Alabama Bass Trail Announces 2019 Tournament Schedule, Registration Opens August 1
Decatur, Ala. (May 15, 2018) – The Alabama Bass Trail (ABT) is pleased to unveil the 2019 tournament schedule with a cash payout reaching over $500,000 plus a grand prize of a new Phoenix Bass Boat. Returning for the sixth season, the team-style tournament series is held on eleven of the lakes of the Alabama Bass Trail beginning February 16, 2019, with the championship tournament to be held on October 25-26, 2019.
Sanctioned by BASS (Bass Anglers Sportsman Society), the ABT Tournament Series contains two divisions, North and South, and each division is made up of five tournaments on five different lakes. The maximum number of boats for each tournament is 225. Teams must fish in all five tournaments in their respective division; no single entries will be allowed.
South Division:
- February 16, 2019
Lake Martin hosted by Alexander City Chamber of Commerce - March 30, 2019
Lake Jordan hosted by the City of Wetumpka - April 20, 2019
Alabama River / Cooter’s Pond hosted by City of Prattville Parks and Recreation - May 18, 2019
Lay Lake hosted by Shelby County Commission - June 15, 2019
Lake Eufaula hosted by Eufaula-Barbour Chamber of Commerce
North Division:
- February 23, 2019
Smith Lake hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County - March 23, 2019
Wheeler Lake hosted by Decatur Morgan County Tourism - April 27, 2019
Weiss Lake hosted by City of Leesburg - May 11, 2019
Pickwick Lake hosted by Florence-Lauderdale Tourism - June 8, 2019
Neely Henry Lake hosted by the City of Gadsden
Hosted by the Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce, the championship tournament is set for October 25-26, 2019, on Lake Guntersville. “One of the most effective measurements of our success is how much of an economic impact a tourism event makes in the community. The Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce has hosted an Alabama Bass Trail tournament in the past and once the final numbers were in, an economic impact study was conducted. The study clearly indicated the positive impact the tournament made on the city of Scottsboro and Jackson County from the tax revenue generated during the anglers’ visit. And now more than ever, we are looking forward to hosting the 2019 Alabama Bass Trail Championship at Goose Pond. We hope everyone will come out to experience the excitement this tournament brings,” said J.P. Parsons, vice president of destination marketing for Jackson County Tourism.
The championship event will include up to 185 boats. The 185 boats are comprised of the 10 divisional tournament winning teams, top 75 teams in points from both divisions that fished all five events in their respective divisions, along with the top 15 student boats, top five college teams and the top five couples teams collectively from both divisions that fished all five events in their respective division.
“We are excited to announce the 2019 schedule, especially that the championship is heading to Lake Guntersville where it all started for the Alabama Bass Trail in February of 2014. There has been an incredible interest from new teams about the 2019 schedule. Each year we strive to put together a schedule that will put anglers on the lakes at the best possible time for fishing and we want to change things up from previous years to keep the anglers engaged. Once our tournament travels to an area, we are honored when city officials reach out to us and ask when the Tournament Series will be back. That’s a true testament to the impact the Alabama Bass Trail has on a community,” said ABT Program Director Kay Donaldson.
Each tournament features a $10,000 guaranteed first place prize and pays 40 places totaling over $47,000. In conjunction with the Alabama Bicentennial celebration in 2019, an additional $200 bonus prize will be awarded at each tournament to the team that finishes in the 200th place. The winning team of the championship walks away with a fully rigged bass boat valued at $45,000; there is a $5,000 bonus cash prize for Angler of the Year and $2,500 for runner-up Angler of the Year. According to Donaldson, over $568,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded when the ABT Tournament Series wraps up its season in 2019.
2019 Payout Schedule:
| First place | $10,000 |
| Second place | $5,000 |
| Third place | $4,000 |
| Fourth place | $3,000 |
| Fifth place | $2,000 |
| Sixth place | $1,500 |
| Seventh place | $1,100 |
| Eighth place | $1,100 |
| Ninth place | $1,100 |
| Tenth place | $1,100 |
| 11th – 20th (each) | $750 |
| 21st – 40th (each) | $500 |
| 200th | $200 |
Anglers who fished all five events in their respective divisions in 2018 will be given a priority entry period from August 1 to August 14, 2018, to register online at www.alabamabasstrail.org. Registration will be open to the public on August 15, 2018. The entry fee per tournament is $1,300 per team, which includes registration for all five tournaments in the respective division. Each team may choose to pay a $500 nonrefundable deposit to hold the team’s spot. The balance of $800 must be paid by January 18, 2019.
ABT Tournament sponsors include Phoenix Bass Boats; Bill Penney Toyota; the Alabama Tourism Department; America’s First Federal Credit Union; Academy Sports & Outdoors; Garmin; T & H Marine Supplies, Inc.; Alabama Power Company; Buffalo Rock, Inc.; Jack’s; Wedowee Marine; Trapper Tackle; Lews Fishing; FishNeelyHenry.com; Power-Pole; YETI and Hydrowave. Pond MD will manage fish care and Southern Stream Live will be the live-streaming company.
For more information, call Donaldson at 855.934.7425 or visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.
ABOUT ALABAMA BASS TRAIL
The Alabama Bass Trail is a program of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. Its mission is to promote Alabama as a year-round fishing destination, to preserve natural resources for generations to come, and to educate high school and college-aged students to be good stewards of natural resources. The 13 bass fishing lakes consist of Lake Guntersville, Wheeler Lake, Pickwick Lake, Lewis Smith Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Weiss Lake, Lake Martin, Lay Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lake Jordan, Alabama River, Lake Eufaula, and the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. For more information, visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.
Roberson Steals The Show In YES Event #1
Edenton, NC – 5/5/2018
Event number one for the 2018 Collins Inc. – Youth Educational Series kicked off over the weekend on the Chowan River / Albemarle Sound region. Teams launched from the Bayside Marina around 6:15 AM and returned at 2:30 PM for the afternoon weigh-in.
Morgan Roberson, fishing without a team partner, took the top spot with a massive catch of five fish weighing an impressive 25.22 lbs, anchored by the eventual event lunker weighing in at 7.88 lbs. Since she had no team partner to share the winnings with, Morgan doubled up on all prizes and took home both first place plaques signifying the win along with multiple tackle related prizes from Outdoor Accessories Unlimited, Z-Man Fishing Products, Penetration Hooks, Solar Bat Sunglasses, and $50 gift cards from Ranger Wear.
Morgan is no stranger to the top of the results charts, as this is her third overall victory in three seasons among the Youth Educational Series of events. She also has a previous second-place finish to add to her records. Congratulations Morgan!!!
Filling the second position was Nathaniel Moss, another solo angler. However, having to fish alone didn’t keep Nathaniel, one-half of the reining 2017 Youth Educational Series points championship team, from also bringing an impressive bag of fish to the scales that weighed in at 16.67 lbs, anchored by a 7.39 kicker fish. Nathaniel also doubled up on the prizes with his tandem plaques signifying the accomplishment, along with multiple tackle related prizes from Outdoor Accessories Unlimited, Z-Man Fishing Products, and Penetration Hooks.
The third spot went to Nathan Canady and Ayden Wood with their catch of 13.26 lbs, also anchored by a brute weighing in at 7.05 lbs. These two anglers are currently enjoying some amazing finishes among NC Bassmaster Eastern & Western Division High School Series events and are looking to do the same among the Youth Educational Series events this season.
Rounding out the top five positions included the fourth place tandem of Wyatt Long and Logan Jennings with their catch of 11.07 lbs and the fifth place team of Dorien Scott and Andrew Pittman with their catch of 5.15 lbs.
Thanks to all sponsors that contribute to these youth events. We could not offer such great rewards and opportunities without your support.
Thanks to all of the boat captains and club advisors that take time away from their personal fishing opportunities and other leisure activities to coach and mentor these young anglers. You are appreciated very much for the role that you play.
Clark & Clark Win Collins Boating Bass for Cash Series Event on Chowan River with over 24 pounds!!!
A field of sixty-three teams made their way to beautiful Edenton, NC for the fourth event of the 2018 Bass For Cash Series season. The weather was pleasant and the bite appeared to be good for the majority of the teams, as forty-nine teams recorded double-digit weights, with twenty-five teams scoring over 15lbs. Ron & Ronnie Clark topped the field with their five fish limit catch that weighed in at 24.88lbs. The duo also claimed the Outdoor Accessories Unlimited lunker award with a nice 7.69 largemouth. The tandem netted a total of $1930 for the win and another $315 plus a $100 Outdoor Accessories Unlimited gift card for the lunker.
Mike May & Dale Winstead filled the second position with their limit of fish that weighed 22.47lbs. The pair walked away with $1092 for their effort.
Cliff & Randy Jenkins settled for the third spot, narrowly missing the runner up position by less than 3 ounces, with their catch of 22.30 lbs. The duo claimed $734 for their limit of largemouth bass.
Cameron Smith & Tyler Jones secured a $600 payday with their fourth place catch of 21.08lbs.
Rounding out the top five was the team of Buster Seabolt & Skeet Bennett with their catch of 19.18lbs, granting the pair a $490 payout.
With only two events remaining in the season, this is a reminder that each “Individual” angler must compete in, at least, four of the six regular season events to be eligible for championship competition.
GEORGIA’S PARTAIN WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL SAVANNAH RIVER DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON LAKE HARTWELL
Lewis Takes Co-angler Title
ANDERSON, S.C. (May 14, 2018) – Boater Kerry Partain of Elberton, Georgia, caught five bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division tournament Saturday on Lake Hartwell. For his efforts, Partain took home $3,705.
Partain said he worked through nearly 30 areas from the Tugaloo River down to the dam, catching eight keepers throughout the tournament.
“I used a weightless Zoom Super Fluke early for postspawn fish on shoals and points,” said Partain, who logged his first win in FLW competition. “I fished main-lake areas in anywhere from 2 to 10 feet of water.”
Following the postspawn bite, Partain caught two bedding fish – a 3- and 4-pounder – from mid-lake spawning beds. He said he was near docks, and used a Texas-rigged Watermelon Magic-colored Zoom Fluke Stick.
“I ran points for postspawners to finish out the day,” said Partain. “I ran up the Tugaloo and Seneca arms and basically hit any areas coming off the spawning flats.”
Partain’s afternoon postspawn baits were a Watermelon Candy-colored Zoom Finesse Worm on a drop-shot rig and a shaky-head jig with a green-pumpkin Zoom Magnum Swamp Crawler.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kerry Partain, Elberton, Ga., five bass, 14-14, $3,705
2nd: Justin McLeese, Iva, S.C., five bass, 12-14, $1,753
3rd: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 12-5, $1,169
4th: Henry Kratz, Pelzer, S.C., five bass, 10-7, $820
4th: Joey Nichols, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 10-7, $820
4th: David Milsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 10-7, $1,120
7th: Marcus Church, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 10-6, $525
7th: Joe Anders, Easley, S.C., five bass, 10-6, $525
7th: Randy Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 10-6, $525
10th: Scott Chatham, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 10-3, $409
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Randy Gentry of Franklin, North Carolina, brought a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $440.
Keith Lewis of Franklin, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,853 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Keith Lewis, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 10-10, $1,853
2nd: Tim Watson, Martin, Ga., five bass, 10-3, $926
3rd: Rusty Smith, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 9-8, $585
4th: Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., five bass, 9-3, $409
5th: Chris Nunziato, Elberton, Ga., five bass, 8-13, $351
6th: Samson Faulk, Lyman, S.C., five bass, 8-12, $321
7th: Harold Chappell, Central, S.C., five bass, 8-4, $292
8th: Michael Smith, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 7-10, $263
9th: Thomas Morris, Walhalla, S.C., four bass, 7-9, $234
10th: Bill Hawkins, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 7-6, $204
James Durham of Hartwell, Georgia, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 3 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $110.
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
MARSHALL COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL WINS 2018 KHSAA STATE BASS FISHING CHAMPIONSHIP ON KENTUCKY LAKE
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 14, 2018) – The Marshall County High School team of Tristan Barrett and Evan Bremmerkamp brought a two-day cumulative total of eight bass weighing 27 pounds, 11 ounces to the scale this weekend, beating out 67 other teams to win the 2018 Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) State Bass Fishing Championship on Kentucky Lake. The win earned the team medals, a trophy to display in their school and the title of KHSAA state champions.
The top 10 high school teams on Kentucky Lake were:
1st: Marshall County High School – Tristan Barrett and Evan Bremmerkamp, eight bass, 27-11
2nd: Madison Southern High School – Blake Harold and Cameron Cochran, six bass, 21-7
3rd: Calloway County High School – Dylan Bell and Jacob Hudgin, seven bass, 20-1
4th: McCracken County High School – Tyler Lillevig and Hunter Valerius, seven bass, 20-1
5th: Muhlenberg County High School – Carson Recke and Jackson Kulijof, six bass, 17-11
6th: Ohio County High School – Dalton Wilson and Brennan Peters, six bass, 17-8
7th: LaRue County High School – Wyatt Pearman and Evan Morris, six bass, 16-13
8th: Trigg County High School – Andrew Greene and Anthony Ethridge, seven bass, 16-11
9th: Bourbon County High School – Conner Johnson and Cameron Brady, six bass, 16-3
10th: Boyle County High School – Sam Clark and Hannah Wesley, six bass, 16-2
Complete results can be found at KHSAA.org.
For the second consecutive year, Garrard County High School angler Morgan Miracle was recognized as the 2018 Midway University/KHSAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year. The award is presented to the student-athlete who exemplifies outstanding athletic performance, community service, leadership and academic achievement in her sport.
A 5-pound, 3-ounce bass earned the KHSAA Big Bass honors on each day of competition. On Day One, Madison Southern High School angler Cameron Cochran caught a 5-3 to claim the big bass of the day, while Bourbon County angler Cameron Brady weighed a 5-3 on Day Two to earn the honors.
Photos from the event can be found at bit.ly/2018KHSAABass and are courtesy of Curtis Niedermier/FLW.
The 2018 KHSAA Fishing Championship was a two-person (team) event for students in grades 9-12. 2018 marked the sixth year of the championship event, which featured a field of 68 teams that qualified from four regional competitions in April. The event was supported by the Benton, Kentucky-based Fishing League Worldwide (FLW), the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization. For more information on FLW and their multiple tournament circuits, visit FLWFishing.com.
All High School Fishing anglers nationwide automatically qualify for the world’s largest high school bass tournament, the 2018 High School Fishing World Finals, held in conjunction with the High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama, June 26-29. At the 2017 World Finals more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded. Visit HighSchoolFishing.org for complete details.
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 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, 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, YouTube and Snapchat.
About The Bass Federation
The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.
NORMANDY’S STEADMAN WINS T-H MARINE FLW BFL MUSIC CITY DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON TIMS FORD LAKE
Co-angler Title Goes to Hendersonville’s Brinson
WINCHESTER, Tenn. (May 14, 2018) – Boater David Steadman Jr. of Normandy, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division tournament on Tims Ford Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces. Steadman pocketed $2,648 for his win.
“I fished the main-lake area with a shad-colored crankbait and caught about 20 fish total,” said Steadman, who logged his first career win in FLW competition. “I focused on transition banks where postspawn fish were heading back out into the lake. Some of the spots had rocks, some had gravel and some were a mix. They were fairly typical locations where I’ve caught postspawners in the past.”
Steadman said he worked through 11 different areas to craft his limit.
“I hit a lull during the day from around 10:30 (a.m.) until noon, but I stuck with it and caught two of my biggest late in the day,” said Steadman.
Steadman said the fish in his areas were all smallmouth in practice, but on the day of the tournament there were largemouth present as well.
“I think I caught five largemouth during the event and ended up weighing four smallmouth and one largemouth.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: David Steadman Jr., Normandy, Tenn., five bass, 14-13, $2,648
2nd: John Wilkerson, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $1,524
3rd: Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 13-13, $982
4th: Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $574
4th: Cornell Creciun III, Nolensville, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $574
6th: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $485
7th: Mark Condron, Wilton, Conn., five bass, 12-7, $441
8th: Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 12-6, $397
9th: Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 11-13, $353
10th: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 11-12, $293
10th: Gerald Williams, Scottsville, Ky., five bass, 11-12, $293
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Rocco Simeri of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, brought a 4-pound, 11-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $285.
