'Anyone Can Do It'
Rookie Blaylock Youngest Ever FLW Tour Winner

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Stetson Blaylock's still in disbelief that his first Tour win as a pro came so quickly.

Blaylock began the day in 2nd at the Norman FLW Tour in North Carolina – 1-07 behind leader Koby Kreiger. The sight-fishing bite was dominant, and Kreiger's one of the best ever with the technique.

Blaylock, on the other hand, "just fished." He believed in the jig for the first 3 days and skipped docks with it. Today he mixed in a shakey-head and more sight-fish and weighed the heaviest bag of the final 2 days at 12-13.

Kreiger, meanwhile, missed three blowups on his morning topwater bite and struggled to find catchable quality on beds. He limped in with 9-02 and slipped to finish 2nd. Andy Morgan, currently ranked 14th in the world, weighed 12-09 and improved a spot to finish 2nd – exactly 1 pound behind Blaylock.

Greg Pugh rebounded after an 8 1/2-pound day 3 and put 10-12 on the scales, which moved him up from 9th to finish 4th – exactly where he finished here last year.

Sean Hoernke weighed 8-14 to about match his day-3 weight and improved a spot to finish 5th.

The shad-spawn potential never played out today, and the fishing was a grind once again. In the end, there just weren't enough quality bed-fish left for Kreiger to overcome Blaylock's assault.

Blaylock Emotional

After four seasons as a co-angler, which included one FLW Tour and two FLW Series wins, Blaylock moved to the front of the boat this season.

He bucked tradition – at least for the first 3 days – when he decided to skip docks with a jig. The majority of the Top 10 instead opted to skip with finesse worms or sight-fish.

Blaylock did switch to a shakey-head today – a presentation that's come to define the FLW Tour – and mixed in more sight-fish than he'd been catching. But he proved that rookies can sometimes outperform the veterans.

Also notable was Blaylock seemed to have fortune on his side. He lost a fish yesterday that he immediately caught again, and repeated that feat today.

"I don't believe it – I can't believe it's real," he said. "It's been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old. I cannot believe it – (that) this quick it happened. Anyone can do it. Set your mind to it."

He also said this marks the biggest accomplishment of his life, and added: "This is for my friends and family at home, that get me out here and work hard to make sure I get to do what I get to do, and raised me up fishing where I can come do this and enjoy this sport.

"It's starting to sink in," he added. "It's still just a dream come true, but you don't really see how big it is until later on. Right now it's kind of like, 'Wow, I just won that tournament.' You won't really know what it means for a while. But it's starting to work its way in. It's pretty neat."

He said he used a homemade jig tipped with a Berkley craw the first 3 days. But today they bit the new Berkley Power Slim Shaky worm on a jighead much better.

"I was surprised. Everybody told me they quit biting a jig (here) when the spawn happens. I didn't believe (them). They bit it good all week."

About the fish he caught twice today, he said it jumped off, then he "thought right then, 'That fish is the $200,000 fish. I knew that. So I went on down the bank and got to thinking, 'That fish is worth spending my remaining hour and a half on.' So I went back to her and she was swimming around, and I pitched my bait back in the bed and she came right over and sat on the bed. I couldn't believe it. It took me about 30 more minutes to catch her."

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Andy Morgan sys it's disappointing to come so close – to see the winning fish next to the boat, only to have them come off.

The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be published soon.

2nd: Morgan Disappointed

Morgan fished his run-and-gun style all week and flipped a Zoom Brush Hog and Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, but did occasionally slow down if he spied a sight-fish worth catching. He also weighed a few fish on a swimbait – a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper.

His 12-09 today was strong, but not enough to overcome the 10 1/2 pounds he weighed yesterday. And he might have pulled out the win if he could have landed just one of the quality bites he lost today.

About his runner-up finish, he said: "It's pretty disappointing – pretty disappointing. It was a great opportunity. I lost those couple today and it just kind of fell apart on me. I knew I needed one more good one to make it happen, and I had two on back-to-back flips – a 3 and a 4. One got hung in the bushes and twisted off. Then I jerked the 4-pounder out of the bushes and it landed right at the base of the boat and it came off. That was at 11:30.

"I had a good feeling about getting the bites – I knew I could go and get the bites. I just hoped I could land them and make it work out. It's just disappointing to be that close to having them – you're within 4 feet of landing them – and they get away. But that's the way it rolls."

He also dished out some praise for his competitors. "I thought it was Koby's to win. He's the best sight-fisherman in the country, bar none. I told him that this afternoon. And Stetson's been here the last 4 years as a co-angler. That boy's not a rookie. That kid had some pretty good schooling and he's a dang good fisherman. He's got the mentality to do very well. He's patient, methodical – you can tell he's got what it takes."

3rd: Kreiger Still Seeking Win

Across more than 10 years of BASS and FLW Outdoors competition, Kreiger has yet to win a tour-level event. He's widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, sight-fishermen on either tour. He just ran out of quality fish.

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Koby Kreiger sight-fished again, but couldn't find the same quality.

"I'm disappointed to once again get that close – leading going into the final day," he added. "So I'm disappointed on the one hand, and happy on the other, because I had a couple of bad tournaments before this one, and to bounce back with a 3rd is great. To win would have been fantastic, but if they told me coming in that I'd be 3rd, I'd have been pretty happy."

When asked if he was surprised that Blaylock and Morgan were able to pass him with power-fishing presentations at Norman, he said: "The sight-fishing deal is one of those things where it's not a matter of catching them or not. It's a matter of finding them. You have to find them to catch them.

"Today, everything was fine. I didn't have any problems. I just never found a big one. I caught every fish that I fished for, and just never came across the right one. It just didn't work out."

