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NORTH CAROLINA’S BRYAN NEW WINS T-H MARINE BFL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON LAKE SEMINOLE

South Carolina’s Beasley Wins Co-angler Division

BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (Oct. 14, 2019) – Boater Bryan New of Belmont, North Carolina, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 63 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the no-entry fee T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Lake Seminole Saturday. For the win, New earned $71,200, including a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard and automatic entry into the 2020 BFL All-American Championship, April 30-May 2, at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina.

“I was mainly fishing in the Flint River,” said New, who earned his first win as a boater after three career victories as a co-angler in FLW competition. “I had a terrible practice, but I saw two or three fish in the grass on my side imaging and I figured that there was probably a bunch more in there. So I decided that was my best shot and chose to concentrate on the grass.

“I had 12 to 15 stretches of grass where I thought I could catch them,” New continued. “I had one little stretch that was the juice, though. I caught three keepers each day there. It wasn’t anything that special – just some sparse, topped-out matted clumps on the edge of a shallow bar on the river channel.”

New said that he wasn’t exactly sure what the difference maker was for him in comparison to the other competitors, but suspected it may have just been good timing.

“I never stayed in one place for a long time, I just kept rotating through my areas,” New said. “I’d pull in, make 15 casts or so, then leave it for an hour. I kept rotating through and eventually I’d catch one.”

New said his key baits throughout the week were a Guntersville shad-colored 3/8-ounce Greenfish Tackle swim jig with a Keitech 4.3 swimbait trailer, a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin Zoom Ol’ Monster worm and a prototype frog that he has been working on with Fitzgerald Fishing. He also caught one – his biggest fish of the tournament – on a Greenfish Toad Toter buzzbait with a white Zoom Horny Toad.

“The weights make it look like I was really dialed in, but I wasn’t,” New went on to say. “I would get a few good bites early every day, and that kept my confidence level high. I wasn’t catching a ton of fish, though. I only had six bites the first day, seven the second day and six again on the third day. I was definitely scrambling.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:

1^st: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 15 bass, 63-4, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard

2^nd: Randall Allen, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., 15 bass, 48-9, $10,000

3^rd: Kip Carter, Mansfield, Ga., 15 bass, 47-10, $5,100

4^th: Stacy Adams, Hazlehurst, Ga., 15 bass, 41-9, $3,000

5^th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 14 bass, 40-14, $2,000

6^th: Nick Cupps, Chattanooga, Tenn., 13 bass, 40-14, $1,800

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

7^th: John Polly, Nauvoo, Ala., 13 bass, 40-10, $1,600

8^th: Dylan Peppers, Social Circle, Ga., 14 bass, 39-14, $1,400

9^th: Mikey Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., 13 bass, 36-2, $1,200

10^th: Matt Baty, Bainbridge, Ga., 12 bass, 33-2, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Bart Beasley of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, weighed in 15 bass over three days totaling 28 pounds, 6 ounces to win the top co-angler prize package of $50,000, including a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:

1^st: Bart Beasley, Mount Pleasant, S.C., 15 bass, 28-6, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard

2^nd: William Perdue, Hawkinsville, Ga., 13 bass, 27-5, $5,000

3^rd: Donnie Gamble, Bessemer, Ala., 11 bass, 26-6, $2,500

4^th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., eight bass, 26-5, $1,700

5^th: Bryce Goff, Haines City, Fla., nine bass, 25-10, $1,000

6^th: John Hagins, Roswell, Ga., 12 bass, 25-5, $950

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

7^th: Terry Smith, Tullahoma, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-12, $800

8^th: Fernando Rosa, Plantation, Fla., seven bass, 21-1, $700

9^th: Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., nine bass, 20-8, $600

10^th: Wendell Grantham, Athens, Ga., 10 bass, 19-9, $500

The T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Lake Seminole was hosted by the Bainbridge Convention & Visitors Bureau. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Bulldog (Georgia), Choo Choo (Alabama), Gator (Florida), and Savannah River (Georgia-South Carolina) divisions.

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 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. 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.

by AnglersChannel

ARKANSAS’ DYLAN HAYS WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT AT LAKE OF THE OZARKS

Former FLW College Fishing Standout Earns First Career Victory – and $37,515

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Oct. 12, 2019) – Beginning the day in fourth place, Nitro Boats pro Dylan Hays of El Dorado, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces, to jump to the top of the leaderboard and win the three-day Costa FLW Series at Lake of the Ozarks presented by Evinrude.

Hays’ three-day total of 15 bass weighing 43 pounds, 14 ounces was enough to earn him the victory by a slim 7-ounce margin over second-place angler and Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour pro James Watson of Lampe, Missouri, and earn Hays the top prize of $37,515. The tournament was the third and final regular-season tournament of the year for anglers competing in the Costa FLW Series Central Division.

“God is so good, man,” said an emotional Hays just moments after being declared the winner. “I am so fortunate, you have no idea. I caught a 5-pounder on my very last cast that literally came off in the net. It culled out a 15-incher. I threw it in the livewell and took off to check in. It was literally the very last cast. You can’t make that up.”

What Hays didn’t say on stage was that he hadn’t even planned to be there. Hays had planned to spend the last few minutes of his day at another spot, but when he looked at his clock he realized that he wasn’t going to have enough time to make it there and back before check in. He audibled, and conceded to fishing a brush pile that he had visited multiple times throughout the week.

“I hit this brush pile every day and never had a bite,” Hays said. “I wasn’t even planning to go there today but I didn’t have time to fish much else. As I was fishing up to it, I broke off my football jig, so I told myself ‘well, I guess I’m going to close out the day with a crankbait.’ I threw a (Strike King) 6XD up in there and bam.”

Hays said that had he not broke off he would have been throwing the football jig.

“Who knows, maybe it would have bit the jig, too. I still can’t believe it happened.”

Hays said the key to his win this week was staying persistent and confident in the mentally challenging tournament.

“I wasn’t getting many bites – I only had six the first day, six the second and nine bites today,” Hays said. “Every time I tried to go to the bank and throw topwater all I would catch were little ones. So I stuck to my game plan – fishing brush and docks around the Glaize Arm of the river – and it paid off.”

Hays jig of choice was a ¾-ounce peanut butter and jelly-colored Jewel football jig paired with a green-pumpkin-colored Zoom Super Speed Craw. He caught his biggest fish of the tournament on a green-pumpkin Zoom Brush Hog and also weighed in 2 or 3 each day on a blue herring-colored Strike King 6XD.

“To win an event, you have to never lose a fish and I didn’t lose one all week,” Hays went on to say. “There were some absolute studs in the top 10 today, and to come away with a win – good lord… wow.”

The top 10 pros on Lake of the Ozarks finished:

1^st: Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 15 bass, 43-14, $37,515

2^nd: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 14 bass, 43-7, $13,978

3^rd: Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 15 bass, 42-9, $10,745

4^th: Ben Verhoef, Osage Beach, Mo., 13 bass, 41-9, $8,954

5^th: James Dill, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 15 bass, 39-1, $8,158

6^th: Lance Williams, Billings, Mo., 15 bass, 38-10, $7,163

7^th: Cory Steckler, Rocky Mount, Mo., 13 bass, 36-10, $6,268

8^th: Brian Maloney, Osage Beach, Mo., 13 bass, 35-9, $5,372

9^th: Dale Andrews, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 32-15, $4,477

10^th: Ladd Shannon, Atkins, Ark., eight bass, 28-4, $3,834

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Shannon caught the largest bass of the tournament Thursday, weighing 5 pounds, 11 ounces and earning him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $252.

Erick Fernengel of Lake Waukomis, Missouri, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 11 bass weighing 27 pounds, 7 ounces. For his win, Fernengel took home the top prize package of a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor, worth $27,100.

The top 10 co-anglers on Lake of the Ozarks finished:

1^st: Erick Fernengel, Lake Waukomis, Mo., 11 bass, 27-7, $27,100

2^nd: Roger Olson Jr., Eagle River, Wis., seven bass, 24-8, $4,581

3^rd: Jamie Eynard, Jefferson City, Mo., 11 bass, 21-11, $3,665

4^th: Justin Hake, Conway, Ark., eight bass, 21-10, $3,207

5^th: Andrew Hegerty, Colgate, Wis., nine bass, 20-9, $3,049

6^th: Joe Tucker, Osceola, Mo., nine bass, 18-9, $2,441

7^th: Joe Lee, Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 17-15, $1,832

8^th: Rob Crane, Fairview Heights, Ill., seven bass, 17-12, $1,603

9^th: Ryan Jobe, De Soto, Kan., 11 bass, 17-10, $1,374

10^th: Justin Layton, Forsyth, Mo., seven bass, 15-11, $1,145

Scott Parsons of Rogers, Arkansas, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces. He earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $168.

The Costa FLW Series on Table Rock Lake presented by Evinrude was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. It was the third and final tournament in the 2019 regular season for Central Division anglers. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will be the season finale – the Costa FLW Series Championship at Lake Cumberland, held Oct. 31- Nov. 2 in Burnside, Kentucky. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the International division. Each U.S. division consists of three regular-season tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to compete in the season-ending Costa FLW Series Championship.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Salvucci Wins WON US Open!

Las Vegas, Nev. – October 17, 2019 – He had been close the past two years, including a frustrating second place finish in 2018. Nick Salvucci had said that he wanted to win the U.S. Open more than anything – now he can claim that title as his own.

After taking over the lead on day two, Paso Robles, Calif. pro Salvucci did enough on the final day to close out the victory, despite coming in to the Calville Bay sales one fish short of his daily limit. He did enough the first two days in posting consecutive 11-pound limits, and his more than two and a half pound lead allowed for a margin of error seldom seen in a U.S. Open on Lake Mead. He arrived as the final angler to present his fish to the scales, and when the screen hit 9.44 pounds, he had what he needed and more.

Salvucci’s total weight of 31.98 pounds eclipsed DeeJay Evans, who had taken over the lead with one of the largest bags of the event only moments earlier. For his efforts, Salvucci will receive $100,000 cash and the keys to a 2019 Bass Cat Puma FTD powered by a Mercury Pro XS 250 Four Stroke outboard.

More importantly, Salvucci gets to take home the hardware. “I’ve wanted this trophy for so long, and I’ve been fishing this lake so well for the past several years that it hurt to come so close,” he said. “Now, I get to put my hands on that trophy and I’ve got the perfect place for it at home; I can’t believe it’s finally happened.

Salvucci reported spending his tournament in the mid-lake area. Specifically, he fished the Echo Bay area of the Overton Arm, and worked his way back towards the main lake. He said he caught them on multiple lures. “I didn’t really have any one thing that I caught them on, I junk fished my way through, throwing what I felt l needed to throw,” he said. “The reel key to this week was to keep a positive attitude and just keep my head down. I pulled the hood of my Aftco shirt over my head and stayed focused – it feels amazing.”

Las Vegas, Nev. pro Evans’ final day creel was one of the largest of the event, and his total weight of 29.28 pounds earned him second place for the event. Evans reported catching his fish in one area, something that is unusual for Lake Mead. “I fished a pocket near Temple Bar that was not more than 100 yards by 100 yards,” he said. “I caught them on finesse fishing tactics, tubes and dropshot rigs; I just kept circling the area catching as many fish as I could on each pass.”

He knew that he had a lot of ground to make up on the leader starting the day, so he was thrilled with his finish. “I really did all I could, and doing the math at the tanks, I really didn’t think I had enough to catch Nick,” he said. “He did a great job all week, and I congratulate him on his win.”

Scott Hellesen, from Whittier, Calif. managed to put together a solid tournament, and finished with a total of 26.74 pounds to move up into third position. Ryan Yamagata, from Las Vegas, Nev. steadily climbed the leaderboard each day and finished fourth with 25.47 pounds. Dylan Maxon, from Phoenix, Ariz. rounded out the top five with 25.45 pounds for the tournament.

On the AAA side, day one leader Bo McNeely struggled on day two, but rebounded nicely on the final day with pro partner Ryan Yamagata to earn the win. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. angler ended the tournament with 26.92 pounds. Covina, Calif. AAA Brian Reeves finished second with 26.89 pounds, he was followed in third place by Brandon Smith of Indio, Calif. with 26.55 pounds. Joe Leonard of Windsor, Calif. Finished fourth with 25.88 pounds and James Robinson of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. finished fifth with 23.34 pounds.

Complete final standings can be found below.

That concludes the 2019 WON Bass US Open and the live broadcast, presented by Bridgford Foods and Life Source Water Systems brought all of the action to you from the waters of Lake Mead, the weigh-in at Calville Bay Marina, and the awards ceremony from the Railhead Room at Boulder Station Casino. All found at http://www.wonbass.com.

The Sponsors of the 2019 U.S. Open were: Bass Cat Boats, Mercury, Bridgford, Life Source Water Systems, Yo-Zuri, Seaguar Fluorcarbon, Storm, Kuiu, Daiwa, Lew's, Rapala, Last Chance Performance Marine, A&M Graphics, Siren Marine, Gamakatsu, St. Croix Rods, Century Marine, Costa, Anglers Marine, Phenix Rods, Sure Life, Alpine Beer Company, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Ben Green Insurance, Huntington Beach Honda, ZMan, Strike King, SKB and Techron Marine.

2019 WON Bass U.S. Open Final Pro Standings

Place	Name	Hometown	Penalty	Big Fish	Total
1	Nick Salvucci	Paso Robles CA		4.35	31.98
2	DeeJay Evans	Las Vegas NV	0.2	2.70	29.28
3	Scott Hellesen	Whittier CA		2.20	26.74
4	Ryan Yamagata	Las Vegas NV		2.81	25.47
5	Dylan Maxon	Phoenix AZ		2.31	25.45
6	Brett Hite	Phoenix AZ		3.31	24.92
7	Mark Williams	Lake Havasu City AZ		3.31	24.83
8	Clifford Pirch	Payson AZ			24.54
9	Laythe Moore	Banning CA			24.53
10	Jordan Collom	Temecula CA		3.91	24.39
11	David Baca	Prescott Valley AZ		5.91	24.27
12	Andrew Napoleon	Mesa AZ			24.26
13	Justin Kerr	Simi Valley CA		2.84	24.09
13	Brent Shores	Boise ID			24.09
15	Keegan Graves	Meridian ID		4.06	24.08
16	Cody Spetz	Menifee CA		2.99	23.76
17	Todd Kline	San Clemente CA			23.68
18	Luke Clausen	Otis Orchards WA			23.42
19	Kevin Hugo	Canyon Lake CA		4.12	23.26
20	Marty Lawrence	Mesa AZ		2.51	23.11
21	Austin Bonjour	Santa Maria CA	0.2	3.22	22.72
22	Randy Estrada, M.D.	Corona CA			22.42
23	Gabe Bolivar	Ramona CA			22.37
24	Tom Leedom	Escondido CA			22.34
25	John Murray	Spring City TN		4.84	22.32
26	Kyle Grover	RCHO STA MARG CA			22.29
27	Bryan Grier	Hollister CA			22.24
28	Sean Torgrude	Henderson NV			22.20
29	Kevin Short	Mayflower AR			22.00
30	Mike Walsh	El Cajon CA	0.4		21.96
31	Jesse A. Marquez	Brea CA			21.56
32	Daniel Elias	Phoenix AZ		2.08	21.51
33	Ricky Shabazz	La Mesa CA			21.17
34	Jim Moynagh	Carver MN		3.54	21.14
35	Jeff Martineau	Phoenix AZ			21.10
36	Jared Lintner	Arroyo Grande CA		4.59	20.99
37	Aaron Martens	Leeds AL	0.2		20.97
38	Julius Mazy	Phoenix AZ	0.2	2.94	20.43
39	Chad Randles	Elkhorn NE		2.59	20.03
40	Jesse Parks	Avondale AZ			20.01
41	Raymond Archer	Greeley CO			19.95
42	Billy Hines	Vacaville CA			19.78
43	Sheldon Collings	Grove OK		2.27	19.76
43	Shane Spinning	Canyon Lake CA			19.76
45	Garrett Howard	Riverside CA			19.74
46	Rusty Salewske	Alpine CA			19.73
47	Jim Wells	New Plymouth ID			19.59
48	Jay Cranney	Sandy UT		2.36	19.37
49	Tommy Jonovich	Phoenix AZ		2.13	19.36
50	Steve Klein	Oroville CA		2.15	19.32
51	Matt Stefan	Junction City WI			19.16
52	Randy Blaukat	Joplin MO			19.02
53	Josh Bertrand	San Tan Valley AZ			18.84
54	Brent James	St George UT			18.75
55	Wade Strelic	El Cajon CA			18.65
56	Inder Lopez	Spring Valley CA	0.2		18.64
57	Gabe Thomas	Tuscon AZ		2.53	18.30
58	Kevin Finley	Phoenix AZ			18.29
59	Michael Phua	Chino CA			18.23
60	Chris Zaldain	San Jose CA			18.12
61	Steve Molinari	Waddell AZ			17.91
62	Blake Dyer	Walnut Creek CA		2.07	17.89
63	Ted Holverson	El Cajon CA			17.88
64	Chris Teixeira	El Mirage AZ			17.83
65	Bill Brown	Grand Junction CO		3.08	17.76
66	Matt Frazier	Delhi CA			17.71
67	Jeff Hudson	Las Vegas NV	0.2	3.47	17.68
68	John Stewart	Peoria AZ			17.66
69	Bryant Smith	Castro Valley CA			17.62
70	Brian Tressen	Corona CA			17.49
71	Dean Rojas	Lake Havasu City AZ			17.47
72	Joe Uribe, Jr.	Surprise AZ			17.44
73	Shaun Bailey	Lake Havasu City AZ			17.38
74	Sean Coffey	Mesa AZ			17.29
75	Shane Meisel	Alta Loma CA		2.46	17.27
76	Jay Wright	Seal Beach CA			17.26
77	Travis Jewell	Sandy UT			17.24
78	Dung Van Vu	Paramount CA			17.11
79	Scott Frazier	Spring Valley CA		2.35	17.02
80	Art Berry	Alpine CA			16.88
81	Neil Flores	Menifee CA		3.16	16.84
82	Rich Willoughby	Downey CA	0.2		16.82
83	Michael Perry	Goodyear AZ		3.53	16.70
84	Jiggs Benn	Myrtle Creek OR			16.63
85	Scooter Griffith	Mesa AZ			16.56
86	Bradley Hallman	Norman OK			16.50
87	Clayton Eslick	Gilroy CA		2.43	16.45
88	Tim Klinger	Boulder City NV			16.42
89	Donnie Scroggins	Kingman AZ			16.19
90	Melvin Williams	Chula Vista CA		3.09	16.18
91	Ray Arbesu	Henderson NV		2.66	16.10
92	Bobby Lanham	Cave Creek AZ		2.73	16.03
93	Greg Halliman	Littlerock CA			16.00
94	Guy Savidan	NORCO CA			15.97
95	Ken Whalen	Lompoc CA			15.91
96	Kurt Dove	Del Rio TX			15.73
97	Todd Woods	Los Angeles CA			15.64
98	Jerren Slaton	Afton TX			15.50
99	Danny Clark	San Tan Valley AZ			15.45
100	Justin Patti	Peoria AZ		3.43	15.34
101	Dan Merchant	Canyon Lake CA			15.27
102	Kona Borja	Henderson NV		2.58	15.19
103	Bill O'Shinn	Auburn CA	1		15.17
104	Jonathan Schuyler	Henderson NV			15.13
105	Patrick Touey	Nipomo CA			14.99
106	Jacob Lute	Yuma AZ		3.57	14.96
107	Jeremy McKay	Cottage Grove OR			14.92
108	Vern Ridgway	Chandler AZ			14.91
109	Jacob Russell	Tuscon AZ		3.26	14.72
110	Dan Frazier	Arroyo Grande CA		2.47	14.54
111	Greg Miser	Spring Valley CA		4.28	14.43
112	Cody Steckel	Las Vegas NV			14.36
113	Johnny Johnson	Lakeside AZ			14.29
114	George Kramer	Lake Elsinore CA		2.52	14.20
115	Jamie Shaw	Coolidge AZ		2.95	14.19
116	Trevor Reis	Alpine CA			14.17
117	Dustin Remy	Henderson NV			14.12
118	Steven Mack	Queen Creek AZ			13.88
119	Cory Kramer	Mesa AZ			13.83
120	Carlos Garcia	Murrieta CA			13.17
121	Cody Murray	Nampa ID		3.46	13.11
122	Brad Smith	Riverside CA			13.10
123	Shawn Lee	Arroyo Grande CA	0.2		13.07
124	Mike Mcclelland	Blue Eye MO		3.55	13.06
125	Jim Elliott	Redding CA			12.98
126	John Zeolla	Oak Park CA			12.96
127	Kevin Wiggins	Las Vegas NV		2.86	12.91
128	Oscar Lopez	Santa Paula CA			12.83
129	Tony Lain	Lake Havasu City AZ			12.80
130	Devin McDonald	Rio Ranch NM			12.77
131	Travis Pitt	Henderson NV			12.70
132	Russ Barger	Boise ID			12.67
133	Andrew Upshaw	Tulsa OK			12.62
134	Brett Leber	Dixon CA			12.47
135	Matthew Adamson	Farmington NM			12.43
136	Levi Samz	Green River WY		2.42	12.41
137	Vince Borges	Salida CA	0.2		12.22
138	Alex Klein	Oroville CA			12.21
139	Ken Mah	Elk Grove CA			12.20
140	Shannon Abbott	Oceanside CA			12.13
141	Pete Marino	Moreno Valley CA		2.21	12.06
142	Andy Manahl	Mesa AZ			11.99
142	Gildardo Gollas	Las Vegas NV		3.90	11.99
144	Carl Limbrick, Jr.	Bonita CA			11.90
145	Siwon Kang	Korea			11.87
146	Rod Wynn	Inglewood CA	0.2		11.81
147	Jason Hickey	Weiser ID			11.76
148	Zack Holwerda	Maricopa AZ			11.68
149	Hobby Nelson	Peoria AZ			11.52
150	Jason Talbot	Page AZ		3.62	11.50
151	Doug Gaskill	Las Vegas NV			11.47
152	Roy Hawk	Lake Havasu City AZ			11.32
153	Rodney Reed	Chelan WA			11.28
154	Jason Thompson	Phoenix AZ			11.21
155	Chip Gilbert	San Mateo CA			11.02
156	Gary Wasson	Visalia CA			10.98
157	Clayton Meyer	Henderson NV			10.94
158	Tom Ormsby	Parowan UT			10.91
159	Mark Dotterer	Phoenix AZ			10.88
160	Jason Swim	Peoria AZ			10.84
161	Kirk McKinney	Phoenix AZ			10.82
162	Kevin Caruso	Glendale AZ		3.54	10.70
163	Jason Bradshaw	Sacramento CA			10.58
164	Derek Spetz	Menifee CA			10.48
165	Byung ho Kang	Korea			10.47
165	Tom Lowery	Lakeside CA			10.47
167	Dylan Denny	Prescott Valley AZ		3.16	10.40
168	Jason Cloke	Alpine CA			10.14
169	Greg Gutierrez	Red Bluff CA			9.96
170	Tai Au	Glendale AZ			9.89
170	Paul Tassie	Lake Havasu City AZ			9.89
172	Joe Patz	Surprise AZ			9.84
173	Loren Bryant	Phoenix AZ			9.80
174	Matthew Williams	Lake Havasu City AZ			9.78
175	James Howard	Mesa AZ		2.25	9.68
176	Dane Lawrence	Tillamook OR			9.65
177	Kyle Coppinger	Pheonix AZ			9.64
178	Jim McLaughlin	Bakersfield CA			9.56
179	Keith Diffey	Elk Grove CA		2.47	9.51
180	Ish Monroe	Oakdale CA		3.11	9.44
181	James Fenney Jr	Murrieta CA			9.42
182	Kyle Georgi	Descanso CA		2.15	9.39
182	Ron Hammett	La Mesa CA	0.4		9.39
184	Zachary Elrite	San Jose CA			9.18
185	Mike Rennie	Pioche NV			9.15
186	Tim Price	Glendale AZ		3.86	9.14
187	Tom Nokes	Riverton UT			9.10
188	Ed Webb	Stanwood WA			9.08
189	Allen Clark	Florence AZ	0.2		8.90
190	Dick Watson	Alta Loma CA			8.78
191	Jay Guterding	Redding CA			8.77
192	Mike Peterson	Valley Center CA			8.70
193	Bub Tosh	Turlock CA			8.69
194	Stephen Tauriello	Las Vegas CA			8.63
194	Mike Williams	Mesa AZ			8.63
196	Greg Garcia	Cibola AZ			8.54
196	Jiwoong Yoo	Korea			8.54
198	Delaney Dwyer	Scottsdale AZ			8.52
199	Jacob Roundtree	Show Low AZ		2.96	8.38
200	David Naugle	Las Vegas NV			8.35
201	Derek Francom	Mesa AZ	1		8.34
202	Todd Holverson	San Diego CA			8.28
203	Louis Fernandes	Santa Maria CA			8.26
204	Mark Poe	Coolidge AZ			8.13
205	Noy Vilaysane	San Diego CA	0.2		8.04
206	Brett Posladek	Valley Center CA			7.98
207	Ian Boehm	Desrt Hills AZ			7.92
208	Shawn O'Connell	Brewster WA			7.89
209	Rick Mason	Glendale AZ			7.88
209	John Morrow	Kingman			7.88
211	Steve Gibson	Las Vegas NV			7.81
212	Miles Howe	San Juan Capistrano CA			7.78
213	Dusty Kahler	Paso Robles CA			7.67
214	Matt Shura	Gilbert AZ			7.57
215	Wade Headrick	South Jordan UT			7.56
216	Paul Hodges	Glendale AZ			7.51
216	Mac McCullough	Modesto CA			7.51
218	Rick Correa	Wilsonville OR			7.21
218	James Salazar	Las Vegas NV	1		7.21
220	Gary Moore	Hemet CA			7.12
221	Douglas Jones	North Las vegas NV			7.04
222	Matthew Luna	Santee CA			6.93
223	Mike Brillhart	Waddell AZ			6.91
224	David Kemper	Tempe AZ			6.78
225	Sam Rosefsky	Morris IL			6.74
226	Trace Myers	Santaquin CA			6.73
227	Ron Ratlief	Lake Havasu City AZ			6.49
228	Robert Ostercamp	Chandler AZ		2.08	6.29
229	Michael Crowther	Page AZ		2.21	6.17
230	Benjamin Green	Pasadena CA			6.04
231	Vincent Melkus	Billings MT			6.02
232	Scott Davis	Preston ID			5.92
233	Jim Hallauer	Alpine CA			5.85
234	Jesse Slaton	Klamath Falls OR			5.68
235	Rich Vincent	Wildomar CA			5.61
236	Justin Ramsay	Peoria AZ			4.99
237	Cy Floyd	Spokane WA			4.95
238	Stephen Price	Surprise AZ			4.53
239	Philip Roesener	Logandale NV			4.32
240	Christopher Dixon	Granada Hills CA			4.18
241	Robert Zumwalt	Las Vegas NV			4.14
242	Michael Spain	Goodyear AZ			3.93
243	Bobby Hamner	Phenix AZ			3.24
244	Gary Freeman	Las Vegas NV			3.20
245	Guy Williams	Menifee CA			2.76
246	Darius Arberry	Las Vegas NV			2.69
247	George Fedor	Yucaipa CA			2.64
248	Cliff King	Ione CA			2.63
249	Trait Zaldain	Fort Worth TX			2.55
250	Cory Hoopes	Malad ID			2.48
251	Marvin Finley	Peoria AZ			1.76
252	Bryan Diehm	Las Vegas NV			1.18
253	Steven Bowlin	Coolidge AZ			0.00
253	Chase Colby	St. George UT			0.00
253	Brandon Ober	Camarillo CA			0.00

