Rookie of the Year - Drew Cook!
This week Jason welcomes in Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the Year Drew Cook to talk about his amazing 2019 Rookie Campaign and the goals he is setting for himself in 2020. Check it out!
Room for Two...
Vance McCullough - AnglersChannel.com
“Welcome to the Elite Series, where the fish are the stars of the show.” – Bassmaster emcee Dave Mercer.
The statement probably wasn’t meant as a shot across the bow, but it was interesting in a year when many of Bassmaster’s (and a few of FLW’s) top pros departed to join the newly-formed Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour.
Mercer made the comical quip as an angler encouraged the quick release of his fish before talking about the day’s events on stage. Fish care has always been a priority for the folks at Bassmaster who can point to an outstanding live release rate among the fish.
The release rate among anglers on the Elite Series was also high in 2019 with a field of 75 pros, down from the usual 100-to-110 contestants of recent years.
But if anything was amiss at Bassmaster this season, you couldn’t tell it by the thousands of fans who flocked to the shores of the St Johns River to watch another Elite Series showdown in Palatka. Weights were solid again. Rick Clunn won again. As he hoisted the trophy it was as if nothing had changed since the last time the Series visited the north-flowing river.
As for star power, there is still plenty on the Elite Series. And more coming.
“They’re just guys you haven’t heard of – yet,” said Mark Menendez, following a tourney wherein 95 pounds and an ounce earned him a 3rd-place finish behind Clunn (98-14) and young Canadian Chris Johnston (95-2).
The FLW Tour also went on as usual. Until Major League Fishing finalized a deal to purchase FLW. The acquisition answers questions about how MLF will recruit new talent, as the FLW organization has long had the strongest grassroots system to groom the stars of the future.
FLW boasts some of the top anglers in the world, Bryan Thrift having won the Cup this year and David Dudley taking Angler of the Year honors. Those guys, among others, will fit right in on the Bass Pro Tour. Eventually.
The difference is that the BPT is “for the anglers, by the anglers” said Gary Klein when I spoke with him after a competition day in Florida.
But is it ‘for the fans’? According to Shaw Grigsby, when we spoke after the first BPT event, “The viewer numbers, on the internet, are unheard of!” And that’s where the BPT excels – TV and internet viewership.
As for the in-person experience, there were scarcely 150 people scattered along the fence to watch ‘The Postgame Show’ – MLF’s answer to a weigh in.
Having watched the action on small screens and knowing how it all went down, fans didn’t show up to look at sponsor’s booths and talk with anglers. And these are the best-known names in the sport.
No live fish, no live audience.
I was a bit shocked.
Back to Mercer’s playful contention that the fish are the star of the show, B.A.S.S. has released it’s 2020 Elite Series schedule. This will be a return to the formula that made so many BPT pros famous to begin with – TV and internet coverage, yes, but also live interactions with fans and bunches of BIG bass.
It almost appears to be a direct attempt to be the anti-BPT by rewarding anglers who sack ‘em up big instead of the death by a thousand papercuts style at MLF where a guy can weigh 80 fish in a day and win, even if not one of them weighs more than two pounds.
Unlimited catches and winning weights that average less than 2 pounds per fish seem to be a turnoff for purists who are used to the 5-fish system that rewards anglers who catch fewer, but bigger fish.
Is this a legitimate gripe? “I have not changed one way that I fish,” said Wesley Strader, a veteran pro who has seen all the formats under B.A.S.S., FLW and now, MLF on the BPT. “Larry Nixon told me years ago, ‘you just keep catching limits, and the big ones will come’.”
Have the big ones come for BPT competitors? Perhaps, though you have to sit through a bunch of smaller catches to see them. Strader contends that anglers have to sort through a bunch of small ones in order to find the big ones under any format but because every catch counts on the BPT, viewers are shown all the fish, not just the ones that allow anglers to cull up and make a move on conventional 5-fish trails such as the Elite Series where such big fish are highlighted during Bassmaster’s live internet coverage. Fish that don’t make a difference are, understandably, not newsworthy under the 5-fish format.
“If you go back and look at the guys who did good in the Bass Pro Tour,” explains Strader, “9 times out of 10, the guy that has the heaviest 5 fish ends up winning the event anyway. When you see a guy with 25 pounds, you don’t see how he struggled all day long. He may have only gotten 5 bites. That really ain’t fair to the guy who caught 50 that day but just never had the big bites. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if it’s 5, 10 or 100 fish.”
Fellow MLF Pro Brandon Coulter agrees, “I need to go catch every fish I can catch every time I go fishing, whether it’s a 5-fish tournament, an every-fish-counts tournament, whatever. I tried to change this year. I thought I had a good strategy. Man, I got beat. There were techniques I put on the back burner because I thought ‘that’s a 5-fish technique, I’m never going to catch enough to do well on that’. That was the worst mistake I made.
“I like to research stuff. I’m a student of the game. Bobby Lane won in this format, the world championship, on a frog. Greg Hackney won the world championship flipping a jig. Andy Morgan won Chickamauga with a long rod in his hand, and put it to us, flipping. Now, you look at his average weight and you say, ‘he only caught a 2-pound average and he’s on Chickamauga’. Well, his best 5 that day probably went 26 or 27 (pounds). You don’t see that on the scoreboard, but he put a hurting on us. He would have beat us in a 5-fish tournament, a 10-fish tournament or an every-fish tournament.
“When I see guys win, they fish their strengths. When Brent Ehrler wins people go ‘see – he’s a drop-shotter and that’s what you have to do to win’. He’s going to beat you on a drop shot in a 5-fish tournament too. Listen, when guys win, they fish their strengths.
“I think I turned a corner. I had couple of good tournaments toward the end of the year and started fishing the way I’ve always fished and making adjustments quicker and it’s helped me a lot.”
One of the stated objectives of MLF is to broaden the viewing audience beyond the existing fan base of diehard tournament fans. Some format changes are designed specifically to help the casual viewer follow the action. “When I go to the chiropractor,” says Strader, “his wife doesn’t fish; doesn’t care nothing about fishing, but when he was watching an episode of (Major League Fishing) she came by and saw it and said, ‘that’s pretty neat’. Now every Saturday she watches it.
“We’re gonna be on TV 52 weeks next year. 52 weeks. That’s unheard of. A solid year, every Saturday. The Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, CBS. 52 weeks.