Bryan Brinson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $1,324 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Bryan Brinson, Hendersonville, Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $1,324
2nd: Marty Barnes, Crossville, Tenn., four bass, 9-9, $662
3rd: Eric Eden, Hartsville, Tenn., five bass, 9-1, $440
4th: Ryan Cross, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 7-15, $309
5th: Sam Loveless, Somerset, Ky., four bass, 7-6, $265
6th: Jake May, La Vergne, Tenn., three bass, 7-1, $243
7th: Gregory Goodwin, Louisville, Ky., three bass, 6-10, $221
8th: Austin Mitchell, Antioch, Tenn., three bass, 6-5, $199
9th: Devin Bargatze, Nashville, Tenn., two bass, 5-6, $377
10th: Blake Balent, Gallatin, Tenn., two bass, 5-4, $154
Jordan Young of Hillsboro, Tennessee, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $142.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
COVERCRAFT® and Bradley Roy Announce Partnership
PAULS VALLEY, OK– May 14, 2018– Today Covercraft announced a partnership with Bassmaster Elite SeriesTMangler Bradley Roy. The nine-year pro from Lancaster, KY is currently leading the Angler of the Year points race.
“We are thrilled to partner with a true professional like Bradley Roy,” said Covercraft Director of Marketing Jeff Jegelewicz. “Not only is he passionate about the outdoors, he’s dedicated to giving back to the community through his various charitable events and programs. This speaks volumes about his character, and we feel he will represent the Covercraft brand exceptionally well.”
Roy was first introduced to Covercraft through his camouflage sponsor Prym1. Covercraft licensed their patterns and last year sent Roy two sets of fully-custom seat covers for his tow vehicle and hunting truck. “I loved the seat covers and was really pleased with both the ease of installation and how well they fit and protected my seats. Once they were installed I wished they had been on there years ago,” said Roy.
“Everyone is talking about how much rain we’ve had this year and every time I hear that I’m thankful to have those seat covers on my truck,” Roy laughed. “I jump in the truck soaking wet without a second thought!”
In addition to competing on the most-prestigious bass fishing trail in the world, Roy is also known for giving back. He’s hosted the annual Bradley Roy High School Open in the commonwealth of Kentucky for four years. Aspiring anglers from his home state compete each year for two spots in the Bassmaster High SchoolTMNational Championship.
Through a partnership with Louisville-based USA Cares (www.usacares.org), Roy has hosted four benefit tournaments to assist the organization with its efforts to provide financial and advocacy assistance to post-9/11 active duty US military service personnel, veterans and their families. Two more tournaments are scheduled for 2018.
Covercraft will immediately become involved with both of those initiatives and join Roy’s current sponsors helping him give back to his community.
Roy is also a dedicated hunter and guides in the fall for Whitetail Heaven Outfitters based in Nicholasville, Kentucky. “As helpful as the seat covers are for fishing they’re every bit or more useful for hunters. Whether it’s getting dirty hunting deer or chasing turkeys hunting season can do a number on our trucks. Floor mats and seat covers from Covercraft really come in handy then,” said Roy.
Covercraft offers an extensive line of functional and stylish vehicle accessories for trucks, cars, SUV, etc. “I’ve had fun surfing around the Covercraft website picking out more products to outfit my vehicles,” said Roy. “It’s almost (not quite) as fun as shopping for fishing tackle online. I’ve got floor mats, sunscreens, dash covers, gear webs, hood protectors, and more either now on my truck or at the house waiting to be installed.”
About Covercraft
Covercraft Industries, LLC is the leading branded manufacturer of automotive protection products including vehicle covers, seat covers, front end masks, dashboard covers, window sunscreens, RV covers, patio furniture covers and others. The company focuses on custom patterned products with a library that includes more than 400,000 distinct automotive patterns.
Covercraft owns multiple brands including ADCO, Colgan, DashMat, GT Covers, PCI and Wolf. Licensed partnerships include Airstream, Carhartt, Ford, Tommy Bahama and Winnebago. Founded in Southern California in 1965, Covercraft is Headquartered in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma with additional manufacturing facilities in California, Colorado, Texas, Australia and Mexico.
For more information, visit www.covercraft.com.
About Bradley Roy
Bradley Roy lives in Lancaster, KY and has fished the Bassmaster Elite SeriesTMsince 2010, when he was the youngest-ever at 19 years old. A former 2004 Junior World Champion, Roy is also a two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier. His official sponsors include Mud Hole Custom Tackle, MHX Rods, Whitetail Heaven Outfitters, USA Cares, Angler’s Outpost & Marine, Prym1, D&L Tackle, Cabin Creek Bait Co., Triton Boats, Gruv Fishing, Neat Trucking, Power Pole, Chrysler of Lawrenceburg, Lowrance, Mercury, TH Marine, and First Southern National Bank.
For more information, visit www.bradleyroy.com.
Swindle says Lake Travis is full of fish
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships
Gerald Swindle has no history with Lake Travis. He’d never seen the gorgeous 18,000 acre reservoir along the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country until arriving for practice on Mother’s Day.
But after another long 12-hour day of practice, he likes what he sees.
“Well, I just saw a woman swim across the cove with her Larbradoodle, that was interesting. And they dang sure like to party on this lake, even on a Monday,” says the hilarious Team Toyota pro.
“It’s also full of fish. I think it’s gonna surprise people what we catch here this week. There’s a ton of bass swimming here. The challenge will be getting that big bite or two to separate yourself from the pack,” he explains.
Water temps are ranging 77 to 80. It’s full post-spawn mode, and how you choose to catch them is up to you. Swindle says most of the baitfish he saw on Lake Travis were super tiny shoreline minnows.
“You name it – we’ll be throwing it this week,” says Swindle. “Drop shot, Ned Rig, a casting jig, Shaky head, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, deep cranking -- it’s all in play this week.”
Swindle piloted his Tundra roughly 14 hours to get to Austin after saying a brutally tough, heartbreaking goodbye to his dog Myrick, but Lake Travis has been reason to smile again for the highly accomplished Quantum pro.
“Grand Lake and Kentucky Lake, where we just came from, were places I’d been many times before, but bites were tough to come by,” says Swindle.
“We weighed-in big bags, but bites were real tough to get. Coming here to Travis was a long drive, but kind of cool like getting a Christmas present. You’re excited to unwrap it, and see what you got, and so far, I like what we’ve got here.”
“I think one of the reasons Lake Travis is good is because there’s not a lot of fishing pressure. Now look, there’s party pressure – if the bass bit Bud Light cans here they’d be in trouble, because these locals know how to party - especially with the weather being so hot this week – like hotter than Miranda Lambert in yoga pants,” he concluded.
KENTUCKY LAKE SET TO HOST FLW TOUR EVENT PRESENTED BY COSTA SUNGLASSES
The Sixth Stop of the 2018 FLW Tour Season Brings Four Days of Tournament-Fishing Action, Community Events to Gilbertsville Area
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (May 3, 2018) – The Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) Tour, professional bass fishing’s largest and most lucrative tournament circuit, is set to fish Kentucky and Barkley lakes May 17-20 for the FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Costa Sunglasses. The event, hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, will feature 362 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals and co-anglers casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the Pro Division and up to $25,000 cash in the Co-angler Division.
Currently celebrating its 23rd season on the water, this marks the 11th time the Benton, Kentucky-based FLW Tour will compete on their home waters of Kentucky Lake. The tournament field features three former Kentucky Lake FLW Tour champions – Jason Lambert (2016), Chad Grigsby (2011) and Anthony Gagliardi (2004). Lambert caught nearly 100 pounds of schooling bass to win the 2016 event, weighing a 29-pound limit – the largest limit ever caught on Kentucky Lake in FLW Tour history – on championship Sunday to seal the deal.
This year, 23-year Tour veteran Terry Bolton, of Paducah, Kentucky, said he expects another great week of fishing, but doesn’t think it will take as nearly as much weight to win.
“I think the winner will need to catch around 17½ pounds a day. It’s going to be more of spawn-oriented deal this time around,” said Bolton, who has 32 career top-10 finishes on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in FLW competition. “With how cold our winter was this year, everything happened a lot later than in the past six or seven years. Essentially we didn’t have any April spawners like we’ve had in the past. Some of the first few fish to start spawning started this past week. That leads me to believe that we will likely be hitting the next wave come tournament time.”
Bolton said a number of baits will be in play for this event, mainly soft-plastics, topwater baits and possibly some big crankbaits and swimbaits. He mentioned Zoom Lizards, Brush Hogs and popping-type lures as very likely to be seen in use by competitors.
“Bushes and willow trees will get a lot of attention from anglers, but that pattern can vary depending on what the water level is,” said Bolton. “I think it will mainly be a shallow-water event. I don’t think we’ll see as much ledge fishing. There’ll be some, but I don’t think we’ll see it as much as we have in past FLW Tour events.”
Anglers will take off at 6:30 a.m. CDT each day from Kentucky Dam State Park, located at 7792 U.S. Highway 641 N. in Gilbertsville. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins, May 17-18, will be held at the State Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins, May 19-20, will also be held at the park, but will begin at 4 p.m.
Television coverage of the FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Costa Sunglasses will premiere in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) June 27 from Noon-1 p.m. EST. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Kentucky Dam State Park from noon to 4 p.m. The Expo is the perfect opportunity for fishing fans of all ages to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, meet characters from the “Paw Patrol” children’s television show, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
Also for youth, the FLW Foundation’s Unified Fishing Derby will be held at Kentucky Dam State Park on Saturday, May 19, from 9-11 a.m. The event is hosted by FLW Foundation pro Cody Kelley along with other FLW Tour anglers, and is free and open to youth (18 and under) and Special Olympics athletes (all ages). Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one. The 1stand 2nd place anglers that catch the biggest fish will be recognized Saturday on the FLW Tour stage, just prior to the pros weighing in.
As part of the FLW Tour’s community outreach initiative, FLW Tour pro anglers will visit students at Jonathan Elementary School, located at 9207 U.S. Highway 68, in Benton, Kentucky, on Wednesday, May 16 from 8-10 a.m. to introduce students to fishing and outdoor activities in their community. During the presentations the pro anglers will reinforce how science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) relate to outdoor activities as well as boating safety. The presentation will promote the sport of fishing and outdoor recreation and give youth the information they need to “Get Outdoors. Go Fish!”
In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field of anglers competes in the two-day opening round. Co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 30 pros based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Saturday. Only the top 10 pros continue competition Sunday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from the four days of competition.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Kentucky Lake presented by Costa is more than $930,000.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2018 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Aug. 10-12 and is hosted by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and Visit Hot Springs.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the sport’s top anglers on the FLW Tour on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Lamb & Potter drop over 42 pounds on the Scales to Win the 2018 CBA Moses Watersport Event on Chickamauga!
Courtesy of WRCB Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) - The team of Haden Lamb and Trevor Potter caught a 5 bass limit weighing 42.21 pounds topping out the field of 140 anglers to win first place and $2,000.00 in the Moses Water Sports Chattanooga Bass Association Tournament. This bass event was held May 12th, 2018 out of Chester Frost Boat Ramp.
Haden said “We started the morning in a shad spawn on some gravel points and caught a real nice limit and then started looking for deep fish, finding only one school all day. We culled 3 times from that school including a 11.21 and 2 nice 8 plus pounders”. We then spent the rest of the day taking care of our fish releasing all 5 in excellent shape after they were weighed. It would have been nice to break the C.B.A. record of 42.91 but what a blessed day we had ‘’.
Kevin Drake and Corey Vetter 5 bass limit of 42.91 pounds caught in February of 2018 is the CBA’s standing record.
Big fish of this event was caught by Haden Lamb and Trevor Potter a beast of a large mouth weighing11.21 pounds. Second big bass of the day was caught by Corey Vetter and Kevin Drake weighing 8.90 pounds.
All fish caught in this event were released back into Lake Chickamauga to be caught again and special thanks to the fishermen for taking such good care of their catches.
Chattanooga Bass Association President, Jamie Copenhaver, said “Thanks to Moses Water Sports and all our sponsors for their much appreciated support for this 2018 season”.
The top 11 money winners are as follows:
- Haden Lamb and Trevor Potter 42.21 lbs. $2000
- Kevin Drake and Cory Vetter 25.26 lbs. $750
- Justin Medley and Jason Garrett 23.97 lbs. $650.00
- Hensley Powell and Marshall Deakins 23.24lbs, $550
- Tom Kizzah Jr. and tom Kizzah Sr. 23.24 lbs. $450
- Danny Hall and Phillip Ledford 23.21 lbs. $350
- Barron Adams and Trevor Prince 22.92 lbs. $300
- Seth Davis and Brent Butler 22.06lbs. $250
- David Craft and Stoney Johnson 21.72lbs. $200
- Brian Hatfield and Justin Freeman 20.87lbs. . $200
- Steve Kite and Daniel Lewis 20.22lbs. $150
The next CBA event will be held June 9th, 2018 out of Chester Frost Park. This will be a day event with the weigh-in at 4 p.m.
UC MERCED WINS YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING EVENT AT CLEAR LAKE
Courtesy of FLW Communications
LAKEPORT, Calif. (May 14, 2018) – The University of California-Merced team of Herbie LeBlanc of Gilroy, California, and Tshu Xiong of Merced, California, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event at Clear Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops on Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces. The victory earned the Bobcats bass club $2,250 and a spot in the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“In our pre-fishing we had found that the water was very clear on the north end and a bunch of shad were up shallow, so we decided to start our tournament there,” said LeBlanc, a junior majoring in earth systems science. “When we got to our first spot, we realized that everything had been blown out from the wind. The lake went from 3-foot of visibility down to about 5 inches, so our pattern was toast.
“So, we decided to stay in the north end of the lake and look for areas that were secluded and weren’t affected by the wind,” LeBlanc continued. “We found a lagoon with a bunch of docks, and when we went in I got a bite in the first 30 feet of entering the area. We ended up staying there all day and fishing the whole thing.”
The duo estimated that they caught around 15 keepers and said that they caught their fish on two baits – LeBlanc fished a Texas-rigged Okeechobee Craw-colored Zoom Brush Hog, while Xiong fished a weightless Texas-rigged black and blue Yamamoto Senko.
“We flipped our baits into the tules and grass, and fishing slowly and methodically was very important,” said Xiong, a senior majoring in human biology who was fishing his very first College Fishing tournament. “The bite was a lot better in the morning, from 7 to 11 (a.m.)”
“I think the key was ignoring the bed fish and the southern end of the lake completely,” LeBlanc went on to say. “I could see the bed fish and I could just tell that all of those fish had been fished for and beat up, so we disregarded those fish completely. During practice we found that the bite was much better up north, so we spent our entire tournament there.”
The top 10 teams on Clear Lake that advanced to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: University of California-Merced – Herbie LeBlanc, Gilroy, Calif., and Tshu Xiong, Merced, Calif., five bass, 19-10, $2,250
2nd: California State University-Chico – Cole Lauchland, Chico, Calif., and Logan Schwab, Davis, Calif., five bass, 16-12, $1,410
3rd: California State University-Chico – Chad Sweitzer, Chico, Calif., and Matthew Pusateri, Grand Terrace, Calif., five bass, 15-2, $710
4th: California State University-Chico – Carson Leber, Dixon, Calif., and Tyler Bounds, Chico, Calif., five bass, 14-10, $500
5th: California State University-Chico – Michael Klemm and Nick Klein, both of Oroville, Calif., five bass, 14-7, $500
6th: New Mexico State University – Ty Faulconer and Daylon Smith, both of Las Cruces, N.M., five bass, 12-14
7th: Sonoma State University – Trenton Wells, Windsor, Calif., and Brock Trudeau, Lancaster, Calif., five bass, 12-6
8th: California State University-Chico – Austin Crane and David Griswold, both of Oroville, Calif., five bass, 12-2
9th: Sonoma State University – Tyler Owens, Santa Rosa, Calif., and B.J. Kendrick, Morgan Hill, Calif., five bass, 11-13
10th: California Polytechnic State University – Hugh Cosculluela, The Woodlands, Texas, and Patrick Ellis, San Diego, Calif., five bass, 11-9
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The YETI FLW College Fishing event at Clear Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by the Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina, and was the second of three regular-season qualifying tournaments for Western Conference anglers in 2018. The next YETI event for FLW College Fishing anglers will be the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship. The event will take place May 30-June 1 on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission & Red River Waterway Commission.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten 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 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
YETI FLW College Fishing is free to enter. 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.
