Toccoa’s Richardson Gets Co-Angler Win

WINCHESTER, Tenn. (May 13, 2019) – Boater Adam Wagner of Cookeville, Tennessee, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division tournament on Tims Ford Lake. Wagner took home $4,013 for his efforts.

“I fished up the Elk River and targeted buck bushes, isolated cypress trees and small bushes,” said Wagner, who tallied his 12^th career victory in BFL competition – tied for second most all-time. “I had one area and I stayed there all day. It was right there around Winchester, in a couple of bays.

“I’d say I caught about 20 keepers, specifically in 6 inches to a foot of water,” continued Wagner. “As the day went on, my fish kept getting bigger, and I kept culling. I made long casts with 20-pound-test Power Pro [Spectra Fiber Green Moss] braided line. Sometimes I had to wrestle them out of there, but the braided line did well.”

Wagner said his biggest fish of the day – a 4-pound, 14-ouncer – came around 1 p.m. He used a weightless Texas-rigged, bubblegum-colored Zoom Trick Worm, as well as a 7-foot All Pro APX Elite Series heavy-action spinning rod and Daiwa spinning reel.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 18-10, $4,013

2^nd:         Rocco Simeri, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 17-11, $1,674

3^rd:          Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 14-10, $848

4^th:          Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 14-4, $594

5^th:          Blake Balent, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 13-9, $510

6^th:          Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 13-8, $467

7^th:          Brent Sain, Manchester, Tenn., five bass, 13-5, $425

8^th:          Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $382

9^th:          Michael Thomason, Winchester, Tenn., five bass, 12-13, $340

10^th:        Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 12-11, $547

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Wagner’s 4-pound, 14-ounce bass ended up being the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division, earning the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $265.

Joe Richardson of Toccoa, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,274 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Joe Richardson, Toccoa, Ga., five bass, 10-11, $1,274

2^nd:         Brian Reed, Cookeville, Tenn., four bass, 9-14, $637

3^rd:          Arthur Stephens, Shelbyville, Tenn., four bass, 9-11, $424

4^th:          Kenny Botts, Alvaton, Ky., four bass, 9-3, $297

5^th:          Mitchell Adams, Goodlettsville, Tenn., three bass, 7-6, $255

6^th:          Matt Langley, Lebanon, Tenn., three bass, 7-3, $434

7^th:          Kelly Stone, Westmoreland, Tenn., two bass, 5-13, $212

8^th:          Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., two bass, 5-10, $241

9^th:          Cole Cherry, Alvaton, Ky., three bass, 5-9, $170

10^th:        Kevin Barton, Franklin, Ky., two bass, 5-1, $149

Scott Marshall of Lebanon, Tennessee, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $132.

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. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina, presented by Navionics. 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