“We’re going to introduce a lot of people to the sport.” says Strader. “For our sport to become a true sport, everything has to count.”
Coulter, with a strong background in athletics, enjoys the new format. He has won an MLF tourney, but his initiation to the league was humbling. “When I fished my first tournament with Major League Fishing, I finished almost last, but driving home, I called my wife and said, ‘I don’t ever want to fish another way again’.”
Coulter has fished all the ‘other ways’ during nearly 15 years on the various pro trails. He was instantly drawn to MLF competition with its live virtual scoreboard on which everything matters.
“It had brought every memory, every aspect of sport back - or not back, but into - fishing, for the first time where I knew the score, I knew I was down, I knew I had to catch up. I knew I was getting beat. It’s something that, in fishing, we have been missing.
“People don’t like getting beat, but when you come back, that’s a high,” says the former multi-sport high school athlete whose son is now a college football coach at Birmingham Southern.
“Fishing is becoming a spectator sport, an on-TV sport,” says Coulter, noting a disparity between other sports fit for mass consumption versus bass tournament formats of old, “To get spectators involved, every fish has to matter. Name a sport – any sport – that only counts the 5 best plays. There isn’t one. Every play counts in every sport.
“You know how most football games are won? Not with Hail Mary’s. Football games are won on third-and-one with a minute-and-a-half left and the other team is out of time outs and you need a first down and you get a yard-and-a-half and it was the best play you had all year. A two-yard run.
“In every sport, every play during the day counts. Except for fishing.”
To Strader’s point about attracting new fans, Coulter shared a story. “I was talking on the phone with a writer. I was waiting in the parking lot at my daughter’s school. I said ‘In these 500 cars in this parking lot, how many people do you think watch Discovery Channel? (which is where we will air the show). Maybe 400?’ I said, ‘now if I knock on every one of their windows and ask, ‘what’s the standard format of a bass fishing tournament?’ how many of them are going to say ‘a 5-fish limit’? Maybe two. 398 of them don’t even know that. They want to be entertained’. That’s my goal.”
From the perspective of a longtime fan this writer is happy to, once again, have two tours to watch, but each with its own twist on the sport. Certainly, there is room for both.
As for the relationships among anglers on the different tours, Coulter was clear, “The industry has changed for the better across the board. I don’t want anybody to think MLF is the only way. I’ve got really good friends at B.A.S.S. and at FLW. In my opinion, the changes this year have benefitted every league and I just want to give a shout out to those guys. For the fans out there who think there are hard feelings, these are still some of my best friends and we wish them nothing but the best. Always have. I know social media likes to make it ‘B.A.S.S. vs. MLF or FLW’. I don’t wish ill will on any of them.
“The guys in this sport, we’re still buddies and we wish nothing but success for the other league. But we’re going to do our thing and we’re going to do it as well as we can.”
Tournament Director Mike Oglesbee Passes Away
Mike Oglesbee was the voice of the Wolfson Children's Hospital Bass Tournament in Palatka, Fla. for years, even making the trip down from Alabama in recent years after having moved from the Palatka area. Mike will also be remembered for running the OGS Tournament Trails. He passed away on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, following health complications.
DRURY UNIVERSITY WINS YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING TOURNAMENT ON LAKE OF THE OZARKS
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Oct. 22, 2019) – The Drury University duo of Cole Breeden of Eldridge, Missouri and Cameron Smith, of Nixa, Missouri, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bass Pro Shops with a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Panthers’ bass club $2,650 and a slot in the 2020 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“On our second day of practice for this tournament, we had found a few keepers biting out of brush piles in the Grand Glaize arm, so our plan was to start the tournament there,” said Smith, a junior at Drury University majoring in biology.
“Around 10 a.m. we had only caught two fish, and they were little ones,” added Breeden, a sophomore majoring in architecture. “We knew we weren’t around the fish that we needed to do well, so we ended up running 5 or 6 miles to some new areas that we had caught fish at last year – basically looking for brush piles around docks.”
The duo said that they caught around 10 fish throughout the day targeting the docks – Breeden throwing a ½-ounce brown Chompers Football Jig with a green-pumpkin-colored Strike King Rage Craw, and Smith throwing a green-pumpkin brush-style jig with a green-pumpkin and purple-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw trailer.
“We got our first bites when we were halfway back into the creeks, and that really clued us into where the fish were setting up, so we started hitting the middle halves of the creeks,” said Smith. “We were looking for bait – we could see big bowls of shad swimming around – and most of the fish came from the sides of the docks.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2020 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Drury University – Cole Breeden, Eldridge, Mo., and Cameron Smith, Nixa, Mo., five bass, 18-9, $2,650
2nd: Eastern Kentucky University – Mason Moore, Waynesburg, Ky., and Logan Estes, Kings Mountain, Ky., five bass, 15-4, $1,200
3rd: McKendree University – Tyler Christy, Bolingbrook, Ill., and Devan Rathbun, five bass, 14-10, $500
4th: McKendree University – Blake Jackson, Carterville, Ill., and Trevor McKinney, Benton, Ill., five bass, 14-7, $500
5th: Bemidji State University – Luke Gillund, Ham Lake, Minn., five bass, 12-15, $500
6th: University of Wisconsin-Stout – Will Reichert, Vernon Hills, Ill., and Noah Lindus, Woodville, Wis., four bass, 12-13
7th: University of Wisconsin-Platteville – Seth Korb, Custer, Wis., and Josh Gruen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 12-12
8th: McKendree University – Trey Schroeder, Crestwood, Mo., and Bailey Bleser, Burlington, Wis., five bass, 12-8
9th: Murray State University – Jordan Hartman, Murray, Ky., and Will Gentry, Utica, Ky., five bass, 11-12
10th: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse – Brady Fernette, La Crosse, Wis., and Devin Wallin, Soldiers Grove, Wis., five bass, 11-4
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The YETI FLW College Fishing event on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association. It was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournament for Central Conference anglers. The final event of the 2019 sesaon for FLW College Fishing anglers will be a Southeastern Conference event – the YETI FLW College Fishing tournament on Lake Hartwell presented by Costa, Nov. 1 in Hartwell, Georgia.
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, Instagramand YouTube.