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, YouTube and Snapchat.
Nolen Spencer and Jonathon Reese win 2018 Alabama Bass Trail Weiss Lake
by Dan O’Sullivan
May 12, 2018 – Leesburg, Ala. – Then it was all over – but the shouting.
The reason was, the team of Nolen Spencer and Jonathon Reese had put more than 27 pounds of Weiss Lake largemouth in their livewells, and came to the Alabama Bass Trail scales at Leesburg Landing the moment they opened at one o’clock. Their 26.84-pound limit following an expired fish penalty was more than enough to claim the victory, and the $10,000 winner’s purse.
Despite the fact that they had hours more to fish, they decided to protect the health of their fish, the Northern Division team from Tennessee had quit fishing at 11:00AM and moved to the shade of a marina slip to care for their catch. They simply had to wait as nearly 220 other teams crossed stage to take their bow.
They said they did not expect that kind of weight, nor did they expect to catch largemouth. “We found an offshore spot downlake that we thought we could catch 18 pounds of spotted bass on,” they reported. “But, after catching our first limit, we looked around, saw some bigger arches off the edge of the cover; they turned out to be big largemouth, and by 11:00 we had culled out everything else we had caught; it was an unbelievable day.”
They reported catching their fish on a pair of swimbaits and a big worm on a jighead. “We threw Keitech and Big Hammer swimbaits on 1/2 to 3/4-ounce jigheads and a Watermelon Red Magnum Trick Worm on a 1/2-ounce Shaky Head,” they said. “We had planned on fishing for spots, and caught big largemouth, so we just think it was our time. We came to ABT to fish new lakes and challenge ourselves, and are thrilled to be standing here holding these trophies.”
Jerry Hartline and Jason Hogue; a local team from Cedartown, Ga., posted an 18.06-pound limit to finish the day in second place on their home lake. The pair reported making a treacherous run way up the Chattooga River to catch largemouth in one area around shallow grass with Teckel Sprinkler Frogs and Stanley Top Toad. “We got a total of six bites, and landed five,” they said. “We found our fish on Thursday and made the decision to live or die on that spot, and it really worked out; we had a good day, and are proud of our finish.”
The Team of Matt Leicher and Justin Wallace finished 1/100 of a pound behind the second place team with 18.05 pounds. However, their limit included the 6.52-pound Mountain Dew Big Bass of the tournament – a fish that earned them the $500 bonus for the day, bringing their total winnings to $4,500 for the tournament.
The rest of the Top 10 Standings are below,
| Place | Anglers | Weight | Big Fish | Winnings |
| 1 | Nolen Spencer / Jonathon Reese | 26.84 | 6.08 | $10,000 |
| 2 | Jerry Hartline / Jason Hogue | 18.06 | $5,000 | |
| 3 | Matt Leicher / Justin Wallace | 18.05 | 6.52 | $4,000 |
| 4 | Allen Hayes / Danny Bishop | 17.44 | $3,000 | |
| 5 | Grant Hopson / Wes Ward | 17.31 | $2,000 | |
| 6 | David Nixon / Delano Green | 17.16 | 5.74 | $1,500 |
| 7 | Kyle Glasgow / Luke Glasgow | 16.51 | $1,100 | |
| 8 | Paul Davis / Josh Chapple | 16.30 | 5.38 | $1,100 |
| 9 | 1) Tracy Robinson / Willie Staten | 15.98 | $1,100 | |
| 10 | Jason Whisonant / Wayne Whisonant | 15.87 | $1,100 |
For complete standings visit: http://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/wel-results/
KELSEYVILLE’S BREAZEALE LEADS WIRE-TO-WIRE, WINS COSTA FLW SERIES AT CLEAR LAKE
Courtesy of FLW Communications
LAKEPORT, Calif. (May 12, 2018) – Pro Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, California, won the Costa FLW Series at Clear Lake presented by Evinrude Saturday after bringing a limit of bass weighing 14 pounds, 6 ounces to the scale. Breazeale’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 60-7 gave him the win by a 2-pound, 15-ounce margin and earned him the top prize of $82,338, including a brand new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Breazeale said about his first career victory in FLW competition. “I live on the lake and have been fishing it for 40 years. I had to pull a few tricks out of my hat this week, but I had a phenomenal tournament and I really needed this win.”
Breazeale estimated that he caught around 100 keepers throughout the week, with the majority coming on Thursday and Friday and around 20 keepers on Saturday. He targeted docks and the thick tule shorelines on the south end of the lake with a Margarita Mutilator-colored Roboworm on a drop-shot rig, a wacky-rigged watermelon and purple flake-colored Yamamoto Senko and a white Yamamoto Grub on a dart head jig.
“About half of my fish came from the tules, half from the docks,” Breazeale said. “I was catching a couple of sight fish as well – I caught two on each of the first two days and one on Saturday on the Senko.
“I really think that there were two keys to my win this week,” Breazeale went on to say. “First was my experience on the lake. I had to try some tricks – real light line. The 6-pound (Seaguar InvisX) fluorocarbon was key. Also, I was fishing the new Powell Endurance rods along with the Max 3D series and they were crucial to feeling those light bites and keeping them buttoned up.”
The top 10 pros on Clear Lake finished:
1st: Wayne Breazeale, Kelseyville, Calif., 15 bass, 60-7, $82,338
2nd: Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 15 bass, 57-8, $13,810
3rd: Joe Uribe Jr., Surprise, Ariz., 15 bass, 56-8, $10,792
4th: Richard Dobyns, Marysville, Calif., 15 bass, 51-14, $9,158
5th: Benjamin Byrd, Moab, Utah, 15 bass, 51-14, $8,019
6th: Scott MacKenzie, Hercules, Calif., 15 bass, 51-0, $7,128
7th: Vince Hurtado, Turlock, Calif., 15 bass, 49-3, $6,237
8th: Matt Dal Porto, Sutter, Calif., 15 bass, 45-12, $5,346
9th: Paul Bailey, Kelseyville, Calif., 15 bass, 45-2, $4,455
10th: Stephen Tosh Jr., Modesto, Calif., 15 bass, 43-2, $3,564
Full results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Dobyns caught an 8-pound, 7-ounce bass Friday – the biggest of the tournament – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $248.
Rick Grover of Trabuco Canyon, California, won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger Z175 with a 90-horsepower outboard motor and a $5,000 Ranger Cup bonus with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 42 pounds, 1 ounce. Geoff Peterson of Huntington Beach, California, finished runner-up with 15 bass weighing 41-6, good for $4,532.
The top 10 Co-anglers on Clear Lake finished:
1st: Rick Grover, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., 15 bass, 42-1, Ranger Z175 boat with 90-horsepower outboard + $5,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Geoff Peterson, Huntington Beach, Calif., 15 bass, 41-6, $4,532
3rd: Derek Gray, LaFayette, Calif., 15 bass, 40-8, $3,751
4th: Jose Juarez, Kelseyville, Calif., 14 bass, 38-7, $3,137
5th: Txawjtas Tas Moua, Fresno, Calif., 15 bass, 38-1, $2,689
6th: Aaron Echternkamp, Moses Lake, Wash., 14 bass, 37-6, $2,241
7th: Bruce Harris, Oakdale, Calif., 15 bass, 34-13, $1,793
8th: David Swendseid, Bend, Ore., 14 bass, 34-12, $1,569
9th: Matthew Diaz, Pomona, Calif., 14 bass, 30-15, $1,510
10th: Travis Williams, Stockton, Calif., 11 bass, 27-13, $1,120
Diaz caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a bass weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces that earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $165.
The Costa FLW Series on Clear Lake presented by Evinrude was hosted by the Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina. It was the second of three FLW Series Western Division tournaments in the 2018 season. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be a Central Division tournament, held June 7-9 on Lake Barkley in Cadiz, Kentucky presented by T-H Marine. 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 2018 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 1-3 on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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, YouTube and Snapchat.
Grand Valley State Claims Title At Bassmaster College Eastern Tour Event On Cherokee Lake
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Strader goes back-to-back with BASS Eastern Open Win!
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Bethel Wildcats Take First-Round Lead At Bassmaster College Eastern Tour On Cherokee Lake
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Patrick Walters Claims Narrow Lead In Bassmaster Open At Lake Norman
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Mustad Announces Appointment of President, Americas
MIAMI, Fla., May 10, 2018 — O. Mustad and Son is pleased to announce that Jordan Davis has accepted the position of President, Americas, effective May 1, 2018. He will report to the CEO.
Davis will be responsible for strengthening the organization, preparing the Americas’ market operation for expansion, as well as leading Mustad’s growth initiatives within the region.
Prior to accepting this position, Davis served as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at the Remington Outdoor Company (ROC). He brings the necessary experience and proven track record of success in the market, which will be invaluable in meeting Mustad’s goals and objectives.
“I am excited to be joining such an iconic outdoor brand, and to be given the opportunity to work with such an outstanding global team. Mustad has been synonymous with fishing for over 140 years, so the privilege of being able to steward such a brand is humbling. I look forward to working with the Mustad team to seize the many opportunities that lie ahead,” Davis said.
“I am very satisfied to have Jordan Davis on board. He will, with his background and experience, contribute to our goals of growth going forward,” said John Are Lindstad, President & CEO.
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Founded in 1877, O. Mustad and Son (Mustad) is a Norway-based manufacturer of fishing equipment for sport, commercial, industrial, and traditional fishing applications. With a presence in more than 160 countries, Mustad serves customers in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. For more information, visit Mustad-Fishing.com.
Costa Countdown to Blastoff - May 9th
AC's John Byrne & Sportsmans Warehouse's CJ Freeman Preview this weeks upcoming tournaments and highlight the SE Derbies on the docket!
Sore Losers........
Luke Estel
Let’s all admit, at one point in our tournament fishing career, we have gotten mad after weigh in and left. It happens to the best of us but I would like to change that.
First of all, you can’t win every tournament you fish. If you did or think you can, then sign up with the big boys and see what happens. Which brings me to this.
First of all, congratulate the winners. They worked hard and figured it out the best. Whether you like them or not, give props when it’s due. We as tournament anglers are mostly fierce competitors and we all strive to do well. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. There is no reason to be mad or stomp off like a baby after you get your butt handed to you. It makes you look bad. Take a step back, reflect on the day, and move on. It’s part of the game. Your actions in this life, not only in tournament fishing but in your personal life will get you further than going around with a sour look on your face. People respect humbleness and just maybe they will do the same for you when you win.
Last week, my partner and I fished the USA Bassin Classic held on Kentucky Lake. We found them and in fact we found multiple areas with good fish in them. Our buddies that we stayed with had a terrible practice. So, we gave them a clue on how to catch some keepers.
Tournament time rolled around and we come to the scales with one fish. Yes, I said one! I was dumbfounded. I still don’t know what happened. Our friends weighed in 18.5 pounds, and they caught three of them where we told them to go. The next day they weighed in another limit catching three more shallow where we again told them. They ended up in 7thplace. The next day I received a phone call from one of them. He wanted to thank me for helping him and his partner out and he said they wouldn’t have done that well if it weren’t for us. That meant a lot to me.
Maybe next time they will clue us in on something and us do well.
Life is too short to be pissed off all of the time.
The sun will rise tomorrow no matter what. Enjoy the time you get to spend on the water.
Good things happen to good people.
Don’t be a sore loser.
It will never work out to your advantage.
Congrats again to Marc Sheffer and Kevin Reynolds for doing so well.
You guys deserved it.
AnglersChannel Insider Episode #13 Featuring BASS Elite Champ Kevin VanDam!!!!
On this weeks AnglersChannel Insider Podcast, The boys talk with the GOAT! Kevin VanDam on his recent Grand Lake win, They Talk Strike King Lures, Mustad Hooks, Minn Kota and Humminbird Technology and more! You do not want to miss this Episode! Make Sure to Rate and Review and Share with your friends!
Strader Notches First Bassmaster Elite Series Victory On Kentucky Lake
Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., won the 2018 Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia out of Paris, Tenn., with a four-day total weight of 80 pounds, 4 ounces.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
May 7, 2018
PARIS, Tenn. — The final day of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia threw Wesley Strader the right pitch, and he knocked it out of the park.
Strader, a first-year Elite Series pro from Spring City, Tenn., caught a final-day limit of five bass that weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces and earned his first Elite Series victory with a four-day total of 80-4
After sitting in 16th place on Day 1 with 19-6, Strader added 17-13 Saturday and improved to 11th, before taking over the Day 3 lead with 22-6 — the biggest catch of Sunday’s semifinal round.
His final-day catch cemented a $100,000 payday.
“Yesterday, I figured out that the fish were positioning under the walkways on the docks,” he said. “Today, that went away; they got out under the floats. It seemed like, as the sun got higher, the shade got tighter to the docks and you could pretty much pinpoint where they’d bite.
“I didn’t think the shad spawn was that big of a deal for me today. But I pulled up on a stretch of docks that I had not fished early in the morning and just about every cast, when I’d reel my bait out from underneath the floats, there would be two or three threadfin shad following my spinnerbait.”
Unlike the previous days, Strader was unable to leverage the early-morning shad spawn. But he put several keepers in the boat by alternating between a 5/8-ounce Stan Sloan Bango Blade spinnerbait with a white swimbait trailer, a buzzbait, a popping frog and a white Zoom Z-Craw that he swam through shallow bushes.
He still found some early productivity. But it was a magical, one-hour midday flurry that vaulted Strader into the unofficial BASSTrakk lead.
Flipping shallow bushes in a small pocket off Big Sandy Creek, Strader added three solid keepers — all 4-plus pounds — to his livewell. That left him releasing fish he normally would would not cull.
“That’s a good problem to have — catching 3-pounders and they can’t help you,” said Strader, as he chuckled during a BASS Live segment.
Strader caught his flipping fish on a Texas-rigged Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 5/16-ounce Reins Tungsten sinker and a 5/0 Trokar hook fished on 20-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon. The Tramp Stamp color, he said, has proven productive in all his previous Kentucky Lake events. Trusting that pattern Monday proved to be a winning decision.
“For some reason, in this tea-colored water, they like that color,” he said.
Strader said his fish were probably postspawners. Targeting likely staging areas with vertical falls was key.
“I think I was just on a hot pocket where they were either coming out or guarding fry; I don’t think they were spawning,” he said. “They were just in those bushes chilling, and it was all on the initial fall of the bait.”
Auburn, Calif., superstar Skeet Reese missed his limit by one fish. But his four bass weighed 17-10 and he still finished second with 76-6. Reese spent much of his final day throwing a 7-inch line-through swimbait, but some of his key bites during the tournament came on a a Lucky Craft Magnum SKT squarebill.
“That’s a giant squarebill,” Reese said. “These fish aren’t eating little threadfin shad. They’re eating gizzard shad. They’re eating carp. So I did key in on the big baits this week. I caught some 4s, 5s and 6s on it.
Kelly Jaye of Dadeville, Ala., added a solid limit of 18-7 on the final day and improved two spots to third place with 73-6. Jaye caught all of his fish on a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait in the matte shad color.
Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., placed fourth with 71-8, and Fred Roumbanis of Russellville, Ark., placed fifth with 70-5.
Bradley Roy was awarded $1,000 for the leading the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race at the end of the event.
Strader also earned the Power-Pole Captain’s Cash Award of $1,000 for being the highest-placing angler who is registered and eligible and uses a client-approved product on his boat.
