UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ANGLER WINS YETI FLW COLLEGE FISHING WESTERN CONFERENCE OPENER ON LAKE HAVASU
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. (Feb. 13, 2017) – University of Oregon angler Ryan Habenicht of Creswell, Oregon, won the YETI FLW College Fishing Western Conference opener on Lake Havasu Saturday with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 3 ounces, despite fishing the team event solo as his partner was unable to compete. The victory earned the University of Oregon bass club a $2,000 club scholarship and Habenicht will now advance to compete solo at the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
FLW College Fishing rules states that each competing team will consist of two contestants, however in the event of a medical or family emergency on a tournament day, a contestant may be permitted to fish alone with approval from the tournament director. Habenicht’s partner had an emergency, forcing the University of Oregon angler to compete alone.
“It was a pretty tough bite Saturday at Lake Havasu,” said Habenicht, a senior majoring in business. “During practice it was 80 degrees and sunny and the fish were cruising. Nearly every bass that we caught was over 3 pounds. During the tournament it ended up being cloudy and I had to fish extremely slow and methodically. I literally turned the graph off and would make 35- to 40-yard casts and then not move the bait.”
Habenicht said that he found some dirtier water and fished tule points in two separate coves with a ½-ounce unnamed chartreuse and shad-colored spinnerbait. He caught one keeper then moved to some secondary points and managed to catch three more on a “Ned rig”.
“For the Ned rig I used a 3/16-ounce Frenzy Baits Nail with a green-pumpkin Z-Man Finesse WormZ,” Habenicht said.
“The key for me was making the long casts and not moving the bait,” Habenicht went on to say. “You had to fish super slow and really just let the bait sit there and grind it out.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2018 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: University of Oregon – Ryan Habenicht, Creswell, Oregon, four bass, 13-3, $2,000 Club Scholarship
2nd: California State University-Chico – Carson Leber, Dixon, Calif., and Travis Bounds, Chico, Calif., four bass, 10-2, $1,400 Club Scholarship
3rd: California State University-Chico – Cole Lauchland, Lodi, Calif., and Logan Schwab, Davis, Calif., four bass, 9-12, $700 Club Scholarship
4th: California State University-Chico – Chad Sweitzer, Chico, Calif., and Tyler Firebaugh, Danville, Calif., three bass, 9-12, $500 Club Scholarship
5th: California State University-Long Beach – Roman Hipolito, Midway City, Calif., and Seth Meyer, Lancaster, Calif., four bass, 8-9, $500 Club Scholarship
6th: Northern Arizona University – Gunnar Stanton, Boulder City, Nev., and Connor Moore, Flagstaff, Ariz., three bass, 7-8
7th: Grand Canyon University – Cody Blood, Galt, Calif., and Joseph Dwyer, Scottsdale, Ariz., two bass, 6-9
8th: California State University-Chico – Chas Brannon, Santa Maria, Calif., and Michael Woods, Olivehurst, Calif., three bass, 6-0
9th: California State University-Long Beach – Cole Thomas, Lakewood, Calif., and Via Thao, Long Beach, Calif., two bass, 4-9
10th: Northern Arizona University – Jake Hartzler and Marcus Green, both of Flagstaff, Ariz., one bass, 4-9
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
This YETI FLW College Fishing Western Conference opener was the first regular-season qualifying tournament of 2017. The next event for Western Conference anglers is a tournament scheduled for May 13 on the California Delta in Bethel Island, 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, along with an additional qualifier for every 10 teams over 100 that compete, along with the top 20 teams from the annual YETI FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
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 regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit FLWFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
McDonnel wins Mr. Bass Arkansas on Ouachita with 18.47 lbs.
Mark McDonnel wins MBOA Tournament #1 on Lake Ouachita!
Pro Money Winners:
1st – Mark McDonnel – 5 – 18.47 lbs
2nd – Teddy Bogard – 5 – 18.06 lbs
3rd – Danny Gwinn – 5 – 17.57 lbs
4th – Timmy Poe – 5 – 17.37 lbs
5th – Jerry Williams – 5 – 17.19 lbs
6th – Kevin Brown – 5 – 17.06 lbs
Big Bass = Jeremiah Kindy 6.85 lbs ($430)
Terence Wheeler Wins Amateur Division at Lake Ouachita!