2019 WON Bass U.S. Open Final AAA Standings

Place	Name	Hometown	Penalty	Big Fish	Total
1	Bo McNeely	Rancho Cucamunga CA		3.18	26.92
2	Brian Reaves	Covina CA		3.29	26.89
3	Brandon Smith	Indio CA		3.81	26.55
4	Joe Leonard	Windsor CA			25.88
5	James Robinson	Lake Havasu City CA			23.34
6	Kelly Burns	Avondale AZ		2.24	22.96
7	Vincent A. Terranova	Scottsdale AZ			22.77
8	Michael Fisher	Santee CA			22.66
9	Dominick Mohameds	Oakley CA			22.59
10	Carol Martens	West Hills CA			22.36
11	James Rathjen	Woodland CA	0.2		22.21
12	Aaron Heath	Phoenix AZ	0.2	3.63	21.87
13	Bill Hart	Lincoln CA			21.71
14	John D. Helm	Tempe AZ			21.22
15	Teddy Snyder	Redding CA		2.33	21.11
16	Jason Ryan	Pheonix AZ		2.42	20.85
17	Chuck Turner	Golden Valley AZ		3.50	20.77
18	Lynn Irwin	Las Vegas		3.47	20.64
19	Matt Gene	Menifee CA		2.22	20.63
20	Ayaaz Ismail	Las Vegas NV			20.57
21	Damon Witt	Roseville CA		2.71	20.50
22	Kyle Greenlaw	Morro Bay CA		2.73	20.42
23	Robert A. Morris	Colorado Springs CO		2.92	20.28
24	Evan Roorda	Redlands CA		2.36	20.21
25	Steve Larsen	Henderson NV		2.06	20.18
26	Shawn Plunkett	Tucson AZ			19.92
27	Cory Sautter	Phoenix AZ			19.70
27	Nathan Foreman	Queen Creek AZ			19.70
29	Robert Nicholson	Grand Terrace CA			19.50
30	James Scott	Lancaster CA		1.95	19.41
31	Craig Morioka	Torrance CA			19.35
32	Freddy Aguero	Surprise AZ			19.14
33	Kevin H Duncan	LaVerne CA		2.79	19.04
34	Bailey Hurst	Placerville CA		1.95	18.99
35	Brian Presmyk	Prescott Valley AZ			18.85
36	Mark Bowman	San Dimas CA		2.08	18.81
37	Kevin Miner	Saugus CA			18.71
38	John Schramer	Phoenix AZ		2.28	18.60
39	Dean Yamagata	Las Vegas NV			18.49
40	Mark Zacher	Rapid City SD			18.35
41	Brian Mork	Pleasanton CA			18.34
42	Brian P. Day	San Diego CA		2.27	18.32
43	Hector Gracia	Poway CA			18.25
43	Yusuke Konno	Japan			18.25
45	Christopher Owens	Las Vegas NV			18.15
46	Randy Droll	Apache Junction AZ		2.36	18.06
47	Aaron Bartelt	Grand Junction CO	0.4		17.87
48	Jake Frevert	Alpine CA			17.86
49	Kevin A. Smith	Phoenix AZ			17.75
50	Ted Romero	Lakewood CA			17.74
51	Kevin McBean	Shafter CA	0.2		17.40
52	Nathan Billetdeaux	San Tan Valley AZ		2.05	17.35
53	Luke Spreitzer	Phoenix AZ		2.84	17.10
54	Mark Chadeayne	Pomona CA		2.15	17.01
55	Liz Jones	Conoga Park CA			16.97
56	Jake Back	Gilbert AZ			16.95
57	Juan Diaz	Surprise CA			16.94
57	James Wiegand	Redding CA		2.11	16.94
59	Dallas Braun	Eagar AZ			16.83
60	James Denny	Apache Junction AZ			16.82
60	Clifford Phipps	Trabuco Canyon CA			16.82
62	Aaron Manning	Mesa AZ		2.46	16.79
63	Daniel Partida II	Las Vegas NV			16.76
64	Chris Allen	Grand Junction CO	0.2	2.43	16.66
65	David Bebawy	Chandler AZ	0.2	2.99	16.64
66	Joe Uribe, Sr.	Lake Havasu City AZ		3.02	16.63
67	Kenneth Murata	Irvine CA		2.44	16.53
68	Aaron Reese	Gilbert AZ	0.2		16.52
69	Ralph Wells	Lake Havasu City AZ		2.20	16.50
70	Joshua Palma	Surprise AZ			16.43
71	Len Scinto	Valencia CA		2.99	16.40
72	Hunter Miller	Oak Hills CA			16.36
73	Victor Azevedo	Filer ID		2.39	16.31
74	Russell Herring	Modesto CA			16.21
75	Mike Kizis	Bell River ON	0.2	3.60	16.08
75	Austin Kubica	Peoria AZ			16.08
77	Paul Reutlinger	Mineola TX		2.20	16.05
78	Doug Hutchison	Santa Rosa CA			16.02
79	Darren Bowman	San Tan Valley AZ		2.12	15.86
80	Adam Cacal	Las Vegas NV			15.80
81	Jim Poff	Apple Vally CA			15.78
82	Mark Dalton	Fountain Hills AZ			15.71
83	Chad Davis	Mesa AZ			15.56
84	Spencer Lazara	Las Vegas NV		2.20	15.50
85	Geoff Peterson	Huntington Beach CA	0.2		15.48
86	Marty Martinez	Colorado CA			15.34
87	Ben Foster	Tucson AZ		2.50	15.30
87	Michael Vice	Rossville IL			15.30
89	Brent Benish	San Diego CA			15.28
90	John Bitting	Westminster CA			15.19
90	Troy Mays	Ione CA	0.2		15.19
92	Mark Snitow	Lake Havasu City AZ			15.06
93	Jeff Lenard	Murrieta CA			15.03
94	Bryon Frevert	Alpine CA			14.96
95	Geoff Pierce	El Cajon CA			14.94
96	Richard Hanning	Tucson AZ		2.60	14.85
97	Steve Watson	Phoenix AZ		1.80	14.82
98	Zach Richard	Suisun CA	1		14.80
99	Cole Wright	Alpine CA		1.89	14.76
100	David Swendseid	Bend OR			14.73
101	Raymond Tak	Newbury Park CA		1.81	14.68
102	TJ Golden	Canyon Country CA		2.52	14.65
103	Jim Vretzos	El Dorodo Hills CA			14.63
104	Chris Nickerson	Hemet CA		2.42	14.54
105	Tom Varden	Smithville TX			14.50
106	Austin Rojas	Lake Havasu City AZ		2.32	14.49
107	Chuck Harrison	Fort Collins CO			14.35
107	Steve Jenkins	Mesa AZ			14.35
107	Ronald Slack, Jr.	Pahrump NV			14.35
110	Anthony Romano	Phoenix AZ			14.32
111	Joseph Verna	Atwater CA			14.28
112	Anthony Souza	Turlock CA			14.23
113	Jeremy Watney	Prosper TX			14.20
113	Tom Kruse	San Juan Capistrano CA		2.24	14.20
115	Tom Creasy	Covina CA			14.19
116	Sonny Gibson	Las Vegas NV			14.14
117	Rick Cofield	Las Vegas NV			14.01
118	Taylor Parlanti	Las Vegas NV			13.99
118	Blaine Christiansen	San Francisco CA			13.99
120	Kristian Puga	La Mirada CA	0.2	3.39	13.97
121	Hayden Metz	Eastvalle CA			13.93
122	Mark Torrez	Camarillo CA			13.92
123	Terry Varden	Rockwall TX			13.83
124	Tyler Hogan	Newport Beach CA			13.81
125	Tom Cilluffo	Napa CA			13.80
125	Larry White	Sun City AZ			13.80
127	Jeff Mabry	Phoenix AZ			13.77
128	Stephen Byrum	Avondale AZ		3.19	13.71
129	Coy Mott	Fruitland ID			13.69
130	Mandy Myers	Santaquin UT			13.68
131	Jose Torres	Tucson AZ			13.51
132	Ryan Mackenzie	Anthem AZ			13.42
133	Patrick S. Donoho	Las Vegas NV			13.38
134	Willie Waller	Temecula CA		2.33	13.37
135	Jason Caine	Las Vegas NV			13.36
136	Michael Bidak	Phoenix AZ			13.25
137	Masashi Kato	Japan			13.18
138	Jeff Bias	Las Vegas NV			12.99
139	Rich Henson	Redding CA			12.96
140	Wade Goodwin	Wilton CA		2.15	12.95
141	Tyson Oakley	Tulare CA			12.89
142	Szu Nien Yeh	Las Vegas NV			12.87
143	Matthew Delucia	South Pasadena CA			12.85
144	Gabriel Jones	Henderson NV			12.72
145	Cameron Rodriguez	San Diego CA	1	2.43	12.52
146	Nathan Cummings	Peoria AZ			12.45
147	Tim Karas	Las Vegas NV			12.36
148	Dan Zehring	Gilbert AZ			12.35
148	Colby King	Ione CA			12.35
150	Todd Curry	El Cajon CA			12.34
151	Chris Beverly	Mesa AZ			12.30
152	Derek Hasenbeck	Poway CA			12.27
153	Bob Horton	N Las Vegas NV			12.25
154	Brent Becker	Boulder City NV			12.20
155	Onelio J. Silva	Las Vegas NV			12.19
156	Jason Okamoto	Glendale AZ			12.17
157	Brad Hellum	Glendale AZ			12.14
157	Mike Gowey	Snowflake AZ		2.56	12.14
159	Adam Brister	Green River WY			12.04
160	Ellison Hubbard	LAS VEGAS NV			11.98
161	Aaryn Coroneos	Henderson NV		2.09	11.96
162	Marc Walker	Phoenix AZ			11.90
163	Jim Elie	El Segundo CA			11.84
164	Brian Mills	Phoenix AZ			11.81
165	Lyle Valador	Boulder City AZ	0.2		11.79
166	Grayson Denny	Apache Junction AZ			11.77
167	Josh Kimmel	Colorado Springs CO			11.70
168	Mark Thompson	Horsley AU			11.67
169	Ryan Furno	Aloha OR			11.50
170	Ken Hromada	Chandler AZ			11.48
171	Corey Williams	Boulder City CA			11.46
172	Dink Mendez	Campbell CA			11.45
172	Jim Sanders	Gifford WA			11.45
172	Joshua Taylor	Winslow AR			11.45
175	Chad Roorda	Beaumont CA		1.70	11.39
176	Alex Centner	Gilbert AZ			11.34
177	Brian Senter	Tucson AZ		1.92	11.33
178	Steve Meza	El Monte CA		1.96	11.31
179	John Hilland	Gilbert AZ			11.29
180	Angelo Aliotti	Aguanga CA			11.26
181	Kaito Masuda	Japan			11.24
182	Naoaki Fujimoto	Osaka,Japan			11.23
183	Robert Schneider	Temecula CA			11.19
184	Craig Hammett	Eagle ID			10.98
185	Bret Felter	Malad ID		2.17	10.92
186	Kevin Gross	Claremont CA			10.76
187	Douglas Bullard	Anaheim CA			10.75
188	Jonathan Milburn	Mesa AZ			10.70
189	Kenny Johnson	Eager AZ			10.66
190	Ryan Wischnack	Valencia CA		2.38	10.65
191	Brandon Morton	San Tan Valley AZ		2.13	10.52
192	Larry Warren	Laverkin UT		1.93	10.50
193	MIke Figueroa	Chino Hills CA			10.48
194	Jack Roorda	Beaumont CA			10.44
195	Nathan Hill	Las Vegas NV		3.36	10.41
196	Bill Snyder	Las Vegas NV			10.37
197	John Browning	Surprise AZ			10.36
197	Tom Karavites	Payson AZ			10.36
199	Jan Prestella	San Dimas CA			10.35
200	Richard Downey	Cortaro AZ			10.29
201	Wayne St. John	Henderson NV			10.23
202	Jonathan Green	San Pablo CA			10.21
203	Cody Cook	Ventura CA	0.4		10.20
204	Robby Rogers	Redondo Beach CA			10.16
205	Bobby Tidd	Mesa AZ			10.13
206	Hermie Romero	Las Vegas NV			10.12
207	Byung Gu Kim	Korea			9.85
208	Derick Cotten	Glendale AZ			9.75
209	Malcolm Stewart	Australia			9.74
210	Randall Bruce	Las Vegas NV		2.40	9.72
211	Brian Eslick	Gilroy CA	0.2		9.48
212	Randy Austin	Cedar City UT			9.47
213	Robert Chor	San Pedro CA			8.92
214	Gary Crouse	Covina CA			8.80
215	William McAninch	Yemecula CA		2.85	8.48
216	Nick Teschler	Phoenix AZ			8.43
217	Cody Stentz	East Wenatchee WA			8.38
218	Mike Steckel	Las Vegas NV			8.35
219	Clifford Kinney	Mesa AZ			7.92
220	Chad Smith	Hughson CA			7.85
221	Lance Hunt	Mesa AZ			7.78
222	Erik Torres	Tucson AZ			7.77
223	William Penrod	Salome AZ			7.66
224	Patrick McLaren	Las Vegas NV			7.45
225	Nicholas Guerrero	Castaic CA			7.42
226	Warren Mauran II	Woodland Hills CA	1		7.38
227	Ryan Gutierrez	Weiser ID			7.19
228	Kenny Myers	Lakeside AZ			6.97
229	Ron Pikul	Chino Vallet AZ			6.91
230	Keith Bridges	Mission Viejo CA			6.66
231	Todd Tobiasson	Las Vegas NV			6.47
232	Vincent Alcantara	Glendale AZ			6.29
233	Joshua Rojas	Fontana CA			6.27
234	Robert Kneeshaw	Australia			6.15
235	Raffi Demirjian	Australia			6.11
236	Thor Dusenberry	Pheonix CA			6.06
237	Grant Parker	Elgin OR			5.98
238	Danny Burnett	Casa Grande AZ			5.78
239	Ian Hastie	Cambridge ID			5.51
240	Tim Roden	Queen Creek AZ			5.38
241	Robert Lee Record, Jr.	Corona CA			5.25
242	Bret Nagelhout	Red Rock AZ			5.19
243	Zack Harback	Phoenix AZ			5.07
244	Kevin Russell	Chandler AZ			4.86
245	Ryan Borba	Atascadero CA			4.70
246	Rick Moore	Salinas CA			4.12
247	Tad Yellowhair	Surprise AZ			4.10
248	Tim Domingues	San Jose CA			3.97
249	Melissa Nokes	Lehi UT			3.88
250	Glenn Wyatt	Fremont CA			3.07
251	Christine Kramer	Mesa AZ		1.92	2.88
252	Tony Neal	Australia			2.36
253	Bill Lansford	Needles CA			1.77
254	Jimmy Huynh	Mueeieta CA			1.71

by AnglersChannel

Huk Performance Fishing Signs On As Bassmaster Classic Presenting Sponsor

October 17, 2019

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Huk Performance Fishing announced an expanded partnership with B.A.S.S. as the apparel and gear brand became the presenting sponsor of the 2020 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, sportfishing’s most iconic event. The world championship bass tournament will be held March 6-8 in Birmingham, Ala., with fishing competition taking place on Lake Guntersville.

“We are thrilled to be signing on as the presenting sponsor of the 50th annual Bassmaster Classic,” said Alvin P. Perkinson, Chief Marketing Officer for Huk. “Bass fishing is part of our brand’s DNA, and to be able to help present the sport’s biggest event is a real honor. We look forward to working with both B.A.S.S. and Academy to make this year’s Classic one for the history books!”

The 2020 edition of the Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk Performance Fishing will pit 53 of the world’s best bass anglers against each other as they compete for a purse of over $1 million. The three-day competition and Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo will attract thousands of fans to Birmingham and Lake Guntersville.

“B.A.S.S. is proud to have Huk Performance Fishing as a member of our sponsor family,” said Bruce Akin, CEO of B.A.S.S. “Bass anglers and fans alike are loyal Huk customers, and we are thrilled that they are partnering with us to continue growing our sport while having their clothing and gear showcased on fishing’s biggest stage.”

In addition to presenting sponsorship of the 2020 Classic, Huk will be a supporting sponsor of the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship and the grass-roots TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation regional tournaments and championship.

About Huk Performance Fishing
In 2014, fueled by youthful anglers across the U.S seeking a brand with their same attitude and passion, Huk exploded onto the fishing scene and has since become the fastest growing brand in the sport. Huk appeals to anglers across all disciplines with its energetic vibe and its focus on bringing new color, style and technology to the outdoor community. Based in Charleston, SC, at the confluence of three major rivers and a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean, Huk enjoys a dizzying array of sportfishing opportunities that help shape and mold its purpose-built fishing brand. For more information, go to www.hukgear.com

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 510,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2 and The Pursuit Channel), radio show (Bassmaster Radio), social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Series, TNT Fireworks B.A.S.S. Nation Series, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster High School Series presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.

by AnglersChannel

MORE THAN 400 ANGLERS TO VISIT SOMERSET AND BURNSIDE FOR COSTA FLW SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP ON LAKE CUMBERLAND

Anglers From Around the World to Compete in Kentucky for $100,000 Top Prize

BURNSIDE, Ky. (Oct. 17, 2019) – The Costa FLW Series will close out the 2019 season next week, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, in Burnside, Kentucky, at the Costa FLW Series Championship on Lake Cumberland. The no-entry fee bass-fishing championship, hosted by the Somerset Tourist & Convention Commission and the Burnside Tourism Commission, will feature more than 400 of the best regional pros and co-anglers from around the world casting for a top prize of up to $100,000 on the pro side – including the keys to a new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower outboard – and $35,000 on the co-angler side, including a new Ranger Z175 with a 115-horsepower outboard.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with an International division that features anglers from Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe. This event features the top 40 professionals and top 40 co-anglers from each of the five U.S. FLW Series divisions, plus two pros and two co-anglers from each international country.

“This is a really good time to be fishing on Lake Cumberland – most of the lake is fishing really well, and I expect that we will see all three species of bass – largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass – come into play,” said FLW pro Ryan Davidson of Branchland, West Virginia, who has one previous top-10 finish on Lake Cumberland in FLW competition. “The bass are moving into their typical fall patterns. The shad get back in the creeks, and the fish are migrating with the bait. Guys are going to be able to fish their strengths and catch them a lot of different ways.”

Davidson said that he expects “plopper-style baits” – like a River2Sea Whopper Plopper or a Berkley Choppo – to be heavily in play for tournament anglers, along with buzzbaits and other moving baits as anglers look to cover a lot of water.

“I don’t think this tournament will be a spot-specific tournament. We’re going to have to see a lot of water and fish for both smallmouth and largemouth,” Davidson said. “But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that anglers will have to fish super shallow for largemouth or out deep for smallmouth – the fish set up on a lot of the same stuff.

“Normally on Cumberland, tournaments are won targeting the smallmouth,” Davidson continued. “But, this time of year, I don’t think a guy can win solely with them. We’re going to need both species in our bag to be in contention for the win.”

Davidson went on to predict that the winning angler would weigh in three days of mixed-species totaling 48 to 52 pounds.

“I think it’ll take a minimum of 16 pounds a day – 48 total – to be there at the end, but it could be as high as 52,” Davidson went on to say. “We’re going to see a lot of nice fish caught and it’s going to be an extremely fun tournament to fish.”