Shaw Grigsby Jr. was awarded $1,500 dollars as the winner of the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award. He had the largest bass of the tournament with a 7-11 on Day 2.
Christie was awarded the Toyota Bonus Bucks Award of $3,000 for being the highest-placing eligible entrant in the program. The second-highest-placing eligible entrant, Josh Bertrand, received $2,000.
2018 Bassmaster Elite At Kentucky Lake Title Sponsor: Berkley
2018 Bassmaster Elite At Kentucky Lake Presenting Sponsor: Abu Garcia
2018 Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia 5/4-5/7
Kentucky Lake, Paris TN.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Wesley Strader Spring City, TN 20 80-04 110 $101,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-06 Day 2: 5 17-13 Day 3: 5 22-06 Day 4: 5 20-11
2. Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 18 76-06 109 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 23-11 Day 2: 5 21-10 Day 3: 4 13-07 Day 4: 4 17-10
3. Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL 20 73-06 108 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 22-00 Day 2: 5 11-14 Day 3: 5 21-01 Day 4: 5 18-07
4. Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 20 71-08 107 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-13 Day 2: 5 18-15 Day 3: 5 16-09 Day 4: 5 15-03
5. Fred Roumbanis Russellville, AR 18 70-05 106 $14,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-15 Day 2: 5 22-11 Day 3: 3 13-03 Day 4: 5 16-08
6. Josh Bertrand San Tan Valley, AZ 20 69-08 105 $13,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-02 Day 2: 5 13-15 Day 3: 5 18-06 Day 4: 5 17-01
7. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 20 68-08 104 $13,000.00
Day 1: 5 20-07 Day 2: 5 18-02 Day 3: 5 15-03 Day 4: 5 14-12
8. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 20 66-10 103 $12,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 5 19-09 Day 3: 5 16-02 Day 4: 5 14-01
9. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 19 65-14 102 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-04 Day 2: 5 18-04 Day 3: 5 19-05 Day 4: 4 11-01
10. Boyd Duckett Guntersville, AL 17 64-09 101 $11,500.00
Day 1: 4 14-02 Day 2: 5 24-00 Day 3: 5 17-15 Day 4: 3 08-08
11. Shaw Grigsby Jr. Gainesville, FL 17 60-12 100 $12,500.00
Day 1: 5 19-12 Day 2: 5 20-13 Day 3: 4 13-07 Day 4: 3 06-12
12. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 16 56-02 99 $10,500.00
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 20-09 Day 3: 5 16-01 Day 4: 1 03-08
PHOENIX BOATS BIG BASS
Shaw Grigsby Jr. Gainesville, FL 07-11 $1,500.00
LEXINGTON’S WALSER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE NORTH CAROLINA DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON JORDAN LAKE
West Virginia’s Grose Grabs Co-angler Title
NEW HILL, N.C. (May 7, 2018) – Boater Robert Walser of Lexington, North Carolina, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division tournament on Jordan Lake. For his win, Walser was awarded $5,048.
Walser started his day fishing banks with rocks and wood on the lower end of the lake using a Rush Lures spinnerbait with a chartreuse-colored Zoom Swimmin’ Fluke Jr. He said he caught the bulk of his fish early, and was culling by 8 a.m.
“I figured out in practice on Tuesday that bass were trying to eat shad and when I returned Saturday, they were fairly close by,” said Walser, who earned his 10th career win in BFL competition. “I ran my Garmin Panoptix and could see the rocks and stumps out in front of me. In addition to helping me stay off them, it helped me cast my spinnerbait to the right depths. The bait was 2 to 3 feet down and I wanted to keep it there.”
Around 11 a.m., Walser ran to the upper end of the lake in search of a kicker. He said he flipped wood with a green-pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Hog rigged on a Berkley Fusion 19 Offset Hook with Hi-Seas fluorocarbon line.
“The hook was a bit smaller and didn’t get hung up as much – it’s a strong little hook,” said Walser. “I caught two that helped – a 2¾- and a 4-pounder – and they turned out to be what I needed to win it all.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Robert Walser, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 18-11, $3,048 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: James Blankenship, Siler City, N.C., five bass, 18-1, $1,374
3rd: Chad Poteat, Mount Airy, N.C., five bass, 18-0, $1,116
4th: Billy Bledsoe, Fayetteville, N.C., five bass, 17-12, $793
5th: Matt Stoupa, Colonial Heights, Va., five bass, 16-2, $650
6th: Ryan Deal, Indian Trail, N.C., four bass, 14-12, $504
7th: Neil Eckberg, Cary, N.C., five bass, 13-15, $458
8th: Russell Corry, Shelby, N.C., four bass, 12-11, $412
9th: Ralph Hollifield Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C., three bass, 10-14, $495
9th: Doug Dulin, Apex, N.C., three bass, 10-14, $343
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Bledsoe brought a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $152.
Nathan Grose of Summersville, West Virginia, won the Co-angler Division and $1,574 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 11 pounds, 11 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Nathan Grose, Summersville, W. Va., four bass, 11-11, $1,574
2nd: Zach Lyles, Charlotte, N.C., three bass, 10-8, $687
3rd: Brian Transon, Sherrills Ford, N.C., four bass, 10-3, $459
4th: Justin Johnson, Apex, N.C., two bass, 9-6, $473
5th: Robert Green, Sedalia, N.C., four bass, 8-3, $275
6th: Mark Whitman, Elon, N.C., two bass, 7-14, $302
7th: Frank Earnhardt, Troy, N.C., three bass, 6-12, $229
8th: Tristen Trull, Mount Holly, N.C., three bass, 6-10, $206
9th: Mathew Baker, Asheboro, N.C., two bass, 6-9, $183
10th: Robert Jarrett, Lexington, N.C., three bass, 6-7, $160
Johnson caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $152.
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
PRESCOTT HIGH SCHOOL WINS TBF/FLW HIGH SCHOOL FISHING ARKANSAS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ON LAKE DARDANELLE
RUSSELVILLE, Ark. (May 7, 2018) – The Prescott High School fishing duo of Bryer Pennington and Jack Arnette, both of Prescott, Arkansas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces to win the 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing Arkansas State Championship on Lake Dardanelle.
A field of 91 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville. In FLW/TBF High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top nine teams on Lake Dardanelle that qualified for the 2018 High School Fishing National Championship were:
1st: Prescott High School, Prescott, Ark. – Bryer Pennington and Jack Arnette, both of Prescott, Ark., five bass, 19-3
2nd: Northwest Arkansas Youth Fishing Club – Gavin Webb, Farmington, Ark., and Gavin Pennington, Springdale, Ark., five bass, 15-1
3rd: Westside Anglers – Tanner Fife, Greers Ferry, Ark., and Tristen Cottrell, Prim, Ark., five bass, 14-10
4th: NEA Youth Fishing – Jay Morgan and Cade Gartman, both of Trumann, Ark., five bass 14-8
5th: Arkansas Youth Fishing Association – Johnathan Pipkens, Benton, Ark., and Malachi Thornton, Lonsdale, Ark., five bass, 14-7
6th: Cabot High School, Cabot, Ark. – Quaid Barber and Gavin Smith, both of Cabot, Ark., five bass, 12-11
7th: Greenbrier High School, Greenbrier Ark. – Cameron Fortner and Justin Watson, five bass, 11-15
8th: Highland High School, Highland Ark. – Spemncer Wiles, Hardy, Ark., and Matt Boyd, Cherokee Village, Ark., five bass, 11-12
8th: Western Arkansas High School Hawg Hunters – Noah Newell and Weston Bufkin, both of Van Buren, Ark., five bass, 11-12
Rounding out the top 10:
10th: Mena High School, Mena, Ark. – Austin Johnston and Austin Rose, both of Mena, Ark., five bass, 11-9
Complete results from the event can be found at HighSchoolFishing.org.
The 2018 TBF/FLW High School Fishing Arkansas State Championship 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 High School Fishing National Championship on Pickwick Lake, in Florence, Alabama, June 26-29. 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 high school bass tournament, the 2018 High School Fishing World Finals, held in conjunction with the National Championship on Pickwick Lake. At the 2017 World Finals more than $60,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded.
Full schedules and the latest announcements are available at HighSchoolFishing.org and FLWFishing.com.
Boatright & Maxwell champion Bass Champs Central Region finale on LBJ Anglers of the Year are named!
| By: Patty Lenderman |
|
It has been quite a season for Bass Champs Central Region teams, and the anticipation factor for the final event May 5, 2018 on LBJ only increased with weather delays. Nearly $53,000 was up for grabs and it was the last tournament to accumulate the points needed in the Anglers of the Year race. The hunt was on, but in the end it was Nick Boatright and Chad Maxwell who came out on top to win over $20,000!
The morning of the tournament greeted 174 teams with a heavy blanket of fog. “We had to keep everyone at the launch until the visibility improved,” stated Chad Potts, President of Bass Champs. “Everyone was biting at the bit to get started, but the safety of our participants is paramount.” After two long hours of delay, boats were finally released to start the hunt. “We extended the fishing time at the end of the day by one hour. Once the fog lifted, it was a beautiful sunny day with very little wind out of the North.” Winners Nick Boatright and Chad Maxwell had planned to start their day using topwater lures. “Once we were able to get to our spots, it was too late for the topwater bite,” Chad recalled. They went to their first area, and didn’t do any good so started hunting different places. “We stayed in fairly shallow areas, all less than ten feet deep. Our third spot had brush piles and rock, and we started catching fish.” They used jigs and crankbaits throughout the day, staying on the move. Around noon, Chad latched on to their kicker fish, weighing in at 7.40 pounds on a jig in a brush pile. “That was a big help to our limit. At one point we lost a four pounder at the boat, and couldn’t help but think about it all day. We figured it would probably take 25 pounds to win, and we may have blown it losing that fish.” They tried a lot of old spots, and some new ones, mostly trying to find places without any boats on it. “Our last fish of the day was on a crank bait. It was a six pounder, and we culled a 3# with it.” Being in the first flight, they were among the first to weigh in, establishing the bar to beat at 23.50 pounds. “We just kept watching as all of the other teams came in, expecting to get knocked down at any time.” When it was all said and done, they stayed on top to win 1st place and $20,000! They also won the Lowrance bonus. “We just had an awesome day. I caught my personal best fish, and we caught our best stringer in this tournament. I guess it was just meant to be!” Chad concluded. Jake Kennamer and Carson Conklin had a slow start, but came out with a 2nd place win. “Once we were let go, there were jet ski’s and wave runners everywhere,” Jake began. “We bounced around all morning looking for fish, and didn’t have anything at noon.” It wasn’t for lack of bites. They simply missed some and broke off on others. Then things started to change. Jake caught one around six pounds to christen their livewell with. “We started catching one here, one there, and finally had a limit around 15 pounds.” They tried deep water, they tried shallow water, docks and shady pockets. “It was getting late, and we only had about 30 minutes left to fish. We decided to do a Hail Mary and head to a shallow sea wall.” It must have been the power of prayer, as they caught their biggest fish at 6.81 pounds, plus made two other culls, increasing their overall weight by seven pounds in those last minutes! Weighing in, their best five totaled 22.28 pounds for a 2nd place finish and a check for $3,500. “We are really pleased how it all turned out. We had a great day, and are hoping for a 1st place finish someday!” There was a tie for 3rd place. The father and son team of Kenneth and Jesse Fry as well as brothers Adrian and Daniel Barnes came in with 21.09 pounds. Kenneth said Jesse caught their fish and he netted them all day. “They seemed to only be hitting on that one bait,” Kenneth chuckled. Jesse was using a white-ish colored swim bait for his fortune. “I threw a lot of other stuff, but wasn’t having any luck on any of it,” Kenneth continued. They focused on isolated grass patches in 6’-8’ depths, and had a limit by noon. “Most of our fish were small, but we culled the rest of the day. Our better fish bit in the afternoon.” Now you may ask why Kenneth didn’t throw the same bait? “We had other swim baits like it, but they were all darker color and the fish only wanted that one lighter one!” They made significant culls late in the afternoon, starting by catching their biggest fish at around seven pounds. “Some of them we culled up by a few pounds, but we gained five pounds off of that biggest one.” The team tied the win for 3rd place earning a check for $2,250. Brothers Daniel and Adrian Barnes hadn’t pre-fished for the tournament, but know LBJ well. “We went to a deep spot after the take off delay,” Adrian began, “and managed a limit within thirty minutes.” Mostly small fish, they headed to shallow water hunting for more. “We caught around fifteen fish throughout the day, and were able to cull four times. Our best cull was exchanging a 7.73 for a two pounder.” Every bit counts, and their weight also hit 21.09 lbs for a shared 3rd place win. They received $2,250 then Skeeter Boats doubled their win for being the highest placing team fishing out of a qualified Skeeter boat. There were a lot of big bass seen at the scales, and the biggest of them all weighed 8.75 pounds. The team of Landon Glass and Craig Cordova brought this brute in catching a check for $500. It also anchored their 4th place overall finish with 20.73 lbs for another $1,700 check. All total twenty three teams went home with winnings. The last $600 check went to Travis Daugherty and Travis Cockerham having 15.45 lbs. With this final regular season event now in the books for the Central Region, the Anglers of the Year have been named. Lee Beuershausen and Randy Grounds have held on to the lead in points for most of the season and landed at the top of the pack earning the title Bass Champs 2018 Central Region Anglers of the Year!
Full Results HERE! |
WAYNESFIELD’S LOGAN WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE BUCKEYE DIVISION OPENER PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS ON OHIO RIVER
Kentucky’s Howard Wins Co-angler Title
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (May 7, 2018) – Boater Bob Logan of Waynesfield, Ohio, caught five bass weighing 12 pounds, 4 ounces, Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Buckeye Division opener on the Ohio River presented by Navionics. For his victory, Logan earned $6,000.
“I was fishing down by the dam, near Craig’s Creek,” said Logan, who earned his second career win in BFL competition. “During practice on Thursday and Friday I worked my way down the river and caught a bunch of little males that were setting up on the nests. I knew the females would be coming in, so that’s where I concentrated my time during the tournament.
“I couldn’t sight fish, because the water wasn’t clean enough,” Logan continued. “So, I would just make blind casts to those areas where I knew the beds were and the females were setting up. I managed to catch six keepers.”
Five of Logan’s keepers came on a Zoom Brush Hog, green-pumpkin with a chartreuse-dyed tip, Texas-rigged with a 3/16 ounce weight. His sixth keeper came on a black-and-blue-colored Reaction Innovation’s Little Beaver, rigged the same as the Brush Hog.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Bob Logan, Waynesfield, Ohio, five bass, 12-4, $4,000 + $2,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Michael Powell Jr., Greendale, Ind., five bass, 11-6, $2,200
3rd: Dick Shaffer, Rockford, Ohio, five bass, 10-13, $1,334
4th: Pat White, Batavia, Ohio, five bass, 10-9, $933
5th: Ken Garbe, Wyoming, Ohio, five bass, 10-5, $800
6th: Cody Seeger, Bellefontaine, Ohio, five bass, 9-14, $833
7th: Douglas Lyon, Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 9-7, $667
8th: Mark Dove, North Vernon, Ind., five bass, 8-11, $600
9th: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., five bass, 8-10, $533
10th: Sean Wieda, Florence, Ky., five bass, 8-5, $467
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Steve Hengehold of Cincinnati, Ohio, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $540.
Trevor Howard of Union, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $2,228 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 5 ounces. Howard earned $2,228 for his victory.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Trevor Howard, Union, Ky., five bass, 11-5, $2,228
2nd: Dennis Hughes, Bethel, Ohio, three bass, 8-7, $981
3rd: Jonathan Fulton, Ray, Ohio, five bass, 8-0, $855
4th: Hunter Fillmore, Waynesville, Ohio, five bass, 7-12, $508
5th: Ryan Sykes, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 7-2, $393
6th: John Lane, Findlay, Ohio, five bass, 6-13, $360
7th: Remington Throckmorton, Otway, Ohio, five bass, 6-9, $327
8th: Clint Brodsky, Burlington, Ky., five bass, 6-6, $294
9th: Joshua Wright, Arcanum, Ohio, four bass, 5-10, $262
10th: Frank Aldridge, Wheelersburg, Ohio, five bass, 5-5, $229
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Kevin Phillips and Robert Medas win 2018 Alabama Bass Trail Lake Jordan
by Dan O’Sullivan
May 5, 2018 – Wetumpka, Ala. – When the Southern Division of the Alabama Bass Trail launched into the waters of Lake Jordan for its fourth stop of the season, the discussion of boat numbers being critical, bed fish and shad spawn was rampant. The compactness of the lake meant that hot spots and waypoints for bedding areas might mimic parking lots more so than a fishing tournament.