Am Money Winners:
1st – Terence Wheeler – 5 – 12.03 lbs
2nd – Josh Ford – 4 – 10.94 lbs
3rd – Rusty Hamby – 5 – 9.97 lbs
4th – David Forston – 5 – 8.91 lbs
Big Bass = Previn Dixon 4.34 lbs ($320)
For complete Am results, click here.
Ky Martin and E.K. Watts weigh 23.37 limit to win Lake Whitney TTZ event and $10,000!
36.11 Wins Bass Champs on Toledo Bend!
| Wilson & Lohr turned 36.11 pounds into over $20,000 in winnings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| HUGE sacks = BIG paydays on Toledo Bend at Bass ChampsToledo Bend is HOT! Two teams brought in limits of bass in excess of 30 pounds in Bass Champs East Region second event of the season February 11, 2017. The top twenty-three teams weighed in 20 plus pound sacks! It was an exciting weigh in at Cypress Bend Marina as a new record was set with 312 teams competing for a portion of $83,300 to be won. Weights were stacked tight for those in the money, but the 1st place winners Kris Wilson and Bryan Lohr won by a leap to take home over $20,000!
Due to high winds expected during the tournament, teams were allowed to trailer their boats to any boat ramp on the lake for added safety on the water. The day started out with calm winds, and temperatures rose to the 80’s by the afternoon. By midday, the lake was rolling with white caps as the wind gained strength. With water temperatures rising and the full moon overhead, many teams found huge bass staging for the spawn, giving way to a spectacular show of bass at the weigh in. As teams began rolling in to weigh their catch, several 20 pound sacks crossed the scales. It was evident from the beginning that it was going to be an exciting weigh in to watch. Due to the high number of teams registered for the event, the “Zero Bonus” was again offered for teams who did not catch enough pounds to garner a check in the regular line up. “We gave this option to teams to release their fish instead of weighing them in if they did not have enough to win a check. Every team who elected to release their fish were put into two drawings to win a $500 check,” Chad Potts explained. Weights quickly began to stack up tight, and the top weights were constantly rising. When Kris Wilson and Bryan Lohr stepped up to weigh their fish, the top weight to beat was 22.97 pounds. They heaved their giant bag onto the scales, tallying a weight of 36.11 pounds. “We had a great day,” Wilson began. “We fished structure in about 17’ of water with a ¾ oz 6th Sense Hybrid Casting Jig. The fish were really biting. We had a limit in the boat by 8am.” They stayed in their first spot a little while longer, culling once before leaving it. “At that point we had over 30 pounds. We moved to our next spot and culled three more times. The key was the 17’ depth.” Continuing to several other areas, some in the backs of coves and others just off the main lake, they continued culling up their weight. “The biggest fish we culled weighed 6-3, plus we culled four or more 5-6 pounders!” Their weight held for a 1st place win and a check for $20,000. They also won the Sure-Life bonus for using the product in their livewell. Kris would like to thank his wife and his family for their support. There was another huge sack brought in by 2nd place winners Ben and Bryan South. Their five fish limit tipped the scales at 32.21 pounds, earning a $6,500 check. They focused on flats in depths 5’ to 10’ deep with a 6th Sense Quake Series crankbait. They would like to thank the Lord & their families for their support. 3rd place winners Sean Kennon and Jordan Hollingsworth found their success with ¾ ounce Football jigs in 25’ of water. Their five fish limit weighed in at 25.58 pounds for a $5,000 payday. “We’d like to thank the Good Lord for being with us.” Rounding out the top 10 teams: Now let’s talk about the Big Bass category. Six teams brought in lunkers over eight pounds. One team brought in a 9.46. But come on – this is Toledo Bend! The biggest bass of the day weighed in at a whopping 10.71 lbs, caught by Frank Polley fishing with Lynn Atkinson. This beautiful sow was the teams’ fifth fish of the morning, catching a $1,000 check and anchoring their 24th place overall finish for another $1,010 check. Abu Garcia kicked in and added to their winnings with the Revo bonus. “We just had a great day,” Atkinson said with a smile. “It was great fishing the tournament with my partner Frank, and being with him when he caught that fish!” Several teams increased their winnings qualifying for Bass Champs’ great sponsor bonuses. Be sure and read the sponsor pages to find out how to qualify – it’s easy and puts more winnings in your pocket! All Bass Champs regular season tournaments are open for anyone to enter. With two of four East Region events now on the books, the Angler of the Year race is stacking up. The top five teams so far: The team who accumulates the most points in their region after all four events have been fished will achieve the Angler of the Year status, and receive FREE entries into the 2018 season for the region they won the title for! It is still anyone’s game – good luck to all teams! Don’t miss a single chance to win big in Bass Champs tournaments. So far top teams have earned $300,500 in four events! Chad Potts, President of Bass Champs reminded everyone: “The 9th Annual Sportsmans Auto Network Mega Bass event on Lake Fork is coming up March 19. It is the richest one day hourly event in the world with $20,000 given away every single hour of the tournament. Two Skeeter boats will also be given away at the end of the day for the anglers catching the biggest bass over the slot and the biggest bass under the slot! More sponsors are adding to the winnings too! One of the bonus opportunities is through the Sportsman’s Auto Network. If you have a dealership you use, encourage them to sign up into the Sportsman’s Auto Network. It’s easy, and increases your chances to win even more!” COMING UP NEXT:
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Jacob Wheeler wins Elite Series Opener on Cherokee Lake
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Rookie Wiggins maintains slim lead in Elite series debut
Feb. 11, 2017
KNOXVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Jesse Wiggins wishes he had a more exciting story to tell about the Bassmaster Elite at Cherokee Lake.