Anglers will take off from the General Burnside Island State Park, located at 8801 S. Hwy. 27 in Burnside, at 8 a.m. EDT each morning. Each day’s weigh-in will be held at the State Park beginning at 4 p.m. All takeoff and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

by AnglersChannel

Morgenthaler Wins Berkley Big Bass event with 8.82lb Largemouth on Lake Fork

RICHARD MORGENTHALER

Geneva

8.82

Skeeter ZX 200 Yamaha-SHO Lowrance Electronics

+ $1000.00

STEPHEN CRUMPLER

Bloomburg

2.98

Skeeter ZX190 Yamaha-SHO Lowrance Electronics

+$1000

CLIFTON JACKSON

Alba

5.25

$1000.00

RICHIE WHITE

Sulphur Springs

2.96

$1000.00

J J QUON

Celina

2.88

$1000.00

PAUL DARNELL

Paris

2.77

$1000.00

DIANE VINEYARD

Wylie

2.76

$1000 + 1st Place Ladies Division

DAVID ROULSTON

Allen

2.74

$1000.00

RICHIE WHITE

Sulphur Springs

2.71

$1000.00

PAUL MECCA

Dallas

2.67

$1000.00

JEFFERY JOHNSON

Mineola

2.65

$1000.00

JEFF NELSON

Mineola

2.63

$1000.00

JEFFERY JOHNSON

Mineola

2.57

$1000.00

CHAD LOPEZ

Hartshorne

2.54

$1000.00

DAVID SORRELLS

Linden

2.84

$500.00

JACOB ROSS

Rockwall

2.79

$500.00

JOHN BLUE

Sachse

2.67

$500.00

KENNETH GOODWIEN

Port St Lucie

2.59

$500.00

DOUGLAS GIBBONS

Longview

2.57

$500.00

BILL GUZMAN

Austin

2.54

$500.00

LEONARD VAJGRT

Garnavillo

2.52

$500.00

RYAN VAUGHAN

Cumby

2.52

$500.00

MORRIS HERRING JR

Forney

2.52

$500.00

CHARLIE GODWIN

Yantis

2.48

$500.00

DON STAPLETON

Yantis

2.46

$500.00

DAVID WOLFE

White Hall

2.45

$500.00

RUBEN TORRES

Waco

2.42

$500.00

GARY HAYNES

Alba

2.31

$500.00

ROGER RITCHIE

Wichita Falls

2.74

$350.00

STIJN LENS

Belgium

2.57

$350.00

JAMAL ABUDALGHUSA

Keller

2.54

$350.00

DUSTIN HOLMES

Murfreesboro

2.51

$350.00

DANIEL VINAKALNS

Royse City

2.51

$350.00

JERRY MASON

Ragley

2.50

$350.00

KENNETH COBB

Jonesboro

2.47

$350.00

JOE DAVID HICKS

Wichita Falls

2.46

$350.00

JASON BRANHAM

Katy

2.45

$350.00

ROBERT WAGGONER

Garland

2.42

$350.00

JASON QUON

Celina

2.27

$350.00

TROY BASS

Copperas Cove

2.27

$350.00

HAROLD BREDEMEIR

Alba

2.22

$350.00

BOBBY HIX

Glade Water

2.35

$325.00

JOHN DUBEE

Godley

2.35

$325.00

RONNIE CHARANZA

Brownwood

2.49

$300.00

LARRY HUNTER

Grenada

2.48

$300.00

NOAH GOODSON

Driftwood

2.13

1st Place Junior Division

LEGEND WOODARD

Paris

2.02

2nd Place Junior Division

Trenvor Ford

Winnsboro

1.93

3rd Place Junior Division

Colton Ford

Winnsboro

1.93

3rd Place Junior Division

Randi White

Lawton

2.38

$250 + 2nd Place Ladies Division

Donna Escalante

Pipe Creek

2.29

$200 + 3rd Place Ladies Division

by AnglersChannel

CAMDENTON HIGH SCHOOL WINS BASS PRO SHOPS FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING LAKE OF THE OZARKS OPEN PRESENTED BY COSTA

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Oct. 22, 2019) – The Camdenton High School duo of Reece Waters of Camdenton and Caden Kowal, of Linn Creek, Missouri, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces to win the 2019 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Lake of the Ozarks Open presented by Costa.

A field of 56 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the Grand Glaize Recreation Area in Osage Beach and was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. In FLW and The Bass Federation (TBF) High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.

The top five teams on Lake of the Ozarks that advanced to the 2020 High School Fishing National Championship were:

1st: Camdenton High School, Camdenton, Mo. – Reece Waters, Camdenton, Mo., and Caden Kowal, Linn Creek, Mo., five bass, 11-7

2nd: Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, Ill. – Tanner Koontz and Tanner Shaw, both of Mount Vernon, Ill., five bass, 10-11

3rd: Eureka High School, Eureka, Mo. – Steven Lafata, Eureka, Mo., and Cole Wiese, High Ridge, Mo., four bass, 9-13

4th: Kiefer High School, Kiefer, Okla. – Gabriel Boyd, Slick, Okla., and Gavin Ashford, Kiefer, Okla., three bass, 7-11

5th: Legacy Christian Academy, Lenexa, Kan. – Mason Chapman, Lake Quivira, Kan., and Ryder Mains, Lenexa, Kan., two bass, 7-5

Rounding out the top 10 teams were:

6th: Tremont High School, Tremont, Ill. – Dylan Micael and Logan Roller, both of Tremont, Ill., three bass, 6-6

7th: Carthage High School, Carthage, Mo. – Colson Brust and Tristan Beck, both of Carthage, Mo., two bass, 6-4

8th: PCR 3 Bass Fishing Club – Baylor Logan, Carl Junction, Mo., and Logan Stackhouse, Platte City, Mo., three bass, 5-14

9th: Bradleyville High School, Bradleyville, Mo. – Dalton Coffelt, Rueter, Mo., and Brock Rogers, Bradleyville, Mo, three bass, 5-9

10th: Purdy High School, Purdy, Mo. – Clay Henderson and Mason Harkey, both of Purdy, Mo., three bass, 5-9

Complete results from the event can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The 2019 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing Open on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Costa was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12, open to any Student Angler Federation (SAF) affiliated high school club in the United States. The top 10 percent of each Challenge, Open, and state championship field will advance to the 2020 High School Fishing National Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.

In addition to the High School Fishing National Championship, all High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest open high school bass tournament, the 2020 High School Fishing World Finals, held in conjunction with the National Championship. At the 2019 World Finals more than $150,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded.

Full schedules and the latest announcements are available at HighSchoolFishing.org and FLWFishing.com.

About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

Yamaha’s New Power Pay Program Rewards Anglers for Tournament Placement

KENNESAW, Ga. - Oct. 22, 2019 — Yamaha Marine today announced a new contingency program that provides a cash bonus to Yamaha anglers who place in sanctioned salt and freshwater tournaments. The new program, Power Pay, yamahapowerpay.com, gives anglers not currently under a supported contract with Yamaha, or its subsidiaries, the opportunity to receive compensation for running eligible Yamaha outboards.

Eligible anglers running Yamaha outboards can sign up for the program by visiting yamahapowerpay.com. All applicants are required to accept and adhere to the Yamaha Angler Code of Ethics before completing the registration for the program. Once registered, the highest placing angler in specified Power Pay sanctioned tournaments that meets all eligibility requirements will be compensated by Yamaha accordingly.

“Put Yamaha Power Pay on top of such a reliable product, and this becomes an awesome incentive that just makes sense for a ton of hardcore weekend bass anglers, as well as walleye and saltwater competitors. If anglers are not running it already, this program makes it a no brainer to choose Yamaha power,” said Brandon Palaniuk, 2017 Toyota^® Bassmaster^® Angler of the Year and former B.A.S.S. Nation^® Champion.

Some of the popular eligible Power Pay trails include the Bassmaster Classic, Bassmaster Angler of the Year, Bassmaster Opens, B.A.S.S. Nation, Bassmaster Elites, Bassmaster College Series, Bassmaster High School series, A.B.A. Bass Pro Shops^®Open Series, Alabama Bass Trail, Bass Champs, MWC, The National Walleye Tour^®, AIM^® Walleye, Kingfish Cup, Flatsmasters and HT3 Redfish.

“Power Pay broadens our brand and allows Yamaha and our dealers to support more anglers on a grassroots level,” said David Ittner, Manager, Tournaments, Sponsorships and Pro Staff, Yamaha Marine. “This initiative also underscores our Yamaha Angler Code of Ethics, which encourages conservation, environmental stewardship and exceptional sportsmanship. We look forward to the positive impact Power Pay will have within the salt and freshwater tournament markets.”

For more information and complete terms and conditions about Power Pay, visit yamahapowerpay.com. Some restrictions apply. Void where prohibited by law.

Yamaha Marine products are marketed throughout the United States and around the world. Yamaha Marine Engine Systems, based in Kennesaw, Ga., supports its 2,000 U.S. dealers and boat builders with marketing, training and parts for Yamaha’s full line of products and strives to be the industry leader in reliability, technology and customer service. Yamaha Marine is the only outboard brand to have earned NMMA^®’s C.S.I. Customer Satisfaction Index award every year since its inception. Visit www.yamahaoutboards.com.

by AnglersChannel

MLF shares details of FLW Pro Circuit 2020

Courtesy of MLF

Monday, October 21, 2019 (Tulsa, Okla.) Major League Fishing (MLF) hosted a conference call for the field of 150 FLW Tour anglers to share details and specifics about the evolution of the FLW Pro Circuit in 2020 as it relates to the acquisition of FLW by MLF..

"This is NOT a hostile takeover," said Boyd Duckett, MLF co-Founder. "This is an opportunity to continue to grow the sport of competitive bass fishing at all levels and sustain FLW; it's the perfect marriage."

In addition to specifics surrounding the tournament field size, length, and fishing format, MLF President and CEO Jim Wilburn discussed the expanded television and live coverage available to FLW Pro Circuit anglers in 2020. This includes 156, 2-hour airings between Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel for a total of 312 hours of television coverage, representing a significant increase over 2019's 40 hours of television programming.

To review the presentation shared with FLW Pro Circuit qualifying Anglers please click the link below.

FLW Angler Presentation - FINAL 10.21.19

by AnglersChannel

Top talent wins Quantum HS College Open

Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

For the third straight autumn, Quantum rods and reels hosted yet another prize rich, no entry fee tournament for high school and college anglers at Grand Lake. And when the scales stopped spinning, previously proven talent rose to the very top of the leaderboard among the 101 impressive teams in attendance.

Former Oklahoma Junior B.A.S.S. Nation champion, Kollin Crawford won the high school division single handedly. He had no team partner, but was captained by his dad Lance, a very avid and accomplished tournament angler.

Flying solo, the young Crawford, from a tiny town north of Broken Bow, OK, caught his biggest fish shallow around wood habitat on a double willow spinnerbait, and complimented it by dragging a Biffle Bug a bit deeper to win the high school division with 11.33.

Top sticks prevailed on the college side too. Highly accomplished Trevor McKinney and Blake Jackson of reputable McKendree University, made the six-hour trip home from Grand Lake to Illinois loaded down with prizes from their 15 pound 6 ounce domination. Their win was driven largely by casting Chatterbaits and D & L jigs around docks in the back of pockets.

“We love this event, we’ve fished it all three years, but we didn’t like finishing second the last two years,” grinned McKinney, a senior who is student teaching. “We had a great tournament this past week at Lake of the Ozarks, and we rode that momentum into this Quantum event to finally get the win.”

Top talents like Crawford, McKinney and Jackson continue to support Quantum each autumn at this event not only because there is no entry fee and it’s very well coordinated, but also because the prizes are astonishing, and top pro Matt Lee does a great job emceeing and interacting with the student anglers.

Plus, they benefit greatly from the generosity of premium brands like Carhartt, Costa, Gene Larew, Lure Lock, Lowrance, Pelican, Seaguar, and of course, Quantum, who collectively already look forward to a successful 4^th annual event next year.

by AnglersChannel

Sportsmans Product Spotlight - Bryan Thrift & Fall Chatterbaits

Sportsmans Warehouse Pro Bryan Thrift talks about Chatterbaits and Fall Fishing, a match made in heaven!

by AnglersChannel

AC Insider Podcast - The Deal is Done!

This week the boys record a special episode on the breaking news of Major League Fishing acquiring FLW. Jason and Chris welcome in FLW PR Director Joe Opager to help them understand all the dynamics in place and to answer a few other questions as well!

by AnglersChannel

Major League Fishing To Acquire Fishing League Worldwide - Updated with Circuit information

October 10, 2019, (Tulsa, Okla.) Major League Fishing (MLF) announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization. The Letter of Intent (LOI) sets in motion the most significant brand merger in competitive bass fishing history, linking a tour and original, award-winning programming featuring the top professional anglers in the world to an extensive grassroots organization that serves tens of thousands of competitive anglers from high school and college to weekenders and tour pros.

“We’re thrilled about welcoming FLW to the MLF team,” said Jim Wilburn, President and CEO of Major League Fishing. “FLW shares our commitment to creating tournaments and opportunities centered on the success of the angler. Through this acquisition, we are better positioned to support anglers and sponsors at all levels.”

“Our business plan always included reaching all levels of grassroots fishing,” said Boyd Duckett, MLF co-founder and President of the Professional Bass Tour Anglers’ Association (PBTAA). “FLW does it best with the Tour and grassroots tournaments; their reputation in competitive bass fishing is remarkable and their culture has always been pro-angler, which makes this the perfect opportunity for both organizations. We couldn’t be more excited about FLW: their team, anglers, and sponsors.”

“This announcement marks a thrilling new chapter in FLW’s history as we join Major League Fishing and begin a new era in the sport of competitive bass fishing,” said FLW President of Operations Kathy Fennel. “As part of the Major League Fishing team, we look forward to enhancing and expanding tournament offerings to our anglers and fans. Our teams have a very similar mission and vision – to support anglers at all levels, provide the industry with unmatched opportunities, and grow the sport. The complementary strengths of our organizations make this a win for the entire sport.”

Established in 2011, MLF began as a television product and has grown into a sports league with the launch of the Bass Pro Tour in January of 2019. MLF is a partnership between the PBTAA and Outdoor Sportsman Group (OSG), a division of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.

“As MLF continues to grow, we’re committed to find the right opportunities to extend the Outdoor Sportsman Group properties,” Outdoor Sportsman Group President and CEO, Jim Liberatore said. “Through this acquisition, MLF can leverage our extensive media reach and award-winning content production to promote competitive bass fishing at all levels.”

Each year FLW offers thousands of anglers of all skill levels across the globe the opportunity to compete for millions of dollars in prize money in five tournament circuits. Under the leadership of Irwin Jacobs, FLW expanded the top level of competition to include the industry’s first seven-figure purse.

“It has been our mission since my father, Irwin Jacobs, purchased FLW in 1996 to bring the highest quality of tournaments to anglers, sponsors and fans around the world,” said Trish Blake, FLW President of Marketing. “By joining forces with Major League Fishing, the sport of professional tournament fishing will be taken to new heights for anglers across the world at all levels.”

Major League Fishing and Fishing League Worldwide anticipate an acquisition close date of October 31, 2019.

For more information about this acquisition, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com/FLWfishing.com

Additionally Courtesy of FLWfishing.com

2019 FLW SCHEDULE CONTINUES

All remaining 2019 events on the FLW tournament schedule will be contested as previously organized, with no changes to competition days/times, venues, payouts, etc.

That includes the Costa FLW Series Central Division event on Lake of the Ozarks and the 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship on Lake Cumberland; five remaining T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regionals that range from the Potomac River to Grand Lake; the Nov. 8 BFL Wild Card; and a handful of High School Fishing and College Fishing events scheduled for October and November.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2020 FLW CIRCUITS

FLW High School Fishing, YETI FLW College Fishing, T-H Marine BFL and Costa FLW Series circuits will continue in 2020 and beyond, with the addition of three regions in the Costa FLW Series and reduced entry fees for both BFL and FLW Series boaters and co-anglers. The most significant alteration will occur at the top of the FLW professional tournament ladder.

Bryan Thrift

THE NEW FLW PRO CIRCUIT

The 2020 season will see the birth of the FLW Pro Circuit, replacing the 24-year-old FLW Tour. The Pro Circuit will feature a 150-angler field, and will be contested over a seven-event regular season that leads to the FLW Angler of the Year Championship event. All anglers who qualified for the 2020 FLW Tour will be eligible to compete in the Pro Circuit.

The Pro Circuit will operate on a six-day competition schedule that features FLW’s traditional five-fish-limit format on days one through three, transitioning to the MLF catch, weigh, immediate-release/every-scoreable-bass-counts format on days four through six (which include two 10-angler Knockout Rounds and a final 10-angler Championship Round). As is the case in all rounds of the MLF Bass Pro Tour, MLF-appointed in-boat officials will manage the competition and weighing of fish on the final three days of the FLW Pro Circuit.

Payouts for the Pro Circuit will extend down to 75th place, representing a payday for half the field (a 12-percent increase in the number of anglers earning a check).

The new Angler of the Year Championship will serve as the signature final event of the FLW Pro Circuit, taking the place of the FLW Cup.

The most successful anglers (based on competition results) in the FLW Pro Circuit will qualify to compete in the MLF Bass Pro Tour. Details on qualification standards will be released in the coming weeks.

FLW SERIES EXPANDS

Costa FLW Series anglers will see an expansion of regions from five to eight in 2020, to make the Series geographically available to more anglers. The schedule will include three events per region, and an FLW Series Championship.

Entry fees for both boaters and co-anglers will be reduced: Boaters will pay $1,700, and co-anglers will pay $550 (down from $1,900 and $650 in 2019).

Brennon McCord

BFL REDUCES ENTRY FEES

The BFL competition structure will continue as-is in 2020, with the same number of regions, tournaments and Super Tournaments as in 2019, all competing under the traditional five-fish-limit format. Entry fees will be reduced to $200 for boaters and $100 for co-anglers for single-day events, and $300/$150 for the two-day Super Tournaments.

The same group of BFL tournament directors will continue to manage BFL competitions.

HIGH SCHOOL FISHING AND COLLEGE FISHING

FLW’s High School Fishing and YETI FLW College Fishing schedules will continue without change for the remainder of 2019 and beyond. Anglers and teams that qualified for 2020 events in 2019 can expect to proceed as planned.

“As time goes on, we’ll accomplish a lot for those FLW anglers. They should be assured that times are continuing to get better,” Duckett says. “Not that it wasn’t good already. FLW has done a great job in building a pro-angler culture that’s the strongest I’ve ever participated in, but if there is anything that MLF can do, we intend to make it better. That’s what I get up for every day – to make it better for the anglers.”

About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete in more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments across five circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and their partners offer a High School Fishing and College Fishing Series, the Bass Fishing League (BFL) series for grassroots anglers, the Costa FLW Series for aspiring professionals and the FLW Tour, which showcases some of the top anglers in the world. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

About Major League Fishing

Founded in 2011, Major League Fishing (MLF) brings the high-intensity sport of competitive bass fishing into America’s living rooms on Outdoor Channel, Discovery, CBS, CBS Sports Network, World Fishing Network, Sportsman Channel and on-demand on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). New for 2019, the Bass Pro Tour consists of eight events and a championship streamed live onwww.MajorLeagueFishing.com and MOTV. MLF uses the entertaining and conservation-friendly catch, weigh and immediate-release format where every scorable bass counts and the winner is the angler with the highest cumulative weight.

by AnglersChannel

RAMPEY WINS T-H MARINE BFL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON LAKE HARTWELL PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS

Athen’s Kimmel Wins Co-angler Division

SENECA, S.C. (Oct. 7, 2019) – Boater Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 43 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the no-entry fee T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell presented by Navionics Saturday. For the win, Rampey earned $70,000, including a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard and automatic entry into the 2020 BFL All-American Championship, April 30-May 2 – also at Lake Hartwell.

With the win, the Liberty angler earned his 11^th career BFL victory and moved into a tie for No. 3 all-time for most BFL Boater wins – remarkable considering Rampey is just 33 years old. Five of his 11 wins have come on Lake Hartwell, including one just 2½ weeks ago.

“I caught them doing pretty much the same thing that I did just a few weeks ago,” said Rampey. “I’d start shallow every morning throwing a Zoom Horny Toad. I’d fish that until 11 (a.m.) or so, then I’d run to the lower end of the lake and fish purely topwater baits. I was throwing at isolated targets – timber, cane piles and rock piles – in 20 feet of water.”

Rampey’s first day limit Thursday consisted of five largemouth bass. On day two, his limit consisted of a mix of largemouth and spotted bass, and on the third and final day his limit was five spotted bass.

“I think it was due to the wind and the conditions – it was really blowing on day two – and it had the largemouth held real tight to the cover,” Rampey said. “I caught around 15 fish each day, and it was a good mix. I caught one or two shallow and the rest offshore on Thursday. Friday, I caught all of them offshore. Saturday I only caught one offshore and the rest were shallow.”

Rampey said his two main baits were a Ima Little Stik topwater bait, rigged with 30-pound-test Hi-Seas Grand Slam braided line, and a Zoom Horny Toad (green-pumpkin- and watermelon-colored) rigged with 65-pound Hi-Seas Grand Slam braid with a 6/0 Owner Twistlock Flipping Hook.

“The shallow fish were biting really well in practice, but it seemed to get worse and worse each day,” Rampey went on to say. “I think the difference was making the right decision to go offshore at the right time each day.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:

1^st: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 43-12, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard

2^nd: Ryan Deal, Marshville, N.C., 15 bass, 42-14, $10,000

3^rd: Mike Miller, Trinity, N.C., 14 bass, 37-6, $5,000

4^th: Wesley Sandifer, Chapin, S.C., 15 bass, 36-6, $3,000

5^th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 15 bass, 35-0, $2,200

6^th: Todd Goade, Suwanee, Ga., 15 bass, 33-6, $1,800

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

7^th: Conrad Bolt, Seneca, S.C., 15 bass, 33-6, $1,700

8^th: Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., 15 bass, 33-4, $1,400

9^th: Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., 15 bass, 33-2, $1,200

10^th: Joseph Marks, Duncan, S.C., 15 bass, 32-12, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Justin Kimmel of Athens, Georgia, weighed in 15 bass over three days totaling 27 pounds, 10 ounces to win the top prize package of $50,000, including a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower Mercury or Evinrude outboard.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:

1^st: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., 15 bass, 27-10, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard

2^nd: Nick Coker, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 27-2, $5,200

3^rd: Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., 15 bass, 24-14, $2,550

4^th: Costas Melendez, Shenandoah, Va., 14 bass, 24-13, $1,500

5^th: Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 19-10, $1,000

6^th: James Roten, West Jefferson, N.C., 14 bass, 19-9, $900

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

7^th: Matt Langley, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 18-7, $800

8^th: Sam Loveless, Somerset, Ky., nine bass, 18-6, $700

9^th: Trace Bigelow, Salisbury, N.C., 11 bass, 17-8, $600

10^th: Maverick Canipe, Kings Mountain, N.C., 10 bass, 16-11, $500

The T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell presented by Navionics was hosted by Visit Oconee SC. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Music City (West Tennessee), Shenandoah (Virginia-Maryland), North Carolina, and Volunteer (East Tennessee) divisions.

by AnglersChannel

3 things every Lake St. Clair rookie should know

Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

Don’t be fooled by the fact Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tyler Rivet is smiling on a sunny afternoon in this photo. The day before it was taken,the Southern Louisiana rookie had his finger on the “man overboard” button of his Lowrance units, scared to death his boat might sink 20 miles from the Metro Park ramp on Lake St. Clair.

Rivet was on St. Clair trying to earn his first trip to the Bassmaster Classic when two or three big waves rolled over his back deck, and filled his battery compartment with water in seconds. Then, when he hit the manual bilge pump, nothing happened, and within seconds the failed bilge pump allowed at least 4” of water to flood the floor of his boat.

“I tried to leave, and realized I had so much water weight in the boat that I couldn’t get it on pad,” recalls Rivet, still emotionally shaken by the incident.

He asked his ride along B.A.S.S. Marshall, who happened to be a pretty big guy, to sit on the front deck, shifting enough weight forward in order to limp 20 miles back to the Bassmaster check-in at Metro Park. Once safely on the trailer, Rivet says water drained from the boat for more than an hour.

Rivet certainly won’t be the only first-timer to take on the big waves of St. Clair in search of world-class smallmouth, so he graciously lends the following advice to help others avoid a rookie catastrophe.

Buy an extra bilge

Obviously, make sure your automatic bilge pumps are working before you head to St. Clair. But make sure you take an extra step and carry an additional portable bilge easily purchased from your local marine dealer! This can’t be stressed enough.