Matt Lee believes bubble trails lead to topwater success
Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
Carhartt-Yamaha pro Matt Lee isn’t sure if the theory is pure folklore, some sort of urban legend, or a paragraph plucked from the Farmers’ Almanac – but the accomplished young pro absolutely believes in the bass fishing theory stating a pronounced bubble trail behind your topwater walking lure or buzzbait means you probably ought to throw it all day long.
“Look, I got my degree from Auburn in engineering, not meteorology, so I’m not going to feed you some line about barometric pressure or relative humidity being the cause of a bubble trail, but I will tell you when that first cast of the day with a buzzbait or Sexy Dawg creates a long bubble trail, you’d better keep casting it all day long– especially in the fall,” Lee says emphatically.
To prove his point, the Cullman, AL native cites a recent charity tournament he and good buddy Clint Morgan fished on Smith Lake to benefit a sweet young lady named Chloe who was recently involved in a serious vehicle accident.
“Clint sells playground equipment for a living, but he absolutely loves to bass fish. In fact, he gets so excited when one eats his buzzbait it cracks me up,” laughs Lee. “But when morning clouds gave way to bright sun, he was ready to put down the buzzbait.”
“I told him as long as I had a bubble trail behind my 3/8 ounce Strike King Gurgle Toad I was going to throw it all day. That little derby was a 3-bass limit, but we ended up catching three good ones that totaled 9-pounds on the buzz, and won a check for $400 that we donated back to the charity,” smiles Lee.
Lee says as true as pronounced bubble trails lead to all day topwater bassin’ success, the belief that topwater fishing is mostly a lowlight pattern is absolutely false, and one of bass fishing’s most unfortunate misconceptions.
“I heard a guy on the dock at the Quantum High School and College Open say the slight fog delay was going to cost them a good topwater bite. After seeing the bubbles behind the Sexy Dawg I played around with from the shoreline that day, I sure hope that guy didn’t give up on a topwater,” lamented Lee.
Lee recommends using a reel with at least a 7.0:1 gear ratio, and says anglers should consider pairing their topwaters with a very affordable 7’ long medium heavy Quantum Accurist rod. He uses a braided line/monofilament set-up when fishing around aquatic vegetation, and goes with straight 17-pound Seaguar monofilament when fishing rocky lakes like Grand, Smith or Table Rock.
In conclusion, Lee says he can’t say for sure where he first heard about the bubble trail theory, but he’s certain of its amazing goodness.
“As a teenager, being a total bass fishing nerd, I probably first read about the bubble trail thing in Bassmaster or somewhere, so I started paying attention to it. And to this day, it absolutely holds true. If people reading this will look for it – and throw a topwater all day when they see it, I’ll promise you they’ll agree it holds true too,” says Lee.
AC Insider Podcast with Scott Canterbury!
While Chris is out on vacation, Jason and the Circus keep the ship afloat. They welcome in Bassmaster Angler of the Year Winner Scott Canterbury to discuss his 2019 AOY Trophy in his first season on the Elite Series. Check it out!
IOWA’S MYERS WINS T-H MARINE BFL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON KENTUCKY/BARKLEY LAKES
Dayton’s Bays Wins Co-angler Division
BUCHANAN, Tenn. (Oct. 22, 2019) – Boater Mark Myers of Cedar Falls, Iowa, brought a three-day total of 12 bass to the scale weighing 31 pounds even to win the no-entry fee T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes presented by Evinrude Saturday. For the win, Myers 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, at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina.
Myers is a long-time BFL Great Lakes Division competitor, having fished events since 2005. Along the way, he has competed in several BFL Regionals, including several at this year’s venue. A change in his approach is what he attributes to his success this time around.
“I am a deep-water finesse angler, and I always tried to make it work on Kentucky Lake, and it never does for me. This time I abandoned that and committed to shallow water,” said Myers.
He committed to making the long run each day to New Johnsonville. What he had found was a backwater slough off the main river channel with a shallow flat and a ditch running through it. In this area were scattered stumps, wood, and, most importantly, bass feeding on baitfish.
The first day Myers made the hour-long run to his winning location, put the trolling motor down, and then never picked it up the rest of the day.
“I was fishing a bone-colored Heddon Super Spook and caught five fish, about one every hour. I had my limit at 12:30 and then went searching for new areas,” he said.
The second day brought different conditions, and he was only able to muster two fish for 4-5.
“I caught a 13-inch spotted bass right away, and then it went dead. The first day they were hitting my topwater aggressively, but on the second day, they were coming up and rolling on it and missing it,” Myers recalls.
Around midday, he noticed shad being pushed near the bank, and he edged his trolling motor as far as it could go in the shallow water. Myers then made a long cast with a bone-colored River2Sea Whopper Plopper 90 and hooked a 3-pounder. Then, near the end of the day, he broke off a solid keeper on a finesse jig, which gave him a clue for the final day.
Myers found himself in eighth place going into the third and final day. The morning arrived with less fog, and that allowed him to get to his area much more quickly than he had the previous two days.
“There were two ways to get in, and I went in the opposite direction of how I had been entering, and that allowed me to get to the prime areas much sooner. When I got there, I caught two spotted bass in the first 15 minutes, and then caught a largemouth close to 6 pounds shortly afterward,” Myers said.
With three quick fish in the livewell, Myers assured himself that his All-American berth was sewed up and committed to finishing out his tournament in the backwater. He added one more spotted bass on a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper and then went back to the log where he broke off a bass the previous day and added a 3-pounder on a jig.
“I was using a Lethal Weapon Lethal Bug in green pumpkin/orange with a green pumpkin Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw. That is my ultimate confidence lure. I use it everywhere,” he said.
When asked for the key to his victory, Myers had two answers.
“The first thing was picking the right area of the lake. I knew that place had big fish potential,” he says. “The other key was that there are more spotted bass on that end of the lake.”
Of Myers’ 12 keeper bass, eight were largemouth, and four were spotted bass.