Because of the crowded conditions, there was no real way to be able to accurately assess what it would take to win the day. With Lake Jordan, there is the varied chance that a bag of spotted or largemouth bass eclipsing 20 pounds could win, or, a solid mixed bag would take the win.
What ended up happening was that the team of Kevin Phillips and Robert Medas found a quality bite early and enough bedding largemouth to sack an 18.62-pound limit to take home their first Alabama Bass Trail victory, the $10,000 first prize and clinch their trip to the ABT Championship in October. They also earned the $500 Mountain Dew Big Bass Bonus with their 5.13-pound largemouth.
The pair said they had 10 bedded fish marked after practice, and were able to get one key bite early to seal the deal. “We caught our big fish in the morning on a frog and then caught six other bed fish throughout the day,” they reported. “Our waypoints covered much of the main lake, and it took most of the day to get our limit. We never thought that 18.62 would be enough to win. We’ve had better days and gotten edged out, and to be standing here now is an amazing feeling.
The reported catching the one fish on a white SPRO Popping Frog and the bed fish coming on a 1/4-ounce brown Big Money Bait Company jig with a black Zoom Z Hog as a trailer.
Chris Rutland is a familiar name atop the Alabama Bass Trail standings, usually with Coby Carden, his typical team partner. However, with Carden expecting to have having back surgery, the pair named longtime friend Mike Keel as their alternate for the season. That pairing resulted in a 17.56-pound mixed bag limit, good for a second place finish and a check for $5,000, as well as the $500 bonus for using Garmin electronics.
The pair said that their strategy revolved around the grass and the shad spawn. “We all love fishing for postspawn fish around the shad spawn with homemade swim jig and frog,” they said. “We spent the morning doing that and caught two of our better fish, then turned to hard spots with a crankbait and deep jig with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog as a trailer.”
The team of Evan Robbins and Justin Coker finished the day in third place with 17.08 pounds, which earned them a pay day of $4,000. The rest of the Top 10 Standings are below, for complete standings visit: http://www.alabamabasstrail.org/tournament-series/lj-results/
| Place | Anglers | Weight | Big Fish | Winnings |
| 1 | Kevin Phillips / Robert Medas | 18.62 | 5.13 | $10,000 |
| 2 | Chris Rutland / Mike Keel | 17.56 | 4.23 | $5,000 |
| 3 | Evan Robbins / Justin Coker | 17.08 | 5.10 | $4,000 |
| 4 | Martin (Rocky) Lyons / Daniel McQueen | 17.00 | $3,000 | |
| 5 | Jeff Morgan / Tim Vanegmond | 16.66 | 4.74 | $2,000 |
| 6 | John Pollard / Dallas Weldon | 16.42 | $1,500 | |
| 7 | Jimmy Miller / Chris Miller | 16.39 | $1,100 | |
| 8 | Daryl Crenshaw / Barry Chaffin | 16.27 | $1,100 | |
| 9 | Keith Kirkley / Jeff Kirkley | 16.26 | $1,100 | |
| 10 | Chris Cook / Lawson Cook | 16.17 | $1,100 |
For information about Alabama Bass Trail and for complete tournament standings visit www.alabamabasstrail.org.
MCKEE’S AKEMON WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE MOUNTAIN DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON LAKE CUMBERLAND
Michigan’s Wathen Grabs Co-angler Title
BURNSIDE, Ky. (May 7, 2018) – Boater Jason Akemon of McKee, Kentucky, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division event on Lake Cumberland Saturday with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces. For his efforts, Akemon took home $4,271.
Akemon said he spent his day sight-fishing toward the dam, and that his fish were scattered along a 5-mile stretch.
“I found 11 fish in practice that were worth going after and were fairly protected,” said Akemon, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. “I knew it was going to be windy and rainy, so I needed to have fish I could get to.”
Akemon said he originally planned on targeting smallmouth out deep, but decided to stick with bed-fishing.
“I was afraid the smallmouth bite would fall off with the front coming in, and it did. I fished for them in practice Thursday and by Friday it had already started falling off,” said Akemon. “I knew I could get 18 or 19 pounds bed-fishing and it ended up being the right decision. I had my limit by 7:45 a.m.”
Akemon ended up bringing two smallmouth and three largemouth to the scale. He used two baits - a Z-Man ChatterBait with a Strike King Rage Tail Craw trailer for smallmouth, and a white Texas-rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog for largemouth.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jason Akemon, McKee, Ky., five bass, 18-15, $4,271
2nd: Ryan Coleman, Utica, Ky., five bass, 17-10, $2,136
3rd: Michael Morrison, Georgetown, Ky., five bass, 16-2, $1,424
4th: Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $1,125
4th: Jason Barr, Fort Campbell, Ky., five bass, 15-4, $925
6th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 15-2, $1,183
7th: James Copeland, Bowling Green, Ky., five bass, 13-15, $712
8th: Robert Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 13-14, $641
9th: Jeff Carman, Liberty, Ky., five bass, 13-13, $569
10th: Billy Hall, Florence, Ky., five bass, 13-12, $498
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Curtis Hall of Florence, Kentucky, brought a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $595.
James Wathen of Royal Oak, Michigan, won the Co-angler Division and $2,346 Saturday after bringing four bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces, to the scale.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: James Wathen, Royal Oak, Mich., four bass, 10-14, $2,346
2nd: Levi Neathery, Albany, Ky., five bass, 10-8, $1,050
3rd: Mark Major, Nicholasville, Ky., five bass, 9-7, $701
4th: Darren Kelly, Wartburg, Tenn., five bass, 9-5, $540
5th: Taylor Wisniewski, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 9-4, $420
6th: R.J. Anderson, Beaver Dam, Ky., five bass, 8-13, $385
7th: Brian Reed, Cookeville, Tenn., four bass, 8-7, $350
8th: Jeff Pergram, Richmond, Ky., four bass, 8-6, $297
8th: Michael Skaggs, Brownsville, Ky., four bass, 8-6, $297
10th: Doug Adkins, Gray Hawk, Ky., four bass, 8-4, $245
Wathen also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 3 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $146.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
GEORGIA’S JONES WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE CHOO CHOO DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON NEELY HENRY LAKE
Co-angler Title Goes to Tennessee’s White
GADSDEN, Ala. (May 7, 2018) – Boater Bradley Jones of Aragon, Georgia, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 17 pounds, 8 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division event on Neely Henry Lake. Jones took home $5,224 for his efforts.
“I caught bedding fish that I’d found a couple weeks earlier and in practice,” said Jones, who logged his fourth win on Neely Henry Lake in BFL competition. “I never actually saw any of them during the tournament, but I made some long pitches into their general area and they bit on the first cast each time.”
Jones said he fished three larger creeks on the lower end of the lake. He caught around 15 fish throughout the event, citing a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin-colored V&M J-Bug as his bait of choice.
“I could tell where the beds were by the way the structure was,” said Jones. “I just pitched it in there and they bit it, there wasn’t really anything to it. I couldn’t have asked for a better scenario – everything just worked out.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., five bass, 17-8, $5,224
2nd: Andrew Johnson, Glencoe, Ala., five bass, 16-10, $2,197
3rd: Blake Hall, Hartselle, Ala., five bass, 15-10, $1,564
4th: Landon Lomax, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., five bass, 15-6, $1,025
5th: Geoff McKnight, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 14-11, $879
6th: Brandon McGinnis, Pell City, Ala., four bass, 13-13, $805
7th: Scott Chatham, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 13-9, $732
8th: Brian Davenport, Attalla, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $659
9th: Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 13-2, $586
10th: Jeff Cannon, Douglasville, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $513
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Jones also brought a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $630.
Truman White of Spring Hill, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $2,612 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Truman White, Spring Hill, Tenn., five bass, 16-5, $2,612
2nd: Cameron Gatlin, Chattanooga, Tenn., five bass, 13-2, $1,148
3rd: Steven White, Ashville, Ala., five bass, 12-11, $733
4th: Kenny Pannell, Springville, Ala., five bass, 11-14, $513
5th: Davey Bailey, Warrior, Ala., five bass, 10-8, $439
6th: Marcus Corbett, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 10-2, $403
7th: Jason Risley, Cordova, Tenn., five bass, 9-14, $366
8th: David Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 9-13, $330
9th: Sal Pinto, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 9-2, $293
10th: Michael Corbett, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 8-13, $256
White also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $315.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
SOCIAL CIRCLE’S CARTER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE BULLDOG DIVISION EVENT ON LAKE SINCLAIR
Athens’ Kimmel Grabs Co-angler Title
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (May 7, 2018) – Boater Kip Carter of Social Circle, Georgia, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 2 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division event on Lake Sinclair. For his efforts, Carter netted $6,126.
“I caught the majority of my fish in the first two hours of the day during the shad spawn,” said Carter, who earned his second career win on Lake Sinclair in BFL competition. “I fished mid-lake, targeting grass and seawalls.”
Carter said he used three baits – a buzzbait, a Nasty Shad-colored Spro Dean Rojas 65 Bronzeye Frog and a custom chartreuse and white-colored spinnerbait with gold double-willow leaf blades and a white Zoom Split Tail trailer.
“The spinnerbait caught more in terms of the number of fish, but the topwaters got the bigger ones,” said Carter.
With around 15 pounds of fish in his livewell, Carter left the shad spawn and flipped docks for the remainder of his day with a Junebug-colored Zoom Trick Worm on a shaky-head rig.
“I stayed mid-lake and got a couple key bites that ended up anchoring my bag for the win,” said Carter.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kip Carter, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 18-2, $4,126 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Dylan Peppers, Good Hope, Ga., five bass, 15-13, $1,963
3rd: Mark Svendsen, Doraville, Ga., five bass, 14-2, $1,939
4th: Steve Phillips, Douglas, Ga., five bass, 12-12, $916
5th: John McKinney, Palatka, Fla., five bass, 12-6, $785
6th: Terry Adams, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 11-7, $720
7th: Tony Couch, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 11-5, $654
8th: David Milsaps, Ranger, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $856
8th: Pat Fisher, Colbert, Ga., five bass, 11-3, $556
10th: John Bitter, Maitland, Fla., five bass, 10-4, $458
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Svendsen brought a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $530.
Justin Kimmel of Athens, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,228 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Justin Kimmel, Athens, Ga., five bass, 11-2, $2,228
2nd: Mike Thornton, Jonesboro, Ga., four bass, 8-11, $1,081
3rd: Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., five bass, 8-3, $705
4th: Brandon Padilla, Roswell, Ga., five bass, 8-0, $458
5th: Zachary Padilla, Roswell, Ga., three bass, 7-10, $393
6th: Daniel Bentley, Fayetteville, Ga., five bass, 7-9, $360
7th: Ariel Laria, Flowery Branch, Ga., four bass, 7-5, $294
7th: Ron Lee, Cumming, Ga., four bass, 7-5, $294
7th: Carlos Guzman, Fayetteville, Ga., four bass, 7-5, $294
10th: Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., four bass, 7-3, $229
Kimmel also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $265.
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
NORMAN’S FAUCETT WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE OKIE DIVISION TOURNAMENT ON ARKANSAS RIVER
Tulsa’s Hemphill Wins Co-angler Title
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (May 7, 2018) – Boater Eric Faucett of Norman, Oklahoma, caught five bass Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Okie Division tournament on the Arkansas River. For his efforts, Faucett pocketed $6,019.
“I worked through shallow flats in Kerr Reservoir that had scattered cover – stumps, grass, laydowns – a lot of different stuff,” said Faucett, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “There were eight other boats in there, and I ended up fishing behind them.”
Faucett said two of his fish came on a 3/8-ounce chartreuse and white-colored War Eagle spinnerbait with a gold willow-leaf blade and a red Colorado kicker blade, noting that they were two of his more quality bites. Of the other three bass that filled his limit, one came on a black Booyah Poppin’ Pad Crasher Frog and the other two came on a black Stanley Top Toad.
“The reason I switched to the Top Toad was because the fishing slowed down and I wanted to give them something they had to react to,” said Faucett. “I threw it on a high-speed Quantum S3 Tour reel with 7-to-1 ratio. The high-speed reel gave them as little time as possible to think about it.”
Faucett said he caught around 30 fish throughout the day.
“They loved the frogs – after a while it was about sifting through the keepers,” said Faucett.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Eric Faucett, Norman, Okla., five bass, 15-7, $6,019
2nd: Billy Hardin, Tuttle, Okla., five bass, 15-6, $2,860
3rd: Joe Erwin, Cleora, Okla., five bass, 14-12, $1,837
4th: Dale Hightower, Mannford, Okla., five bass, 14-0, $1,288
5th: John Shore, Owasso, Okla., five bass, 13-12, $1,104
6th: Jeff Dobson, Bartlesville, Okla., five bass, 13-9, $1,012
7th: Mark Johnson, Weleetka, Okla., five bass, 12-10, $920
8th: Jeff Peterson, Pryor, Okla., five bass, 12-6, $828
9th: Jason Beem, Gravette, Ark., four bass, 12-1, $736
10th: Jay Nyce, Rogers, Ark., five bass, 12-0, $644
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Jason Sandidge of Centerton, Arkansas, brought a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $885.
Aaron Hemphill of Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the Co-angler Division and $2,960 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Aaron Hemphill, Tulsa, Okla., five bass, 11-8, $2,960
2nd: Stephen Delgado, Lee’s Summit, Mo., three bass, 9-11, $1,430
3rd: Nathan Christie, Claremore, Okla., three bass, 9-3, $918
4th: Chase Williams, Riverton, Kan., four bass, 9-1, $644
5th: Shane McGlothlin, Anadarko, Okla., four bass, 8-11, $552
6th: Keith Baucom, Oklahoma City, Okla., four bass, 7-15, $506
7th: Darrin Allen, Mounds, Okla., three bass, 7-14, $460
8th: Lang Yang, Miami, Okla., three bass, 7-12, $635
9th: Jacob Girty, Porum, Okla., three bass, 7-3, $368
10th: Darin Comstock, Denison, Texas, three bass, 6-13, $322
Wyatt Asbill of Gans, Oklahoma, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $221.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on the Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
BRYAN COLLEGE ANGLER SKIPS GRADUATION, WINS YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING EVENT AT LAKE CHICKAMAUGA
DAYTON, Tenn. (May 7, 2018) – The Bryan College team of Nathan Bell of Riceville, Tennessee, and Cole Sands of Calhoun, Tennessee, won the YETI FLW College Fishing event at Lake Chickamauga presented by Bass Pro Shops on Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 21 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned the Lions bass club $2,000 and a spot in the 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“It was a pretty good day for me,” said Bell, a senior majoring in business administration and management. “I actually graduated on Saturday as well, but I skipped the ceremony so I could compete in this tournament. I’d rather be out fishing, anyways.”
“We had an unbelievable practice,” said Sands, a junior majoring in business management. “We thought we were going to be fishing deep, but the fish were still shallow. We watched the weather and knew that it was going to be cloudy and overcast during the tournament, so we spent our entire practice day on Thursday just running around and marking waypoints where we could see fish on beds.”
The Bryan College duo said that they had around 20 different waypoints marked to visit during the tournament and although they didn’t get to all of them, they did catch around 20 keepers throughout the day. They said they mainly concentrated on a five-mile stretch of water from near the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant to Harrison Bay.
“Our main bait was a 1/16-ounce Big Bite Baits shaky-head rig with a 4-inch blue flash-colored Zoom Finesse worm,” Bell said. “Of the five bass that we weighed in, three came on that. We also weighed in two on a green-pumpkin (Berkley Havoc) Pit Boss, Texas-rigged with a ¼-ounce tungsten weight.”