4th: Pugh Disappointed Too

Pugh caught nearly 11 pounds today, and improved five places, but continued to be hurt by a light day 3.

"I feel okay about it," he said. "No more of those big fish were up and I did all I could do. There weren't any big ones left. I caught the biggest ones I saw, so there was nothing left on the table."

He noted he was surprised that the sight-fishing bite didn't win. "When the weather really started warming up, I thought me and Kreiger would be 1 and 2 somehow or another. I really thought the sight-fishing bite would be the big thing. Every day you could get in these areas and see these fish moving up and I really thought a wave of big fish was going to pull in.

"I'd see some rubbing, then go back the next day and I couldn't even find one. I don't know what they were doing. It's kind of heartbreaking. I really thought that Saturday and Sunday, it'd turn into a big sight-fishing tournament. It ended up not being that way.

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Greg Pugh's still flabbergasted that a wave of big fish never pulled up the final 2 days.

"I was actually shaking going into the last few minutes (of that day)," he said.

5th: Hoernke Satisfied

Hoernke plied the same pattern that delivered a win for him last year, but came up 6 pounds short on this go-round.

About his finish, he said: "I think that overall, 'satisfied' would be the word. You always want to win, but Stetson caught them good enough to win. I didn't see enough on beds these past few days to win. I felt like if the bite had been better I could have finished a little higher, but I think Stetson would have beat me either way.

"I would have loved to have won again, but I fished well. I fished clean. I don't really have any regrets. There's really not much else I could have done to catch more fish, so I can't really complain."

Additional Notes

Here are further quotes from the Top 10, gathered from today's weigh-in.

6th: Jim Moynagh
On making his third consecutive Norman Top 10, he said: "When we come here it's during the spawn. A lot of times you have to fish really slow. I guess I'm pretty good at this."

7th: Jacob Powroznik
"I had a great time. This lake is phenomenal. I started in a couple of different places every day and everywhere I went I caught fish. You could pull up a mile from the dam and just start fishing docks and catch them. It's unbelievable.

"(Today) I pulled into a pocket and knew where one about 2 pounds was on the bed. It's laying there perfect, and I look up there and he's got a partner and it's a big one. I got to fishing for it and I hung it not once, not twice, but three times. I guess after the third time, three strikes and you're out."

8th: Eric Ambort
"I worked them sight-fishing. I said I was going to go out and keep my head down and look all day, (but) I actually kind of went fishing. I've been throwing a lot of different baits, and I've been looking for them with a wakebait.

"This morning, I really had an opportunity. I started in a place I did not go in practice, and didn't go in the tournament. I started on two docks where I really caught them last year. I started throwing the wakebait and I had two follow it up right off. I've been going back to them with a Berkley Hand Pour 6" Finesse worm. Today I couldn't get them on it. And I lost one on the finesse worm that was about 4 pounds."

9th: Dale Evans
"I stumbled a little bit yesterday. My bite was quicker today – I didn't have to work as hard. (They weren't) as big. I was just glad to get five. I had a good time this week. I enjoyed the lake – enjoyed being here."

10th: Keith Williams
"I started off doing a little something different with topwater baits – covering a lot of water, fishing too fast. Then when the sun got up I tried to sight-fish for new fish and didn't find any. Then, at the end of the day, I knew time was running out and it wasn't looking good. I picked up a flipping stick and tried to flip docks and stumps and stuff like that to try to catch a big one and it just didn't happen for me.

"I'm real excited. I'm happy. Tenth place in the tournament is $20,000. I'll take $20,000 any day.

Notable

> Day 2 stats – 10 anglers, 7 limits (2 fewer than yesterday), 2 fours, 1 one.

> Kreiger got back to check-in with a minute or two of fishing left. He saw a fish swim out from between two docks, caught it, culled and reached check-in with 10 seconds to spare.

> Hoernke's dad made a surprise appearance onstage today, which was an emotional moment. Hoernke got choked up as he spoke. Later, he told BassFan: "That was pretty neat. I don't get to seem him a whole lot – he lives in California, I live in Texas, and I'm on the road so much. It was pretty surprising he flew out there. He supports me 100% in everything I do. He's probably my No. 1 fan. It caught me by surprise for sure and it was a really neat moment. Norman's been a pretty special place – a lot of memories the past few years."

> Brent Ehrler, who finished 15th, now leads the FLW Tour Angler of the Year race. To view the updated standings, click here.

Final Standings

1. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, Ar -- 5, 11-02 -- 5, 12-13 -- 10, 23-15 -- $150,000 + $50,000

2. Andy Morgan -- Dayton, Tn -- 5, 10-06 -- 5, 12-09 -- 10, 22-15 -- $55,000

3. Koby Kreiger -- Okeechobee, Fl -- 5, 12-09 -- 5, 9-02 -- 10, 21-11 -- $45,000

4. Greg Pugh -- Cullman, Al -- 5, 8-08 -- 5, 10-12 -- 10, 19-04 -- $35,000

5. Sean Hoernke -- The Woodlands, Tx -- 5, 9-00 -- 5, 8-14 -- 10, 17-14 -- $30,000

6. Jim Moynagh -- Carver, Mn -- 5, 10-00 -- 4, 6-12 -- 9, 16-12 -- $28,000

7. Jacob Powroznik -- Prince George, Va -- 5, 8-14 -- 5, 7-05 -- 10, 16-03 -- $26,000

8. Eric Ambort -- Mabelvale, Ar -- 5, 8-08 -- 4, 5-02 -- 9, 13-10 -- $24,000

9. Dale Evans -- Summerville, Sc -- 4, 4-14 -- 5, 7-08 -- 9, 12-06 -- $22,000

10. Keith Williams -- Conway, Ar -- 5, 9-04 -- 1, 1-05 -- 6, 10-09 -- $20,000