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:
1st: Mark Myers, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 12 bass, 31-0, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Sam Caron, Pleasant Lake, Mich., eight bass, 28-0, $10,100
3rd: Kerry Frey, Middlebury, Ind., nine bass, 27-10, $5,000
4th: Mark Flick, Delton, Mich., 10 bass, 27-2, $3,000
5th: Troy Stokes, Brownstown, Mich., nine bass, 24-4, $2,000
6th: Matt McCoy, Indianapolis, Ind., eight bass, 23-10, $2,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Lloyd Pickett Jr., Bartlett, Tenn., 10 bass, 23-4, $1,600
8th: Marty Sisk, Evansville, Ind., nine bass, 22-8, $1,400
9th: Angel Rosario, Kalamazoo, Mich., seven bass, 22-3, $1,200
10th: Mike Winkler, Peshtigo, Wis., nine bass, 21-11, $1,000
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Lenny Bays of Dayton, Kentucky, weighed in six bass over three days totaling 19 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:
1st: Lenny Bays, Dayton, Ky., six bass, 19-6, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Alan Bernicky, Joliet, Ill., six bass, 17-8, $5,100
3rd: Kristian Dus, Chicago, Ill., seven bass, 17-6, $2,550
4th: David Blankinship, Cushing, Okla., four bass, 16-10, $1,500
5th: John Baumert, Pryor, Okla., five bass, 16-5, $1,000
6th: Philip Borsa, Redford, Mich., six bass, 14-15, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Shane McGlothlin, Anadarko, Okla., five bass, 12-7, $800
8th: Jeff McCarnan, Henderson, Ky., five bass, 9-7, $700
9th: Josh Yonak, Big Lake, Minn., four bass, 9-6, $600
10th: Matt Wright, Clay Center, Kan., three bass, 8-13, $500
The T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky/Barkley Lakes presented by Evinrude was hosted by the Henry County Alliance. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Great Lakes (Minnesota-Wisconsin-Iowa), Hoosier (Iowa), Okie (Oklahoma), and Michigan 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.
OHIO’S COLE FLOYD WINS T-H MARINE BFL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON LAKE GUNTERSVILLE PRESENTED BY MERCURY MARINE
Cherokee’s Steele Wins Co-angler Division
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Oct. 21, 2019) – Boater Cole Floyd of Leesburg, Ohio, – an FLW College Fishing standout from Bethel University – brought a three-day total of 15 bass to the scale weighing 44 pounds, 15 ounces, to win the no-entry fee T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury Marine Saturday. For the win, Floyd 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.
Floyd, who won the LBL Division Angler of the Year title this year for the third year in a row, knew the tough fall conditions on Guntersville would call for some flexibility.
“The first day I fished an area, and it was just a bunch of schooling fish that were just keepers,” he said. “I tried to start there and catch a limit, and then I’d go to try to get a big bite or two. As tough as it was, I knew 14 pounds would be pretty good.”
He came up just short of that mark on day one with 12 pounds, 6 ounces, but the spot at which Floyd caught his schooling keepers on day one was good enough to return to each day to get a limit and some confidence for the rest of the day.
He was able to catch one 5-pounder there, but otherwise used it just as a limit spot. After that, his plan worked perfectly, as Floyd caught one or two big ones after he left.
After leaving his starting spot, Floyd fished new water every day and “junk-fished” for the most part, weighing in all his fish on several different baits: a Strike King Sexy Dawg, a Strike King Thunder Cricket with a Strike King Rage Twin Tail Menace trailer or a Strike King Rodent with a 1/2-ounce tungsten weight.
The Sexy Dawg, which did the heavy lifting to the tune of 16 pounds on day three, was perhaps the real key bait for Floyd’s victory, though.
“The final day I caught them all on it [the Sexy Dawg], and I caught them off a place I never caught them before,” he said.
The Leesburg, Ohio, native plans to make a push to fish professionally when he graduates from Bethel. For now, Floyd is just focused on adding more wins to his resume.
“It feels good,” he said. “I finished second the last couple years a handful of times, and I really didn’t think I was going to win. I thought I was going to get another second place. To finally pull one off and win a boat and everything is a pretty cool deal. I’m just excited.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:
1st: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, 15 bass, 44-15, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Jeramiah Sifers, New Albany, Ind., 15 bass, 44-5, $10,100
3rd: Ryan Davidson, Branchland, W. Va., 15 bass, 42-7, $5,000
4th: Billy Schroeder, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 42-4, $3,000
5th: Mitch Crane, Columbus, Miss., 15 bass, 39-2, $2,000
6th: Jason Hester, Phil Campbell, Ala., 14 bass, 34-15, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Dathan Jones, Harrodsburg, Ky., 15 bass, 32-15, $1,600
8th: Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., 10 bass, 32-4, $1,400
9th: Mark Willins, Collierville, Tenn., 12 bass, 29-14, $1,200
10th: Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., 12 bass, 28-15, $1,000
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Dalton Steele of Cherokee, Alabama, weighed in nine bass over three days totaling 28 pounds, 2 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:
1st: Dalton Steele, Cherokee, Ala., nine bass, 28-2, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Joel Ross, Brandon, Miss., 11 bass, 28-1, $5,100
3rd: Taylor Wisniewski, Lexington, Ky., nine bass, 23-12, $2,550
4th: Joshua Moore, Petal, Miss., nine bass, 23-3, $1,500
5th: Don White, Columbus, Miss., nine bass, 22-0, $1,000
6th: Alan Scott, Shelbyville, Ind., six bass, 21-10, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Tommy Nichols, Fayette, Ala., 10 bass, 21-7, $800
8th: Jimmy Tisdale, Ellisville, Miss., seven bass, 21-0, $700
9th: Michael Anderson, Newton, Ala., eight bass, 17-4, $600
10th: Nick Haunert, Maineville, Ohio, six bass, 17-2, $500
The T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury Marine was hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Bama (Alabama), LBL (Kentucky), Mississippi, and Mountain (Kentucky-Tennessee) 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.
SOUTH CAROLINA’S BRADFORD BEAVERS WINS T-H MARINE BFL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON POTOMAC RIVER
Virginia’s Blankenship Wins Co-angler Division
MARBURY, Md. (Oct. 21, 2019) – Summerville, South Carolina’s Bradford Beavers, brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 28 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the weather-shortened, no-entry fee T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on the Potomac River Saturday. The event was originally scheduled for three days, but tournament officials canceled competition on day one due to significant winds. For the win, Beavers 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.
The cold front and significant winds didn’t just cancel the first day of the event; they drastically changed water levels and left anglers scrambling for any semblance of a pattern. A total of 37 pros never weighed in a fish either day, and Bradford Beavers sure felt like he might be one of them when he got to his planned starting spot and found it on dry ground. Yet, a little luck can go a long way in an event like that, and he got just the right amount of luck.
The FLW Tour pro found a magic pass through a grass flat that accounted for the majority of his weight, as he caught 13-15 and 14-9 over two days to win with a total of 28-8.