“The key was definitely marking all of those fish in practice on Thursday,” Sands went on to say. “They were really spooked, and if you got to close to them you weren’t able to catch them. So having those marks allowed us to make long casts and catch a lot of fish that we never would have seen Saturday.”
The top 10 teams on Lake Chickamauga that advanced to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Bryan College – Nathan Bell, Riceville, Tenn., and Cole Sands, Calhoun, Tenn., five bass, 21-9, $2,400
2nd: Lipscomb University – Hunter Hanks, Hermitage, Tenn., and Scout Monteith, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 21-7, $1,200
3rd: Auburn University – Lucas Lindsay and Logan Parks, both of Auburn, Ala., five bass, 20-1, $500
4th: University of Tennessee – Saxton Long, Pulaski, Tenn., and Jordan Burdette, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 19-1, $500
5th: Calhoun Community College – Dakota Guzman, Moulton, Ala., and Zane Loveday, Killen, Ala., five bass, 18-13, $500
6th: Auburn University – Peyton McCord, Headland, Ala., and Cole Burdeshaw, Newville, Ala., five bass, 18-9
7th: Clemson University – Brady Waits, Clemson, S.C., and Liam West, Greenville, S.C., five bass, 18-8
8th: Lander University – Austin Gregory, Georgetown, S.C., and Kevin Latham, Greenwood, S.C., five bass, 18-7
9th: Bethel University – Nathon Portch, McKenzie, Tenn., and Cully Scroggins, Longview, Wash., five bass, 17-14
10th: University of Montevallo – Justin Barnes, Monroeville, Ala., and Adam Carroll, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 16-8
FLW also advances one additional team to the National Championship for every 10 teams over 100 that compete. A total of 136 teams participated in this event, so also advancing to the 2019 College Fishing National Championship are:
11th: Savannah College of Art & Design – Reese Kingston, Villa Rica, Ga., and Cody Stahl, Griffin, Ga., four bass, 15-14
12th: University of North Alabama – Nathan Doss, Cullman, Ala., and Charles Rieser, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 15-11
13th: Bethel University – Brad Ableman, Latham, N.Y., and Kristopher Queen, Catawba, N.C., five bass, 15-8
Complete results for the entire field can be found at FLWFishing.com.
The YETI FLW College Fishing event at Lake Chickamauga presented by Bass Pro Shops was hosted by the Rhea Economic and Tourism Council, and was the third and final regular-season qualifying tournaments for Southeastern Conference anglers in 2018. The next YETI FLW College Fishing event takes place May 12, when Western Conference anglers compete at the YETI FLW College Fishing event at Clear Lake presented by Bass Pro Shops in Lakeport, California.
YETI FLW College Fishing teams compete in three regular-season qualifying tournaments in one of five conferences – Central, Northern, Southern, Southeastern and Western. The top ten 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 2019 FLW College Fishing National Championship. Additional teams will qualify for the National Championship if the field size in regular-season events exceeds 100 boats.
The 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship will take place May 30-June 1 on the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission & Red River Waterway Commission.
YETI FLW College Fishing is free to enter. 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.
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, YouTube and Snapchat.
Humminbird® and Minn Kota® Honored with Boating Industry Magazine’s 2018 Top Products Awards
RACINE, Wis., May 7, 2018 – Boating Industry Magazine has announced its Top Products awards for 2018 and included products from both Humminbird® and Minn Kota®.
The fifth annual Boating Industry Magazine Top Products include the Humminbird SOLIX® 10 which earned top billing in the fish finder category and Minn Kota Talon®, the winner in the shallow water anchor category. This year marks the first time Humminbird has been honored, while Minn Kota earned Top Products awards in 2017 (Ultrex™ Trolling Motor) and 2016 (Riptide Ulterra™ Trolling Motor).
“Winning two categories in this year’s Top Product awards is validation of our work providing anglers with tools and technologies that make their time on the water more productive,” said Serena Petri, Director of Marketing for Johnson Outdoors Marine Electronics. “Our unique ability to bring connectivity to the Humminbird and Minn Kota products has brought seamless automated boat control to the fishing world.”
SOLIX 10 is the newest member of the SOLIX family, joining the 12- and 15-inch models. This new model has received rave reviews since its introduction and is packed full of advanced features. Its Cross Touch® Interface lets anglers operate the unit via touchscreen or keypad. Ultra-clear MEGA Imaging™ is the first Down and Side Imaging technology to enter the megahertz range resulting in the clearest, sharpest on-screen images ever seen. Also, AutoChart® Live is an exclusive Humminbird technology that allows the user to map and save depth contours, bottom hardness and vegetation data on any body of water.
The new Minn Kota Talon gives anglers full control over their shallow water anchor from anywhere on the boat utilizing a variety of control options (control panel, Talon remote, i-Pilot remote, foot switch and Humminbird fish finder). The new 2018 Bluetooth® enabled models can now interface with the Minn Kota i-Pilot® or i-Pilot® Link™ GPS system and select Humminbird fish finders. The new product line-up also includes a 15-foot model which will allow anglers to lock down more of the water than ever before.
For more information on Humminbird and Minn Kota’s new products visit Humminbird.com and MinnKotaMotors.com.
PELS BROTHERS WARM UP TO TREE PITCHING FOR TEXAS TEAM TRAIL RAY ROBERTS WIN
By David A. Brown
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As Chris noted, patience and perseverance were essential to his team's success. Not only were the fish in a finicky mood, but they also had to suffer through the frustration of watching opportunities squandered.
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Martin noted that it wasn't so much about an afternoon bite last weekend, as it was about wasting time on dead water. Correcting that mistake, they devoted all of their time to the productive are they located a week prior.
Hackney is Headed Plinkin’ on Championship Monday
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin - Dynamic Sponsorships
After 176 B.A.S.S. tournaments, Greg Hackney has invented a new fishing term probably unfamiliar to even the most avid anglers. He calls it “plinking” - a word normally applied to shooting a .22 caliber rifle at random targets like bottles and cans.
However for Hackney, “plinking” applies to making soft underhand pitch casts with a relatively light worm weight on a Texas-rigged soft plastic lure.
“Anytime I’m just moving super slow and methodical pitching to every little target I come to with a light weight, I call that “plinking”,” grinned the 2014 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
The Gonzales, Louisiana pro has “plinked” his way to yet another Top 12 this week on famed Kentucky Lake by focusing on super shallow bushes in less than 2’ of water.
His best stringer of the event thus far weighed 19 pounds, and he planned to spend “Championship Monday” doing more of the same with a Strike King Structure Bug threaded on a 5/0 Hack Attack Flippin’ Hook tied to 65-pound braid.
He uses a large spooled Quantum Smoke HD or Smoke S3 in a 7.3:1 gear ratio for fast line pick-up once a bite occurs. A 7’ 6” TourPT rod provides plenty of leverage to get fish from the flooded buck brush.
Hackney is also one of the few Elite Series anglers that uses braid nearly exclusively when pitchin’, flippin’, and “plinkin’”. “Guys that say they don’t get as many bites with braid compared to fluorocarbon have got kind of a mental hang-up in my opinion, because I’ve never seen that be the case, and there’s so many more advantages to braid,” says Hackney.
“I use braid every time I’m fishing heavy cover – whether it’s wood, grass, or whatever. And I’ll also tell you that fatter braid like 65-pound test actually slides over limbs better than fluorocarbon or mono with a lot less hang-ups. Plus, I get to fish pretty much all day without ever retying,” he emphasizes.
Known best for this style of shallow water, heavy cover fishing, Hackney says his favorite way to catch a bass is with a topwater frog, but this is a close second.
“I mean look, it’s pretty tough to beat the up-close-and-personal approach I’ve used this week, when you’re dragging ‘em out of bushes in less than 2-feet of water with 25-feet of line,” said Hackney just before pushing away from the dock at Paris Landing Marina for another great day of “plinkin’.”
COSTA FLW SERIES WESTERN DIVISION HEADS TO CLEAR LAKE FOR EVENT PRESENTED BY EVINRUDE
LAKEPOINT, Calif. (May 2, 2018) – As many as 350 boaters and co-anglers are set to compete on Clear Lake May 10-12 for the Costa FLW Series Western Division event at Clear Lake presented by Evinrude. The three-day tournament, hosted by the Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina, will feature a top prize of up to $85,000, including a brand new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard engine.
“This tournament is going to be a slugfest,” said Yamamoto Baits pro Jimmy Reese, of Witter Springs, California, who has 12 top-10 finishes on Clear Lake in FLW competition. “Aside from some clouds, which could change a few things, it’s supposed to be between 79 and 85 degrees just about every day leading up to the event. It’s going to be good.
“There has already been a wave of fish that have spawned, so anglers will be able to target them in all three phases – postspawn, spawners and even some prespawners,” continued Reese. “An underspin will play a big role for prespawners, as well as jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits like a Live Target Golden Shiner. For spawners, a Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog or another light-colored grub will be good choices.”
Reese said the postspawn fish will prefer topwater lures like a Boing Topwater or a Heddon Super Spook.
“I’ll throw a Super Spook when I’m trying to cover a lot of water, and the Boing in tighter places because it walks – it has a noise to it and sends out a vibration,” said Reese. “Buzzbaits and frogs will be good postspawn lures as well.”
Reese said he thinks most of the lake will be utilized by anglers for this event, especially the north end.
“The water level is lower this year compared to the last few years, due to the lack of rain. Docks and tules will still be the deal for fish in all three phases, though,” said Reese.
The California veteran said that a three-day cumulative total of 72 pounds should be enough to take home top honors.
“Everything is lined up for this to be a great event,” said Reese. “Clear Lake hasn’t shined in the last eight months like it has in the past, but I think people will be surprised by what they see in this tournament.”
Anglers will take off from Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina, located at 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, in Lakeport, at 6:30 a.m. PDT each day. Weigh-ins will also take place at Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina, and will begin at 2:30 p.m. each day. All takeoffs and weigh-ins are free to attend and open to the public.
In Costa FLW Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event. At Clear Lake, pros will fish for a top prize of up to $85,000, including a brand new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard if Ranger Cup qualified. Co-anglers will cast for a brand new Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude outboard, and $5,000 if Ranger Cup qualified.
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 2018 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 1-3 on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, and is hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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, YouTube and Snapchat.
Ranger Boats Pro Wesley Strader Strides Into Kentucky Lake Lead
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Swindles are leaning on Church
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships
Given the massive number of miles he planned to pilot his Triton, there’s a good chance that by the time you’re reading this, Gerald Swindle will have just arrived at his first fishing spot Sunday morning at the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Kentucky Lake.
“We’re fixin’ to put a little Church on and make about a 1-hour run,” said Swindle under a gorgeous but foggy sunrise, as he pushed earphones in, and the throttle down.
However, the Church he was referring to didn’t involve a preacher’s sermon on this particular Sunday, but instead the music of one of his all-time favorite artists, Eric Church as he made the mega-long haul down the Tennessee River.
Most fans know Swindle for his world-class humor and two Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles, but many may not realize his love of music and meaningful lyrics. “We’re fixin’ to do some “Creepin’,” said Swindle in reference to Eric Church’s 2012 hit single by that title.
Meanwhile, 60 miles away from where Swindle is slinging crankbaits from a Quantum reel this morning, his best friend and bride, “Lulu” is taking in church on her laptop, saying lots of prayers, and cleaning-up the couples 5thwheel RV, partly to find peace, and partly to keep her mind off a very trying time with their sweet old dog, Myrick.
The couple’s 12-year-old Weimaraner has traveled the Elite Series for a dozen years, but is of poor health, and has had a very tough week here at Kentucky Lake. Understandably, Myrick’s struggles have led to a deeply emotional tournament for Gerald and LeAnn.
“People say pro anglers aren’t athletes, but I’ll promise you the willpower and focus that Gerald is showing this week is every bit as much as a top athlete,” says LeAnn. “He didn’t get as many bites yesterday, and I know that allows his mind to wonder and think about Myrick, so I’m hoping he gets a lot of bites today.”
Whether from a sermon on her laptop in the 5thwheel, or lyrics in his ears along a very lengthily boat ride, all who know and love the Swindles are praying this particular Sunday grants them plenty of bites, and a whole lot of peace.
Skeet Reese Takes Second-Round Lead In Bassmaster Elite At Kentucky Lake
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Sportsmans Warehouse Pro Zaldain Claims Narrow Lead Over Reese In Bassmaster Elite Tournament At Kentucky Lake
Chris Zaldain of Laughlin, Nev., takes the lead on the first day of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia, bringing 24 pounds, 3 ounces to the scales on Friday.
Photo by Seigo Saito/B.A.S.S.
May 4, 2018
PARIS, Tenn. — Chris Zaldain knew what he wanted to do, he knew why he wanted to do it and he got the job done to the tune of a 24-pound, 3-ounce limit of bass that leads the first round of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia.
“A few days ago, I got some bad news about my mom’s (Rose) health, she’s battling cancer,” said Zaldain of Laughlin, Nev. “The last few days have been rough, so I came into this event to win it for my mom.
“I really want a chance to go into Sunday and win this event. I feel like my career needs it. I feel like my family needs it.”
Zaldain said he’s fishing such a specific pattern that he couldn’t divulge many details. However, he did note that a very specific integration of three distinct factors — some habitat, others conditional — were essential to his success.
“I practiced with one thing in my mind, pretty much one bait, one approach and it paid off big time today,” Zaldain said. “The second day of practice, I caught almost 30 pounds, no joke. Kentucky Lake has got ’em.
“A lot of people are complaining about the Asian carp, but the bass still live here. You just have to fish where the carp aren’t.”
Noting that he fished a purely prespawn pattern, Zaldain knew his day would be one of quality over quantity. His biggest was a 6-pounder, which made it to the Bassmaster blog feed with Zaldain’s handwritten dedication note to his mother.
“I’m fishing for five bites,” Zaldain said. “I’m not going out there trying to catch as many as I can, I’m just trying to catch five.
“Angles are everything to the way I’m fishing. I watched people fish through an area twice and I went in behind them and caught fish.”
The morning bite was key for Zaldain, who tanked his last keeper at 10 a.m. Looking ahead, he’s confident that he can replicate his game plan again Saturday, the second of four competition days.
“If I keep doing what I’m doing, I’ll have a big bag,” he said. “We have a weather change coming tomorrow, so I may have to make a few adjustments, but it’s going to be more of the same. In fact, a few of my spots, I didn’t even touch today.”
While Zaldain’s game plan worked to perfection, Skeet Reese’s didn’t. The Elite pro from Auburn, Calif., had to scrap his original game plan when he found himself fishless at 8 a.m. Switching to waters he never visited in practice, Reese targeted an area where he threw reaction baits and intercepted fish coming and going from a spawning area. His decision to change game plans led to a solid limit of 23-11, just 8 ounces behind the leader.
In third, Alabama’s Kelly Jaye picked off a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds by throwing a custom colored Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait that he modified with larger hooks for a faster sink rate in the 8-foot depths he targeted.
Jaye said he needs sunlight penetration to allow the fish to see his bait better, so if Saturday offers any break in the cloud cover, he’s anticipating a heavier bag.
Rounding out the Top 5 are reigning Bassmaster Classic champion Jordan Lee of Grant, Ala., with 21-3 and Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., with 20-13
Gerald Swindle of Guntersville, Ala., and Chad Pipkens of Lansing, Mich., are tied for the $1,500 Phoenix Boats Big Bass Award with twin 7-pound, 7-ounce fish.
Daily takeoffs will begin at 6 a.m. CT out of Paris Landing Marina, and weigh-ins are scheduled at Paris Landing State Park beginning at 3:15 p.m. CT. each day.