Most experienced big water anglers simply lay the additional bilge on the floor behind their feet at the driver’s console. They run the corrugatedpump-out hose over the gunwale on the driver’s side, and zip tie the hose to a cleat to keep it in place. It’s also necessary to add alligator clamps to a few feet of additional wire you’ll want to tie-on to the wires that come rigged on it out of the package. That way you’ll have plenty of wire length to quickly clamp the portable bilge power wires to your battery posts in a time of need, without worrying that it’s a constant drain on your batteries when things are dry.

Don’t go alone

Nobody should fish huge waters like St. Clair alone if possible, and certainly not rookies. Furthermore, adding a companion to the back of deck of your rookie adventure adds false security. The best idea is to take on such waters with another boat of buddies nearby.

“Don’t go to a place like St. Clair alone. Run in packs. Form a small armada. The expansive flats and open water allow you to drift within sight of one another easily without crowding. In practice, Brock Mosley and Luke Palmer and I all sort of raked an area together, it will help you find fish faster, and it’s a whole lot safer than being out there alone,” says Rivet.

What to throw

Preparing your boat for safety is more important than stressing about tackle. Mother nature can be uncertain and cruel, but the fishing on St. Clair is actually relatively simple. Three or four lures will help you catch a huge percentage of the super sized smallmouth that swim there.

“You need a tube, a jerkbait, a drop shot, and a crankbait that will run about 16 feet deep,” says Rivet. “I like a ½ ounce weight in my tubes most days, but a ¾ if it’s super windy. I throw ¼ and 3/8 ounce weights on my dropshots, and a lot of guys throw a Strike King 6XD or a Rapala DT10, but my favorite is a deep diver from Blackjack Lures,” says Rivet.

“I can’t stress enough how you need to take a little extra time to add a bilge pump, and make sure you’re auto bilge pumps are working. I missed my chance to fish in my first Bassmaster Classic. An extra bilge pump may have saved that chance, but mostly, I just feel so fortunate that I lived to fish another day,” concludes Rivet in deeply grateful fashion.

by AnglersChannel

The "Year-Round" Bait

Team Tournament Blogger - Luke Estel

How many times have you flipped a jig into a piece of cover, shook it a couple of times, and then reeled it back in? Then only to see a bass trying to grab it as you reeled in your cast. The light bulb should start flashing and then when it’s time to pick up a swim jig. The swim jig is one of the most unutilized baits out on the market today and when in fact it should be a staple for every tournament fisherman. The unique thing about a swim jig is that it can emulate three different forages that bass love. A shad, a bluegill, or a crawfish. This one bait can be thrown all year round with great success. Since fall is fast approaching we will start with that. Fall is the time of year when the shad start to concentrate and move into the backs of pockets. This is when I have a Smokey Shad colored swim jig tied on paired with a Ztoo or a blade minnow. I can pitch or cast this bait around any type of structure and work the bait back. There are several cadences you can use but generally a jerk, jerk, pause, and reel cadence works as well as any. It is more subtle than a spinnerbait or a bladed jig which can appeal to bass, especially on pressured lakes. Spring time is no different except I switch to a white swim jig. If I want to slow the fall down, I simply replace the Blade Minnow with a white Rage Craw.

If you are getting bites on a bladed jig but are not connecting, then a swim jig will get the job done. Summer time is when I have either a bluegill or crawfish colored swim jig tied on. I look for grassy areas and work it through the grass popping it and letting it fall. I typically use 17lb fluorocarbon and a 7’3” medium/heavy fast action rod. I want a little give in the tip yet have enough backbone to get the fish out, especially around heavy cover. Obviously the lake dictates your colors but a white, a bluegill/craw, and a shad color are all you will need. It is a year round bait that can help you fill your limit and even get that kicker fish. I have one tied on at all times and have witnessed firsthand how deadly a swim jig can be. As the bass and the forage transition into a fall pattern this year, make sure you have a swim jig ready.

Strike King Pro Luke Estel from Carbondale Illinois Fishes the BASS Opens, Is an AnglersChoice Classic Champion and an all around great guy and fisherman as well as accomplished writer.

by AnglersChannel

"Challenge Accepted"

Vance McCullough

Major League Fishing Pro Brandon Coulter is hitting his stride in a tournament fishing format that still throws many of the sport’s best for a loop. They all seem to enjoy it, but it is a challenging way to compete: minimal practice, a ticking clock, and constant knowledge of how well you’re doing. Or not.

An athlete through and through, Coulter is not one to shy away from a challenge. In fact, he has an MLF Challenge Select Championship on his resume.

When he invited me to join him for what we knew would be a sporting effort to get a few topwater bites under record late September heat in the mountains of East Tennessee, I jumped at the opportunity. Oh, did I mention that Coulter has the hook-up with a beef jerky company?

“That’s the worst lake in Tennessee,” said another angler about our choice. Perfect. Challenge accepted.

Worst conditions on the worst lake in the region? I’m in. All we need now is some fishing gear with the lucky number 13 on it and we’re set for a day that would make a monk cuss.

Then again, it helps to have friends. Kenny Needham, owner of Crocket Creek Jerky met us at the boat ramp and rode along. We leaned on his knowledge of the lake, which will remain unnamed in this story as a nod of consideration to the locals who fish it – hey, the rest of us have nearby Chickamauga, Tellico, Watts Bar, the latter two are coming on strong as grass continues to grow in those reservoirs.

Coulter glides his Falcon boat into a pocket off the upper end of the main lake and immediately goes to work with a Trash Panda popping frog. It’s white. He expertly skips it into likely looking hidey holes beneath snaggy branches that lean far and low over the water and obscure the shoreline.

One such cast is appropriately rewarded. Coulter is tickled with the fish’s tenacity, if not its size.

Action slows and Coulter switches to a walking version of the Trash Panda. He’s betting on black now. “Color does matter, but I’m more concerned with contrast. Sometimes they can see a white, or light-colored bait against the sky better and sometimes they can see a dark one better,” says Coulter, noting that the skunk stripe on this black bait comes to a white spot on the lure’s nose. “That bright white spot makes it easier to keep track of.”

Coulter catches another feisty little bass. “The white spot disappeared so I set the hook,” laughs the affable pro. So far, the frog fish have been small.

As he ends a retrieve near the boat a big fish craters the surface at the edge of a sparsely matted grass bed. A swing-and-a-miss has Coulter shaking his head. “That was a big one!”

The pro fishes his way around the pocket and Needham suggests we visit another stretch of water where a friend of his caught 45 bass five days prior.

At first blush the pocket is identical to the others we’ve explored, except bigger. The water carries a light stain amid countless clumps of topped out grass in depths of no more than three feet.

“Most people wouldn’t think bass would be so shallow in 90-degree water,” says Coulter. But he’s found an exception, “We’re close to the upstream dam. The water up here is coming from the bottom of the next lake so not only is there a little current in this area, the water is much cooler. Fifteen degrees cooler than down the lake. While that’s a good deal, something people often miss is the fact that the temperature in these backwaters is somewhat cooler but it’s still closer to what the fish have become acclimated to and that extremely cool water coming down from the dam can push them off the main lake and back into these pockets where the temperature stays more moderate and not to either extreme.”

While the presence of grass doesn’t hurt, these bass are not hunkered beneath it hiding from the sun. We see them cruising between the clumps in the cool clear shallows. It’s a classic Goldilocks situation – not too hot, not too cool, just right.

So why aren’t fish crushing the frog? Sometimes you can’t explain; you just change. Coulter has been thinking out loud about switching to a worm for a while. Needham dives deep into the rear storage bin and comes up with a pack of 13 Fishing Joy Sticks. “This bait has a body segment shaped like a stickbait but it also has a tail designed to move water. It can be fished a lot of ways,” says Coulter.

The way he goes about fishing the Joy Stick on this trip is to rig it on a very light tungsten slip sinker with a swimbait hook that has a big gap. As he makes his first cast, we talk about the importance of decision making in the sport of tournament bass fishing and consider whether he just made a good choice. Coulter buzzes the bait over and around grass clumps.

A school of carp scatters in all directions and suddenly the worm gets blasted. Coulter kills the retrieve and the fish gets all of the worm. Coulter gets the fish. It’s the biggest of the day so far.

At this point Coulter has forced three frog catches and a near miss, for my camera, but we realize the worm is the way to go. Not only is it producing fast action, it is catching bigger fish than the three different frogs he has tried, which may seem a bit counter intuitive to most anglers.

Plus, the worm is versatile. “With this set up I can drop the bait on them if they short strike it,” notes Coulter. He encourages me to put down the camera and fish with him. We crushed them. For the next 45 minutes fish swatted, missed and came back for the swimming worm when we killed the retrieve. I caught a limit and a kicker. Most of them bit twice. Slowing down was not the ticket. They weren’t interested. Only a surface-bulging retrieve would trigger a response even though the fish were just playing with their food. Until it dropped right on their nose. The change in speed and direction was key. It’s a lot like the old tactic of locating bass with a buzzbait and then throwing back on them with a worm or stickbait when they miss except in this case, you have both lures at once and your bite-to-catch ratio soars.

The big girl was laid up in a foot of water. A small but rowdy worm piqued her curiosity without spooking her. In a spray of water, she missed at first but fell for the worm when it fell from the surface. I cranked the big reel handle, appreciating its length and the control it gave me during the fight. There was no doubt who was in charge of this situation. The outfit was also flexible enough to throw a nearly weightless worm long and accurate.

Bonus for MLF fans: I never committed a fish landing violation. Nor did Coulter. None of our fish hit the carpet. That’s good because as fast as they were biting, I’d hate to have to penalize myself for two minutes of that action.

Challenge conquered. Not only did Coulter provoke a few topwater bites for my camera, but a limit of bass for himself and the camera man. And all the beef jerky we could eat.

by AnglersChannel

WARREN WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT AT GRAND LAKE PRESENTED BY T-H MARINE

Second-Year Pro Earns First Career FLW Series Victory – and $77,175

GROVE, Okla. (Oct. 5, 2019) – After starting the day in third place, pro Curt Warren of Rose, Oklahoma, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces, to vault to the top of the leaderboard and win the three-day Costa FLW Series at Grand Lake presented by T-H Marine.

Warren’s three-day total of 13 bass weighing 46 pounds, 7 ounces was enough to earn him the victory by a 1-pound, 6-ounce margin over second-place pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Oklahoma, and earn him the top prize of $77,175, including a brand new Ranger Z518L boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard. The tournament was the third and final regular-season tournament of the year for anglers competing in the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division.

“I didn’t have a whole lot of boat pressure around me, because I think that I was fishing much deeper than most,” said Warren, who had one previous win on Grand Lake – a Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament in 2017. “I wasn’t really doing anything special. I was just fishing from mid-lake to the dam, fishing fall transition stuff – big chunk rock and fresh green brush.”

Warren said he did most of his damage this week throwing a Bass X ¾-ounce football jig (kicker craw), with a Netbait Paca Chunk (green-pumpkin) or Strike King Rage Craw (watermelon candy), although he did mix in a Zoom Brush Hog Saturday. He also caught two suspended fish on a ½-ounce shad-colored spinnerbait that he brought to the scale.

“I only had four fish on each of the first two days – although I lost a 2½- to 3-pounder Thursday – but today I caught five and I probably lost another five,” Warren said. “I’d been catching a few early and a few later in the day. Today, it was nothing early and then from 1:30 on I caught everything that I weighed.

“I think the key to my win was my equipment and gear,” Warren went on to say. “I was fishing a Falcon Rods Expert Series ‘Amistad’ Extra Heavy rod and it is really an ideal rod for the football jigs that I like to use. My line was just as important – I was throwing 22-pound-test Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon. With it, I can feel anything.”

The top 10 pros on Grand Lake finished:

1^st: Curt Warren, Rose, Okla., 13 bass, 46-7, $77,175

2^nd: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 15 bass, 45-1, $12,027

3^rd: Toby Hartsell, Afton, Okla., 15 bass, 41-15, $9,085

4^th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., 15 bass, 40-5, $7,571

5^th: Cody Bird, Granbury, Texas, 13 bass, 39-6, $6,814

6^th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 36-5, $6,057

7^th: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., 14 bass, 35-13, $5,300

8^th: Lance Crawford, Broken Bow, Okla., 11 bass, 31-5, $4,542

9^th: Allen Head, Pryor, Okla., 11 bass, 31-4, $3,785

10^th: Paul Heavener, Tulsa, Okla., 12 bass, 28-7, $3,028

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Christie caught the largest bass of the tournament Thursday on a buzzbait, weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and earning him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $192.

Steven Meador of Bentonville, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 11 bass weighing 27 pounds, 15 ounces. For his win, Meador took home the top prize package of a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor, worth $27,100 and a $5,000 Ranger Cup contingency bonus.

The top 10 co-anglers on Grand Lake finished:

1^st: Steven Meador, Bentonville, Ark., 11 bass, 27-15, $27,100 + $5,000 Ranger Cup

2^nd: Richard Champagne, Bentonville, Ark., 11 bass, 27-5, $4,031

3^rd: Alan Quick, Springfield, Mo., eight bass, 22-9, $3,185

4^th: Calan Cameron, Coppell, Texas, eight bass, 20-8, $2,787

5^th: Robin Babb, Tulsa, Okla., seven bass, 19-13 $2,439

6^th: Mason Roach, Conroe, Texas, 11 bass, 19-11, $1,991

7^th: Tony Thompson, New Braunfels, Texas, nine bass, 18-11, $1,593

8^th: Johnny Burke, Bristow, Okla., nine bass, 17-5, $1,393

9^th: Travis Pattilllo, Zavalla, Texas, five bass, 16-9, $1,322

10^th: Jayce Garrison, Conroe, Texas, seven bass, 14-11, $995

Pattillo caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 6 ounces. He earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $128.

The Costa FLW Series on Grand Lake presented by T-H Marine was hosted by the City of Grove. It was the third and final tournament in the 2019 regular season for Southwestern Division anglers. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will also be the Central Division finale, the Costa FLW Series at Table Rock Lake presented by Evinrude, held Oct. 10-12 in Osage Beach, Missouri. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

Sportsmans Product Spotlight - Bryan Thrift talks Fall Fishing, Topwater and PLine

by AnglersChannel

FREEDOM HIGH SCHOOL WINS BASS PRO SHOPS FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING CALIFORNIA DELTA OPEN

STOCKTON, Calif. (Sept. 30, 2019) – The Freedom High School duo of Tyler Hurney and Justin Hurney, both of Oakley, California, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Sunday weighing 16 pounds, 12 ounces to win the 2019 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing California Delta Open.

A field of 59 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from Buckley Cove in Stockton, Calif. In FLW and The Bass Federation (TBF) High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.

The top five teams on the California Delta that advanced to the 2020 High School Fishing National Championship were:

1st: Freedom High School, Oakley, Calif. – Tyler Hurney and Justin Hurney, both of Oakley, Calif., five bass, 16-12

2nd: Anzar High School, San Juan Bautista, Calif. – Clay Capilla, San Jose, Calif., and Michael Alaga, Aromas, Calif., five bass, 16-3

3rd: Delta Teen Team – Ivan Lazarin, Concord, Calif., and Peter Khoury, Walnut Creek, Calif., five bass, 14-6

4th: Vista Del Lago High School, Folsom, Calif. – Brennon Sharp and Michael Musket, both of Folsom, Calif., five bass, 12-7

5th: Lodi High School, Lodi, Calif. – Nathan Sherbondy, Acampo, Calif., and Bret Luiz, Lodi, Calif., five bass, 12-5

Rounding out the top 10 teams were:

6th: Grizzly Bass Masters – Lucas Gerondakis, Garden Valley, Calif., and Jon Loya, Georgetown, Calif., five bass, 11-1

7th: Roosevelt High School, Fresno, Calif. – Chee Moua Vang and Keith Yang, both of Fresno, Calif., five bass, 10-8

8th: Vista Del Lago High School, Folsom, Calif. – Kyle Hara, Folsom, Calif., and Jack Thompson, El Dorado Hills, Calif., five bass, 9-10

9th: Lodi High School, Lodi, Calif. – Cole Koenig, Woodbridge, Calif., and Jake Fritz, Lodi, Calif, five bass, 9-1

10th: Heritage High School, Brentwood, Calif. – Drew Ziemann, Clayton, Calif., and Hunter Holguin, Brentwood, Calif., five bass, 8-14

Complete results from the event can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The 2019 Bass Pro Shops FLW High School Fishing California Delta Open was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 7-12, open to any Student Angler Federation (SAF) affiliated high school club in the United States. The top 10 percent of each Challenge, Open, and state championship field will advance to the 2020 High School Fishing National Championship on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The High School Fishing national champions will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship to the school of their choice.

Full schedules and the latest announcements are available at HighSchoolFishing.org and FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

SACRAMENTO STATE UNIVERSITY WINS YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING TOURNAMENT ON CALIFORNIA DELTA

BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. (Sept. 30, 2019) – The Sacramento State University duo of Ilya Guryanov of West Sacramento and Will Karnthong, of Antioch, California, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event on the California Delta presented by Bass Pro Shops with a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces. The victory earned the Hornets’ bass club $2,000 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.

“I’m a local, so I’ve spent a lot of time on the Delta and we definitely put in our practice time for this one,” said Karnthong, a freshman majoring in construction management. “We mainly stayed around the Central Delta – I had 10 to 15 spots where I knew we could catch fish. The name of the game for us was just covering a lot of water, then slowing down in the high-percentage areas.”

“We tried our best to find the big fish punching the grass – and we caught six – but those were all little guys,” said Guryanov, a sophomore majoring in nursing. “Our big fish came on a ChatterBait. We caught around 20 fish, but it was a slow day and we had to just grind it out.”

The duo’s main bait of choice was a green-pumpkin-colored Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer – Karnthong with a Z-Man Super Shad trailer and Guryanov with a Yamamoto Zeko trailer. They used a Big Texan-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver when punching.

“Being a local was a huge advantage for us, because we had more water to fish,” Karnthong went on to say. “A lot of teams were covering water and running and gunning, but I had pre-fished a lot and was able to go from spot to spot knowing that the fish were there, instead of looking for them.”

The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:

1^st: Sacramento State University – Ilya Guryanov, West Sacramento, Calif., and Will Karnthong, Antioch, Calif., five bass, 15-7, $2,000

2^nd: Sacramento State University – Aaron Nguyen, Discovery Bay, Calif., and Christopher Orgon, Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 13-2, $1,000

3^rd: New Mexico State University – Ty Faulconer, Santa Clarita, Calif., and Daylon Smith, Frazier Park, Calif., five bass, 12-4, $900

4^th: Chico State University – Tyler Bounds, Chico, Calif., and Miles Kaneko, Berkeley, Calif., five bass, 11-12, $700

5^th: Oregon State University – Biagio Capp, Discovery Bay, Calif., and Thomas Robinson, Blythe, Calif., five bass, 10-6, $750

6^th: University of California-Merced – Kalib Caples, Sebastopol, Calif., and Herbie LeBlanc, Merced, Calif., five bass, 10-4

7^th: Washington State University – Madden Tobeck, Eatonville, Wash., and Nathan Baespflug, Sumner, Wash., five bass, 10-2

8^th: Chico State University – Joshua Cutler, Hollister, Calif., and Chad Sweitzer, Sonora, Calif., five bass, 10-1

9^th: California State University-East Bay – Yuan Liu, Fremont, Calif., and Zane Kazaka, Clearlake, Calif., five bass, 9-9

10^th: Simpson University – Ryan Beaty, Martinez, Calif., and Nathan Phillips, Kelseyville, Calif., five bass, 9-5

Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.

The YETI FLW College Fishing event on the California Delta presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by Russo’s Marina and the Sugar Barge RV Resort. It was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournament for Western Conference anglers. The next event for FLW College Fishing anglers will be a Central conference event – the YETI FLW College Fishing tournament on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bass Pro Shops, Oct. 18 in Osage Beach, Missouri.

YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. All participants must be registered, full-time students at a college, university or community college and members of a college fishing club that is recognized by their school. The top 10 teams from each division’s three regular-season tournaments and the top 20 teams from the annual FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship, scheduled for Feb. 26-28 on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Leesburg, Florida. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow YETI FLW College Fishing on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

by AnglersChannel

TURNER WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON LAKE LANIER

Macon’s Williams Wins Co-angler Division

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Sept. 30, 2019) – Boater Brock Turner of Jasper, Georgia, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 33 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division super-tournament on Lake Lanier Sunday. Turner earned $8,266 for his efforts.

“I was mainly fishing fresh bushes and humps in 15- to 25-feet-of-water,” said Turner, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I fished mainly on the south end, and I caught around 10 to 15 keepers a day.”

Turner weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 2 ounces on Day One to end the day in 14^th place. Although he was more than 4 pounds behind day one leader Kelly Bagley, Turner knew that the weather forecast for day two would have him in contention for the win.

“The first day the cloud cover hurt me, but the second day the clouds went away and they bit like they were supposed to,” Turner said. “We’ve been catching them good that way since July. The bite was much better at the end of the day, on both days. I just had to have patience.”

Turner said he caught his fish on four main baits – a scrounger jig with a Zoom Super Fluke, a Fish Head Spin with a Zoom Super Fluke, a spoon and a spybait. His weigh-in limits consisted of nine spotted bass and one largemouth.

“I caught a surprise largemouth out deep on the second day,” Turner said. “It was a 3½-pounder, and just happened to be in the same spot that I caught my biggest spotted bass – a 5-pounder – on day one.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Brock Turner, Jasper, Ga., 10 bass, 33-7, $6,266 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd: Rob Jordan, Flowery Branch, Ga., 10 bass, 32-6, $3,033

3^rd: Trent Palmer, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 32-3, $2,124

4^th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 10 bass, 30-14, $1,415

5^th: David Nichol, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 29-10, $2,045

6^th: Jordan Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 10 bass, 29-3, $1,112

7^th: Brad Wiley, Alto, Ga., 10 bass, 27-14, $1,011

8^th: Jason Johnson, Dawsonville, Ga., 10 bass, 27-9, $910

9^th: Grant Kelly, Milledgeville, Ga., 10 bass, 26-12, $809

10^th: Chad Spiva, Jasper, Ga., 10 bass, 25-14, $708

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Nichol caught a 5-pound, 1-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $832.

Conery Williams of Macon, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,971 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Conery Williams, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 20-10, $2,971

2^nd: Deron Burdette, Fayetteville, Ga., six bass, 18-3, $1,686

3^rd: Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., eight bass, 17-12, $1,039

4^th: Dax Liner, Mineral Bluff, Ga., nine bass, 15-12, $693

5^th: Devereaux Adams, Powder Springs, Ga., eight bass, 14-15, $594

6^th: Jeffrey Payne, Danville, Ga., six bass, 14-9, $695

7^th: Ben Smith, Lula, Ga., eight bass, 14-8, $495

8^th: Wesley Wilson, Cornelia, Ga., eight bass, 14-6, $446

9^th: Preston Pullman, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 13-4, $797

10^th: Robert Holliday, Greensboro, Ga., six bass, 13-2, $347

Pullman caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $401.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division super-tournament on Lake Lanier was hosted by the Gainesville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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 Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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.

by AnglersChannel

BATEMAN WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON OHIO RIVER AT TANNERS CREEK

Dillsboro’s Liming Wins Co-angler Division

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (Sept. 30, 2019) – Boater Scott Bateman of Jasper, Indiana, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 12 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division super-tournament on the Ohio River at Tanners Creek Sunday. Bateman earned $4,718 for the victory.

“The first day I ran 30-some miles, fishing inside creeks,” said Bateman, who earned his second career victory in BFL competition. “I was mainly pitching soft-plastics and throwing crankbaits around wood.

“On the second day, I stayed in Tanners Creek – near the launch site – and did the exact same thing, throwing a crankbait and pitching plastics. I caught 11 fish over the two days – six on the first day, five on the second – and I lost several more.”

Bateman was the only angler to weigh in a five-bass limit on both days of competition. His crankbait of choice was a Strike King KVD 1.5 (sexy shad) and he pitched green-pumpkin-colored tubes and creature baits.