“I don’t really know why they were there,” said Beavers, who earned his fifth career victory in FLW competition. “There was nothing really different. But if I had gone 50 yards in either direction, I never would’ve found them.”
Beavers had only been to the Potomac once before – five years ago – for a Costa FLW Series event in the summertime. So he spent the majority of practice refamiliarizing himself with the fishery. Overall, practice was OK, and he figured he at least identified a starting spot for Thursday.
Then the storm happened, with winds gusting so hard the river went from flood stages to as low as what even locals had ever seen. Bryan Schmitt, who finished third in this event, guides on the river and said he’d never seen the Potomac change that much so quickly.
“The place was a mud hole,” added Beavers, who never ventured more than five miles from takeoff. “I was afraid I’d get stuck at blastoff because we were kicking up mud. I got to my first spot and it was practically dry. So I went to another spot that was a little deeper. I was fishing around, not catching anything, so I started fishing my way out because it was too shallow.”
As he fished his way out, he caught his first keeper. And then he caught another, and another, and another. He landed four keepers by 9:15 a.m. from a 50-yard stretch by alternating between a 1/2-ounce white spinnerbait and a black-and-blue homemade vibrating jig thrown on Dobyns Champion 734 C rods.
Beavers fished another five hours without a single bite, making it pretty easy for him to know where he’d be starting on Saturday.
“I lined up and made the exact same pass, and I had a limit by 9:30 a.m.,” said Beavers of the final morning. “It wasn’t a flurry or anything. You just had to grind and fish for them; make a lot of casts and eventually you ran into one.”
By the time Saturday was over, Beavers had managed to land nine keepers, with seven coming from that magic 50-yard stretch, to help him close out his season with consecutive victories.
“I won the BFL on Lake Hartwell in September to qualify for the Regional Championship,” said Beavers. “So, I’m extremely surprised and extremely satisfied to win the Regional. It’s the best way to end my season.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2020 BFL All-American were:
1st: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 28-8, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Al Fiorille, Mount Airy, Md., 10 bass, 25-11, $10,100
3rd: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., 10 bass, 24-5, $5,000
4th: Dennis Burdette, Pembroke, Va., 10 bass, 23-12, $3,000
5th: Otto Hecht, Sneads Ferry, N.C., 10 bass, 23-5, $2,000
6th: Frank Ippoliti, Mercersburg, Pa., 10 bass, 23-4, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Ryan Powroznik, Hopewell, Va., 10 bass, 23-3, $1,600
8th: Andrew Heivly, Malvern, Pa., 10 bass, 23-0, $1,400
9th: Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., nine bass, 22-15, $1,200
10th: Derek Brown, Charlottesville, Va., 10 bass, 22-12, $1,000
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Mark Blankenship of Christiansburg, Virginia, weighed in 10 bass over two days totaling 21 pounds, 3 ounces to win the top co-angler prize package of $50,200, 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:
1st: Mark Blankenship, Christiansburg, Va., 10 bass, 21-3, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Michael Duarte, Baltimore, Md., nine bass, 19-3, $5,050
3rd: Robert Wedding, Welcome, Md., 10 bass, 18-13, $2,500
4th: Chad Dorney, Macungie, Pa., 10 bass, 18-12, $1,500
5th: Brent Jones, Okeana, Ohio, 10 bass, 18-10, $1,000
6th: Timothy Kinder, Manassas, Va., 10 bass, 18-7, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Patrick Hash, Roanoke, Va., 10 bass, 18-6, $800
8th: James Wilcox, Cincinnati, Ohio, nine bass, 18-3, $700
9th: Mike Wotanowski, Lake Hopatcong, N.J., 10 bass, 17-9, $600
10th: Cort Gardner, Jessup, Md., 10 bass, 17-4, $500
The T-H Marine FLW BFL Regional Championship on the Potomac River was hosted by the Charles County Board of Commissioners. It featured the top pros and co-anglers from the Buckeye (Ohio), Northeast (Maryland-New York), Piedmont (North Carolina-Virginia), and 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.
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:
1st: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 15 bass, 63-4, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Randall Allen, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., 15 bass, 48-9, $10,000
3rd: Kip Carter, Mansfield, Ga., 15 bass, 47-10, $5,100
4th: Stacy Adams, Hazlehurst, Ga., 15 bass, 41-9, $3,000
5th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 14 bass, 40-14, $2,000
6th: Nick Cupps, Chattanooga, Tenn., 13 bass, 40-14, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: John Polly, Nauvoo, Ala., 13 bass, 40-10, $1,600
8th: Dylan Peppers, Social Circle, Ga., 14 bass, 39-14, $1,400
9th: Mikey Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., 13 bass, 36-2, $1,200
10th: 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:
1st: Bart Beasley, Mount Pleasant, S.C., 15 bass, 28-6, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: William Perdue, Hawkinsville, Ga., 13 bass, 27-5, $5,000
3rd: Donnie Gamble, Bessemer, Ala., 11 bass, 26-6, $2,500
4th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., eight bass, 26-5, $1,700
5th: Bryce Goff, Haines City, Fla., nine bass, 25-10, $1,000
6th: John Hagins, Roswell, Ga., 12 bass, 25-5, $950
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Terry Smith, Tullahoma, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-12, $800
8th: Fernando Rosa, Plantation, Fla., seven bass, 21-1, $700
9th: Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., nine bass, 20-8, $600
10th: 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.
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:
1st: Dylan Hays, El Dorado, Ark., 15 bass, 43-14, $37,515
2nd: James Watson, Lampe, Mo., 14 bass, 43-7, $13,978
3rd: Casey Scanlon, Lake Ozark, Mo., 15 bass, 42-9, $10,745
4th: Ben Verhoef, Osage Beach, Mo., 13 bass, 41-9, $8,954
5th: James Dill, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 15 bass, 39-1, $8,158
6th: Lance Williams, Billings, Mo., 15 bass, 38-10, $7,163
7th: Cory Steckler, Rocky Mount, Mo., 13 bass, 36-10, $6,268
8th: Brian Maloney, Osage Beach, Mo., 13 bass, 35-9, $5,372
9th: Dale Andrews, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 32-15, $4,477
10th: 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:
1st: Erick Fernengel, Lake Waukomis, Mo., 11 bass, 27-7, $27,100
2nd: Roger Olson Jr., Eagle River, Wis., seven bass, 24-8, $4,581
3rd: Jamie Eynard, Jefferson City, Mo., 11 bass, 21-11, $3,665
4th: Justin Hake, Conway, Ark., eight bass, 21-10, $3,207
5th: Andrew Hegerty, Colgate, Wis., nine bass, 20-9, $3,049
6th: Joe Tucker, Osceola, Mo., nine bass, 18-9, $2,441
7th: Joe Lee, Midlothian, Texas, five bass, 17-15, $1,832
8th: Rob Crane, Fairview Heights, Ill., seven bass, 17-12, $1,603
9th: Ryan Jobe, De Soto, Kan., 11 bass, 17-10, $1,374
10th: 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.
