More on Chad Pipkens Beaver Lake FLW Tour Victory
28.Apr.2012 ROGERS, Ark. – Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich., won the co-angler division and $25,000 Saturday with a three-day total of nine bass weighing 22-15 followed by Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., in second place with 10 bass weighing 18-14 worth $7,500.
“Coming into this tournament I was hoping to make some money to cross over to the boater side next year,” said Pipkens. “This check will definitely help. My kicker was the first fish that I caught today, right around 8 a.m., and I had my other fish by 11 a.m. I felt really good after that first one, but I knew that if any of these other guys were weighing in 7 or 8 pounds today I didn’t really like my chances. If you catch a 6-pounder and a 4-pounder on Beaver Lake and don’t win, it’s just not meant to be. It held up and worked out for me today, though.
“I caught my fish on a ½-ounce white chartreuse War Eagle Spinnerbait today,” Pipkens continued. “I caught a couple flipping as well. I kind of figured it out this afternoon that a lot of the bigger fish were staying near the banks on the laydowns, so I tried to just work my areas off of the back of the boat. I was really trying to be careful to not interfere at all with what my pro was doing. I know what’s at stake for those guys, and you never want to step on anybody’s toes. I got to go fishing with Charlie Evans today, and if you think that guy talks a lot on stage, well, you should see him in the boat.”
The Michigan native has fished quite a bit with FLW, and has found success in multiple stages of circuits.
“I’ve won three BFL events from the front of the boat,” Pipkens went on to say. “And the last two years I have fished the EverStart series as a pro. I think that this is going to be my last year of fishing out of the back of the boat, and I’m looking forward to fishing the FLW Tour next year as a pro.”