“I caught six on the crankbait and five on the plastics,” Bateman went on to say. “I think the key was that I was covering more water and fishing very fast.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Scott Bateman, Jasper, Ind., 10 bass, 12-13, $4,718

2^nd: Bryce Kalen, Greenwood, Ind., eight bass, 12-0, $2,234

3^rd: Thomas Foster, Terre Haute, Ind., seven bass, 11-13, $1,423

4^th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., nine bass, 11-12, $996

5^th: Brandon Houston, Burlington, Ky., eight bass, 10-6, $854

6^th: Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, six bass, 9-8, $783

7^th: Ken Garbe, Wyoming, Ohio, seven bass, 8-7, $711

8^th: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., six bass, 8-6, $640

9^th: Pete Justice, Sharonville, Ohio, four bass, 8-0, $569

10^th: Mark Bouchie, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 7-5, $985

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Bouchie caught a 3-pound, 11-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $487.

Dillsboro, Indiana’s Brian Liming won the Co-angler Division and $2,134 Sunday after catching a two-day total of seven bass weighing 11 pounds, 14 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Brian Liming, Dillsboro, Ind., seven bass, 11-14, $2,134

2^nd: Jim Krider, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 7-7, $1,067

3^rd: Brant Gish, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 5-8, $712

4^th: Adam Boyce, Glenview, Ill., two bass, 5-5, $742

5^th: Collin Hillen, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 4-14, $427

6^th: John Young, Franklin, Ind., three bass, 4-13, $391

7^th: Austin Thome, Oxford, Ohio, four bass, 4-5, $706

8^th: Jeffery Johnson, Austin, Ind., four bass, 4-5, $470

9^th: Roy Lester, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 4-3, $285

10^th: Billy French, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 3-8, $249

Boyce caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $244.

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 Lake presented by Evinrude in Buchanan, Tennessee. 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.

by AnglersChannel

STRACNER WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON LAKE EUFAULA

Abbeville’s Hillman Wins Co-angler Division

EUFAULA, Ala. (Sept. 30, 2019) – Boater Josh Stracner of Vandiver, Alabama, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 35 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division super-tournament on Lake Eufaula Sunday. Stracner earned $6,694 for his efforts.

“It was really tough fishing, but I actually caught some fish out deeper than I thought I was going to catch them,” said Stracner, who earned his fifth career win in BFL competition and locked up the Bama Division Angler of the Year points title. “I caught them pretty deep – which you usually don’t this time of year – but it was the only way I could get a bite. Some of the places had brush and some of it was natural timber, and I was catching them from 15 to 25 feet deep.”

For baits, Stracner kept things pretty simple. A Strike King 6XD crankbait and Zoom Magnum Trick Worm did most of the work for him over the two days. The biggest key to his win was running new water and doing his homework ahead of time.

“I put in the time and I spent the weekend before this tournament doing nothing but idling, and I’ve really got to credit my Humminbird Helix electronics,” continued Stracner. “I spent a lot of time idling trying to look for fish. I got one good bite on Friday before the event, and I spent the rest of the day looking for more of it. I really think that’s what won it for me.”

Though Stracner’s game plan was solid, the tournament nearly slipped through his fingers. In a game where lost fish usually haunt an angler, Stracner was fortunate this time that things all worked out.

“They actually bit a little better and earlier on Sunday, it was just poor execution on my part. The first fish I hung was a 4½-pounder, and it came up and jumped and came off. I lost another good one about an hour later and I really thought I had blown it. I was fortunate to have just enough.

“I went [to Eufaula] to just try and fish and win the Angler of the Year title,” Stracner went on to say. “I was leading coming into the tournament and I just wanted to go catch a decent limit and not worry about my finish too much, but I wound up doing better than I thought.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., 10 bass, 35-12, $6,694

2^nd: Ryan Ingram, Phenix City, Ala., 10 bass, 34-5, $2,441

3^rd: Shane Powell, Dothan, Ala., 10 bass, 32-7, $1,562

4^th: Casey O’Donnell, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-2, $1,092

5^th: Wesley Rushing, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 29-9, $936

6^th: Jeff Kitchens, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 28-11, $858

7^th: Mark Stillwell, Salem, Ala., 10 bass, 28-7, $780

8^th: Terry Tucker, Gadsen, Ala., 10 bass, 27-1, $702

9^th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 26-15, $624

10^th: Jeff Cannon, Douglasville, Ga., 10 bass, 26-10, $546

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Stracner caught a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $562.

Abbeville, Alabama’s Curtis Hillman won the Co-angler Division and $2,402 Sunday after catching a two-day total of seven bass weighing 27 pounds, 12 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Curtis Hillman, Abbeville, Ala., seven bass, 27-12, $2,402

2^nd: Mark Hebert, Lineville, Ala., nine bass, 25-10, $1,081

3^rd: Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., 10 bass, 22-6, $723

4^th: Daniel Buswell Jr., Fayetteville, Ga., seven bass, 22-0, $505

5^th: Robert Hays, Elmore, Ala., nine bass, 21-11, $432

6^th: Thomas Robbins, Jackson, S.C., nine bass, 18-10, $596

7^th: Mike Grose, Salem, Ala., nine bass, 17-1, $410

8^th: Lew Moore, Roanoke, Ala., five bass, 15-5, $324

9^th: William Jackson, Sharpsburg, Ga., five bass, 12-1, $288

10^th: Emory Walden, Newnan, Ga., six bass, 10-4, $252

Hillman also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $240.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division super-tournament on Lake Eufaula was hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.

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 Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury Marine in Guntersville, Alabama. 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.

by AnglersChannel

LEWELLEN WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON PICKWICK LAKE

Tennessee’s Swords Wins Co-angler Division

IUKA, Miss. (Sept. 30, 2019) – Boater Kyle Lewellen of Byhalia, Mississippi, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 34 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division super-tournament on Pickwick Lake Sunday. Lewellen earned $5,690 for his efforts.

Catching a solid bag on day one and the biggest bag of the tournament on day two, Lewellen spent most of his time below the Natchez Trace with a Carolina rig in his hand.

“Saturday we had better conditions. We had a little bit of wind – I fished a bit faster – and I did employ a jig and a flipping jig,” said Lewellen, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I did fish deep a little bit, but I think I only weighed one fish from a ledge. But, I employed the Carolina rig both days.”

Fishing a Carolina rig with a Zoom Brush Hog, a ¾-ounce weight and a 4½-foot leader, the Mississippi angler reckons he hit about nine or ten spots each day.

“It was isolated grass in 6 to 12 foot, pretty much targeting the hard spots in between grass clumps,” said Lewellen. “Once the sun got up the fish seemed to hang out on the outside in the deep, isolated clumps. I could catch them on the flippin’ jig, but the Carolina rig could cover more water and it seemed to do a little better.”

Lewellen says that the fishing was actually better on day one, but that didn’t stop him from moving up the leaderboard on day two.

“They ate better on day one – I had three fish just swallow it,” said Lewellen. “I probably caught 15 keepers on day one and probably 20 on day two. Day two I felt better. We took away a lot of boats, and I could run where I wanted to and get on different spots. That was really the key, it opened up a lot of water.”

Lewellen has finished in the top six three times in September BFL events on Pickwick, but he finally sealed the deal this time.

“I knew I was set up to where I could win, but I killed myself trying to catch one more big one,” said Lewellen. “I thought I needed one more to solidify it. But, after I went through my rotation I realized Sunday was a worse day for fishing. We had bluebird skies and not a ripple on the water, so I knew that was really going to hurt the shallow guys. I felt better about it throughout the day.

“It feels good,” said Lewellen of his win. “It’s a long time coming, and it does feel great.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Kyle Lewellen, Byhalia, Miss., 10 bass, 34-5, $5,690

2^nd: Roger Stegall, Iuka, Miss., 10 bass, 31-3, $2,845

3^rd: Michael Wooley, Booneville, Miss., 10 bass, 31-0, $2,097

4^th: Jade Keeton, Florence, Ala., 10 bass, 30-15, $1,428

5^th: Mark Willins, Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-14, $1,138

6^th: Chris Smalley, Middleton, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-5, $1,043

7^th: Nathan Martin, Sheffield, Ala., 10 bass, 29-13, $1,940

8^th: Jim Little, Corinth, Miss., 10 bass, 29-4, $853

9^th: Sam Moody, Athens, Ala., 10 bass, 29-2, $759

10^th: Brandon Perkins, Counce, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-12, $664

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Martin caught a 7-pound, 5-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $742.

Collierville, Tennessee’s John Swords won the Co-angler Division and $2,664 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: John Swords, Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-2, $2,664

2^nd: Anthony Rasberry, New Albany, Miss., 10 bass, 24-0, $1,532

3^rd: Daniel Corkern, Florence, Miss., nine bass, 22-5, $1,089

4^th: Yu Han, Memphis, Tenn., nine bass, 21-4, $622

5^th: Cody Swinford, Ripley, Miss., 10 bass, 21-3, $533

6^th: Sank Payton, Bay Springs, Miss., seven bass, 17-11, $488

7^th: Ron Creasy, Florence, Ala., eight bass, 17-10, $444

8^th: Joey Tanner, Meridian, Miss., six bass, 17-1, $500

9^th: Phil Burnett, Selmer, Tenn., four bass, 13-10, $355

10^th: Andrew Brown, Gordo, Ala., six bass, 13-8, $311

Ryan Lecompte of Picayune, Mississippi, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $341.

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 Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury Marine in Guntersville, Alabama. 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.

by AnglersChannel

BRADFORD BEAVERS WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON LAKE HARTWELL

Polmaria’s McGlohorn Wins Co-angler Division

ANDERSON, S.C. (Sept. 30, 2019) – FLW Tour pro Bradford Beavers of Summerville, South Carolina, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 28 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division super-tournament on Lake Hartwell Sunday. Beavers earned $6,345 for his efforts.

“I was hitting six or seven different areas on the lower end of the lake, just looking for schooling fish that were chasing blueback herring,” said Beavers, a three-time FLW Cup qualifier with more than a quarter of a million dollars in career earnings. “I’m not real familiar with Hartwell, so I don’t know the exact names of the areas I was fishing, but I caught around 10 fish each day.

“It was definitely a timing deal,” Beavers continued. “It was really tough to predict when the bait were coming through, but when we hit it right we really caught them. I just rotated through the spots and waited to get lucky when they were feeding.”

Beavers said that he caught 90% of his fish on a walking topwater bait, but he also added a couple drop-shotting a 6-inch straight tail worm.

“I caught a 5-pounder on the final day with three minutes to go that pretty much won me the tournament,” Beavers went on to say. “That turned out to be the key, for me. I finally got a big one.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 28-1, $4,345 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd: John Duarte, Middle River, Md., 10 bass, 27-10, $1,972

3^rd: Andy Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., 10 bass, 27-9, $1,297

4^th: Deron Johnson, Anderson, S.C., 10 bass, 27-4, $734

5^th: Eddie Whiten Jr., Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 24-5, $629

6^th: Taylor Ashley, Warrior, Ala., 10 bass, 22-8, $577

7^th: Brandt Tumberg, Moore, S.C., 10 bass, 22-2, $524

8^th: Ron Brown, Cross, S.C., 10 bass, 19-13, $622

9^th: Robbie Harrelson, Moncks Corner, S.C., five bass, 10-12

10^th: Matt Redd, Belton, S.C., five bass, 10-10

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Duarte caught a 4-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $300.

Daniel McGlohorn of Polmaria, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,772 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Daniel McGlohorn, Polmaria, S.C., 10 bass, 18-15, $1,772

2^nd: Jeremy Montgomery, Overland Park, Kan., 10 bass, 18-9, $936

3^rd: Brandon Lawson, Union, S.C., eight bass, 17-5, $575

4^th: Mike Jackson, Mount Airy, Ga., six bass, 15-1, $367

5^th: Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 14-12, $314

6^th: Stewart Uldrick, Anderson, S.C., 10 bass, 14-11, $288

7^th: Zack Ross, Charleston, S.C., eight bass, 14-3, $262

8^th: Harold Addison II, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 8-7, $336

9^th: Kevin Henderson, Honea Path, S.C., five bass, 7-14

10^th: Brennan Gunther, Mount Pleasant, S.C., five bass, 7-11

Calvin Clatterbuck of Conway, South Carolina, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 4 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $150.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division super-tournament on Lake Hartwell was hosted by the Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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 the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. 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.

by AnglersChannel

The Paths to the Pro's or no?

This week the boys welcome in former BASS Opens Pro and AC Tournament Team Blogger Luke Estel to gets Luke's take on the 2020 Opens Schedule and to discuss the future of Pro Fishing with the success rates and popularity of local and statewide Team Tournaments.

by AnglersChannel

Canterbury Locks Up Toyota Bassmaster Angler Of The Year Title On Lake St. Clair

Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala., was crowned the 2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year with 848 points.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

October 1, 2019

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As a child, Scott Canterbury always spent his Saturday mornings watching The Bassmasters television program.

To him, the stars of that show — people like Bob Cobb, Ray Scott and Denny Brauer — are the true legends of professional bass fishing.

Now, he has forever claimed his own spot alongside them in B.A.S.S. history.

With five bass that weighed 19 pounds, 12 ounces during Tuesday’s final round, Canterbury pushed his three-day total to 59-4 and finished in 14th place for the week at the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Lake St. Clair.

More importantly, he finished at the top of the season points standings with 848 points, earning one of the most coveted titles in professional fishing and the $100,000 check that goes with it.

“My first goal coming into the season was to qualify for the Bassmaster Classic next year,” Canterbury said. “Angler of the Year is always there on the radar. It’s just way out there.

“You always set goals that you don’t think you can reach — because if they’re easy to reach, you didn’t set them high enough.”

Canterbury was faced with his share of hurdles throughout the year, but he always seemed to have just enough in his tank to clear them.

After a tough first day at the regular-season opener on the St. Johns River in Florida, he rebounded with a ninth-place finish. From there, he placed 11th at Georgia’s Lake Lanier, 22nd at South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell and finished just 10 ounces shy of a victory during a second-place finish at Winyah Bay.

Then he had the kind of tournament that often sinks a competitor’s bid for the AOY crown, placing 49th at Lake Fork. But he followed it with a solid 22nd-place finish on Lake Guntersville in his home state of Alabama, and wowed fishing fans across the country by finishing third and 11th, respectively, in New York events at the St. Lawrence River and Cayuga Lake.

Before those New York events, he had never fished either lake

“I went into those events just hoping to survive,” he said. “But I ended up doing really well. I think that’s the way it happens sometimes in this sport. We deal with so many things that are completely beyond our control. If you just keep fishing hard, your day will come.”

Canterbury was thrown another curveball when the final regular-season Elite Series event that was scheduled for Fort Gibson Lake in Oklahoma had to be moved to Lake Tenkiller due to flood conditions. Again, he survived, finding two small offshore schools of smallmouth that landed him in 19th place.

Things beyond his control struck again Sunday, as he was forced to fish the entire first round without the use of depthfinders on the front of his boat. Canterbury still caught almost 18 pounds and managed to hold off hard charges from Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock (840 points), Canadian Cory Johnston (840) and Texas pro Chris Zaldain (838).

Canterbury caught the majority of his bass for the week on a tube.

“That first day was such a challenge, and it could have caused me to fall apart,” he said. “But I managed to get through that and then used that tube to catch just enough fish to get by.

“It was anything but an easy tournament.”

The AOY Championship featured a total purse of $1 million, including the $100,000 that went to the season points winner and the $25,000 that went to the angler with the heaviest three-day weight for the week. The latter honor was claimed by Minnesota pro Seth Feider.

Feider found a gigantic school of smallmouth on a flat with substantial current, and used a Rapala DT-10 crankbait in the Helsinki shad pattern to catch a three-day weight of 77-15. It was his second career Bassmaster Elite Series victory.

“It was basically just a flat with scattered rocks and sand, so I think the current was the biggest thing,” Feider said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before on Lake St. Clair.

“That DT-10 ran just the right depth. I was fishing 11 to 12 feet of water, and I don’t like hitting the bottom for smallies.”

One race that had already been decided before Tuesday’s round began was DICK’s Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year. That award went to Florida pro Drew Cook, who finished with 798 ROY points despite finishing just 36th for the week.

The tournament also decided the 42 Elite Series anglers who will fish the 2020 Bassmaster Classic, scheduled for March 6-8 on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.

The last three anglers to make the Top 42 cut were Skylar Hamilton, Brian Snowden and Jake Whitaker. The first three out were Garrett Paquette, Clark Wendlandt and Kelley Jaye.

Feider claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week honors with the 6-12 smallmouth he caught on Day 1.

But the big story of the event was Canterbury and his AOY crown.

“I think about my wife, Dixie, and my daughter, Taylor,” Canterbury said. “I think about all of those days and weeks I’ve had to spend on the road away from them, and I can’t help but get emotional over this.

“As pro fishermen, this is why we do what we do.”

2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship 9/29-10/1
Lake St. Clair, Harrison Township  MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Seth Feider            New Market, MN          15  77-15  100  $61,500.00
  Day 1: 5   26-12     Day 2: 5   24-13     Day 3: 5   26-06   
2.  Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR              15  71-07   99  $55,000.00
  Day 1: 5   24-12     Day 2: 5   24-07     Day 3: 5   22-04   
3.  Clark Wendlandt        Leander, TX             15  66-10   98  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-14     Day 2: 5   23-14     Day 3: 5   23-14   
4.  Cliff Prince           Palatka, FL             15  66-00   97  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   21-03     Day 2: 5   22-00     Day 3: 5   22-13   
5.  Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT           15  65-11   96  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   22-06     Day 2: 5   23-02     Day 3: 5   20-03   
6.  Shane LeHew            Catawba, NC             15  64-14   95  $28,000.00
  Day 1: 5   22-00     Day 2: 5   21-11     Day 3: 5   21-03   
7.  Mike Huff              Corbin, KY              15  64-06   94  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-01     Day 2: 5   23-05     Day 3: 5   23-00   
8.  Cory Johnston          Cavan CANADA            15  63-02   93  $45,000.00
  Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 5   21-00     Day 3: 5   22-11   
9.  Hunter Shryock         Newcomerstown, OH       15  62-14   92  $20,000.00
  Day 1: 5   21-08     Day 2: 5   18-09     Day 3: 5   22-13   
10. Matt Arey              Shelby, NC              15  62-12   91  $26,000.00
  Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 5   22-13     Day 3: 5   20-08   
11. Skylar Hamilton        Dandridge, TN           15  62-12   90  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   21-13     Day 2: 5   18-06     Day 3: 5   22-09   
12. Micah Frazier          Newnan, GA              15  61-09   89  $22,000.00
  Day 1: 5   20-06     Day 2: 5   19-13     Day 3: 5   21-06   
13. Jeff Gustafson         Keewatin Ontario CANADA 15  59-08   88  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   16-04     Day 2: 5   19-14     Day 3: 5   23-06   
14. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL           15  59-04   87 $100,000.00
  Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   21-13     Day 3: 5   19-12   
15. Chris Zaldain          Fort Worth, TX          15  59-04   86  $40,000.00
  Day 1: 5   20-12     Day 2: 5   19-10     Day 3: 5   18-14   
16. Brandon Lester         Fayetteville, TN        15  59-04   85  $30,000.00
  Day 1: 5   20-08     Day 2: 5   20-10     Day 3: 5   18-02   
17. Caleb Sumrall          New Iberia, LA          15  59-01   84  $14,000.00
  Day 1: 5   20-08     Day 2: 5   19-10     Day 3: 5   18-15   
18. Jason Williamson       Wagener, SC             15  58-14   83  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   17-13     Day 2: 5   20-05     Day 3: 5   20-12   
19. Keith Combs            Huntington, TX          15  58-13   82  $24,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-04     Day 2: 5   19-09     Day 3: 5   21-00   
20. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN           15  58-00   81  $20,000.00
  Day 1: 5   16-00     Day 2: 5   18-07     Day 3: 5   23-09   
21. Ed Loughran III        Richmond, VA            15  57-06   80  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   18-14     Day 3: 5   20-08   
22. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY             15  57-04   79  $14,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   19-10     Day 3: 5   19-10   
23. Todd Auten             Lake Wylie, SC          15  56-11   78  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   20-14     Day 2: 5   18-07     Day 3: 5   17-06   
24. Jake Whitaker          Fairview, NC            15  56-02   77  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   21-08     Day 2: 5   15-12     Day 3: 5   18-14   
25. Jamie Hartman          Newport, NY             15  53-15   76  $20,000.00
  Day 1: 5   12-09     Day 2: 5   24-01     Day 3: 5   17-05   
26. Chad Morgenthaler      Reeds Spring, MO        15  52-13   75  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   12-01     Day 2: 5   21-06     Day 3: 5   19-06   
27. Lee Livesay            Gladewater, TX          15  52-00   74  $21,000.00
  Day 1: 5   16-15     Day 2: 5   18-00     Day 3: 5   17-01   
28. Clent Davis            Montevallo, AL          15  51-02   73  $14,000.00
  Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   14-02     Day 3: 5   23-04   
29. Luke Palmer            Coalgate, OK            13  50-11   72  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 3   14-05     Day 2: 5   19-03     Day 3: 5   17-03   
30. Kelley Jaye            Dadeville, AL           14  50-07   71  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 4   10-01     Day 2: 5   21-01     Day 3: 5   19-05   
31. Patrick Walters        Summerville, SC         15  50-04   70  $20,000.00
  Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   20-09     Day 3: 5   14-06   
32. Jay Yelas              Lincoln City, OR        15  50-03   69  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   19-08     Day 3: 5   15-07   
33. Drew Benton            Panama City, FL         15  49-13   68  $27,000.00
  Day 1: 5   13-13     Day 2: 5   20-00     Day 3: 5   16-00   
34. Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC           15  49-02   67  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   15-09     Day 3: 5   18-00   
35. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC          13  48-08   66  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 3   11-03     Day 2: 5   20-11     Day 3: 5   16-10   
36. Drew Cook              Midway, FL              12  46-14   65  $39,000.00
  Day 1: 2   07-10     Day 2: 5   19-04     Day 3: 5   20-00   
37. Chad Pipkens           Lansing, MI             13  46-14   64  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 3   11-12     Day 2: 5   20-00     Day 3: 5   15-02   
38. Chris Johnston         Peterborough Ontario CA 15  46-08   63  $23,000.00
  Day 1: 5   11-07     Day 2: 5   20-03     Day 3: 5   14-14   
39. Clifford Pirch         Payson, AZ              12  45-07   62  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 2   05-13     Day 2: 5   19-05     Day 3: 5   20-05   
40. Derek Hudnall          Baton Rouge, LA         12  43-11   61  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   24-12     Day 2: 3   10-08     Day 3: 4   08-07   
41. Matt Herren            Ashville, AL            11  43-08   60  $20,000.00
  Day 1: 1   04-02     Day 2: 5   19-08     Day 3: 5   19-14   
42. Brock Mosley           Collinsville, MS        15  43-04   59  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   13-14     Day 3: 5   14-02   
43. John Crews Jr          Salem, VA               15  42-07   58  $14,000.00
  Day 1: 5   12-04     Day 2: 5   13-10     Day 3: 5   16-09   
44. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA            13  41-05   57  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 3   09-12     Day 2: 5   16-06     Day 3: 5   15-03   
45. Brandon Card           Knoxville, TN           12  39-09   56  $14,000.00
  Day 1: 5   18-06     Day 2: 5   16-11     Day 3: 2   04-08   
46. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN          12  35-10   55  $25,000.00
  Day 1: 2   04-02     Day 2: 5   18-15     Day 3: 5   12-09   
47. Brian Snowden          Reeds Spring, MO        12  34-12   54  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 5   11-04     Day 2: 5   17-04     Day 3: 2   06-04   
48. Garrett Paquette       Canton, MI               8  29-10   53  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 3   09-11     Day 2: 2   09-07     Day 3: 3   10-08   
49. Greg DiPalma           Millville, NJ            8  29-07   52  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   17-14     Day 3: 3   11-09   
50. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX              7  20-09   51  $11,000.00
  Day 1: 1   01-14     Day 2: 3   10-00     Day 3: 3   08-11

by AnglersChannel

Canterbury Regains AOY Lead With Nice Day 2 Rebound At Lake St. Clair

Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Ala., is leading the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 846 points after two days of competition.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Scott Canterbury began this week’s Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Lake St. Clair with a nine-point lead in the season standings.

