Rose Completes Wire-To-Wire Pickwick Victory

The way Mark Rose tells it, today began 4 1/2 years ago. That's when he decided that to be a tour pro, he needed to be a ledge-fisherman. So he got together with some of his friends at Lake Pickwick in Alabama, learned about ledges, then spent every available minute of the next 4 years perfecting his ledge craft.

It all paid off today at the Pickwick FLW Tour Major when Rose clinched his first tour-level win and third significant Pickwick victory. There was never much doubt this morning that Rose would win. He led every day of the event and carried a 7-pound advantage into the final day.

There were some tense moments, like today and yesterday, when he had 10 pounds or less in the box at noon. But when the afternoon current started, he made his move. He didn't catch

as much this afternoon as he did yesterday, but his 16-11 tally brought his 4-day total to 77-11 and he won by 5 pounds.

Kevin Snider launched another heroic effort like he did 4 weeks ago at Kentucky Lake – Like Pickwick, a Tennessee River ledge fishery. Interestingly, Snider fished fairly shallow in Bear Creek and rocked a 21-08 limit today, but it was too little too late. He finished 2nd by 5 pounds just like he did at Kentucky Lake and simply couldn't overcome an average first 2 days.

Robbie Dodson scrounged and scrambled his way to a 17 1/2-pound limit today, but slipped a spot to finish 3rd.

Randall Tharp largely struck out on his ledge bite, weighed 12 pounds a fell to finish 6th. Insiders might note the irony: Tharp, who rarely fishes deep, did in this event. And Snider, who rarely fishes shallow in summer, avoided the ledge bite.

Lance Vick moved up four spots to finish 4th today, while Boo Woods dropped a spot to finish 5th.

Rose Excited

> Day 4: 5, 16-11 (20, 77-11)

It took 12 years, but Rose finally clinched his first tour-level win.

"It's exciting," he said. "Anytime you win at this level, against the best of the best, it's really exciting. I'm just mentally and physically drained right now. Deep down inside I'm very excited – not necessarily for me, because winning isn't what makes me tick. I'm most excited for the people behind me and my family. I'm excited for them.

"Everybody wants to win at the tour level, but it's not anything that I've set my sights on," he added. "I try to win every tournament, but it's nothing that's nagging at me. I never felt like I was losing at this game, because I've been very content in my career. Having said that, it's special. Anytime you win a tour-level event it's special. I'm enjoying it, but again, I wasn't missing anything so to speak."

Just like yesterday, Rose got a little spooked around noontime. His morning spot had again kicked out about 10 pounds, and time was wearing thin.

"I thought it might be slipping away," he said. "But I put my career and my life in the Lord's hands. He's my rock. He gets me through. I just felt me in the palm of his hands today and knew all I needed was a little bit of water late. He gave me just a little bit of water. I only had an hour to fish, I saw that little bit of water coming around a buoy and ran 20 miles."

Rose did have to fend of a hard-charging Snider, and tipped his hat to the Kentucky pro. Rose felt Snider was the one to beat today, because he has so much respect for Snider's ledge abilities.

"I think Kevin really understands what's going on out there," Rose noted. "It's kind of like: When you get it, you get it. And you can tell the people who really get it."

Rose fished river ledges with a mix of baits that included a Strike King Series 6XDS, a hollow-body swimbait, a 3/4-ounce Strike King Football jig, a hair jig, a vertical-jigging spoon and a Strike King Sexy Spoon. The details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

2nd: Snider Mixed

> Day 4: 5, 21-08 (20, 72-10)

Snider's list of 2nds isn't limited to this year's FLW Tour. He finished 2nd at the 2008 BFL All-American and 2nd at last year's Stren Invitational.

"I have kind of mixed feelings," he said of his finish today. "Yeah, I had a strong finish. The first couple of days I lost some big ones and you can't do that – especially when someone (Rose) weighs 25 pounds. You just can't do that.

"So it's upsetting a little, to tell the truth. Two in a row? Come one."