He wishes there was some drama or even a near-miss that might give him a funny story for the weigh-in stand.
But it just hasn’t been that kind of tournament for him.
“I’m just going around in circles on spot, looking for fish on my graph,” said Wiggins, who caught 16 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to maintain the overall lead with a three-day total of 52-13. “When I see one, I drop down to it and try to get it to bite. It’s the simplest thing you’ve ever seen.
“It’s been the same thing every day.”
How repetitive has it been?
The Elite Series rookie from Cullman, Ala., also caught five smallmouth Friday that weighed 16-14. If he catches 16-14 again Sunday, it could get downright spooky.
“I’m sitting in the same spot — a place about the size of three boats — all day long,” Wiggins said. “The reason I’m spending all of my time there is because I don’t know anywhere else to get a bite.”
Wiggins said he knew immediately from looking at his depthfinder that the fish were still visible Saturday morning when he pulled up for the third straight day. He said the fish were still there, the baitfish were still there — nothing had changed — but the fish were a lot more finicky than they had been the two previous days.
“I think it’s just because they had never been fished before,” he said. “Now that I’ve been hitting them pretty hard for a couple of days, they’re acting a little differently.”
The leader said he has no idea what he’ll do Sunday morning if he pulls up to the hot spot and there’s no sign of the predator fish and the forage fish they’ve been chasing.
He’s only caught one largemouth bass all week — a 4-9 lunker that anchored his Day 1 catch of 19-1 — and he referred to that fish as a “bonus.” It was sharing the same waters with the smallmouth, and that’s a rare occurrence.
“You definitely can’t count on that happening again,” Wiggins said. “If I pull up to that place in the morning and everything’s gone I’m not just going to sit there. But I honestly don’t know what I’ll do if I have to go look for largemouth.”
Wiggins, who has won two events on the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens circuit, during the past 10 months, is leading fellow Elite Series rookie Jamie Hartman (52-0) by only 13 ounces.
The New York deep-water specialist caught 17-9 Saturday fishing the same deep, wintertime pattern he’s been fishing all week. Like Wiggins, he’s having a hard time getting once-eager fish to bite.
“My fish are finicky, for sure,” Hartman said. “I had a morning bite that was pretty awesome (Thursday and Friday), but today it was terrible. I’ve just about used up my fish. I’m in a certain area, and I just don’t think it’s replenishing.”
Like most anglers, Hartman wouldn’t reveal the lure he was using with fishing left to be done. But he did say when he goes a long time between bites, he switches colors to see if he can get the bass fired up again.
“I change colors depending on their mood, I guess,” Hartman said. “If I see a fish down there on the graph, I’ll drop one color down to it. Then I’ll literally throw that one down on the deck, grab the other one and drop it down to the fish. I just let the fish tell me what they want.”
While Wiggins and Hartman have had run-of-the-mill tournaments, Jacob Wheeler (51-10) will have stories to tell for a while — even if he can’t erase the 1-3 deficit that has him in third place heading into Championship Sunday.
On Friday, an electronics snafu left Wheeler with only half the waypoints he had marked for the lake during pre-practice. On Saturday, his trolling motor went out leaving him with no way to stay on the fish once he found them.