He wobbled a bit during Sunday’s opening round due to technical problems and fell briefly into third place. But after a nice rebound Monday, the crown is once again his to lose.

Canterbury, a Bassmaster Elite Series newcomer from Odenville, Ala., caught five bass Monday that weighed 21 pounds, 13 ounces and pushed his two-day total to 39-8. That places him in 16th place for the week, but restores him to a slim lead in the AOY Championship season standings with a total of 846 points.

With one day left to fish, Texas pro Chris Zaldain (842) is in second, followed by Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock (840), Canadian Cory Johnston (838) and Brandon Lester (814) of Tennessee.

“Yesterday was a real a struggle for me, but I rebounded today,” said Canterbury, who fished all day Sunday without the use of depthfinders on the front of his boat. “After yesterday, I felt like I needed to catch 20 pounds each of these last two days. I got 21 pounds today, and I’ll still like my chances if I can catch 20 more pounds tomorrow.

“I said coming in if I could get around that 57-pound mark — that’s 19 pounds a day — I’d have a chance. I’m a little ahead of that pace right now.”

Canterbury, who has led the AOY race since early summer, had once hoped just to survive the Elite Series’ New York swing — which was fair, considering he’d never fished the St. Lawrence River or Cayuga Lake. He did better than that, finishing third and 11th in the two events, respectively.

Then Canterbury was thrown a curveball when the final regular-season Elite Series event was moved from Oklahoma’s Fort Gibson Lake to Lake Tenkiller, which was virtually unknown to the entire 75-angler Elite Series field. He struggled at times on Tenkiller, but managed a 19th-place finish that allowed him to maintain the AOY lead.

Electronics issues Sunday were his latest hurdle, but he’s still on top — thanks to the big smallmouth bass at St. Clair and lots of patience.

“I’m not getting a lot of bites,” said Canterbury, who quipped that he caught his best fish between takeoff and 3:30 p.m. “It’s not like it has been before when I’ve been here in June and you’re around a whole bunch of big ones.

“I’m having to move around a bunch and catch one here and one there.”

That scenario leaves Canterbury little margin for error with Zaldain nipping at his heels. The California native, who now lives in Texas, weighed in 19-10 Monday to push his two-day total to 40-6.

Zaldain is in 11th place for the week and well within striking distance of Canterbury for one of the most prestigious titles in fishing.

“I had a 6-pounder today, but the other four were below my standards for this lake — and certainly for what you need to win AOY,” Zaldain said. “The wind is really going to change directions, and that’ll open up a couple of different patterns for me tomorrow.”

That could bring a major change of strategy for Zaldain during Tuesday’s final round.

“Where I caught that 6-pounder today, I lost another big one at the end of the day,” said Zaldain. “But as for tomorrow? Who knows?

“Things can change so quickly on this lake, and you have to change with them.”

In addition to the AOY season points title, which pays $100,000 to the winner and a total purse of $1 million to the full field of 50 qualified anglers, the competitor with the heaviest weight for the week will earn $25,000.

Minnesota pro Seth Feider maintained the lead in that race Monday, catching 24-13 and pushing his two-day weight to 51-9. He leads Blaylock (49-3) by almost 2 1/2 pounds.

“I’m fishing the biggest school of fish I’ve ever found on St. Clair,” Feider said. “Usually if you get in a good spot, you’ll catch one every 20 to 30 minutes, but this place has been unreal. I ended up breaking my plug off because I had two 4-pounders on one cast.

“I’ve never seen anything like that on St. Clair.”

The 6-12 smallmouth Feider caught on Day 1 is still leading the race for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week.

The tournament — and the Bassmaster Elite Series season — will conclude Tuesday, with a full field taking off at 7:10 a.m. ET from Lake St. Clair MetroPark. The weigh-in will be held back at the park at 3:30 p

2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship 9/29-10/1
Lake St. Clair, Harrison Township  MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Seth Feider            New Market, MN          10  51-09  100
  Day 1: 5   26-12     Day 2: 5   24-13   
2.  Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR              10  49-03   99
  Day 1: 5   24-12     Day 2: 5   24-07   
3.  Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT           10  45-08   98
  Day 1: 5   22-06     Day 2: 5   23-02   
4.  Shane LeHew            Catawba, NC             10  43-11   97
  Day 1: 5   22-00     Day 2: 5   21-11   
5.  Cliff Prince           Palatka, FL             10  43-03   96
  Day 1: 5   21-03     Day 2: 5   22-00   
6.  Clark Wendlandt        Leander, TX             10  42-12   95
  Day 1: 5   18-14     Day 2: 5   23-14   
7.  Matt Arey              Shelby, NC              10  42-04   94
  Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 5   22-13   
8.  Mike Huff              Corbin, KY              10  41-06   93
  Day 1: 5   18-01     Day 2: 5   23-05   
9.  Brandon Lester         Fayetteville, TN        10  41-02   92
  Day 1: 5   20-08     Day 2: 5   20-10   
10. Cory Johnston          Cavan CANADA            10  40-07   91
  Day 1: 5   19-07     Day 2: 5   21-00   
11. Chris Zaldain          Fort Worth, TX          10  40-06   90
  Day 1: 5   20-12     Day 2: 5   19-10   
12. Skylar Hamilton        Dandridge, TN           10  40-03   89
  Day 1: 5   21-13     Day 2: 5   18-06   
13. Micah Frazier          Newnan, GA              10  40-03   88
  Day 1: 5   20-06     Day 2: 5   19-13   
14. Caleb Sumrall          New Iberia, LA          10  40-02   87
  Day 1: 5   20-08     Day 2: 5   19-10   
15. Hunter Shryock         Newcomerstown, OH       10  40-01   86
  Day 1: 5   21-08     Day 2: 5   18-09   
16. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL           10  39-08   85
  Day 1: 5   17-11     Day 2: 5   21-13   
17. Todd Auten             Lake Wylie, SC          10  39-05   84
  Day 1: 5   20-14     Day 2: 5   18-07   
18. Jason Williamson       Wagener, SC             10  38-02   83
  Day 1: 5   17-13     Day 2: 5   20-05   
19. Keith Combs            Huntington, TX          10  37-13   82
  Day 1: 5   18-04     Day 2: 5   19-09   
20. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY             10  37-10   81
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   19-10   
21. Jake Whitaker          Fairview, NC            10  37-04   80
  Day 1: 5   21-08     Day 2: 5   15-12   
22. Ed Loughran III        Richmond, VA            10  36-14   79
  Day 1: 5   18-00     Day 2: 5   18-14   
23. Jamie Hartman          Newport, NY             10  36-10   78
  Day 1: 5   12-09     Day 2: 5   24-01   
24. Jeff Gustafson         Keewatin Ontario CANADA 10  36-02   77
  Day 1: 5   16-04     Day 2: 5   19-14   
25. Patrick Walters        Summerville, SC         10  35-14   76
  Day 1: 5   15-05     Day 2: 5   20-09   
26. Derek Hudnall          Baton Rouge, LA          8  35-04   75
  Day 1: 5   24-12     Day 2: 3   10-08   
27. Brandon Card           Knoxville, TN           10  35-01   74
  Day 1: 5   18-06     Day 2: 5   16-11   
28. Lee Livesay            Gladewater, TX          10  34-15   73
  Day 1: 5   16-15     Day 2: 5   18-00   
29. Jay Yelas              Lincoln City, OR        10  34-12   72
  Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   19-08   
30. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN           10  34-07   71
  Day 1: 5   16-00     Day 2: 5   18-07   
31. Drew Benton            Panama City, FL         10  33-13   70
  Day 1: 5   13-13     Day 2: 5   20-00   
32. Luke Palmer            Coalgate, OK             8  33-08   69
  Day 1: 3   14-05     Day 2: 5   19-03   
33. Chad Morgenthaler      Reeds Spring, MO        10  33-07   68
  Day 1: 5   12-01     Day 2: 5   21-06   
34. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC           8  31-14   67
  Day 1: 3   11-03     Day 2: 5   20-11   
35. Chad Pipkens           Lansing, MI              8  31-12   66
  Day 1: 3   11-12     Day 2: 5   20-00   
36. Chris Johnston         Peterborough Ontario CA 10  31-10   65
  Day 1: 5   11-07     Day 2: 5   20-03   
37. Kelley Jaye            Dadeville, AL            9  31-02   64
  Day 1: 4   10-01     Day 2: 5   21-01   
38. Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC           10  31-02   63
  Day 1: 5   15-09     Day 2: 5   15-09   
39. Brock Mosley           Collinsville, MS        10  29-02   62
  Day 1: 5   15-04     Day 2: 5   13-14   
40. Brian Snowden          Reeds Spring, MO        10  28-08   61
  Day 1: 5   11-04     Day 2: 5   17-04   
41. Clent Davis            Montevallo, AL          10  27-14   60
  Day 1: 5   13-12     Day 2: 5   14-02   
42. Drew Cook              Midway, FL               7  26-14   59
  Day 1: 2   07-10     Day 2: 5   19-04   
43. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA             8  26-02   58
  Day 1: 3   09-12     Day 2: 5   16-06   
44. John Crews Jr          Salem, VA               10  25-14   57
  Day 1: 5   12-04     Day 2: 5   13-10   
45. Clifford Pirch         Payson, AZ               7  25-02   56
  Day 1: 2   05-13     Day 2: 5   19-05   
46. Matt Herren            Ashville, AL             6  23-10   55
  Day 1: 1   04-02     Day 2: 5   19-08   
47. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN           7  23-01   54
  Day 1: 2   04-02     Day 2: 5   18-15   
48. Garrett Paquette       Canton, MI               5  19-02   53
  Day 1: 3   09-11     Day 2: 2   09-07   
49. Greg DiPalma           Millville, NJ            5  17-14   52
  Day 1: 0   00-00     Day 2: 5   17-14   
50. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX              4  11-14   51
  Day 1: 1   01-14     Day 2: 3   10-00

by AnglersChannel

Arey’s 3 Tips on Drifting for Smallmouth

Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

Team Toyota’s Matt Arey is one of 50 Elite Series anglers who have been braving the inland ocean of Lake St. Clair that serves as the playing field for the Toyota Angler of the Year Championship this week.

High winds, big waves, and drifts have been a consistent talking point throughout practice for the anglers and that theme has continued today for day number one of competition. Arey is sitting in great position to qualify for his 1st ever Bassmaster Classic next March and graciously offered three tips on drifting for smallmouth bass.

1. Use your electronics but don’t rely on them

The first tip Arey offered is to avoid using electronics to find fish, specifically on featureless fisheries Lake St Clair. That doesn’t mean Arey ignores his graphs altogether, he just uses them to scan the bottom for grass as opposed to individual bass.

“On Lake St Clair I’m looking for clean, sandy bottom areas around scattered grass,” Arey explained. “This week the ideal depth for me has been 14 to 20-feet of water and I want to see patches of grass mixed in with areas of clean bottom. After you find the right type of cover, it comes down to getting on the trolling motor and fishing to find out what lives there.”

The time of the year and water temperature dictates what depth range Arey spends the majority of his time in, but scattered grass and sand has been a key in every trip he’s made to the “sixth Great Lake”.

When the wind is howling and the waves are rolling like they have this week, Arey would rather spend his time casting in opportune locations as opposed to looking at his electronics.

2. Have a search bait and a clean up bait

Once Arey has found a potential area he employs both reactionary-type search baits and a “clean up” presentationthroughout his drifts.

“I like to start my drifts with a search bait like a crankbaitor swimbait to cover as much water as possible,” Arey said. “Smallmouth are sight feeders and will often come a long ways to eat a lure, especially if the sun is shining. If I’m struggling to get fish to commit to a moving bait I will go back through an area with a tube jig or a dropshot to mop up any fish I missed.”

The weather conditions play a big role in what kind of presentation Arey uses while making these long drifts. High winds throughout the entirety of practice for the 2019 Toyota Angler of the Year Championship led to a search bait being key for Arey; simply because it’s difficult to feel subtle bites with a bottom bait while bouncing in big waves.

“When I get a bite or catch a bass with a crankbait or a jerkbait I’ll quickly drop a waypoint on my graph,” Areysaid. “Truth be told finding smallmouth can be kind of random on St. Clair, but they definitely group up in little wads. The hope is you can run back to those waypoints and catch several fish in a small area. Dragging a dropshot or tube is ideal in this scenario if the conditions allow.”

3. Be conscious of drift speeds

One last tip Arey gave specific to drifting for bass is to pay very close attention to how fast, or how slow your boat is moving.

“Drift speed is super key on Lake St. Clair,” Arey admitted. “The wind and the current changes your speed depending on the conditions and where you are fishing, but a 1mph change can be a big difference. Be conscious of that.”

Arey explained it is hard to consistently slow a drift down using only a trolling motor, but drift socks or Power Pole Drift Paddles are excellent tools for controlling the speed of a drift. Judging by the weather report this week, Arey may need to use both if he is to have any kind of control over the ever-present wind.

by AnglersChannel

Zaldain Moves Into AOY Lead With Solid Day On Lake St. Clair

Chris Zaldain of Fort Worth, Texas is leading the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings after weighing 20 pounds, 12 ounces on Day 1 of competition.

Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.

September 29, 2019

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship is actually several competitions in one.

But the biggest one by far will decide the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race — and for the moment, Chris Zaldain has moved into that big-picture lead.

The California native turned Texas resident caught 20 pounds, 12 ounces Sunday and moved from second place in the AOY standings into first with 842 points. Arkansas pro Stetson Blaylock (840) is just two points back, followed by Alabamian Scott Canterbury (838), Canadian Cory Johnston (833) and Tennessee pro Brandon Lester (811).

Zaldain said things didn’t go as he expected, but he was more than satisfied with the results.

“I caught two 5-pounders on what I thought was my worst spot,” said Zaldain, who finished 13th or higher in six of the nine regular-season Elite Series events this year. “Then on my best spot — out in 17 to 19 feet — I only caught one 3 1/2-pounder.

“That’s telling me things are changing a lot, and you’ve gotta stay on your toes.”

Blaylock came into the event fourth in the AOY race, but moved up after catching five smallmouth that weighed 24-12. Canterbury, who held a nine-point AOY lead coming into the event, had mechanical problems and caught only 17-11, causing him to slip into third.

Canterbury was forced to fish all day Sunday without the use of depthfinders on the front of his boat.

“It was brutal all day long,” he said. “I walked to the back about 93 times just to see the console graphs. You don’t know how deep it is. You don’t know if there’s grass.

“It was a little bit of an aggravating day. But I actually had a little more weight than I thought, so I may have survived. I’ve just got to catch them these next two days.”

In addition to the AOY Championship trophy, a blue Elite Series trophy and $25,000 will be awarded to the angler from 50 qualifiers who can weigh the biggest three-day catch this week.

Minnesota angler Seth Feider took the lead in that competition during Sunday’s opening round with five giant smallmouth that weighed 26-12. He is 2 pounds ahead of Blaylock in the race for the weekly crown.

Feider said all of his weight came off a spot he hadn’t fished on St. Clair in five years.

“There’s this one buoy right on the river channel that’s kind of a community place,” Feider said. “I was rolling up there and the waves were crashing in really hard. So, I just sort of stopped short and made one cast with a Rapala DT-10 (crankbait) and caught a big one.

“I caught them every cast for 20 to 30 minutes.”

Feider’s bag included a 6-12 smallmouth that took the lead for Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the week. But with conditions expected to change Monday, he said he doesn’t think the community hole is likely to produce again.

“I’ll probably give it a try for a minute,” he said. “But with the winds shifting, I should be able to get to the place I want to fish on the South end. There would have been 5- to 6-foot waves down there today with the way it was blowing.”

The one race that was decided Sunday was for DICK’S Sporting Goods Rookie of the Year. Florida pro Drew Cook held a big lead in that competition coming into this week and secured the title with a 4-pounder just after 8 a.m. He only caught one fish the rest of the day and sits in 45th place for the tournament.

But he was happy about the new shining mark on his resume.

“It’s incredibly special this year, with this group of rookies,” Cook said. “All of these guys — Patrick Walters, Garrett Paquette, Lee Livesay — those will be household names for years to come.

“Obviously, it means something winning Rookie of the Year now. But later on down the road, to be able to say I won Rookie of the Year against guys who went on to become the new greats of fishing — that’ll be incredible.”

Since the AOY Championship will determine the final AOY standings, it will also decide which 42 Elite Series anglers earn berths into the 2020 Bassmaster Classic scheduled for March 6-8 on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.

After Sunday’s round, Louisiana’s Derek Hudnall is in the 42nd spot — the last angler in the Classic — because of the 24-12 bag he caught that tied him for second with Blaylock in the tournament.

A Classic berth would be especially sweet for Hudnall, who fished only eight regular-season Elite Series events after being disqualified from a midseason tournament at Lake Hartwell. He was ruled ineligible for that event because he accidentally violated the off-limits rule and self-reported the violation.

“I haven’t done the math or tried to figure out where I need to finish to make it — and I’m not going to do that,” Hudnall said. “I’m just going to fish as hard as I can, and this is a good start.”

The tournament will resume Monday, with a full field taking off at 7:10 a.m. ET off from Lake St. Clair MetroPark. The weigh-in will be held back at the park at 3:30 p.m.

2019 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship 9/26-9/29
Lake St. Clair, Harrison Township  MI.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1

   Angler                   Hometown              No./lbs-oz  Pts   Total $$$

1.  Seth Feider            New Market, MN           5  26-12  100
  Day 1: 5   26-12   
2.  Stetson Blaylock       Benton, AR               5  24-12   99
  Day 1: 5   24-12   
2.  Derek Hudnall          Baton Rouge, LA          5  24-12   99
  Day 1: 5   24-12   
4.  Paul Mueller           Naugatuck, CT            5  22-06   97
  Day 1: 5   22-06   
5.  Shane LeHew            Catawba, NC              5  22-00   96
  Day 1: 5   22-00   
6.  Skylar Hamilton        Dandridge, TN            5  21-13   95
  Day 1: 5   21-13   
7.  Hunter Shryock         Newcomerstown, OH        5  21-08   94
  Day 1: 5   21-08   
7.  Jake Whitaker          Fairview, NC             5  21-08   94
  Day 1: 5   21-08   
9.  Cliff Prince           Palatka, FL              5  21-03   92
  Day 1: 5   21-03   
10. Todd Auten             Lake Wylie, SC           5  20-14   91
  Day 1: 5   20-14   
11. Chris Zaldain          Fort Worth, TX           5  20-12   90
  Day 1: 5   20-12   
12. Brandon Lester         Fayetteville, TN         5  20-08   89
  Day 1: 5   20-08   
12. Caleb Sumrall          New Iberia, LA           5  20-08   89
  Day 1: 5   20-08   
14. Micah Frazier          Newnan, GA               5  20-06   87
  Day 1: 5   20-06   
15. Matt Arey              Shelby, NC               5  19-07   86
  Day 1: 5   19-07   
15. Cory Johnston          Cavan CANADA             5  19-07   86
  Day 1: 5   19-07   
17. Clark Wendlandt        Leander, TX              5  18-14   84
  Day 1: 5   18-14   
18. Brandon Card           Knoxville, TN            5  18-06   83
  Day 1: 5   18-06   
19. Keith Combs            Huntington, TX           5  18-04   82
  Day 1: 5   18-04   
20. Mike Huff              Corbin, KY               5  18-01   81
  Day 1: 5   18-01   
21. Ed Loughran III        Richmond, VA             5  18-00   80
  Day 1: 5   18-00   
21. Mark Menendez          Paducah, KY              5  18-00   80
  Day 1: 5   18-00   
23. Jason Williamson       Wagener, SC              5  17-13   78
  Day 1: 5   17-13   
24. Scott Canterbury       Odenville, AL            5  17-11   77
  Day 1: 5   17-11   
25. Lee Livesay            Gladewater, TX           5  16-15   76
  Day 1: 5   16-15   
26. Jeff Gustafson         Keewatin Ontario CANADA  5  16-04   75
  Day 1: 5   16-04   
27. David Mullins          Mt Carmel, TN            5  16-00   74
  Day 1: 5   16-00   
28. Brandon Cobb           Greenwood, SC            5  15-09   73
  Day 1: 5   15-09   
29. Patrick Walters        Summerville, SC          5  15-05   72
  Day 1: 5   15-05   
30. Brock Mosley           Collinsville, MS         5  15-04   71
  Day 1: 5   15-04   
30. Jay Yelas              Lincoln City, OR         5  15-04   71
  Day 1: 5   15-04   
32. Luke Palmer            Coalgate, OK             3  14-05   69
  Day 1: 3   14-05   
33. Drew Benton            Panama City, FL          5  13-13   68
  Day 1: 5   13-13   
34. Clent Davis            Montevallo, AL           5  13-12   67
  Day 1: 5   13-12   
35. Jamie Hartman          Newport, NY              5  12-09   66
  Day 1: 5   12-09   
36. John Crews Jr          Salem, VA                5  12-04   65
  Day 1: 5   12-04   
37. Chad Morgenthaler      Reeds Spring, MO         5  12-01   64
  Day 1: 5   12-01   
38. Chad Pipkens           Lansing, MI              3  11-12   63
  Day 1: 3   11-12   
39. Chris Johnston         Peterborough Ontario CA  5  11-07   62
  Day 1: 5   11-07   
40. Brian Snowden          Reeds Spring, MO         5  11-04   61
  Day 1: 5   11-04   
41. Hank Cherry Jr         Lincolnton, NC           3  11-03   60
  Day 1: 3   11-03   
42. Kelley Jaye            Dadeville, AL            4  10-01   59
  Day 1: 4   10-01   
43. Tyler Rivet            Raceland, LA             3  09-12   58
  Day 1: 3   09-12   
44. Garrett Paquette       Canton, MI               3  09-11   57
  Day 1: 3   09-11   
45. Drew Cook              Midway, FL               2  07-10   56
  Day 1: 2   07-10   
46. Clifford Pirch         Payson, AZ               2  05-13   55
  Day 1: 2   05-13   
47. Bill Lowen             Brookville, IN           2  04-02   54
  Day 1: 2   04-02   
48. Matt Herren            Ashville, AL             1  04-02   53
  Day 1: 1   04-02   
49. Ray Hanselman Jr       Del Rio, TX              1  01-14   52
  Day 1: 1   01-14   
50. Greg DiPalma           Millville, NJ            0  00-00    0
  Day 1: 0   00-00

by AnglersChannel

FLW ANNOUNCES KENTUCKY LAKE AS VENUE FOR 2019 BFL WILD CARD TOURNAMENT

BENTON, Ky. (Sept. 29, 2019) – Fishing League Worldwide, the world’s largest tournament fishing organization, announced Sunday that the 2019 T-H Marine BFL Wild Card tournament will take place on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, Nov. 8-9. The two-day event, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, will launch from the Kentucky Dam Marina in Gilbertsville.

In order to be eligible to fish the no-entry-fee BFL Wild Card, anglers must have entered all five events within a BFL division during the 2019 season and fished at least two of them. In addition, anglers who fish in a regular BFL regional tournament are ineligible.

“We’re extremely excited to bring one of our favorite events of the year – the BFL Wild Card – to FLW’s home waters of Kentucky Lake,” said Daniel Fennel, BFL Director of Tournament Operations. “The lake has faced some challenges over the past few years, but we are starting to see some very positive changes due to the efforts to combat Asian carp. We are seeing a lot of short fish and baitfish for the first time in a few years. At a recent two-day BFL super-tournament we saw a 16-pound limit and a 7-pound, 2-ounce big bass. I expect we’ll see quite a few quality fish caught, and the anglers will have a competitive tournament.”