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 |
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.
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.
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, Instagram and YouTube.
Morgenthaler Wins Berkley Big Bass event with 8.82lb Largemouth on Lake Fork
| RICHARD MORGENTHALER | Geneva | IL | 8.82 |
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| STEPHEN CRUMPLER | Bloomburg | TX | 2.98 |
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| CLIFTON JACKSON | Alba | TX | 5.25 |
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| RICHIE WHITE | Sulphur Springs | TX | 2.96 |
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| J J QUON | Celina | TX | 2.88 |
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| PAUL DARNELL | Paris | TX | 2.77 |
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| DIANE VINEYARD | Wylie | TX | 2.76 |
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| DAVID ROULSTON | Allen | TX | 2.74 |
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| RICHIE WHITE | Sulphur Springs | TX | 2.71 |
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| PAUL MECCA | Dallas | TX | 2.67 |
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| JEFFERY JOHNSON | Mineola | TX | 2.65 |
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| JEFF NELSON | Mineola | TX | 2.63 |
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| JEFFERY JOHNSON | Mineola | TX | 2.57 |
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| CHAD LOPEZ | Hartshorne | OK | 2.54 |
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| DAVID SORRELLS | Linden | TX | 2.84 |
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| JACOB ROSS | Rockwall | TX | 2.79 |
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| JOHN BLUE | Sachse | TX | 2.67 |
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| KENNETH GOODWIEN | Port St Lucie | FL | 2.59 |
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| DOUGLAS GIBBONS | Longview | TX | 2.57 |
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| BILL GUZMAN | Austin | TX | 2.54 |
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| LEONARD VAJGRT | Garnavillo | IA | 2.52 |
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| RYAN VAUGHAN | Cumby | TX | 2.52 |
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| MORRIS HERRING JR | Forney | TX | 2.52 |
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| CHARLIE GODWIN | Yantis | TX | 2.48 |
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| DON STAPLETON | Yantis | TX | 2.46 |
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| DAVID WOLFE | White Hall | AR | 2.45 |
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| RUBEN TORRES | Waco | TX | 2.42 |
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| GARY HAYNES | Alba | TX | 2.31 |
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| ROGER RITCHIE | Wichita Falls | TX | 2.74 |
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| STIJN LENS | Belgium | BG | 2.57 |
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| JAMAL ABUDALGHUSA | Keller | TX | 2.54 |
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| DUSTIN HOLMES | Murfreesboro | AR | 2.51 |
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| DANIEL VINAKALNS | Royse City | TX | 2.51 |
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| JERRY MASON | Ragley | LA | 2.50 |
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| KENNETH COBB | Jonesboro | LA | 2.47 |
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| JOE DAVID HICKS | Wichita Falls | TX | 2.46 |
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| JASON BRANHAM | Katy | TX | 2.45 |
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| ROBERT WAGGONER | Garland | TX | 2.42 |
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| JASON QUON | Celina | TX | 2.27 |
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| TROY BASS | Copperas Cove | TX | 2.27 |
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| HAROLD BREDEMEIR | Alba | TX | 2.22 |
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| BOBBY HIX | Glade Water | TX | 2.35 |
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| JOHN DUBEE | Godley | TX | 2.35 |
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| RONNIE CHARANZA | Brownwood | TX | 2.49 |
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| LARRY HUNTER | Grenada | MS | 2.48 |
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| NOAH GOODSON | Driftwood | TX | 2.13 |
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| LEGEND WOODARD | Paris | TX | 2.02 |
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| Trenvor Ford | Winnsboro | TX | 1.93 | 3rd Place Junior Division | |
| Colton Ford | Winnsboro | TX | 1.93 | 3rd Place Junior Division | |
| Randi White | Lawton | OK | 2.38 | $250 + 2nd Place Ladies Division | |
| Donna Escalante | Pipe Creek | TX | 2.29 | $200 + 3rd Place Ladies Division |
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.
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.
MLF shares details of FLW Pro Circuit 2020
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
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 4th annual event next year.
Sportsmans Product Spotlight - Bryan Thrift & Fall Chatterbaits
Sportsmans Warehouse Pro Bryan Thrift talks about Chatterbaits and Fall Fishing, a match made in heaven!
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!
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.
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).
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.