Wheeler, who is labeled a newcomer on the Elite Series instead of a rookie due to his career earnings on other trails, took advantage of a little-known B.A.S.S. rule that allows a stranded angler to fish with another competitor as long as a marshal is present.
He hitched a ride with another rookie, Dustin Connell.
“Being on a new tour, I’ve read the rules from front to back and over and over again, so I knew it was legal,” Wheeler said. “I was so fortunate to have Dustin Connell allow me to come and jump in the boat with him.
“I’m always that positive person, always thinking I’m going to catch them. Things like that don’t really bother me.”
His positivity paid off, as Wheeler caught two of his biggest fish of the day from Connell’s boat — on places that Wheeler led the pair to.
The remainder of the Top 12 was as follows: Seth Feider (50-8), Josh Bertrand (49-1), Michael Iaconelli (48-4), David Mullins (48-4), Randall Tharp (48-0), Ott DeFoe (47-4),
Paul Mueller (47-0), Matt Herren (46-7) and Brandon Palaniuk (46-3).
The tournament will resume at 7:15 a.m. ET Sunday with the anglers taking off from Cherokee Lake Dam and TVA Boat Ramp. The weigh-in will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center at 4 p.m. The Bassmaster Outdoors Expo opens at noon in the Knoxville Convention Center. All events are free and open to the public.
Anglers will be vying for a first-place prize of $100,000.
Wiggins earned $500 as recipient of the Livingston Lures Day 2 Leader Award.
Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., is in the lead for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award with a 5-5 largemouth.
The event is hosted by the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and Visit Knoxville.
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Triton Boats, Shell Rotella, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Power-Pole, Yamaha, Berkley, Huk, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, Shimano, Livingston Lures, T-H Marine, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
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Media Contact: JamieDay Matthews, 205-313-0945, [email protected] or Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, [email protected]
2017 Bassmaster Elite at Cherokee Lake 2/9-2/12
Cherokee Lake, Knoxville, TN.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Jesse Wiggins Cullman, AL 15 52-13 110 $500.00
Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 16-14 Day 3: 5 16-14
2. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 15 52-00 109
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 16-13 Day 3: 5 17-09
3. Jacob Wheeler Indianapolis, IN 15 51-10 108
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 16-15 Day 3: 5 17-01
4. Seth Feider Bloomington, MN 15 50-08 107
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 15-01 Day 3: 5 16-13
5. Josh Bertrand Gilbert, AZ 15 49-01 106
Day 1: 5 16-08 Day 2: 5 15-00 Day 3: 5 17-09
6. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 15 48-04 105
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 14-04 Day 3: 5 18-00
7. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 15 48-04 104
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 16-14 Day 3: 5 14-10
8. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 15 48-00 103
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 20-11 Day 3: 5 15-01
9. Ott DeFoe Knoxville, TN 15 47-04 102
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 16-14 Day 3: 5 15-04
10. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 15 47-00 101
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 16-12 Day 3: 5 17-15
11. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 15 46-07 100
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 15-02 Day 3: 5 15-10
12. Brandon Palaniuk Hayden, ID 15 46-03 99
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 15-04 Day 3: 5 13-12
13. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 15 45-12 98 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 14-10 Day 3: 5 15-03
14. Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 15 45-04 97 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-06 Day 3: 5 16-05
15. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 15 44-13 96 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-02 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 5 14-03
16. Jordan Lee Grant, AL 14 44-11 95 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-08 Day 2: 4 10-04 Day 3: 5 16-15
17. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 15 43-11 94 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 15-02 Day 3: 5 13-02
18. David Williams Newton, NC 15 43-09 93 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 14-09 Day 3: 5 12-15
19. Alton Jones Lorena, TX 15 43-06 92 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 15-00 Day 3: 5 15-02
20. Boyd Duckett Guntersville, AL 15 43-03 91 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 15-06 Day 3: 5 16-06
21. James Elam Tulsa, OK 15 43-03 90 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-08 Day 3: 5 14-02
22. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 14 42-15 89 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 14-15 Day 3: 4 10-09
23. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 15 42-08 88 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 16-04 Day 3: 5 11-02
24. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 15 42-03 87 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 17-08 Day 3: 5 12-07
25. Alton Jones Jr. Lorena, TX 15 41-10 86 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 13-13 Day 3: 5 16-05
26. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 15 41-06 85 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 13-09 Day 3: 5 13-03
27. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 15 41-05 84 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 13-11 Day 3: 5 13-00
28. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 15 41-03 83 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 14-03 Day 3: 5 13-15
29. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 14 40-15 82 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 13-13 Day 3: 4 09-01
30. Bradley Roy Lancaster, KY 15 40-15 81 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 13-06 Day 3: 5 13-14
31. Brandon Coulter Knoxville, TN 13 40-09 80 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 15-12 Day 3: 3 09-09
32. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 13 40-06 79 $10,000.00
Day 1: 3 09-03 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 5 15-02
33. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 13 39-13 78 $10,000.00
Day 1: 3 09-14 Day 2: 5 17-07 Day 3: 5 12-08
34. Adrian Avena Vineland, NJ 14 39-10 77 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 13-03 Day 3: 4 10-00
35. Shane Lineberger Lincolnton, NC 14 39-10 76 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 4 10-02 Day 3: 5 14-03
36. Mark Davis Mount Ida, AR 14 39-06 75 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 4 09-15 Day 3: 5 12-09
37. Dustin Connell Clanton, AL 13 39-05 74 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 15-10 Day 3: 3 08-03
38. Marty Robinson Lyman, SC 13 38-13 73 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 15-01 Day 3: 3 07-01
39. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 14 36-09 72 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 09-06 Day 2: 5 16-01 Day 3: 5 11-02
40. Mark Daniels Jr. Tuskegee, AL 14 36-00 71 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 11-01 Day 3: 4 10-05
41. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 14 35-10 70 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 13-14 Day 3: 4 09-14
42. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, SC 13 35-05 69 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 15-05 Day 3: 3 05-14
43. Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 13 33-04 68 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 12-09 Day 3: 3 06-01
44. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 10 32-14 67 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 2 06-00 Day 3: 3 07-07
45. David Fritts Lexington, NC 11 32-07 66 $10,000.00
Day 1: 4 12-12 Day 2: 5 12-06 Day 3: 2 07-05
46. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 12 32-02 65 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 13-00 Day 3: 2 03-12
47. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 11 31-14 64 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 14-09 Day 3: 1 02-01
48. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 12 31-06 63 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 4 10-13 Day 3: 3 05-15
49. Paul Elias Laurel, MS 10 29-05 62 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-12 Day 3: 0 00-00
50. Darrell Ocamica New Plymouth, ID 11 28-05 61 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 13-04 Day 3: 1 02-07
51. Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL 10 28-02 60 $10,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 12-15 Day 3: 0 00-00
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Alabama Elite Rookie Wiggins leads Elite Series heading into day 3
New Faces Leading The Field At Bassmaster Elite Series Event On Cheroke
KNOXVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — With the Bassmaster Elite at Cherokee Lake having reached its halfway point, a trio of Elite Series newcomers are sitting atop the standings with a chance to make their mark on the trail very early in the season.
Jesse Wiggins of Cullman, Ala., came to eastern Tennessee this week, having already won two Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens in the past 10 months. Now, after catching 35 pounds, 15 ounces the first two days, Wiggins is leading his first-ever Elite Series event with a 1-6 advantage over Indiana pro Jacob Wheeler — a newcomer to the Elite Series who doesn’t qualify as a rookie because of his past career earnings on other trails.
Wiggins has relied on one incredible spot the first two days — and probably hasn’t spent more than three hours fishing it in 16 total hours of competition.
“I was done a little after 9 a.m. today,” said Wiggins, who has been catching big limits off the spot early and then ceasing fishing in hopes of “saving” more bass to catch on the remaining days of the tournament. “After that, I just backed off it and kept guarding it.”
The place is easy enough to guard, considering how small it is.
“It’s only about the size of three boats,” said Wiggins, who caught 19-1 Thursday and 16-14 Friday. “It’s just a hole in a pocket that stuck out like a sore thumb on a map. I can’t believe no one else found it.”
Wiggins said he had a tough time locating fish in practice because the lake is so full of rocks, and it can sometimes be hard to differentiate between fish and rocks on his depthfinder. But his magic spot has nothing but a clay bottom, and that makes the fish easy to see.
“I just go around in circles until I see one — and then I know it’s a fish, so I just drop down to it,” Wiggins said. “The fishing was a little slower this morning, and it took me a little longer to get a limit. But every time I set the hook on one, it was a 3-pounder.”