Anglers will take off from the Kentucky Dam Marina, located at 466 Marina Drive, in Gilbertsville at 7 a.m. CDT each day of competition. The weigh-ins will be held each day at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

During the BFL Wild Card, the full field competes both days, with winners determined by the heaviest two-day catch. The top six boaters and top six co-anglers will advance to the 2020 T-H Marine BFL All-American, held on Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, April 30-May 2, hosted by Visit Anderson.

An optional pot is available to anglers who elect to participate at the BFL Wild Card tournament. Entry fees for the optional pot is $300 for boaters and $150 for co-anglers, with the top 20 percent of anglers who elect to participate in the optional pot receiving checks. There will be no official practice period or off-limits period prior to the pretournament meeting for the Wild Card. No contestant may be on tournament waters for the purpose of locating bass or potential fishing waters after the start of the pretournament meeting except during tournament hours.

Entry for the BFL Wild Card is now open and runs through Thursday, November 7, 2019, at 6 p.m. CDT. You may enter by phone on or before Wednesday, November 6, at 270.252.1000. Entries on November 7 will be taken onsite at the pretournament meeting at Kentucky Dam Marina.

by AnglersChannel

WALNUT CREEK’S DYER GOES WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS COSTA FLW SERIES TOURNAMENT AT CALIFORNIA DELTA

Second-Year FLW Series Pro Earns First Career Victory – and $31,114

BETHEL ISLAND, Calif. (Sept. 28, 2019) – Pro Blake Dyer of Walnut Creek, California, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the three-day Costa FLW Series on the California Delta presented by Power-Pole.

Dyer’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds, 13 ounces was enough to earn him the victory by a 1-pound, 9-ounce margin over second-place pro Jason Borofka of Salina, California, and earn him the top prize of $31,114. The tournament was the third and final regular-season tournament of the year for anglers competing in the Costa FLW Series Western Division.

Dyer weighed in a monster 27-pound, 3-ounce limit on Day One of the tournament, catching all of his fish punching grass with a green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovations Spicy Beaver and a 1½-ounce weight. He said that most of his damage was done pretty early in the morning.

“I had what I had by about 9:45 in the morning,” Dyer said. “On the first stretch I went to, I caught two big ones. I think the biggest one was close to 7 and then another one over 5.

“I went to another little stretch not far away and, on my first cast, I caught a 5-pounder there. I went to the next stretch and caught two small fish, then I went to the backside of that spot and caught two more over 5.”

Cooler weather and steady winds forced Dyer and many others to adjust on day two. Dyer skipped one of his starting spots because the wind had blown the mat he intended to fish completely away.

“At my second spot it was blowing and I tried to punch those mats, but I just wasn’t getting through because the wind really compacts those mats,” Dyer said. “I didn’t want to waste any more time and lose the tide down in my south spot, so I ran to a tule island and caught a 2-pounder on a Senko and then booked it down south to my main spot.”

His southern area was considerably more protected, and he alternated between fishing a vibrating jig in the open areas and punching the mats.

“That spot salvaged my day,” Dyer said. “I punched one that was almost 4 pounds, I caught one that was almost 5 pounds on a ChatterBait and then filled out my limit.”

Carrying the momentum of two big catches into the final round, Dyer started day three by returning to the Central Delta Slough where he had done most of his previous work. He actually had a different starting spot on days one and two, but his best area sees a lot of waterski and wakeboard activity on the weekends, so he decided to beat the rush.

With the exception of a few locals, who graciously gave him a wide berth, Dyer had the spot to himself. Despite the week’s cold front, which cranked up winds of 15-20 mph and dropped air temperatures a good 20 degrees from day one, his fish started biting in short order — but only after a key adjustment.

“I noticed the grass was flowing the opposite direction and I was going too fast, so I gunned it to the other end of the slough, turned around and started fishing the other direction so my bait was in the current, where the fish are looking up,” Dyer said. “Fish tend to point into the current so they see what’s coming at them. If you’re going the other way, they don’t have a chance to see it.

“My first cast, I catch a 3-pounder and then 10 minutes later, I catch a 6-pounder that made all the difference and won the tournament.”

The top 10 pros on the California Delta finished:

1^st: Blake Dyer, Walnut Creek, Calif., 15 bass, 62-13, $31,114

2^nd: Jason Borofka, Salinas, Calif., 15 bass, 61-4, $13,579

3^rd: Austin Wilson, Citrus Heights, Calif., 15 bass, 57-0, $9,274

4^th: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 15 bass, 55-4, $7,728

5^th: Mike Birch, Oakley, Calif., 15 bass, 53-13, $6,956

6^th: John Pearl, Upper Lake, Calif., 15 bass, 50-5, $6,183

7^th: Michael Fong, Sacramento, Calif., 15 bass, 49-5, $5,410

8^th: Stephen Tosh Jr., Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 48-2, $5,833

9^th: Phillip Dutra, Concord, Calif., 15 bass, 47-3, $3,864

10^th: Jamond Andrews, Oakley, Calif., 15 bass, 46-1, $3,091

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Mark Daniels Jr. of Tuskegee, Alabama, weighed in a big 8-pound, 13-ounce bass Thursday – the heaviest of the tournament in the Pro Division – and also earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $196.

Jack Farage of Discovery Bay, California, won the Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 37 pounds, 2 ounces. For his win, Farage took home the top prize package of a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor, worth $27,100.

The top 10 co-anglers on the California Delta finished:

1^st: Jack Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 37-2, $27,100

2^nd: Cesar Laguna, Galt, Calif., 15 bass, 36-9, $4,194

3^rd: Travis Williams, Bethel Island, Calif., 15 bass, 35-3, $3,301

4^th: Justin Hurney, Oakley, Calif., 14 bass, 33-4, $2,845

5^th: Casey Dunn, North Highlands, Calif., 15 bass, 32-1 $2,819

6^th: Daniel Lutz, Las Vegas, Nev., 15 bass, 31-7, $2,032

7^th: Bryan Lutz, Clearlake Oaks, Calif., 15 bass, 30-5, $1,626

8^th: Blaine Christiansen, San Jose, Calif., 14 bass, 27-8, $1,423

9^th: Tony Zanotelli, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 27-8, $1,219

10^th: Claudio Silva, Riverbank, Calif., 11 bass, 23-3, $1,016

Laguna caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces. He earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $130.

The Costa FLW Series on the California Delta presented by Power-Pole was hosted by Russo’s Marina and the Sugar Barge RV Resort & Marina. It was the third and final tournament in the 2019 regular season for Western Division anglers. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will also be in the Southwestern Division, the Costa FLW Series at Grand Lake presented by T-H Marine, held Oct. 3-5 in Grove, Oklahoma. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

by AnglersChannel

Arey, Pipkens, and Lester preview St. Clair Elite Series

Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

Toyota Tundra driving pros Matt Arey, Chad Pipkens, and Brandon Lester took a break from the college football game being shown on the back of the “Tailgate Tundra” at Fan Appreciation Day to preview the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake St. Clair that kicks-off Sunday.

Q: Big musky and sturgeon swim in Lake St. Clair. What’s the biggest fish of any species you’ve caught in practice?

Arey: a 4 pound 12 ounce Smallmouth

Pipkens: a 38” Northern Pike

Lester: a 20-pound Channel Catfish on a drop shot

Q: Other than a drop shot and a plastic tube, name two lures every bass angler needs to bring to St. Clair.

Arey: a medium depth crankbait, and a jerkbait.

Pipkens: a Damiki DC 300 crankbait, and a jerkbait.

Lester: a mid depth crankbait, and a jerkbait.

Q: Bassmaster Elite Series winners here in recent years have averaged 21 pounds a day on St. Clair. Do you expect catches to be equally as awesome this year?

Arey: Yes – just about exactly that good.

Pipkens: Yes – it’ll take around 65 pounds to win this 3-day event.

Lester: Yes – at least 21 pounds a day to win for sure.

Q: This is the last Elite Series event of the 2019 season, looking back, what moment or day means the most to you?

Arey: The final day at Guntersville. But unfortunately, not in a good way. I made fish landing mistakes that let a $100,000 win slip through my hands.

Pipkens: Day 2 at Lake Fork. I was leading after Day 1, and backed it up with a 30 pound 15 ounce limit on Day 2.

Lester: Day 2 at Lake Tenkiller last week in Oklahoma. I’m really proud of the fact that in such a tough event I kept grinding to catch 13 pounds. I went from 40th place to eventually finish 11th, and jumped four places in the Toyota Angler of the Year points.

Q: What are you most looking forward to when the season ends in a few days?

Arey: Spending time with my family, and time in a treestand deer hunting.

Pipkens: Tailgating with my wife and friends at Michigan State football games.

Lester: Spending time with my wife and two daughters, and deer hunting.

by AnglersChannel

Tyler Rivet’s Rookie Season Rally

Luke Stoner - Dynamic Sponsorships

Bassmaster Elites Series rookie Tyler Rivet is hoping to end the 2019 season on a high note this week on beautiful but intimidating, Lake St. Clair. Rivet is coming into the AOY Championship in 41^st place on the Toyota Angler of the Year standings – just barely inside the cut to qualify for his 1^st Bassmaster Classic in March of 2020.

The amicable Louisiana native is much more comfortable fishing shallow water for largemouth as opposed to searching for smallmouth in the ocean-like waters of Lake St. Clair. But he knows he’ll need to hold or improve his position in the AOY points race to secure a Classic berth, which is why he is hunting smallies this week.

“I won’t lie, I’ve looked to the bank and thought about largemouth quite a few times while smashing through big waves during practice,” Rivet joked. “But I know I can’t bunt in this tournament; I have to fish to finish the highest I possibly can. I have to fish to win.”

Having his back up against the wall isn’t a new prospect for Rivet. A week ago on Lake Tenkiller, Rivet was merely hoping to qualify to fish this event. The former Carhartt College B.A.S.S. standout was in 50^th place in the AOY rankings to begin the final regular season Elite Series tournament of the year. After stumbling on day one – only brining three keeper bass to the scales – Rivet knew his chances of qualifying to compete in the AOY Championship were slim.

But Rivet came out swinging on day two and sacked up one of the biggest limits of the tournament on a fickle Lake Tenkiller, including a 5+ pound largemouth that took big bass of the day honors. Ultimately finishing the event in 18^thplace, which raised his AOY stock to 41^st place.

With his AOY Championship position locked in place, the brand new Toyota Bonus Bucks participant hopped in his Tundra to make the 20-hour trek to Michigan with dreams of giant smallmouth.

Sounds like a storybook, “buzzer beater” finish for Rivet to qualify for his first Classic and keep a childhood dream alive, right? Well it certainly was… the only problem is now he must do it again against the top 50 Elite Series anglers of the 2019 season this week. And he’ll have to do it on an unfamiliar fishery full of new challenges and opportunities.

“This is about as different from fishing in the backwater bayous of Louisiana as it can get,” Rivet said with a quick smile. “I’ve never fished on a lake like this and had never driven in waves as big as I was in yesterday. I’m talking like five or six footers. I was thanking God I was driving a Phoenix 721 Bass Boat as I was rolling through those waves.”

Rivet traded his flipping stick for a spinning rod and butt-seat on the front deck of his boat to fight the high winds, rolling waves, and hopefully plenty of big brown bass this week. While it’s not exactly his specialty, Rivet isn’t afraid to out work the water and step outside his comfort zone to chase down his dreams on Lake St. Clair.

“I actually like smallmouth fishing and believe it or not I love fishing with a dropshot,” Rivet said. “I had to learn how to fish a dropshot while fishing in college. The Carhartt College Bassmaster Series goes to diverse fisheries all over the country; being diverse and working hard were necessities in college just like they are on the Elite Series. Those qualities have served me well in the past and hopefully they’ll help me out this week, too.”

by AnglersChannel

T-H MARINE ADDS PROP STOP® TO THE PROP MASTER® PRODUCT LINE

Huntsville, AL – September 18, 2019 – T-H Marine Supplies, Inc., of Huntsville, Alabama, has added a new product to their PROP MASTER® line: the PROP MASTER® PROPELLER STOP. By design, the PROPELLER STOP, or PROP STOP® for short, makes the process of changing props significantly easier and safer. The PROP STOP® works simply by sliding it onto the cavitation plate, where it securely chocks the propeller and gently keeps the blades in place during propeller removal and installation. The prop nut can then be torqued loose or tight depending on whether the PROP STOP® is slid to the left side or right side of the cavitation plate.

“When designing the PROP STOP®, our team did an excellent job making it effective while also making sure it was simple to use and affordable, too,” said T-H Marine President and CEO, Jeff Huntley. “Whether you are an experienced mechanic or a weekend boater, the PROP STOP® is a must-have so each prop change is easier and safer.”

Following the example of the PROP MASTER® Propeller Wrench, T-H Marine made the PROP STOP® to be non-corrosive in saltwater environments and brightly colored for greater visibility. Additionally, T-H Marine builds both the Prop Master® Propeller Wrench and the PROP STOP® with quality materials that are both strong enough to get the job done and forgiving enough to reduce potential harm to your hands and your prop.

To use the PROP STOP®, T-H Marine advises consumers to turn off the ignition or disconnect the battery, position the PROP STOP® center with the propeller blade tip, slide it onto the right side of the cavitation plate for propeller removal, and slide the PROP STOP® to the left side for propeller installation.

The new and improved PROP STOP® is now available online and will also be available through a variety of retailers. With distribution and sales in full swing, boaters can expect to see increased availability and information from their choice of retailers, online stores, or directly from T-H Marine at thmarine.com/propstop.

For More Information About the PROP MASTER® PROP STOP® Propeller Chock

For additional information about the new PROP MASTER® PROP STOP® Propeller Chock and other outboard motor products, please visit us at thmarine.com/OutboardGear

by AnglersChannel

2 lures Keith Combs highly recommends for Lake St. Clair

Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

Even my retired neighbor who doesn’t fish probably knows Lake St. Clair smallmouth eat soft plastic tubes and drop shot rigs. But believe it or not, bass eat other lures on St. Clair too – including swimbaits and crankbaits, according to longtime Toyota Bonus Bucks member Keith Combs.

And look, just because Combs is best known for dredging up 40 pound limits of largemouth from legendary ponds like Lake Fork and Falcon, doesn’t mean he’s not dialed-in on how to score at St. Clair. The East Texas resident has notched two Top 5s in tour level events on the famous circular shaped fishery near Detroit.

“The Strike King 6XD is an awesome search bait on St. Clair anytime you’re in 17 to 19 feet of water. I crank it over the “short grass” growing about a foot off the bottom, and when I catch one, I drop a waypoint and just fan cast it around that waypoint,” says Combs.

Just about every small town around Lake St. Clair has a restaurant or pub that’s famous for serving up yellow perch. The locals, as well as visiting B.A.S.S. staff members, eat the tiny succulent filets with the same tenacity smallmouth gobble them whole out on the lake.

So no surprise, Combs’ favorite 6XD color is “sugar daddy” – painted to look just like a snack-sized perch. He ties it to 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon line.

Combs says halibut is actually his favorite fish to eat, and when he’s fishing a bit shallower on St. Clair, he reaches for a 3.8” Strike King Rage Swimmer on a ½ ounce Squadron head. He ties his tiny swimbaits to 15-pound line too.

“This is the lure I throw a lot on St. Clair in 12 feet of water or less. I like to let it fall almost to the bottom before I start retrieving it. It’s just super versatile,” says the 43-year-old Dallas Cowboys fan.

So if you’re headed to St. Clair, take a lesson from a highly accomplished Texan – pack some crankbaits and swimbaits to go along with your tubes and drop shots. And if you wouldn’t mind, just for the heck of it, share Combs’ advice with my retired neighbor who doesn’t fish too.

by AnglersChannel

Sportsmans Product Spotlight with Justin Lucas - Berkley Fishing

JLuc talks about the new Berkley Swing Head and New Shaky Head from Berkley Fishing and their Fusion 19 line.

by AnglersChannel

The scariest thing about Lake St. Clair

Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

According to his mom, Team Toyota’s Brandon Lester always wanted to be a clown for Halloween. “But get this, he was scared to death of clowns. We took him to the circus, sat in the front row, and when the clowns came to see him, he screamed bloody murder,” says Lester’s mom, Kim.

It’s not just clowns. Lester’s wife says he hates haunted houses too. And while huge plastic spiders don’t scare him, big waves on large bodies of water like St. Clair, Erie, and Toledo Bend rival clowns and spooky houses for the good natured pro from the Tennessee-Alabama border.

“The scariest thing about Lake St. Clair is absolutely 100-percent the wind and the big waves,” says Lester. “I’ve been a full time pro for six years, and big waves still scare the heck out of me.”

Unfortunately, practice is playing out like a bad combination of “Poltergeist” and “The Conjuring” this week on St. Clair, as winds screamed up to 30 mph from the southwest on Wednesday, and switched to 20 mph from the west on Thursday.

“I hide in the St. Clair River,” grins Lester. “It’s obviously way more protected than the main lake, and it’s a place where winning stringers of smallmouth live. Chris Lane proved that in 2013, and other guys caught ‘em good in the river too.”

Lester sits 6^th overall in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points, so he’s a lock for the 2020 Bassmaster Classic. And while it’d take a small miracle for him to steal the AOY title this week, he can pretty much just relax and fish freely with hopes of earning a slightly fatter paycheck.

When asked if he takes any extra precautions for riding big waves, Lester says he only adds extra rod straps to prevent his custom Mud Hole sticks from jumping overboard, but he doesn’t carry an extra bilge pump like some anglers do.

“I took a big wave over the bow on Toledo Bend one time that filled the boat up with water. Because down there, you pretty much have to stay in the buoyed boat lanes to avoid hitting underwater timber. So you’re really restricted on your ability to drive the direction you need to in order to avoid the big waves – and that lake can get nasty!” warns Lester.

“The thing that really frustrates me is it always seems like the guys who are daring enough to make those long runs in big waves like St. Clair and Erie, are the ones who win or do really well. And man, I just can’t make myself do that,” says Lester shaking his head.

Turkey hunting, custom rod building, beach trips with family, or a big plate of spaghetti – Lester loves that stuff. Plastic spiders are okay too. Just don’t ask him to hang out with a scary clown at a haunted house or to run his trusty Phoenix through ocean like waves.

by AnglersChannel

Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Schedule, Format Revealed For 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2019

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Next year’s tournament schedule continues to take shape, as B.A.S.S. officials announced the 2020 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens schedule on Thursday.

The schedule will once again feature four events in two divisions — Eastern and Central — with the winners of each event earning an automatic berth into the 2021 Bassmaster Classic, provided he or she has fished all four events in that division.

The Top 4 anglers from each division’s final points standings will receive an invitation to fish the 2021 Bassmaster Elite Series. But as a new addition, Elite Series invitations will also be extended to the Top 4 anglers from the cumulative standings for both divisions.

That means 12 competitors can earn a chance to pursue their dreams as Elite anglers.

“The Opens have always been about opportunity, and there are more opportunities available this year,” said B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin. “Not only do we feel like we have a great lineup of lakes in each division, we’re excited about the idea that 12 anglers could have their lives changed by finishing strongly in these events.”

The schedule for the Eastern Division will begin in Kissimmee, Fla., at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes on Jan. 15-17. Then the trail will wind its way North with trips to Cherokee Lake in Jefferson County, Tenn., on May 7-9 and Oneida Lake in Syracuse, N.Y., on Aug. 6-8.

The Eastern Division points race and the Elite Series berths that go with it will be decided at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, S.C. — site of three previous Bassmaster Classics and six major B.A.S.S. events — on Sept. 24-26.

“When you think about the Eastern Division side of the schedule — Florida in January, trips to awesome fisheries like Cherokee and Oneida where B.A.S.S. has had some great events and a finish at Hartwell, which is deeply entrenched in B.A.S.S. history — it’s hard not to be excited,” said Chris Bowes, tournament director for the Bassmaster Opens. “That’s a slate that will give anglers a chance to prove themselves — and one that fans across the country will be able to appreciate, I’m sure.”

To accommodate cooler geographic temperatures, the Central Division will begin its slate later in the year, with its season-opening event on Lewisville Lake in Lewisville, Texas, on April 9-11. Lewisville has been the site of major B.A.S.S. events only three times and hasn’t hosted an Open since 2012.

After Lewisville, the Central Division will visit Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Ala., on May 21-23, the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Okla., on June 18-20 and the giant-bass haven that is Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas, on Sept. 10-12. The City of Jasper will serve as the local host for the Sam Rayburn event.

“The Central slate offers a fantastic variety of fisheries,” Bowes said. “Lewisville is an urban fishery that’s located right outside of Dallas. Then you have Neely Henry, a classic Coosa River fishery known for big spotted bass, the Arkansas River, which offers about every kind of structure you can imagine, and a September finish at Sam Rayburn — a place we know is capable of producing 30-pound limits.”

The payout per event will be $250,400 (based on a field of 150 anglers), giving the eight-event circuit a total payout of just over $2 million. Seven of the eight tournaments on this year’s Opens schedule topped the 150-angler mark, with five easily topping 200.

As in the past, the full field will fish the first two days, with only the Top 12 pros and co-anglers advancing to the final round. All final-round weigh-ins will be held at the nearest Bass Pro Shops location, except for at the final Central Division event at Sam Rayburn.

For the first time since 2013, entry fees will increase on the Opens circuit. Pro anglers will pay $1,800 per event with an $800 deposit due up front, while co-anglers will pay $475 per event with a $200 deposit.

Entry for pro and co-angler linking will begin online Oct. 29 for B.A.S.S Nation and Life members and B.A.S.S. members Oct. 31. The Top 30 pros and co-anglers from each Opens division standings in 2019 will receive early entry, as well as current Elite Series pros and B.A.S.S. Nation Championship qualifiers. Any former Elite anglers who are interested in fishing the 2020 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens should contact Chris Bowes at cbowes@bassmaster.com before Oct. 8 for registration instructions.

“You’re talking eight events from mid-January to late September with trips to some of the best fisheries in the country,” Bowes said. “I’m sure a lot of anglers will agree with me when I say I wish it all started tomorrow.”

2020 Basspro.com Bassmaster Opens Schedule

Eastern Division:

Jan. 15-17, Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Kissimmee, Fla.

May 7-9, Cherokee Lake, Jefferson County, Tenn.

Aug. 6-8, Oneida Lake, Syracuse, N.Y.

Sept. 24-26, Lake Hartwell, Anderson, S.C.

Central Division:

April 9-11, Lewisville Lake, Lewisville, Texas

May 21-23, Neely Henry Lake, Gadsden, Ala.

June 18-20, Arkansas River, Muskogee, Okla.

Sept. 10-12, Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Jasper, Texas

by AnglersChannel

Cliff Prince on the bubble with a heavy heart

Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships

If you’re thinking about becoming a professional bass angler, you might want to talk to Palatka, Florida’s kind-hearted Cliff Prince first.

The longtime Toyota Bonus Bucks member has been a full time pro for eight years. He’s made a couple of Bassmaster Classics, and won some good money along the way. But this week on Lake St. Clair is the kind that confronts a grown man’s soul and puts tear drops atop his spinning reel as he battles non-stop 20 mph winds from sunrise till dark.

Prince is one of this week’s “bubble guys” at the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship. The projected cut to make the 2020 Bassmaster Classic is around 42nd in the Angler of the Year points – and he currently sits 40th. By his estimation, he really needs to finish 25th or better on St. Clair to make sure he earns a ticket to his third big dance.

That ain’t easy, and to put a little more pressure in the cooker, his 78-year-old dad, who battles Parkinson’s disease, is hospitalized with a fever, and fighting for his life 15 hours away in a Gainesville, Florida hospital.

“I drove from the last Elite Series event at Tenkiller, OK to Detroit. Left my truck and boat here at St. Clair, and jumped on a flight home to see Dad. But I missed a connection in Atlanta, so I rented a car and drove from Atlanta to Gainesville and spent all the time I could with him. Then I flew back up here to grab my boat and get ready for practice this week,” says Prince. “And I’m not going to lie … I cried more than once today thinking about him while I was practicing.”

