Lufkin, U.S.A. — Phil Marks of Dallas, Texas, marked his spot in the FLW record books by catching a 32-pound, 12-ounce sack on the final day of competition at the Walmart FLW Tour Open on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Mercury giving him a 16-pound, 5-ounce margin of victory, the third largest in FLW Tour Open history. EverStart pro Randall Tharp of Gardendale, Ala., holds the current record for largest margin of victory, 23-9, which he set at the 2012 season opener on Lake Okeechobee.

Marks’ five-bass limit Sunday gave him a total weight of 82 pounds to win the tournament and $125,000. The catch gave him the win in impressive fashion over Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, who caught a total of 20 bass weighing 65-11 and earned him $25,710.

Marks started the day with a mere 14-ounce lead over Combs, and he knew he needed a monster bag to claim victory. He believed the tournament would be won offshore and knew the early-morning bite was his most prolific all week, so he was confident all he needed was some wind and rain to turn on his fish, and Mother Nature obliged.

“The old man had a couple of tricks left,” said Marks. “I knew the wind and rain would fire up my bite, and it did. I had four or five spots in a one-mile circle, and that’s where all my fish came from today. I could see all the activity on my Lowrance unit, and this morning it was on fire.

“I was fishing a pattern all week,” Marks went on to say. “I was targeting ditches with main-lake flats, looking for subtle changes within the flats. During practice I discovered a high spot in the middle of the drain, and yesterday I caught a 5- and 7-pounder in back-to-back casts. This morning I caught four bass in 20 minutes in that same area.

“I have had a couple of dream days like this in the past, but none of this magnitude. After I caught my third fish I knew I had about 20 pounds and thought I probably had a good chance of winning and could relax a little. But then I started to think about it and realized that days like this just don’t come very often, so I kept fishing. I had what I weighed today by about 10 or 10:30 a.m.

“My key baits this week have been the Strike King 6XD and a prototype Strike King 10XD. The 10XD has the frame design of the 5XD and is designed to give off a lot of rattle and displace a lot of water. It’s a big bait designed to catch big bass. Four of my 20 bass were caught with the 10XD. Today I caught three bass on the Strike King crankbaits and two on the Strike King 1-ounce football (head) jig. My 8-pounder came on the 10XD.”

Marks referred to Sam Rayburn as a gem and said he has been fishing the lake for more than 20 years. Despite the high pressure the lake gets year after year, he said that his sack today was more typical of what Rayburn is capable of giving up on a regular basis. He also added that the 10XD is scheduled to be out in stores, including Walmart, in February.

Final top-10 pros standings:

A complete list of results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Overall there were 49 bass weighing 138 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 10 pros Sunday. The catch included nine five-bass limits.

Clint Farris of Joshua, Texas, won the co-angler division and $25,000 Saturday with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 33 pounds, 15 ounces followed by Jeff Gengler of Fort Collins, Colo., in second place with 13 bass weighing 33-14 worth $5,657.

The Tour stop on Sam Rayburn presented by Mercury was hosted by Lufkin Convention and Visitors Bureau, and was the final FLW Tour tournament of the 2012 season.

In FLW Tour Open tournaments, pros and co-anglers were competing for valuable points that ultimately helped them qualify for the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup which is being held at the Red River in Shreveport, La., August 15-18. The top five pro and co-anglers in the 2012 point standings from the four FLW Tour Open tournaments that qualified for the 2013 championship event are:

Coverage of the Sam Rayburn Reservoir tournament will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs November 18 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

Image Courtesy of  FLWOutdoors.com

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Rockville, U.S. — Goodwill Industries International and FLW, the world’s leading tournament fishing organization, presented the inaugural Forrest L. Wood Sportsmanship and Community Leadership Award at the Forrest Wood Cup in Duluth, GA, this past weekend. The cup was sponsored by Walmart, and the award celebrates the five-year partnership between Goodwill and FLW.

Mark Rose of Marion, AR — one of the anglers competing in the tournament — received the award for exemplifying the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and community service during 2012 as well as his role as an upstanding member of his community. The award recognizes Rose’s character and his commitment to ethical behavior, selflessness, kindness, conservation efforts and much more, both on and off the water.

“Goodwill is pleased to once again work with FLW during this tournament, and to join in presenting this award celebrating the sportsmanship and community strengthening that Mark Rose has exhibited in his personal and professional life,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “We are hopeful that this award will encourage community members to volunteer their time and resources to influence positive change in their local communities.”

The same values that brought Goodwill and FLW together as partners inspire the high standards of this award. By recognizing Rose as an outstanding athlete and individual who set a high standard with his approach on and off the water, both Goodwill and FLW hope to set the tone for tournament fishing and to pass those values on to its anglers, sponsors, fans, and host communities.

“FLW is honored to have Goodwill as a partner, and to be able to facilitate this award,” said Kathy Fennel, president, FLW Operations Division. “We are proud that the anglers who fish in our tournaments uphold the high standards that this award seeks to recognize, and we hope this acknowledgment will serve as an inspiration for our anglers, sponsors, fans, and host communities to promote the high standards of sportsmanship and community service.”

Applicants for the award had to be registered FLW Tour pro anglers; exhibit profound respect and civility for all competitors, fisheries and staff; demonstrate an ability to accept victory and defeat with dignity and grace; uphold the highest level of humility and integrity; prove a commitment to conservation; and show dedication to community service work and volunteerism.

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL Goodwill Industries International is a network of 165 community-based agencies in the United States and Canada with 14 affiliates in 13 other countries. Goodwill agencies are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement services and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 2,700 stores and online at shopgoodwill.com.

Local Goodwill agencies also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food service preparation, and document imaging and shredding. To find a Goodwill location near you use the online locator at www.goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl or follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl.

ABOUT FLW FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing unparalleled fishing resources and entertainment to our sponsors, fans and host communities. FLW is offering anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2012 over the course of 191 tournaments across five tournament circuits, each providing an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup.

FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water,” through a variety of platforms including tournaments, outdoor expos and the world’s richest fantasy sports game – FLW Fantasy Fishing. For more information about FLW and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter and Facebook.

Image Courtesy of  FLW Outdoors

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