Checotah’s Duvall Takes Co-Angler Division

EUFAULA, Okla. (April 29, 2019) – Boater Justin Lillie of Edmond, Oklahoma, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Okie Division tournament on Eufaula Lake presented by Navionics Sunday with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 8 ounces. Lillie earned $4,259 for his day on the water.

“I basically fished around the dam on the upper side of the lake 20 miles from takeoff and caught five keepers,” said Lillie, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I focused on postspawn bass around rock ledges. I had five locations I caught fish at, just running different little rock ledges and outcroppings.

“I worked in 6 to 10 feet of water,” continued Lillie. “I caught the biggest fish – my first – about 10 minutes in, and then one keeper every two hours after that.”

Lillie said he used a ¾- or 1-ounce white and chartreuse-colored Nichols Pulsator Metal Flake Double Willow spinnerbait with a chartreuse Zoom Fat Albert Grub trailer on 20-pound-test P-Line Tactical Fluorocarbon line, and a 7-foot, 5-inch Halo TI Series heavy-action rod with an Ardent C-Force 7:1 reel. He also weighed one on a shaky-head rig with a darker-colored Zoom Magnum Trick Worm.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Justin Lillie, Edmond, Okla., five bass, 18-8, $4,259

2^nd:         Nick Kincaid, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 16-15, $2,205

3^rd:          James Marsh, Thomas, Okla., five bass, 16-12, $1,336

4^th:          John Soukup, Agra, Okla., five bass, 16-8, $1,035

5^th:          Roger Hughes, Bartlesville, Okla., five bass, 15-6, $802

6^th:          Jeremy Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., five bass, 15-5, $735

7^th:          Sean McAllister, Checotah, Okla., five bass, 14-13, $634

7^th:          Mike Michelson, Altus, Okla., five bass, 14-13, $784

9^th:          Josh Poirop, Canadian, Okla., five bass, 14-11, $535

10^th:        Shonn Goodwin, Moore, Okla., five bass, 14-2, $468

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Matthew Palesano of Chickasha, Oklahoma, caught a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $550.

Dusty Duvall of Checotah, Oklahoma, won the Co-angler Division and $2,019 Sunday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Dusty Duvall, Checotah, Okla., five bass, 16-15, $2,019

2^nd:         Jackie Copeland, Sallisaw, Okla., five bass, 16-3, $842

2^nd:         Kenny Howard, Watts, Okla., five bass, 16-3, $842

4^th:          Blayke Haggard, Gans, Okla., five bass, 14-9, $671

5^th:          Nic Conger, Fort Smith, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $454

6^th:          Hank Williams, Claremore, Okla., four bass, 14-0, $370

7^th:          Clint Symes, Yukon, Okla., five bass, 11-4, $336

8^th:          Joseph Morenzoni, Beggs, Okla., four bass, 11-0, $303

9^th:          Steve Bradfield, Claremore, Okla., five bass, 10-14, $269

10^th:        Kole Poindexter, Eufaula, Okla., three bass, 10-13, $235

Jase Morris of Edmond, Oklahoma, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $272.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, presented by Evinrude. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.