ROGERS — It becomes obvious, quick as a bass can bite, that fishing fans at an FLW Tour weigh-in come more for their love of fishing and not the eye-popping show of big bass.
That’s why hundreds jammed the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers for Saturday’s weigh-in and FLW Tour outdoor expo.
It’s the reason some of them sat outside in a cold wind for more than two hours Thursday and Friday as a parade of 320 anglers weighed their fish in the tournament’s opening round.
Tommy Jones of Bella Vista was among the first through the gate Saturday when the free outdoor expo opened at noon.
He toured the expo’s vendor tents and tables, then planned to join the standing-room-only crowd of fishing fans inside the center for the 4 p.m. weigh-in.
“I came to see what new products are out there, new technologies and go to any fishing seminars they offer,” Jones said.
“Another nice thing about this is talking with all these professional fishermen. They’re very accessible. They’ll talk fishing with you,” Jones said.
The Saturday and Sunday weigh-ins get Jones pumped up. FLW Outdoors tapes the weigh-ins for later broadcast on the NBC Sports Network. There’s bright lights, loud music and enthusiastic emcees with big bass from Beaver Lake in the spotlight.
Clay Eliasen of Bentonville practiced his casting at a target game set up at the expo. He hopes to be standing on the FLW weigh-in stage someday. The 16-year-old wants to have a pro fishing career, just like the professionals he came to see Saturday.
“I’m here because I love fishing. That’s what I
At A Glance
FLW Finals Today
Here’s what’s happening today, the final day of the Walmart FLW Tour bass tournament at Beaver Lake and the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers.
• The top 10 pros fish the final round today.
• Take-off from Prairie Creek park at 7 a.m.
• FLW outdoor expo open from noon to 4 p.m. at the John Q. Hammons Center with games, prize drawings and vendor tents.
• Final weigh-in 4 p.m. at the John Q. Hammons Center. The public is welcome at no charge.
• FLW stands for Forrest L. Wood, the founder of Ranger boats, a major tour sponsor.
Source: FLW Outdoors
want to for a living one these days. I want to learn all I can from the guys who do it,” Eliasen said.
The bright lights and hoopla of the Saturday and Sunday weigh-ins don’t excite Eliasen much. Hearing the pros tell how they caught their fish, and seeing their catch, is what really floats Eliasen’s fishing boat.
Some of the fans braving a cold breeze at Prairie Creek on Friday warmed up to the jokes a number of anglers crack at the weigh-in. No one is better at it than Jimmy Houston of Oklahoma, one of the most recognizable faces in pro fishing.
There in the audience sat 8-year-old Isaac Rogers who, with his mop of blonde hair, is the spitting image of a young Houston. Isaac even wore a Team Chevy jersey like the one Houston wears.
When Houston brought his fish to the scales, he spotted Isaac there in the front row and howled. Houston walked up to young Isaac and asked if he’d come up on stage with him.
Isaac obliged. Houston leaned into the microphone on stage and started in.
“We asked Isaac to be on the Chevy team because he’s too young to drive and we wouldn’t have to give him a truck,” Houston joshed.
Stefanie Pauley of West Virginia follows the FLW Tour wherever it goes. Her husband is Brook Pauley, a tour co-angler.
The Pauleys have a business selling fishing sinkers. She’s able to run the family company from the road and likes traveling to the different lakes where her husband competes.
Pauley noted the weigh-ins and outdoor expo in Rogers are among the nicest she has seen. The John Q. Hammons Center is comfortable and accommodating for the spectators.
“Some of them are just held outside in a parking lot,” she said.
Sandra Pennington sat a few chairs down from Pauley. Pennington drove from Joplin, Mo., to cheer for her son, FLW pro Travis Fox of Rogers.
“I go to every tournament I can,” she said.
Her son appreciates it. Having friends and family in the audience cheering is a joy for any angler on the FLW Tour, Fox said.
“It feels good.”
It’s easy to see that FLW weigh-ins are more about people than the bass that anglers wrangle from the lake in the tournament.