match of the first round. Other first-round pairings are: Zell Rowland vs. Gerald Swindle; Mike Iaconelli vs. Tom Mann Jr.; Dean Rojas vs. Edwin Evers; Tim Horton vs. Marty Stone; and Peter Thliveros vs. Paul Elias.
The second-round loser with the highest weight will join the three undefeated anglers in the semifinals. The champion will receive $50,000 and a Philips flat-screen TV.
Anglers fish from the same boat, with each having control of its movements for half of the match (either the first and third or second and fourth quarters). An angler who has the lead and control of the boat in the fourth quarter has the option of taking the boat out of fishable water.
"We had mixed feedback on that, but we don't plan to change it," Thomas said. "It plays into the strategy."
