Two Virginia anglers fail to reach weekend in tourney

David Dudley and Curt Lytle failed to make the cut in the 11th annual FLW Championship on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C.

The top 10 anglers after the first two days of fishing advanced to this weekend's final round. First prize is $1 million.

Dudley entered Friday's round in 19th place and moved up to 14th with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 4 ounces - just 1 pound, 13 ounces shy of the cut. He won $17,000.

"I'd rather finish at the bottom of the pack than where I finished," said the 32-year-old Dudley - the FLW Angler of the Year, the 2003 championship winner and the FLW's all-time-leading money winner - who has residences in Lynchburg, Va., and Manteo, N.C.

"That 4-pound fish that I didn't get hooked yesterday was the difference.

"Hey, it's a decent finish. But in my mind, I lost."

Lytle started Friday's competition in 13th place, but finished with a two-day total of 18-15 that dropped him into 21st place. He won $10,000.

"I had some good patterns working and was catching fish," said Lytle, 39, of Zuni, Va. "Everybody in the top 10 had at least one fish that weighed at least 3 pounds. I never capitalized and got that bite that I needed to do better. I had fun and I've got 10 thousand more bucks."

Michael Bennett of Lincoln, Calif., leads the field into today's fishing.

Bennett and the rest of the top-10 anglers will start fresh, with the best weekend total taking the big prize.

Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia and Brian Travis of Conover are a pair of North Carolina anglers who made the cut.

Lee Tolliver, (757) 222-5844, lee.tolliver@pilotonline.com