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 11th 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:
1st: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 43-12, $20,000 + Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Ryan Deal, Marshville, N.C., 15 bass, 42-14, $10,000
3rd: Mike Miller, Trinity, N.C., 14 bass, 37-6, $5,000
4th: Wesley Sandifer, Chapin, S.C., 15 bass, 36-6, $3,000
5th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 15 bass, 35-0, $2,200
6th: Todd Goade, Suwanee, Ga., 15 bass, 33-6, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Conrad Bolt, Seneca, S.C., 15 bass, 33-6, $1,700
8th: Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., 15 bass, 33-4, $1,400
9th: Jason Burroughs, Hodges, S.C., 15 bass, 33-2, $1,200
10th: 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:
1st: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., 15 bass, 27-10, Ranger Z518L w/200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Nick Coker, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 27-2, $5,200
3rd: Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., 15 bass, 24-14, $2,550
4th: Costas Melendez, Shenandoah, Va., 14 bass, 24-13, $1,500
5th: Kibbee McCoy, Knoxville, Tenn., 13 bass, 19-10, $1,000
6th: James Roten, West Jefferson, N.C., 14 bass, 19-9, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Matt Langley, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 18-7, $800
8th: Sam Loveless, Somerset, Ky., nine bass, 18-6, $700
9th: Trace Bigelow, Salisbury, N.C., 11 bass, 17-8, $600
10th: 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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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:
1st: Curt Warren, Rose, Okla., 13 bass, 46-7, $77,175
2nd: Jason Christie, Park Hill, Okla., 15 bass, 45-1, $12,027
3rd: Toby Hartsell, Afton, Okla., 15 bass, 41-15, $9,085
4th: Bradley Hallman, Norman, Okla., 15 bass, 40-5, $7,571
5th: Cody Bird, Granbury, Texas, 13 bass, 39-6, $6,814
6th: Jeremy Lawyer, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 36-5, $6,057
7th: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., 14 bass, 35-13, $5,300
8th: Lance Crawford, Broken Bow, Okla., 11 bass, 31-5, $4,542
9th: Allen Head, Pryor, Okla., 11 bass, 31-4, $3,785
10th: 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:
1st: Steven Meador, Bentonville, Ark., 11 bass, 27-15, $27,100 + $5,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Richard Champagne, Bentonville, Ark., 11 bass, 27-5, $4,031
3rd: Alan Quick, Springfield, Mo., eight bass, 22-9, $3,185
4th: Calan Cameron, Coppell, Texas, eight bass, 20-8, $2,787
5th: Robin Babb, Tulsa, Okla., seven bass, 19-13 $2,439
6th: Mason Roach, Conroe, Texas, 11 bass, 19-11, $1,991
7th: Tony Thompson, New Braunfels, Texas, nine bass, 18-11, $1,593
8th: Johnny Burke, Bristow, Okla., nine bass, 17-5, $1,393
9th: Travis Pattilllo, Zavalla, Texas, five bass, 16-9, $1,322
10th: 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.
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. The 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky.
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, Instagram and YouTube.
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.
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.
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:
1st: Sacramento State University – Ilya Guryanov, West Sacramento, Calif., and Will Karnthong, Antioch, Calif., five bass, 15-7, $2,000
2nd: Sacramento State University – Aaron Nguyen, Discovery Bay, Calif., and Christopher Orgon, Sacramento, Calif., five bass, 13-2, $1,000
3rd: New Mexico State University – Ty Faulconer, Santa Clarita, Calif., and Daylon Smith, Frazier Park, Calif., five bass, 12-4, $900
4th: Chico State University – Tyler Bounds, Chico, Calif., and Miles Kaneko, Berkeley, Calif., five bass, 11-12, $700
5th: Oregon State University – Biagio Capp, Discovery Bay, Calif., and Thomas Robinson, Blythe, Calif., five bass, 10-6, $750
6th: University of California-Merced – Kalib Caples, Sebastopol, Calif., and Herbie LeBlanc, Merced, Calif., five bass, 10-4
7th: Washington State University – Madden Tobeck, Eatonville, Wash., and Nathan Baespflug, Sumner, Wash., five bass, 10-2
8th: Chico State University – Joshua Cutler, Hollister, Calif., and Chad Sweitzer, Sonora, Calif., five bass, 10-1
9th: California State University-East Bay – Yuan Liu, Fremont, Calif., and Zane Kazaka, Clearlake, Calif., five bass, 9-9
10th: 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.
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 14th 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:
1st: Brock Turner, Jasper, Ga., 10 bass, 33-7, $6,266 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Rob Jordan, Flowery Branch, Ga., 10 bass, 32-6, $3,033
3rd: Trent Palmer, Cumming, Ga., 10 bass, 32-3, $2,124
4th: Clabion Johns, Social Circle, Ga., 10 bass, 30-14, $1,415
5th: David Nichol, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 29-10, $2,045
6th: Jordan Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 10 bass, 29-3, $1,112
7th: Brad Wiley, Alto, Ga., 10 bass, 27-14, $1,011
8th: Jason Johnson, Dawsonville, Ga., 10 bass, 27-9, $910
9th: Grant Kelly, Milledgeville, Ga., 10 bass, 26-12, $809
10th: 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:
1st: Conery Williams, Macon, Ga., 10 bass, 20-10, $2,971
2nd: Deron Burdette, Fayetteville, Ga., six bass, 18-3, $1,686
3rd: Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., eight bass, 17-12, $1,039
4th: Dax Liner, Mineral Bluff, Ga., nine bass, 15-12, $693
5th: Devereaux Adams, Powder Springs, Ga., eight bass, 14-15, $594
6th: Jeffrey Payne, Danville, Ga., six bass, 14-9, $695
7th: Ben Smith, Lula, Ga., eight bass, 14-8, $495
8th: Wesley Wilson, Cornelia, Ga., eight bass, 14-6, $446
9th: Preston Pullman, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 13-4, $797
10th: 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.
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.
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:
1st: Scott Bateman, Jasper, Ind., 10 bass, 12-13, $4,718
2nd: Bryce Kalen, Greenwood, Ind., eight bass, 12-0, $2,234
3rd: Thomas Foster, Terre Haute, Ind., seven bass, 11-13, $1,423
4th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., nine bass, 11-12, $996
5th: Brandon Houston, Burlington, Ky., eight bass, 10-6, $854
6th: Kyle Weisenburger, Columbus Grove, Ohio, six bass, 9-8, $783
7th: Ken Garbe, Wyoming, Ohio, seven bass, 8-7, $711
8th: John Melton, Corydon, Ind., six bass, 8-6, $640
9th: Pete Justice, Sharonville, Ohio, four bass, 8-0, $569
10th: 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:
1st: Brian Liming, Dillsboro, Ind., seven bass, 11-14, $2,134
2nd: Jim Krider, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 7-7, $1,067
3rd: Brant Gish, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 5-8, $712
4th: Adam Boyce, Glenview, Ill., two bass, 5-5, $742
5th: Collin Hillen, Evansville, Ind., four bass, 4-14, $427
6th: John Young, Franklin, Ind., three bass, 4-13, $391
7th: Austin Thome, Oxford, Ohio, four bass, 4-5, $706
8th: Jeffery Johnson, Austin, Ind., four bass, 4-5, $470
9th: Roy Lester, Hamilton, Ohio, three bass, 4-3, $285
10th: 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.
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.