Long before he took on pro angling, Prince was an accomplished regional rodeo cowboy, and this year has been as up and down as a steer-roping contest. He started the year with a strong 17th place finish on the St. Johns River in his hometown, and book-ended it with a late season Top 10 at Cayuga, NY last month. But Lake Lanier in February is the one he’d like to have back.

“I’m super frustrated that I’m on the bubble here at the end of the year. I zeroed the first day at Lake Lanier, and what makes it hurt even worse is that on the second day at Lanier I caught one of the biggest bags of the daythrowing a shallow crankbait. I should have done what I knew to do the first day, and not second guessed myself,” he laments.

Consistency will be hugely important for Prince this week on St. Clair too. In 2015 and 2017, he finished right in the middle of the pack here. And he blames it on inconsistency.

“These guys I’m competing against are too good. You can’t have a 17-pound day here. That’s a bad day on St. Clair, and it’ll kill you. You have to have 19, 20, 21 pound bags every day here. I’ve done that many times. I just haven’t done it three or four days in a row here. And that’s what it takes,” says Prince, who loves sharing life with his bride Kelley and their two children.

He wishes he could be sharing time with family this week too. But instead, he’s 1,100 miles away trying to end up on the right side of the bubble. Fighting to make his third Bassmaster Classic. Fishing through alligator tears and a boatload of emotions, all in an effort to lasso a dream and make his dad proud.

by AnglersChannel

"Fear My Heart" - Elite Series Champ Carl Jocumsen

The boys are excited to welcome in the newest Bassmaster Elite Series Champ, The "Tenkiller Killer," Carl Jocumsen to the show to talk about his win and what it means to him to capture this victory on his 35th birthday and just 2 weeks before marrying his best friend. Check it out!

by AnglersChannel

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by AnglersChannel

New HUK Coldfront IconX Performance Shirt Family

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Available in long sleeve, quarter zip and hoodie (MSRP $55/60/65)

by AnglersChannel

“Enjoy the Sunrise.”

Vance McCullough photo courtesy go FLWFishing.com

That’s Terry Bolton’s advice for anyone who wants to perform better, to perform from a place of relaxed confidence, of gratitude.

It’s the mindset that lead to a breakthrough season for the veteran FLW Tour angler who was seriously thinking 2019 might have been his last year on the Tour.

“I think it kind of seems odd for a guy who has done this for 24 years to say he’s forgotten how to have fun, but I kinda, sorta did. I took for granted a lot of things too, how lucky I’ve been to do this for so long, and I made fishing a job.

“The 2018 season, I just went through the motions. I had one of the worst years, if not the worst year, I’d ever had in my career. At the end of the season - when you don’t do well you critique everything - I didn’t really feel like I gave my best effort.

“Starting this season at the Sam Rayburn event, for some reason I had almost the mentality that ‘hey, this is probably going to be my final season and I’m going to enjoy every sunrise and sunset, everything there is about this because I got to do this for a long time’. I just kind of, I guess, relaxed more instead of being in such a hurry and a panic like I was the previous season.

“I just enjoyed things more,” Bolton summarized.

Remembering why he loved the game in the first place gave Bolton the fresh perspective he needed. “The reason we get into bass tournaments is we really enjoy it. You don’t start fishing professionally because you think you’re going to be wealthy. That’s hard to do. The reason you do it is because you love it and enjoy it. For some reason, I had lost that somewhat. This season I did a really great job of bringing that back and just having a more carefree attitude.”

Bolton has no intention of retiring from the sport any time soon. “Oh no, no. I’ve stated that I want to fish another year. I’ve ordered a new boat. I’ve started all the processes to fish the 2020 season.”

He says uncertainty and burnout are very real, very common enemies of many Tour-level anglers. “I’ve said this jokingly, but any professional fisherman that’s fished for any length of time, especially in the 15-to-20-year range, if they ever tell you they never thought about quitting, they’re lying.”

Bolton has never actually desired to leave the sport. “I think when I stated that I had considered not fishing professionally, 100,000 people came up to my wife and said, ‘you’re not gonna let him quit!’ I guess people thought that I wanted to quit. That’s not the case. I intend on fishing 2020 season next year.”

External factors a few years back caught up with Bolton and zapped a lot of his enjoyment, culminating in the unsatisfactory finish in 2018. “I don’t care what you do for a living, there are times when life gets in the way. Things are hard. I went through a divorce and my father dying all within a year about four or five years ago. I had to worry about taking care of my mother and a lot of things from the divorce and that took a lot of fun out of life.”

While Bolton says the divorce was bad enough to deal with, the loss of his father dealt a huge blow to the personal support system we all need. “The death of my father was the hardest thing. He was the person that, as soon as I weighed-in, I talked to on the phone. He was the person I talked to every day after weigh in. The years following his passing, I missed that.”

Aside from the heartache of losing his father, Bolton took on additional worries. “My mom is in good health and everything is fine, but I worry about my mom and I had a little more on my plate.

“That’s life. That’s what happens every day to thousands of people, and even worse, but that’s all just part of it.”

Bolton’s new approach this year led to some early success which, in turn, bred the confidence to continue to fish relaxed. He can count a few blessings right off the top of his head, “the 9-pounder at Rayburn I caught, the 9-pounder at Toho. I caught another, probably 7-pounder at Seminole. There were a lot of fish I caught that I shouldn’t have caught.”

Perhaps the power of positive thinking contributed just a bit more fortune in a sport where the margin between success and failure is often razor-thin. “Everybody who’s done this for a while can tell you that it can come down to one or two bites in a year as to whether or not you make the Cup, a Bassmaster Classic, whatever championship you’re fishing for. The difference between having a good year and a great year can come down to three or four bites. I had a lot of things go my way this year, some key bites and things that I know were really special, and that’s big too because I’ve been on the other end where you never get an opportunity. This year when I needed a big bite it seemed like I’d get it.

“I think I’ve finally learned to trust a little more in my ability - that I do make good decisions. I didn’t second guess myself near as much.”

Bolton points to the FLW Tour opener on Rayburn as an example of the improved decision-making that took place in his now quieter mind. “Winning the first event, knowing what I needed to do before I got to that event, knowing the lures I needed to throw in order to win and sticking to that plan even though I’d fish all day long and sometimes only find one place, one or two a day, I had the confidence to stick with it where a lot of people, if you’d have done that for four hours and not had a bite, you’d have said, ‘oh, I’m gonna go flip trees or throw a spinnerbait’. I didn’t do that.”

“I think decision-making is ultimately what decides the outcome of most tournaments,” Bolton reiterated. “This year I had a lot more faith in my decision-making.”

Bolton’s gut only led him off track for a single day across the entire tournament trail. “That was the first day of the FLW Cup at Lake Hamilton where I only weighed four fish for 6 pounds, and 3 or 4 ounces. I had gotten on such a good crankbait bite throwing a DT 10 and I got so committed to that pattern feeling that was the way to win, and Bryan Thrift did catch several of his key fish on a crankbait, so I wasn’t off base but I couldn’t make it happen and I kept forcing it. I didn’t do well the first day so the 2^nd day I called an audible and went and threw a buzzbait and caught the 2^ndor 3^rd biggest stringer of the day to go from 44^th to 19^th but that one day of me being a little too hard headed and sticking to my guns and only catching four bass might have cost me fishing the final day at the Cup. That’s the only day I can critique my decision-making this year.”

Bolton says anglers tend to perform better in practice because they are fishing the moment without strong notions of what to expect. He says we’d do well to fish with a similar mindset even under the pressures of a tournament day. “On the day they were practicing they had no clue so they let things flow a little easier and then come tournament time you try to recreate that day you had which sometimes happens but 75-to-80-percent of the time it doesn’t unfold just like it did that previous day. I think the ability to just let yourself fish is a trait that takes a little time and a little confidence to develop. It’s almost like a willingness to maybe not do well, but I think a lot of time the greater outcome is you will do better.”

Regardless of the occupation, when someone loses the joy that first attracted them to their chosen profession, Bolton has some encouragement. “You can’t let life get in the way. After you go through some bad things and deal with life and death and sickness and divorce and some things like that, you know that’s pretty serious. Bass fishing’s fun. We’re not going to be here forever, so you’ve got to enjoy the time you have here and look at things as a privilege.

“This year was a phenomenal season. God blessed me and allowed me to have this season and I’m thankful for it. I went through a lot of rough times. I think anybody who’s suffering from the doldrums, when you get up in the morning, take a few more minutes to enjoy the sunrise and look and see how pretty it is and don’t let life get in the way so much – all the things you’ve got coming down the road later in that day, don’t let that get in the way of enjoying the things we

by AnglersChannel

HOYLE WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON LAKE NORMAN

King’s Mountain’s Brafford Wins Co-angler Division

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Cody Hoyle of Rutherfordton, North Carolina, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division super-tournament on Lake Norman Sunday. Hoyle earned $6,896 for his efforts.

“I was hitting 50 to 60 docks a day, fishing in the mid-lake area around Mountain Creek,” said Hoyle, who earned his second career win in BFL competition. “I was looking for deeper docks with brush. The fish are getting into wolf packs, and when I found them I could usually catch multiple fish on each dock.”

Hoyle estimated that he caught 20 to 25 fish a day on a homemade brown and orange-colored jig trailered with a Zoom Z-Craw. He also caught a few keepers drop-shotting a Reaction Innovations Flirt Worm.

“One fish each day came on the drop-shot, the rest came on the jig,” said Hoyle. “The bite was a little better Saturday – I got to fish a little later in the day, and the bite seemed to get better as the day went on.”

Of the 10 bass that Hoyle brought to the weigh-in scale, four were largemouth bass and six were spotted bass.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Cody Hoyle, Rutherfordton, N.C., 10 bass, 26-1, $6,896

2^nd: Eddie Whiten Jr., Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 23-5, $2,823

3^rd: Cole Huskins, Mount Holly, N.C., nine bass, 22-8, $1,966

4^th: Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 22-6, $1,271

5^th: Scott Beattie, Sherrills Ford, N.C., 10 bass, 22-2, $1,389

6^th: David Cooke, Mooresville, N.C., 10 bass, 21-12, $998

7^th: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 10 bass, 21-2, $908

8^th: Chris Baumgardner, Gastonia, N.C., nine bass, 20-2, $817

9^th: Michael Stephens, Gastonia, N.C., 10 bass, 19-9, $726

10^th: Tracy Adams, Wilkesboro, N.C., 10 bass, 19-1, $635

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Greg Lovelace of Bostic, North Carolina, caught a 3-pound, 11-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $697.

King’s Mountain, North Carolina’s Trey Brafford won the Co-angler Division and $2,923 Sunday after catching a two-day total of nine bass weighing 16 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Trey Brafford, King’s Mountain, N.C., nine bass, 16-8, $2,923

2^nd: Roger Toler, Gilbert, W. Va., five bass, 9-9, $1,361

3^rd: Barry Burford, Charlotte, N.C., four bass, 8-4, $958

4^th: Larry Farley, Prospect Hill, N.C., four bass, 8-4, $635

5^th: Jerry Morris, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 8-2, $545

6^th: Tristen Trull, Mount Holly, N.C., five bass, 7-12, $499

7^th: Trent Peace, Spartanburg, S.C., three bass, 7-10, $454

8^th: James Roten, West Jefferson, N.C., four bass, 7-6, $408

9^th: Jeff Scism, Shelby, N.C., four bass, 7-3, $363

10^th: Samuel Jones, Morgantown, W. Va., three bass, 6-13, $318

Charles Wood of Thomasville, North Carolina, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $349.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division super-tournament on Lake Norman was hosted by the Mooresville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

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. 3-5 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell presented by Navionics in Seneca, South Carolina. 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.

by AnglersChannel

WAGNER WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON OLD HICKORY LAKE

Sparta’s England Wins Co-angler Division

GALLATIN, Tenn. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Adam Wagner of Cookeville, Tennessee, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale Sunday weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division super-tournament on Old Hickory Lake. Wagner earned $4,949 for his efforts.

“I caught all of my fish up the lake – in Bledsoe and Bartons Creeks – on both days,” said Wagner, who earned his 13^th career win as a boater in BFL competition. “I caught around eight keepers each day, flipping a green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver to scattered wood on flats in the backs of the creeks.”

Wagner managed to get a big kicker bite each day – a 4-pounder on day one, and a 5-pounder on day two – that helped pad his weight.

“There were a couple of boats around me, but I think I was just hitting spots that were tough to hit,” Wagner said. “There would be one little piece of wood on a 3-acre flat, and most people would run right by it. But I would work hard to find these little pieces of wood and there was usually a fish on it.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., 10 bass, 27-8, $4,949

2^nd: Mark Condron, Winchester, Tenn., 10 bass, 26-7, $2,915

3^rd: Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-4, $1,400

4^th: Barry Whitaker, Hartsville, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-0, $875

5^th: Mickey Beck, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-9, $750

6^th: Jason Dies, Lebanon, Tenn., seven bass, 23-3, $687

7^th: Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-12, $625

8^th: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-10, $562

9^th: Joel Trevino, Mount Juliet, Tenn., 10 bass, 20-3, $500

10^th: Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., seven bass, 16-6, $437

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Condron caught a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $390.

Sparta, Tennessee’s Ricky England won the Co-angler Division and $2,075 Sunday after catching a two-day total of six bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Ricky England, Sparta, Tenn., six bass, 12-6, $2,075

2^nd: Teddy Baggett, Nashville, Tenn., eight bass, 12-2, $937

3^rd: Rene Gonzalez, Smyrna, Tenn., five bass, 11-0, $675

4^th: Donnie Rogers, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 10-2, $437

5^th: Darryl Humphrey, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 9-2, $375

6^th: Scott Marshall, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 9-1, $539

7^th: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., four bass, 7-13, $462

8^th: Scott Smith, Crossville, Tenn., five bass, 7-12, $281

9^th: Robert Henze, La Vergne, Tenn., three bass, 6-6, $250

10^th: Jason Barr, Woodlawn, Tenn., three bass, 4-12, $319

Marshall caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 3 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $195.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division super-tournament on Old Hickory Lake was hosted by the Sumner County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

by AnglersChannel

RHODE WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON DETROIT RIVER

Itoh Wins Co-angler Division

TRENTON, Mich. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Jared Rhode of Port Clinton, Ohio, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 49 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Michigan Division super-tournament on the Detroit River Sunday. Rhode earned $7,604 for his efforts.

“The first day I caught over 100 keepers – it was one of the biggest schools of fish that I have ever been on in my life,” said Rhode, who earned his fourth career victory in BFL competition. “I caught at least 10, 20-pound limits of smallmouth. It was pretty awesome.

“I fished near the Lake Erie islands, just rotating through 10 to 12 spots and targeting deeper structure – 18 to 25 feet,” Rhode continued. “The majority came on a drop-shot, but I also caught some throwing a tube and a swimbait.”

On day two, the wind picked up drastically and competitors were faced with 3- to 4-foot waves.

“It took me a long time to get to my area on day two, but I had one spot that I had saved,” Rhode continued. “My Ranger 620 boat turned out to be the key to my win, because it allowed me to get back out there on the second day when it was very rough.”

Rhode said his drop-shot rig arsenal included a Z-Man TRD worm, a 3-inch Berkley Gulp! Minnow and a 3-inch Berkley Gulp! Fish Fry. His swimbait of choice was a Keitech 3.8 with a ½-ounce head, and his 4-inch goby-colored tube was also fished on a ½-ounce jig.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Jared Rhode, Port Clinton, Ohio, 10 bass, 49-5, $5,604 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd: Kyle Greene, Ortonville, Mich., 10 bass, 42-13, $2,502

3^rd: John Devries, Fishers, Ind., 10 bass, 42-5, $1,886

4^th: Michael Sitko, Pinckney, Mich., 10 bass, 41-10, $1,524

5^th: Randy Ramsey, Burlington, Mich., 10 bass, 41-6, $921

6^th: Mike Trombly, Belleville, Mich., 10 bass, 40-14, $844

7^th: David Reault, Livonia, Mich., 10 bass, 40-4, $767

8^th: Jeremy Antrup, Fremont, Ind., 10 bass, 39-12, $691

9^th: Dan Mittlestat, Woodhaven, Mich., 10 bass, 38-9, $614

10^th: Todd Schmitz, Coldwater, Mich., nine bass, 35-11, $537

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Tom Beale of Saint Clair Shores, Michigan, caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $540.

Beverly Hills Michigan’s Jorji Itoh won the Co-angler Division and $2,502 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 43 pounds, 3 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Jorji Itoh, Beverly Hills, Mich., 10 bass, 43-3, $2,502

2^nd: Zach Laupp, Plainwell, Mich., eight bass, 36-14, $1,151

3^rd: Darwin Griva, Hamilton, Ind., 10 bass, 33-8, $767

4^th: Aaron Stahley, Batavia, Ohio, 10 bass, 33-1, $587

5^th: Mike Eldridge, Blairsville, Penn., eight bass, 31-13, $460

6^th: Matthew Kime, Holland, Ohio, nine bass, 28-3, $422

7^th: Neil Heisler, Plymouth, Mich., eight bass, 26-7, $384

8^th: James Wathen, Richmond, Ky., seven bass, 26-1, $345

9^th: Nicholas Ireland, Grand Blanc, Mich., eight bass, 25-7, $307

10^th: Arron Kowalczyk, Newport, Mich., seven bass, 24-5, $269

Jeremy Pinkowski of Oak Forest, Illinois, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $270.

by AnglersChannel

DONNY BASS WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Frostproof’s Brown Wins Co-angler Division

CLEWISTON, Fla. (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Donny Bass of Naples, Florida, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 40 pounds, 9 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division super-tournament on Lake Okeechobee Sunday. Bass earned $6,137 for his efforts.

“I’ve been sick this past week, and it turned out to be beneficial to me because it made me really slow down and just pick some areas apart,” said Bass, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “I made a long run – all the way up to the north end – to get out of the wind. I was fishing isolated reed clumps and patches with a brand new Gambler Lures bait called the Super Stinger.

“The bait looks like a big stinger – it’s 4½ inches and mimics a bluegill,” Bass continued. “It has a bigger profile, but it gets bigger bites.”

Bass estimated that he caught around 20 keeper bass on day one, and added another 40 to 45 bites on day two.

“It was typical summertime fishing – there was no wad of fish – so I put the trolling motor down and grinded,” Bass said. “I think the key was making the long run and having the areas to myself. It’s tough to get anything to yourself in a tournament on Lake Okeechobee. I think the new Super Stinger definitely played a role as well.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Donny Bass, Naples, Fla., 10 bass, 40-9, $6,137

2^nd: Austin Schroeder, Zephyrhills, Fla., 10 bass, 36-4, $2,569

3^rd: Mikey Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., 10 bass, 35-4, $1,712

4^th: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 31-9, $1,199

5^th: Douglas Sauls, Winter Garden, Fla., 10 bass, 30-11, $1,027

6^th: Mark Sommer, Coral Springs, Fla., 10 bass, 28-9, $1,142

7^th: Brian MacDougall, La Belle, Fla., 10 bass, 28-5, $856

8^th: Christopher Jerdan, Cape Coral, Fla., 10 bass, 27-10, $871

9^th: Nicholas Hoinig, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 10 bass, 26-11, $685

10^th: Lionel Botha, Malabar, Fla., 10 bass, 26-5, $599

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Thomas McLinskey of Altha, Florida, caught an 8-pound, 8-ounce largemouth – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $645.

Frostproof, Florida’s Justin Brown won the Co-angler Division and $3,091 Sunday after catching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Justin Brown, Frostproof, Fla., 10 bass, 26-1, $3,091

2^nd: Ernie Thompson, Anthony, Fla., 10 bass, 25-3, $1,334

3^rd: Scott Farnham, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., 10 bass, 23-13, $1,008

4^th: Harry Linsinbigler IV, Dover, Fla., 10 bass, 22-12, $599

5^th: Michael Davis, Lake Wales, Fla., nine bass, 21-3, $514

6^th: Andrew Pulliam, Spring Hill, Fla., 10 bass, 21-0, $571

7^th: Kevin Thomas, Miramar, Fla., six bass, 20-7, $428

8^th: Michael Leach, Shenandoah, Texas, 10 bass, 20-3, $385

9^th: Levi Crossway, Jacksonville, Fla., 10 bass, 19-15, $342

10^th: Clark Bundy, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 19-13, $300

Brown also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a largemouth weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $322.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division super-tournament on Lake Okeechobee was hosted by Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina and Resort.

by AnglersChannel

JAYSON KISSELBURG & DEAN GOLMAN WIN THE 2019 TTZ CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A 2 DAY TOTAL OF 41.91 LBS AND TAKE HOME OVER $30,000

by AnglersChannel

FREEMAN WINS TWO-DAY T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE EVENT ON SAM RAYBURN

Deport’s Nichols Wins Co-angler Division

BROOKELAND, Texas (Sept. 23, 2019) – Boater Glen Freeman of Zwolle, Louisiana, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 43 pounds, 13 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division super-tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Sunday. Freeman earned $8,211 for his efforts.

“I think the key to my win was that I stayed old-fashioned,” said Freeman, who earned his 11^th career win in BFL competition. “Nowadays everyone is throwing crankbaits and Carolina rigs, and I feel like the fish hardly see Texas rigs anymore. I was up on the north end – around the Highway 147 bridge, fishing slopes and drop-offs of ridges in 15- to 20-feet-of-water.”

Freeman estimated that he caught around 25 keepers throughout the weekend – 15 on day one and 10 on day two. He targeted isolated pieces of timber and brush on the slopes with a redbug-colored, Texas-rigged Mister Twister worm with a ½-ounce Elite Tungsten weight.

“I just slowed down and bumped the timber with the heavy weight,” Freeman said. “I was able to find the little pieces of timber using my Lowrance unit, and just soak the worm in the little bitty brush. The bites were very sensitive, and my Lews rod and reel combos made a big difference in allowing me to detect those subtle bites.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st: Glen Freeman, Zwolle, La., 10 bass, 43-13, $6,211 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd: Eric Leger, Mamou, La., 10 bass, 35-9, $3,106

3^rd: Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., 10 bass, 34-11, $2,002

4^th: Albert Collins, Nacogdoches, Texas, 10 bass, 30-12, $1,403

5^th: Skeeter Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas, nine bass, 30-10, $1,202

6^th: Philip Crelia, Center, Texas, nine bass, 30-3, $1,352

7^th: River Lee, Nacogdoches, Texas, 10 bass, 29-9, $1,002

8^th: Ryan Pinkston, Center, Texas, 10 bass, 29-4, $1,727

9^th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 10 bass, 29-3, $1,102

10^th: Marcus Parker, Pearland, Texas, 10 bass, 28-6, $701

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Pinkston caught an 8-pound, 8-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the event’s Boater Big Bass award of $825.

Deport Texas’ Lat Nichols won the Co-angler Division and $3,206 Sunday after catching a two-day total of nine bass weighing 22 pounds, 2 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st: Lat Nichols, Deport, Texas, nine bass, 22-2, $3,206

2^nd: Steven Ramsey, Diberville, Miss., 10 bass, 20-5, $1,553

3^rd: Hannah Gryder, Milam, Texas, seven bass, 20-4, $1,004

4^th: Tim Woodard, Rosepine, La., 10 bass, 18-12, $701

5^th: Ty Haymon, Oakdale, La., eight bass, 18-5, $601

6^th: David Beason, Evans, La., seven bass, 18-2, $551

7^th: Bill Fussell, Thibodaux, La., seven bass, 16-8, $501

8^th: Ryan Bourque, Slidell, La., seven bass, 15-13, $451

9^th: Don Johnson, Lufkin, Texas, seven bass, 14-13, $401

10^th: Brandon Begnaud, Bacliff, Texas, six bass, 14-12, $351

Garrett Tunks of Sulphur, Louisiana, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the event’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $412.

The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Cowboy Division super-tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper County Development District.

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. 24-26 BFL Regional Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. 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.

by AnglersChannel

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