2018 Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia 5/4-5/7
Kentucky Lake, Paris TN.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 1
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Chris Zaldain Laughlin, NV 5 24-03 110
Day 1: 5 24-03
2. Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 5 23-11 109
Day 1: 5 23-11
3. Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL 5 22-00 108
Day 1: 5 22-00
4. Jordan Lee Grant, AL 5 21-03 107
Day 1: 5 21-03
5. Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 5 20-13 106
Day 1: 5 20-13
6. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 5 20-07 105
Day 1: 5 20-07
7. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 5 20-04 104
Day 1: 5 20-04
8. Josh Bertrand San Tan Valley, AZ 5 20-02 103
Day 1: 5 20-02
9. Paul Elias Laurel, MS 5 20-01 102
Day 1: 5 20-01
10. Jacob Powroznik North Prince George, VA 5 19-13 101
Day 1: 5 19-13
11. Shaw Grigsby Jr. Gainesville, FL 5 19-12 100
Day 1: 5 19-12
12. Ott DeFoe Blaine, TN 5 19-10 99
Day 1: 5 19-10
12. David Walker Sevierville, TN 5 19-10 99
Day 1: 5 19-10
14. Cliff Pace Petal, MS 5 19-09 97
Day 1: 5 19-09
15. Matt Lee Guntersville, AL 5 19-07 96
Day 1: 5 19-07
16. Edwin Evers Talala, OK 5 19-06 95
Day 1: 5 19-06
16. Wesley Strader Spring City, TN 5 19-06 95
Day 1: 5 19-06
18. Chad Pipkens Lansing, MI 5 18-15 93
Day 1: 5 18-15
19. Jesse Wiggins Cullman, AL 5 18-14 92
Day 1: 5 18-14
20. Jacob Wheeler Harrison, TN 5 18-13 91
Day 1: 5 18-13
21. Bradley Roy Lancaster, KY 5 18-10 90
Day 1: 5 18-10
22. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 5 18-09 89
Day 1: 5 18-09
22. Alton Jones Lorena, TX 5 18-09 89
Day 1: 5 18-09
22. Kyle Monti Okeechobee, FL 5 18-09 89
Day 1: 5 18-09
22. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 5 18-09 89
Day 1: 5 18-09
26. John Murray Spring City, TN 5 18-06 85
Day 1: 5 18-06
27. Fred Roumbanis Russellville, AR 5 17-15 84
Day 1: 5 17-15
28. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 5 17-15 83
Day 1: 5 17-15
29. Adrian Avena Vineland, NJ 5 17-14 82
Day 1: 5 17-14
29. Gerald Spohrer Gonzales, LA 5 17-14 82
Day 1: 5 17-14
31. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 5 17-04 80
Day 1: 5 17-04
31. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 5 17-04 80
Day 1: 5 17-04
31. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 5 17-04 80
Day 1: 5 17-04
34. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, CA 5 17-03 77
Day 1: 5 17-03
35. Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 5 17-01 76
Day 1: 5 17-01
36. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 5 16-15 75
Day 1: 5 16-15
37. Brent Ehrler Redlands, CA 5 16-14 74
Day 1: 5 16-14
37. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 5 16-14 74
Day 1: 5 16-14
39. Brandon Card Knoxville, TN 5 16-13 72
Day 1: 5 16-13
40. Caleb Sumrall New Iberia, LA 5 16-08 71
Day 1: 5 16-08
41. Chris Lane Guntersville, AL 5 16-07 70
Day 1: 5 16-07
42. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, SC 5 16-06 69
Day 1: 5 16-06
43. Alton Jones Jr. Waco, TX 5 16-04 68
Day 1: 5 16-04
43. Hunter Shryock Newcomerstown, OH 5 16-04 68
Day 1: 5 16-04
45. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 5 16-00 66
Day 1: 5 16-00
46. Jake Whitaker Fairview, NC 5 15-14 65
Day 1: 5 15-14
47. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 5 15-13 64
Day 1: 5 15-13
48. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 5 15-11 63
Day 1: 5 15-11
49. Ish Monroe Hughson, CA 5 15-10 62
Day 1: 5 15-10
50. Marty Robinson Lyman, SC 5 15-08 61
Day 1: 5 15-08
51. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 5 15-06 60
Day 1: 5 15-06
52. David Fritts Lexington, NC 5 15-04 59
Day 1: 5 15-04
53. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 5 15-03 58
Day 1: 5 15-03
54. Fletcher Shryock Dennison, OH 5 15-01 57
Day 1: 5 15-01
55. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 5 14-14 56
Day 1: 5 14-14
56. Seth Feider Bloomington, MN 5 14-12 55
Day 1: 5 14-12
56. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, AL 5 14-12 55
Day 1: 5 14-12
58. Brandon Palaniuk Hayden, ID 5 14-11 53
Day 1: 5 14-11
59. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 5 14-02 52
Day 1: 5 14-02
60. Boyd Duckett Guntersville, AL 4 14-02 51
Day 1: 4 14-02
61. Chris Groh Spring Grove, IL 5 14-01 50
Day 1: 5 14-01
62. Keith Poche Pike Road, AL 4 13-13 49
Day 1: 4 13-13
63. Scott Rook Little Rock, AR 5 13-12 48
Day 1: 5 13-12
64. Randy Howell Guntersville, AL 5 13-11 47
Day 1: 5 13-11
64. Justin Lucas Guntersville, AL 5 13-11 47
Day 1: 5 13-11
66. Mark Daniels Jr. Tuskegee, AL 5 13-09 45
Day 1: 5 13-09
67. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 3 13-09 44
Day 1: 3 13-09
68. Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 5 13-08 43
Day 1: 5 13-08
69. Rick Morris Lake Gaston, VA 5 13-07 42
Day 1: 5 13-07
69. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 5 13-07 42
Day 1: 5 13-07
71. Randy Sullivan Breckenridge, TX 5 13-06 40
Day 1: 5 13-06
72. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 4 13-05 39
Day 1: 4 13-05
73. Shin Fukae Palestine TX JAPAN 4 13-04 38
Day 1: 4 13-04
74. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 5 13-03 37
Day 1: 5 13-03
75. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 5 13-02 36
Day 1: 5 13-02
75. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 5 13-02 36
Day 1: 5 13-02
77. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 5 13-01 34
Day 1: 5 13-01
78. Kelly Jordon Flint, TX 5 13-00 33
Day 1: 5 13-00
79. Casey Ashley Donalds, SC 5 12-14 32
Day 1: 5 12-14
79. James Elam Tulsa, OK 5 12-14 32
Day 1: 5 12-14
81. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 12-13 30
Day 1: 5 12-13
82. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, AZ 3 12-13 29
Day 1: 3 12-13
83. Tyler Carriere Youngsville, LA 4 12-02 28
Day 1: 4 12-02
83. Mike McClelland Bentonville, AR 4 12-02 28
Day 1: 4 12-02
85. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 5 11-15 26
Day 1: 5 11-15
86. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 5 11-12 25
Day 1: 5 11-12
86. Ray Hanselman Jr Del Rio, TX 5 11-12 25
Day 1: 5 11-12
88. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 5 11-11 23
Day 1: 5 11-11
89. Tim Horton Muscle Shoals, AL 5 11-07 22
Day 1: 5 11-07
90. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, OK 4 11-03 21
Day 1: 4 11-03
91. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 5 10-15 20
Day 1: 5 10-15
92. Dustin Connell Clanton, AL 4 10-07 19
Day 1: 4 10-07
93. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 4 10-06 18
Day 1: 4 10-06
93. Dave Lefebre Erie, PA 4 10-06 18
Day 1: 4 10-06
95. Brandon Coulter Knoxville, TN 4 10-04 16
Day 1: 4 10-04
96. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 2 09-08 15
Day 1: 2 09-08
97. Gary Klein Mingus, TX 4 08-12 14
Day 1: 4 08-12
98. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 3 08-08 13
Day 1: 3 08-08
99. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 2 08-00 12
Day 1: 2 08-00
100. Morizo Shimizu Suita, Osaka JAPAN 3 07-11 11
Day 1: 3 07-11
101. Roy Hawk Lk Havasu Cty, AZ 4 07-09 10
Day 1: 4 07-09
102. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 3 07-03 9
Day 1: 3 07-03
103. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, OK 3 06-10 8
Day 1: 3 06-10
104. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 3 06-08 7
Day 1: 3 06-08
105. Jonathon VanDam Gobles, MI 3 05-07 6
Day 1: 3 05-07
106. Bill Weidler Helena, AL 2 04-09 5
Day 1: 2 04-09
107. Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 1 02-08 4
Day 1: 1 02-08
108. Darrell Ocamica New Plymouth, ID 0 00-00 0
Day 1: 0 00-00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 82 493 1589-05
----------------------------------
82 493 1589-05
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Show Off Your 'Best Catch' and You Could Be Fishing with Mark Zona
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – If you’re an angler or know someone who is, the countdown begins now for a chance to win big. Showing off your “best catch” could get you an action-packed fishing trip with Mark Zona, former pro angler, co-host of the Bassmaster Elite Series, and host of “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show” on his favorite lake.
Submit your photo of any catch, past or recent, to the BoatUS “Best Catch” Photo Contest. No need to buy anything. No hoops to jump through. Just enter your photo, and before you know it, you could be on the water, rod in hand, with none other than the “Z-Man,” as he’s known to fans. The contest runs May 1–31, 2018. Entry details and contest rules can be found at BoatUS.com/Catch.
In addition to a fully expensed fishing trip, the grand prize winner will be awarded one-year Premium FishTrack and Buoyweather Memberships, providing global satellite imagery and marine weather. A one-year BoatUS Unlimited Towing Membership with Unlimited Trailer Assist will also be included, providing 24/7 assistance to boaters on the water or on the road who face trouble or break down.
Zona, one of the biggest fishing personalities in outdoor television and never one to turn down a chance to go fishing, said, "We always have a blast on the BoatUS Best Catch fishing trip! I want our winner to have more than an epic day of fishing. I want them to feel like they had an out-of-body fishing dream!”
The winner will be notified by June 8, 2018. The winning photo will appear in the largest national boating magazine, BoatUS Magazine.
Suggested Tweet and Facebook post:
Show off your “best catch” and you could win a fishing trip with Mark Zona! Submit your photo to the @BoatUS Best Catch Photo Contest by May 31. https://bit.ly/2KAohcC
About Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS):
Celebrating over 50 years, BoatUS is the nation’s largest organization of recreational boaters with more than a half-million members. We are the boat owners’ voice on Capitol Hill and fight for their rights. We help ensure a roadside trailer breakdown doesn’t end a boating or fishing trip before it begins. On the water, TowBoatUS brings boaters safely back to the launch ramp or dock when their boat won’t, 24/7. The BoatUS Marine Insurance Program gives boat owners the specialized coverage and superior service they need. We help keep boaters safe and our waters clean with assistance from the nonprofit BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water. Visit BoatUS.com.
This Weekend - Sportsmans Warehouse Sportsmans Dream Tournament on Lake Chickamauga!
AC's John Byrne & Sportmans Warehouse Manager Craig Baird Talk about this Weekends Sportsmans Warehouse Sportsmans Dream tournament on Lake Chickamauga!
Complete Info Here!
https://anglerschannel.com/tournaments/sportsmans-warehouse-fishermans-dream-bass-tournament-lake-chickamauga-may-5-2018/
BoatUS Renews Title Sponsorship of 2018 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship
May 2, 2018
The Association of Collegiate Anglers (ACA) announces that Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has renewed its title sponsorship of the 2018 Collegiate Bass Fishing Series Championship. Now in its thirteenth anniversary year, the event will be held May 23-25 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama. The Championship is the third major ACA event of four tournaments in the rapidly expanding Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series slated for this year. BoatUS has been the title sponsor of the Championship since its inception.
Starting with the first Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship held on Lake Lewisville in 2006, student anglers have benefitted, both on the water and off, from the relationship with BoatUS. A decade later, collegiate anglers continue to be able to tap into BoatUS’ 24/7 on water towing and roadside assistance services, information, and more at each Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Series event.
Wade Middleton, President of CarecoTV and Director of the Association of Collegiate Anglers, said, “Since first becoming involved in college fishing, BoatUS has provided so much over the past decade from education on safety issues and boating issues, offering important services like insurance, towing and more as well a wide range of services both on and off the water to help ensure this next generation of anglers are prepared to safely and properly enjoy the waters across the nation.”
To find out how you can get signed up for your BoatUS membership and participants’ incentive plans, visit the www.boatus.com.
St. Croix Rods - A New Legend for Anglers Who Want it All
Courtesy of St. Croix Rods / Traditions Media
Legend X packs every technology at St. Croix’s disposal to deliver unrivaled performance
Park Falls, WI (May 3, 2018) – The Senko spiraled toward the bottom of a gin-clear lake, turning the reel on the opposite end ever closer towards the end of its spool. Twenty feet down and dozens of yards from the boat, a thin strand of four-pound fluorocarbon traced a line from fish to man. On a sunny day at this depth and distance, the line was impossible for the angler’s eye to see — then, a thump.
“I could feel it in my hands,” said angling guru Dan Johnston. “It blew my mind.”
Johnston, National Accounts Manager for St. Croix Rod, was in the midst of a three-day video shoot with Jarrett Edwards of Jarrett Edwards Outdoors. The gin-clear water belonged to the mystic desert fishery of Lake Powell, where a maze of clear water channels crisscrosses the Arizona/Utah border in a dance with time and nature. At Lake Powell, the ruins of an Anasazi empire and exposed fossils of plesiosaurs line the same canyon walls where bass loiter for food, feasting on shad in the shadows of legends.
It was here on Powell that Johnston and Edwards had come to document a legend of their own — a battle test for the St. Croix Rod Legend X.
“I was basing bite detection off of that thump in my hands,” Johnston said. “Usually, all of the conditions have to line up to feel that hit. Here, Jarrett and I were throwing a light soft plastic almost as far as we could throw, getting a bite at the very end of the cast, and in 20 feet of water you could still feel it.”
Adds Johnston, “You can write that, but people reading it will roll their eyes. They won’t believe you until they do it for themselves.”
Legend X rumors began to swirl last summer, just before the rod made its official debut at ICAST 2017. There, retailers got their first look at the production models which would eventually find their way out to the desert with Johnston and Edwards. Featuring Relentless Olive blanks with cork, split-grip handles and a familiar name, it didn’t take long for consumers who hadn’t seen the rods up close to dub Legend X a ‘Legend Elite with split grips.’ But Johnston says only part of that moniker is true.
“It does have the same SCV blank as the Legend Elite, and it does have split grips, but this is a rod built with every single technology St. Croix Rod has at its disposal. It’s a rod for the ultimate, discerning angler who understands that 32 pairs of hands have touched this rod during the manufacturing process. It’s for the angler who wants the ultimate in sensitivity and light weight. It’s for the angler who wants all of St. Croix’s rod building technologies. Every one of them.”
An 18-year veteran of St. Croix Rod, Johnston is no spring chicken when it comes to rod design. He’s fished nearly every rod the Wisconsin-based company has produced in almost two decades with the company; and in a field with many favorites, he says Legend X stands above them all.
“It’s a dream rod for me,” he elaborates. “A lot of people have been waiting on a SCV blank with split grips. Legend X is unbelievably impressive.”
The rod’s list of technical features reads like a laundry list of high-performance rod specifications: Integrated Poly Curve® (IPC®) mandrel tooling technology; Advanced Reinforcing Technology™ (ART™); a Taper Enhancement Technology (TET) blank; super high-modulus SCVI graphite with Fortified Resin System (FRS) in its lower section for maximum power and reduced weight; high-modulus/high-strain SCV graphite with FRS and carbon-matte scrim for unparalleled strength, durability and sensitivity; Fuji® Torzite® tangle-free guides with titanium frames; a Fuji® TVS blank-touch reel seat with a built-in hood on spinning rods; a Fuji® PTS blank-touch reel seat with a built-in hood on casting rods; anodized, machined-aluminum wind check and trim pieces; a Kigan titanium hook-keeper; two coats of Flex-Coat slow cure finish, and its signature split-grip super-grade cork handles.
Asked about the relentless, madman’s list of features, Johnston had a simple explanation.
“St Croix exists to provide every angler with the upper hand. That explains Legend X. That explains the engine behind the brilliance, the fuel behind the idea, the execution, and the final product. We wanted to give people the ultimate advantage on the water. Everything about Legend X is distilled to that. St. Croix Rod wanted to go all-in.”