Looking back, he noted that "maybe the spoon is a double-edged sword." He lost a lot of fish the first 2 days on the spoon. He switched to a jig and didn't get as many bites, but kept them buttoned up and his weights over the final 2 days increased.

3rd: Dodson Made Cup

> Day 4: 5, 17-09 (20, 71-07)

Dodson said that, given Rose's lead, he was fishing for 2nd today. He feels good about finishing 3rd, but he certainly would have liked 2nd.

More important: His 3rd moved him up 19 spots in the FLW Tour points to 39th, where he's second-to-last in for the upcoming Forrest Wood Cup.

"I knew I had to have a good finish after Kentucky Lake," Dodson said. "But I really would have liked to come in 2nd. Kevin had a big sack, and I just had 17-something. I did have a chance at a bigger bag, but I'm sure he did too."

4th: Vick Happy

> Day 4: 5, 17-13 (20, 67-14)

Vick, a Texas pro, shared a hump with Woods, although they didn't fish the same spots on that hump.

About his finish, Vick said: "It's awesome. A Top 10 in an FLW Tour event? You have to be happy about that.

"I believe I was around the fish to be in contention to win," he added. "With the fish I lost, I had the bites to be in contention, but not enough to beat mark."

5th: Woods Pleased

> Day 4: 5, 15-04 (20, 67-09)

As noted Woods and Vick shared a hump, but it was Woods that had the sweet spots and he rode it most of the 4 days.

"This is the Tennessee River – they're here one day and gone the next," he said. "So I'm happy with what happened. I struggled all year long trying to find momentum, because in this sport, momentum means everything.

"Coming here, my goal was to get a check. When I found that group of fish, I thought maybe I could get a Top 20. So I'm real pleased with what happened. I couldn't have caught Mark anyway. I ran out of fish."

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 9 anglers, 9 limits (Brent Ehrler did not fish.)

> The FLW Tour Majors points are now final, and with double-qualifications, the Top 40 in the points made the Forrest Wood Cup. That means that Larry Nixon was the last in. To view the final points, click here.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Mark Rose -- Marion, Ar -- 5, 24-10 -- 5, 18-02 -- 5, 18-04 -- 5, 16-11 -- 20, 77-11 -- $100,000 + $25,000

2. Kevin Snider -- Elizabethtown, Ky -- 5, 15-11 -- 5, 16-10 -- 5, 18-13 -- 5, 21-08 -- 20, 72-10 -- $28,392

3. Robbie Dodson -- Harrison, Ar -- 5, 19-14 -- 5, 15-02 -- 5, 18-14 -- 5, 17-09 -- 20, 71-07 -- $24,292

4. Lance Vick -- Mineola, Tx -- 5, 18-05 -- 5, 17-01 -- 5, 14-11 -- 5, 17-13 -- 20, 67-14 -- $20,192

5. Kenneth (Boo) Woods -- Hazard, Ky -- 5, 20-07 -- 5, 18-09 -- 5, 13-05 -- 5, 15-04 -- 20, 67-09 -- $16,092

6. Randall Tharp -- Gardendale, Al -- 5, 17-15 -- 5, 17-02 -- 5, 18-02 -- 5, 11-15 -- 20, 65-02 -- $13,632

7. Kyle Mabrey -- Mccalla, Al -- 5, 15-06 -- 5, 15-13 -- 5, 18-03 -- 5, 15-10 -- 20, 65-00 -- $12,812

8. Jim Dillard -- West Monroe, La -- 5, 13-03 -- 5, 18-08 -- 5, 18-11 -- 5, 13-15 -- 20, 64-05 -- $11,992

9. Shad Schenck -- Waynetown, In -- 5, 19-14 -- 5, 11-04 -- 5, 21-02 -- 5, 11-02 -- 20, 63-06 -- $11,172

10. Brent Ehrler -- Redlands, Ca -- 5, 19-09 -- 5, 15-06 -- 5, 14-08 -- 0, 0-00 -- 15, 49-07 -- $10,352