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:
1st: Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., 10 bass, 35-12, $6,694
2nd: Ryan Ingram, Phenix City, Ala., 10 bass, 34-5, $2,441
3rd: Shane Powell, Dothan, Ala., 10 bass, 32-7, $1,562
4th: Casey O’Donnell, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 30-2, $1,092
5th: Wesley Rushing, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 29-9, $936
6th: Jeff Kitchens, Auburn, Ala., 10 bass, 28-11, $858
7th: Mark Stillwell, Salem, Ala., 10 bass, 28-7, $780
8th: Terry Tucker, Gadsen, Ala., 10 bass, 27-1, $702
9th: Ethan Greene, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 26-15, $624
10th: 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:
1st: Curtis Hillman, Abbeville, Ala., seven bass, 27-12, $2,402
2nd: Mark Hebert, Lineville, Ala., nine bass, 25-10, $1,081
3rd: Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., 10 bass, 22-6, $723
4th: Daniel Buswell Jr., Fayetteville, Ga., seven bass, 22-0, $505
5th: Robert Hays, Elmore, Ala., nine bass, 21-11, $432
6th: Thomas Robbins, Jackson, S.C., nine bass, 18-10, $596
7th: Mike Grose, Salem, Ala., nine bass, 17-1, $410
8th: Lew Moore, Roanoke, Ala., five bass, 15-5, $324
9th: William Jackson, Sharpsburg, Ga., five bass, 12-1, $288
10th: 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.
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.
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:
1st: Kyle Lewellen, Byhalia, Miss., 10 bass, 34-5, $5,690
2nd: Roger Stegall, Iuka, Miss., 10 bass, 31-3, $2,845
3rd: Michael Wooley, Booneville, Miss., 10 bass, 31-0, $2,097
4th: Jade Keeton, Florence, Ala., 10 bass, 30-15, $1,428
5th: Mark Willins, Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-14, $1,138
6th: Chris Smalley, Middleton, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-5, $1,043
7th: Nathan Martin, Sheffield, Ala., 10 bass, 29-13, $1,940
8th: Jim Little, Corinth, Miss., 10 bass, 29-4, $853
9th: Sam Moody, Athens, Ala., 10 bass, 29-2, $759
10th: 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:
1st: John Swords, Collierville, Tenn., 10 bass, 24-2, $2,664
2nd: Anthony Rasberry, New Albany, Miss., 10 bass, 24-0, $1,532
3rd: Daniel Corkern, Florence, Miss., nine bass, 22-5, $1,089
4th: Yu Han, Memphis, Tenn., nine bass, 21-4, $622
5th: Cody Swinford, Ripley, Miss., 10 bass, 21-3, $533
6th: Sank Payton, Bay Springs, Miss., seven bass, 17-11, $488
7th: Ron Creasy, Florence, Ala., eight bass, 17-10, $444
8th: Joey Tanner, Meridian, Miss., six bass, 17-1, $500
9th: Phil Burnett, Selmer, Tenn., four bass, 13-10, $355
10th: 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.
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.
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:
1st: Bradford Beavers, Summerville, S.C., 10 bass, 28-1, $4,345 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: John Duarte, Middle River, Md., 10 bass, 27-10, $1,972
3rd: Andy Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., 10 bass, 27-9, $1,297
4th: Deron Johnson, Anderson, S.C., 10 bass, 27-4, $734
5th: Eddie Whiten Jr., Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 24-5, $629
6th: Taylor Ashley, Warrior, Ala., 10 bass, 22-8, $577
7th: Brandt Tumberg, Moore, S.C., 10 bass, 22-2, $524
8th: Ron Brown, Cross, S.C., 10 bass, 19-13, $622
9th: Robbie Harrelson, Moncks Corner, S.C., five bass, 10-12
10th: 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:
1st: Daniel McGlohorn, Polmaria, S.C., 10 bass, 18-15, $1,772
2nd: Jeremy Montgomery, Overland Park, Kan., 10 bass, 18-9, $936
3rd: Brandon Lawson, Union, S.C., eight bass, 17-5, $575
4th: Mike Jackson, Mount Airy, Ga., six bass, 15-1, $367
5th: Chris Wilson, Easley, S.C., 10 bass, 14-12, $314
6th: Stewart Uldrick, Anderson, S.C., 10 bass, 14-11, $288
7th: Zack Ross, Charleston, S.C., eight bass, 14-3, $262
8th: Harold Addison II, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 8-7, $336
9th: Kevin Henderson, Honea Path, S.C., five bass, 7-14
10th: 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.
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.
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.
Canterbury Locks Up Toyota Bassmaster Angler Of The Year Title On Lake St. Clair
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Canterbury Regains AOY Lead With Nice Day 2 Rebound At Lake St. Clair
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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.
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.
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.”
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.
Zaldain Moves Into AOY Lead With Solid Day On Lake St. Clair
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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.
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.
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:
1st: Blake Dyer, Walnut Creek, Calif., 15 bass, 62-13, $31,114
2nd: Jason Borofka, Salinas, Calif., 15 bass, 61-4, $13,579
3rd: Austin Wilson, Citrus Heights, Calif., 15 bass, 57-0, $9,274
4th: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 15 bass, 55-4, $7,728
5th: Mike Birch, Oakley, Calif., 15 bass, 53-13, $6,956
6th: John Pearl, Upper Lake, Calif., 15 bass, 50-5, $6,183
7th: Michael Fong, Sacramento, Calif., 15 bass, 49-5, $5,410
8th: Stephen Tosh Jr., Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 48-2, $5,833
9th: Phillip Dutra, Concord, Calif., 15 bass, 47-3, $3,864
10th: 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:
1st: Jack Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 37-2, $27,100
2nd: Cesar Laguna, Galt, Calif., 15 bass, 36-9, $4,194
3rd: Travis Williams, Bethel Island, Calif., 15 bass, 35-3, $3,301
4th: Justin Hurney, Oakley, Calif., 14 bass, 33-4, $2,845
5th: Casey Dunn, North Highlands, Calif., 15 bass, 32-1 $2,819
6th: Daniel Lutz, Las Vegas, Nev., 15 bass, 31-7, $2,032
7th: Bryan Lutz, Clearlake Oaks, Calif., 15 bass, 30-5, $1,626
8th: Blaine Christiansen, San Jose, Calif., 14 bass, 27-8, $1,423
9th: Tony Zanotelli, Redding, Calif., 15 bass, 27-8, $1,219
10th: 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.
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. The 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky.
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, Instagram and YouTube.
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.
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 41st place on the Toyota Angler of the Year standings – just barely inside the cut to qualify for his 1st 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 50th 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 18thplace, which raised his AOY stock to 41st 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.”
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
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.
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.
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 6th 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.
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
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.
"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!