Just a few short months after its ICAST 2017 unveiling, Legend X is starting to fill the dealer pipelines. Soon, Dan Johnston and Jarrett Edwards will have to share their legend with the rest of the angling world. Johnston swears Legend X is the ultimate fishing rod come to life.
It’s a tale that may seem hard to believe — but like the mysterious landscape of Lake Powell—is 100 percent true.
#stcroixrods
Jordan Lee says Kentucky Lake feels a lot like Grand
Courtesy of Alan McGuckin / Dynamic Sponsorships
Bassmaster Classic Champion Jordan Lee played a lot of baseball in his younger years growing up around Cullman, Alabama. And right now, the easy-going 26 year old feels a lot like one of former Yankees icon Yogi Berra’s famous quotes, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
Go to Conroe – win a Classic. Go to Hartwell the following year – win a Classic.
Go to Grand Lake, Oklahoma last week knowing there’s bass on spawning beds poor water clarity won’t permit you to see.
Work hard. Fish hard. Notch another Top 12 finish.
Fire up the Tundra and head straight to the next event at Kentucky Lake, realize once again there’s bass on spawning beds poor water clarity won’t permit you to see.
“There’s a lot of bass on beds here, but it won’t be much of a sight fishing tournament because the water’s been high and off-colored, and beds are hard to see here, just like at Grand Lake last week,” says the Quantum pro.
And much like Northeast Oklahoma last week, the weather forecast is one to make the Chamber of Commerce proud here in Henry County, TN. Lots of sunshine and temps perfectly suited for nothing more than the Carhartt Force long sleeve shirt you seeing Lee wearing here.
After two very long but comfortable days on Kentucky Lake, Lee predicts weights very similar to Grand Lake.
“I averaged 17 pounds a day at Grand and finished 10th, and I’m guessing that’s just about exactly what it’ll take here for a Top 12,” he says.
Unlike Grand, the water is in the bushes on Kentucky Lake, but it’s falling fast. And while there’s tons of shallow habitat to cast or pitch to right now, the TVA will likely suck as much as 2-feet of water out of this massive reservoir by competition … which again, could bring flashbacks of Grand’s mostly dry shoreline habitat.
Still, just like Grand, Lee feels this will be a shallow water tournament. “The water temps are in the 60s and warming daily, fish want to be shallow. I’m not saying somebody won’t slip off the bank and win off a gravel bar or shell bar, but for the most part there’s going to be a lot of guys fishing shallow,” says Lee.
Finally, there’s the intangibles that seem so similar with Jordan Lee at Kentucky Lake, just like Hartwell, Conroe, and Grand – he’ll be one of the very last anglers to leave the boat ramp.
“It’s 6:00 p.m., and I’ll probably be out here until pretty much dark at 8:00 p.m. – I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he grinned as the sun began to fall in western sky on Day 2 of practice near Buchanan, TN.
AnglersChannel Insider Podcast Episode #12 Featuring FLW Tour Winner David Williams & Nascar Gasman turned Ranger Boats Dealer Ed Watkins!
On this weeks episode Chris gets stuck in traffic in the ATL and records the pod from the front seat of the AC Tundra. The Boys talk to David Williams, FLW Tour Winner on how he led wire-to-wire on Smith Lake as well as talk to Ranger Boat Dealer owner Ed Watkins of Ed Watkins Marine in Denver, NC. We also have the Progressive Bass Wrap up, The Costa Countdown to Blastoff and a ton more, only on the AC Insider Podcast!
Bassmaster Team Championship To Be Held On Florida’s Harris Chain For The First Time
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3rd Annual Carhartt College Fishing Video Contest
Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships
Calling all college anglers. Want the chance to go fishing with back-to-back Bassmaster Classic champ Jordan Lee and Elite Series standout Matt Lee, as well as win a boatload of Carhartt apparel? Your opportunity waits via the Carhartt College Fishing Video Contest. For the 3rd year, the title sponsor of the College Bassmaster Series extends this contest to collegiate anglers.
The rules remain simple, anglers are asked to put together a short video showcasing what college fishing means to them and how Carhartt has their back on the water, while they are hard at work, in the classroom, or at home. Video submissions should be kept around 3:00 minutes long and can be filmed on any video capturing device. As long as you are currently enrolled in college courses you are eligible to participate.
The rules are left loose to allow for creativity. So college anglers, have fun with it! Include videos from fun fishing trips, fishing club meetings, Carhartt College B.A.S.S. events, campus life, or whatever else you feel fits the bill. All is fair game. On top of the Grand Prize winner, there will be (4) other videos chosen to win a prize package with the latest and greatest Carhartt fishing gear.
Jacob Smith of Wallace State University was the 2017 Grand Prize winner, check out his winning video submission here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP-_K6nxxow
“The whole trip up to Lake St Clair was a dream come true honestly,” Smith said. “Getting a behind-the-scenes look at a Bassmaster Elite Series event, meeting all the great folks from B.A.S.S, and catching giant smallmouth with Jordan, Matt, and my buddy Miller are all experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
The Carhartt fishing team of Mark Zona, Terry Scroggins, Matt Lee, and Jordan Lee once again make up the esteemed panel of judges who will pick the Grand Prize and Carhartt apparel prize package winners.
The Grand Prize up for grabs is an all-inclusive trip to Chatuge Lake for the Toyota Angler of the Year Championship, and then a two-day fishing trip with Lee brothers following the tournament. Previous Grand Prize trips were held on infamous fisheries like Lake Guntersville (2016) and Lake St. Clair (2017). College anglers were treated to an exciting and educational couple of days on the water with the Lee brothers.
This year’s Grand Prize trip promises more of the same, so get your creative juices flowing and submit a video before the cutoff date of July 15th, 2018.
Videos can be submitted through this link: https://www.facebook.com/dynamicsponsorships/app/403834839671843/. For more information, questions, or concerns email luke@dynamicsponsorships.com.
CUBA’S BECHTEL WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE OZARK DIVISION EVENT ON LAKE OF THE OZARKS
Springfield’s Lloyd Wins Co-angler Title
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (April 30, 2018) – Boater Zach Bechtel of Cuba, Missouri, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 21 pounds, 7 ounces to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division event on Lake of the Ozarks. For his win, Bechtel earned the first place prize of $5,020 plus a $2,000 Ranger Cup contingency bonus.
“I had been fishing in a few local tournaments over the past few weeks and had been catching a lot of fish,” said Bechtel. “But, when I went out on Friday to practice for this event, the fish were gone. I looked and looked and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I knew I was in trouble.
“Saturday, I woke up without a real plan and just decided to go fishing,” Bechtel said. “Everyone else kept saying that the fish had moved shallow to spawn, but I decided that I was going to fish in areas where I believed the fish were still staging. On my first spot I caught a 4½- and a 5-pounder and I just dialed it in from there.”
Bechtel said that he fished around 20 different points through the day with a ¾-ounce silver and red-colored War Eagle spinnerbait with a smoke shad-colored Keitech Fat Impact swimbait on it. He estimated that he caught 10 or 11 keepers throughout the day.
“I think the wind was pretty important to my pattern,” Bechtel said. “The points had to be wind-blown in order to get bit.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Zach Bechtel, Cuba, Mo., five bass, 21-7, $5,020 + $2,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Mark Tucker, Kirkwood, Mo., five bass, 19-8, $2,560
3rd: Keith Nickell, Warsaw, Mo., five bass, 19-1, $1,574
4th: Rob Bueltmann, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 18-2, $1,201
5th: David Ryan, Levasy, Mo., five bass, 17-12, $944
6th: Ronnie Kane, Gardner, Kan., five bass, 17-8, $865
7th: Tom Alsop, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 15-5, $787
8th: Tom Silber, Labadie, Mo., five bass, 15-2, $708
9th: Jason Rhyne, Foristell, Mo., five bass, 15-1, $629
10th: Shawn Kowal, Linn Creek, Mo., five bass, 14-6, $551
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Doug Henzlik of Leawood, Kansas, caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $695.
Tom Lloyd of Springfield, Missouri, won the Co-angler Division and $2,560 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Tom Lloyd, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 16-0, $2,560
2nd: Spencer Clark, Maryland Heights, Mo., five bass, 12-15, $1,180
3rd: Taylor Day, Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., two bass, 9-0, $787
4th: Lang Yang, Miami, Okla., three bass, 8-10, $551
5th: Jordan Williams, Oak Grove, Mo., three bass, 8-4, $522
6th: Dennis Spell, Bonne Terre, Mo., three bass, 7-10, $433
7th: Bryan Barnard, Harrison, Ark., two bass, 7-8, $393
8th: Walter Hammond, Lees Summit, Mo., three bass, 7-3, $354
9th: Terry Misenhelter, Four Seasons, Mo., two bass, 6-13, $315
10th: Kory Ries, Union, Mo., two bass, 6-12, $275
Jeffrey Miller of Fredericktown, Missouri caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass that earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $347.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division event at Lake of the Ozarks was hosted by the Lake of the Ozarks Tri-County Lodging Association and Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
Seeing What Your Not Looking For
As April grows small in the rearview mirror and we head into May, many people stop sight-fishing. They figure the spawn has wound down and, in many cases, they’re right but ‘sight-fishing’ need not be confused with ‘bed-fishing’. There’s still a lot to see . . . and catch.
My son and I stood on the dock at our lake and talked over the bass that came and went, including a true giant that busted Hunter’s fluorocarbon line. He had seen the fish eat his bait as it swam in 8 feet of water and that proved too much for the 15-year-old and his 15-pound line. He set the hook like a gorilla.
He then collapsed on the dock like somebody had kicked his gonads through his rib cage.
His girlfriend, Romi, giggled and asked what was wrong with him. It was one of many questions she asked. Among them was, ‘how can y’all see all those fish? I don’t see anything.’
My wife explained about polarized glasses. Even with our Costas though, I explained that there are tricks to seeing fish. And there’s an art to catching them.
Somebody had to teach me so I’m passing along some of the best tips I ever got on the subject of sight-fishing for bass year-round, not just when they’re on the beds.
My teachers include Shaw Grigsby, Bernie Schultz and no less a sight-casting pioneer than Guido Hibdon himself.
The best thing I ever picked up from Hibdon - and passed along to Romi the other day – was to look for ‘game trails’ under the water. “When bass swim, they brush away bottom debris and leave a light-colored trail along the bottom,” shared Hibdon who learned the craft on the deep highland lakes of the Ozarks region. He further expounded that knowing where to look in the first place is half the battle when visually searching for fish.
Hibdon said, “They will swim back and forth along that same trail and if you wait, just like deer hunting, one will come back through the area and you can cast out ahead of him far enough to let the lure settle to bottom before he gets there.”
Letting the lure settle before the fish gets there can be key.
Letting the line sink is critical.
“You never want your line to go over the fish’s back,” emphasized Grigsby after a mid-summer day of sight-casting on Tennessee’s Lake Cherokee. “And you don’t want to cast right at the fish either. If you see one sitting there looking at you, that’s not good. You want to bring the lure at an angle and make it act as if it’s trying to escape. Make the fish think it’s his idea.”
For these reasons, you need to lead the fish by a wide margin when casting to them. This is also a strong reason to use fluorocarbon line as it will sink much faster than mono or braid which means you’ll be less likely to ‘line’ the fish (cast or pull the line over its back).
Bernie Schultz once told me about a tournament on Georgia’s West Point Lake where he saw bass swimming around a shallow point, back and forth at a consistent depth, following game trails as Hibdon had told me they would. “I just tossed a Senko way out in front, made sure it got down, pulled the line beneath the surface and let the fish find the lure.”
It can be just that simple. Not all fish will bite. But Grigsby and Hibdon both estimated their odds of catching any given bass at better than 50%. Their tournament records back that up.
Odds go way up when you see the fish before the fish see you. Keep a low profile, move silently – which means move slowly in most cases. And wear the best quality polarized sunglasses you afford.
Costa del Mar has set the standard for decades. The clearest lenses on the planet not only show you fish, but also protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful effects as well as the occasional flying tungsten sinker. My favorite model, the Blackfin has wide sides to block distracting peripheral glare.
Keep the sun over your shoulder to further minimize glare and then, as Grigsby says, “Put the trolling motor down and go learn what to look for.”
One clue I look for is shadows. Fish are notorious for camouflaging themselves into their environment. But they can’t change the density of their body. They cast consistent shadows when in shallow water. The dark oval on the lake floor is often the first cue I get that there is something swimming, suspended slightly higher in the water column.
When looking for the fish itself, try to first find the vertical black stripe on their tail. This stripe contrasts sharply with the rest of the tail fin and it is nearly always moving – and movement always gives an animal away when it is trying to hide.
Wakes can give fish away. On cloudy days, bulging v’s that ripple the surface may be your most obvious sign. Remember, the deeper a fish swims, the further behind its wake will trail. Also, the deeper the fish swims, the further ahead of it you need to cast. Again, you must get your line down so as not to spook the fish.
Take these tips and go see some fish!
MILTON’S LEIDHOLDT WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE GREAT LAKES DIVISION OPENER ON MISSISSIPPI RIVER PRESENTED BY NAVIONICS
Illinois’ Howard Wins Co-angler Title
LA CROSSE, Wis. (April 30, 2018) – Boater Rob Leidholdt of Milton, Wisconsin, caught five bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division opener on the Mississippi River presented by Navionics. Leidholdt earned $5,046 for his victory.
“I stayed in Pool No. 8 all day, throwing a spinnerbait all day long on a shallow flat near Stoddard,” said Leidholdt, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “There were around 15 boats fishing the same flat, but I was fishing slower than most of them. I caught around 10 fish all day long.”
Leidholdt’s spinnerbait of choice was a Spot Remover-colored War Eagle Finesse Spinnerbait with a white Zoom Swimmer Paddle Tail swimbait.
“I think only having one day to practice actually really helped me,” Leidholdt said. “The river has had so much water fluctuation in the past few weeks, so even if I would have had time to practice it likely would have been very different come tournament time.
“It’s the first time in a long time that I can remember that I put the jig down and picked up the spinnerbait,” Leidholdt joked. “I’ve been fishing BFL tournaments for 15 years, so I definitely put my time in to earn the win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Rob Leidholdt, Milton, Wis., five bass, 17-11, $5,046
2nd: Michael Hanrahan, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, five bass, 16-15, $2,523
2nd: Ryan Lewis, Glasford, Ill., five bass, 16-14, $1,682
4th: Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 16-0, $1,177
5th: Ben Potaracke, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 15-15, $1,209
6th: Dan Mohn, Lansing, Iowa, five bass, 15-12, $925
7th: Bob Downey, Hudson, Wis., five bass, 15-8, $841
8th: Nick Trim, Galesville, Wis., five bass, 15-1, $857
9th: Frank Cipra, Prairie du Chien, Wis., five bass, 14-10, $673
10th: Jeff Ritter, Prairie du Chien, Wis., five bass, 14-1, $589
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Tony Seiler of River Falls, Wisconsin, caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $770.
David Howard of Farmington, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,523 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: David Howard, Farmington, Ill., five bass, 16-9, $2,523
2nd: Kory Kreinke, Annandale, Minn., five bass, 14-9, $1,262
3rd: Mike Frazer, DeForest, Wis., five bass, 14-1, $841
4th: Jake Lambrecht, Davenport, Iowa, five bass, 13-14, $589
5th: Alexandru Spiac, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 12-6, $505
6th: Brad Juen, La Crosse, Wis., four bass, 11-6, $663
7th: Jason Wulf, Crown Point, Ind., three bass, 10-2, $471
8th: Chad Schultz, Rockton, Ill., four bass, 9-10, $378
9th: Jason Swanson, Waterloo, Iowa, three bass, 9-5, $336
10th: Chad Smith, Davenport, Iowa, three bass, 8-4, $294
Bill McBride of Rockford, Illinois, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a 5-pound, 12-ounce fish. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $385.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division opener on the Mississippi River presented by Navionics was hosted by the La Crosse County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.