Co-angler Title Goes to Hendersonville’s Brinson

WINCHESTER, Tenn. (May 14, 2018) – Boater David Steadman Jr. of Normandy, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division tournament on Tims Ford Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces. Steadman pocketed $2,648 for his win.

“I fished the main-lake area with a shad-colored crankbait and caught about 20 fish total,” said Steadman, who logged his first career win in FLW competition. “I focused on transition banks where postspawn fish were heading back out into the lake. Some of the spots had rocks, some had gravel and some were a mix. They were fairly typical locations where I’ve caught postspawners in the past.”

Steadman said he worked through 11 different areas to craft his limit.

“I hit a lull during the day from around 10:30 (a.m.) until noon, but I stuck with it and caught two of my biggest late in the day,” said Steadman.

Steadman said the fish in his areas were all smallmouth in practice, but on the day of the tournament there were largemouth present as well.

“I think I caught five largemouth during the event and ended up weighing four smallmouth and one largemouth.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          David Steadman Jr., Normandy, Tenn., five bass, 14-13, $2,648

2^nd:         John Wilkerson, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $1,524

3^rd:          Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 13-13, $982

4^th:          Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $574

4^th:          Cornell Creciun III, Nolensville, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $574

6^th:          Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $485

7^th:          Mark Condron, Wilton, Conn., five bass, 12-7, $441

8^th:          Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 12-6, $397

9^th:          Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 11-13, $353

10^th:        Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 11-12, $293

10^th:        Gerald Williams, Scottsville, Ky., five bass, 11-12, $293

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Rocco Simeri of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, brought a 4-pound, 11-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $285.

Bryan Brinson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $1,324 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Bryan Brinson, Hendersonville, Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $1,324

2^nd:         Marty Barnes, Crossville, Tenn., four bass, 9-9, $662

3^rd:          Eric Eden, Hartsville, Tenn., five bass, 9-1, $440

4^th:          Ryan Cross, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 7-15, $309

5^th:          Sam Loveless, Somerset, Ky., four bass, 7-6, $265

6^th:          Jake May, La Vergne, Tenn., three bass, 7-1, $243

7^th:          Gregory Goodwin, Louisville, Ky., three bass, 6-10, $221

8^th:          Austin Mitchell, Antioch, Tenn., three bass, 6-5, $199

9^th:          Devin Bargatze, Nashville, Tenn., two bass, 5-6, $377

10^th:        Blake Balent, Gallatin, Tenn., two bass, 5-4, $154

Jordan Young of Hillsboro, Tennessee, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $142.

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. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.

The 2018 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 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. 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, YouTube and Snapchat.