Scottsville’s Bennington Takes Co-angler Title

GLASGOW, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2018) – Boater Robert Reagan of Byrdstown, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division tournament on the Barren River Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of nine bass weighing 30 pounds, 7 ounces. For his win, Reagan took home $7,329.

Reagan said he caught most of the fish he weighed on a homemade football-head jig with a Watermelon Meat-colored Strike King Rage Tail Craw trailer in 18 to 20 feet of water.

“I got on a shallow bite early in practice, so I went to the river Saturday but only caught one small fish by 1:30 p.m.,” said Reagan, who earned his fourth career win in BFL competition. “I ran back down to the main lake to the mid-lake area and ran some ledges. I marked fish and got four bites by the end of the day and they were the right ones.”

Reagan flipped shallow wood with a green-pumpkin Zoom Speed Craw with a 3/8-ounce weight to catch his keeper from the river.

“I returned to the same mid-lake area Sunday and caught two fish from a place I’d caught them Saturday, and the other two from ledges I hadn’t fished yet,” said Reagan. “I marked them and fished them with the same jig – I never laid it down. I lost my “fifth” a couple of times Sunday – it just didn’t get into the net.”

Reagan noted that his Lowrance electronics were essential to his win.

“I couldn’t have won without my Lowrance unit – they showed me the fish. I idled the ledges and when I‘d see them I’d stop the engine and cast in there. It seemed like I could catch them on a first or second cast.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:           Robert Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., nine bass   , 30-7, $5,329 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Densmore Goodson, Letcher, Ky., 10 bass, 24-8, $2,664

3^rd:          James Copeland, Bowling Green, Ky., 10 bass, 24-8, $2,118

4^th:          Steve Whitaker, Scottsville, Ky., 10 bass, 23-13, $1,543

5^th:          Tim Akers, Richmond, Ky., 10 bass, 23-10, $1,407

6^th:          Mike Casada, Stearns, Ky., 10 bass, 22-7, $977

7^th:          Keith Monson, Burgin, Ky., 10 bass, 21-6, $888

8^th:          Ryan White, Lancaster, Ky., nine bass, 21-0, $799

9^th:          Kenneth Patterson, Knifley, Ky., eight bass, 20-9, $910

10^th:        Bennie Mutter, Glasgow, Ky., nine bass, 20-4, $722

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Copeland caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 8 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $341.

Ed Bennington of Scottsville, Kentucky, caught a two-day total of eight bass weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,664.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:           Ed Bennington, Scottsville, Ky., eight bass, 23-5, $2,664

2^nd:         Tommy Glass, Verona, Ky., eight bass, 16-4, $1,532

3^rd:          Jason Ratcliff, Eubank, Ky., seven bass, 15-12, $939

4^th:          Doug Adkins, Gray Hawk, Ky., eight bass, 15-8, $622

5^th:          Andy Spencer, Glasgow, Ky., nine bass, 13-3, $533

6^th:          Matt Chiodi, West Chester, Ohio, seven bass   , 13-1, $488

7^th:          Les Reeves, Rockholds, Ky., five bass, 12-5, $444

8^th:          Jonathan Sydnor, Canmer, Ky., four bass, 10-4, $400

9^th:          Bobby Arms, Jamestown, Tenn., five bass, 10-3, $355

10^th:        Bob Wiles, Huntington, W. Va., six bass, 10-3, $311

Nick Haunert of Maineville, Ohio, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 3 pounds, 7 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $341.

The 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division finale on the Barren River was hosted by the Glasgow-Barren County Tourist & Convention Commission.

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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. 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 2019 BFL All-American will take place May 30-June 1 on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland.

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.