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FLW Champion Crowned In Back To Back Beaver Lake Wins

ROGERS (KFSM) – After four long days out on Beaver Lake and competing against 300 professional anglers from around the world, a champion was crowned Sunda...

ROGERS (KFSM) - After four long days out on Beaver Lake and competing against 300 professional anglers from around the world, a champion was crowned Sunday (April 26) at the final weigh-in.

North Carolina native Matt Arey took home the title, after catching 55 pounds and six ounces of bass.

"You know Beaver holds a special place in my heart and to do it back to back here is awesome, this is where my first career win was so to go back to back is unbelievable," Arey said.

According to tournament officials, Arey set a new record. He is the first angler in FLW history to be a repeat champion at Beaver Lake. Arey said the weather this year made the weekend tricky.

"You can be at Beaver Lake and the sun is shining one second and then there's a storm evolving right above your head, so the conditions changed everyday this week and we had to adapt to them, so that's the cool thing about Beaver Lake, it's very conditional it's a great pattern lake and we just had to change daily with the conditions," Arey said.

The winning high school team was also from North Carolina. Arey joked that he may have to watch his back later in his career.

"The youth of today, that's our pros of tomorrow, I enjoy every minute I get to spend with those kids, and to see the collegiate guys and as versatile as those guys are, man I hope I'm retired by the time some of those boys are fishing professionally, because I don't know if I'm going to stand a chance," Arey said.

He said more important than the $125,000 check was having his wife and two-and-a-half year old daughter there to see him win.

"It means the world to me, I wouldn't have it any other way," Arey said.

Arey said all of this top ten career finishes have been at Beaver Lake. The next stop on the FLW tour is Lake Eufala, Alabama.

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