Shin Fukae and 3 Doors Down's Brad Arnold Take First
at 3rd Annual Porter Wagoner Memorial Tournament
Fukae Also Lands "Big Bass"
( Nashville , Tennessee ...) – June 9, 2010-- Yesterday morning, 35 boats loaded with an artist or two and a professional angler launched from Nashville 's Elm Hill Recreation Area, for a beautiful day of competitive fishing in the 3rd Annual Porter Wagoner Memorial Artists & Anglers Memorial Fishing Tournament. Fans gathered at the Music Valley Event Center as Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits’ Chief George Braswell brought each team on stage while weighmaster Willie Cook took the official measurements. At the end of the day, rock star Brad Arnold, of 3 Doors Down, and FLW Angler of the Year Shin Fukae were crowned the winners with a total weight of 21.13 lbs. of bass. Fukae also won the Big Bass Award for his whopping 5.64 pounder.John Park was a last-minute fill-in for his brother Clint – half of the father-son duo The Parks – who took second with Team Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt angler Jeff Baker with 10.83 lbs. Emerson Drive’s Brad Mates and pro angler Gary Clouse took third with 9.16. All fish were safely released back into the water.
Porter Wagoner, who in addition to being one of the most popular stars ever to grace the stage of the Grand Old Opry, was an avid bass fisherman. In his spare time, he could often be found fishing on local lakes. A photo of Porter holding the largest bass he ever caught along with his fishing buddy and Bass Pro Shops founder John L. Morris still hangs in his Opry dressing room. A poster-size version of the same photo hangs inside the entrance to Bass Pro Shops at Opry Mills in Nashville . Porter Wagoner died of lung cancer at age 80 in October of 2007.
Organizers Gary Shiebler, Craig Campbell and Julie Schuster would like to thank this year’s sponsors Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits, Texas Roadhouse Restaurants, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, American Rodsmiths, E-Z Red Tools, Nashville.com, P-Line fishing line, Plano Tackle Boxes, US Reels and AFTCO Bluewater and Bev Moser for providing official photography services for the event.