Wheeler began the day on a sour note, realizing he had lost about half of the waypoints he marked during practice on Cherokee because of a glitch in his GPS system. But once he moved past the shock, he managed to find enough of his good spots to catch 16-15.
“It was just a jacked-up deal,” Wheeler said. “Sometimes you just have issues like that. I learned a valuable lesson — now I know I need to have an extra card for my depthfinder with me at all times, even right before the tournament.”
Wheeler said he benefitted greatly from “sneak holes” — inconspicuous areas that were being overlooked by many anglers.
“I’m not just fishing points or flats or big areas,” Wheeler said. “I’m fishing little subtle places on those bigger areas where, if you find fish, you’re going to get bit.
“Today, I felt like the experience I’ve gained on this lake just allowed me to pull it together at the end.”
Jamie Hartman of Newport, N.Y., who is designated an Elite Series rookie, has a lot of experience fishing for smallmouth bass. Many people assumed he would feel right at home fishing deep water for smallies this week.
He said that hasn’t been the case.
“The kind of fishing I’m doing this week — I’ve never even seen this kind of fishing,” Hartman said. “The structure that’s here is awesome, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
So why has he been able to catch 17-10 and 16-13 the first two days?
“I went in with a game plan that they’re wintering fish, and they were going to be deep,” Hartman said. “That’s the way I’ve been fishing. It’s worked so far, but who knows how long it will hold up.”
Minnesota angler Seth Feider is in fourth place with 33-11, and Tennessee pro David Mullins is fifth with 33-10.
The tournament will resume at 7:15 a.m. ET Saturday with the Top 51 remaining anglers taking off from Cherokee Lake Dam and TVA Boat Ramp. The weigh-in will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center at 4 p.m.
The field will be trimmed to the Top 12 after Saturday’s round, with those anglers vying for the $100,000 first-place prize Sunday.
Randall Tharp of Port St. Joe, Fla., is in the lead for the Phoenix Boats Big Bass award with a 5-5 largemouth.
The event is hosted by the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County and Visit Knoxville.
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Shell Rotella, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Power-Pole, Yamaha, Berkley, Huk
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, Shimano, Livingston Lures, T-H Marine, Academy Sports + Outdoors
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
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Media Contact: JamieDay Matthews, 205-313-0945, [email protected] or Dave Precht, 205-313-0931, [email protected]
2017 Bassmaster Elite at Cherokee Lake 2/9-2/12
Cherokee Lake, Knoxville TN.
(PROFESSIONAL) Standings Day 2
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Jesse Wiggins Cullman, AL 10 35-15 110
Day 1: 5 19-01 Day 2: 5 16-14
2. Jacob Wheeler Indianapolis, IN 10 34-09 109
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 16-15
3. Jamie Hartman Newport, NY 10 34-07 108
Day 1: 5 17-10 Day 2: 5 16-13
4. Seth Feider Bloomington, MN 10 33-11 107
Day 1: 5 18-10 Day 2: 5 15-01
5. David Mullins Mt Carmel, TN 10 33-10 106
Day 1: 5 16-12 Day 2: 5 16-14
6. Randall Tharp Port St. Joe, FL 10 32-15 105
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 20-11
7. Brandon Palaniuk Hayden, ID 10 32-07 104
Day 1: 5 17-03 Day 2: 5 15-04
8. Skylar Hamilton Dandridge, TN 10 32-06 103
Day 1: 5 17-07 Day 2: 5 14-15
9. Ott DeFoe Knoxville, TN 10 32-00 102
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 16-14
10. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, MO 10 31-14 101
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 13-13
11. Marty Robinson Lyman, SC 10 31-12 100
Day 1: 5 16-11 Day 2: 5 15-01
12. Josh Bertrand Gilbert, AZ 10 31-08 99
Day 1: 5 16-08 Day 2: 5 15-00
13. John Crews Jr Salem, VA 10 31-06 98
Day 1: 5 15-02 Day 2: 5 16-04
14. Dustin Connell Clanton, AL 10 31-02 97
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 15-10
15. Brandon Coulter Knoxville, TN 10 31-00 96
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 15-12
16. Matt Herren Ashville, AL 10 30-13 95
Day 1: 5 15-11 Day 2: 5 15-02
17. Russ Lane Prattville, AL 10 30-10 94
Day 1: 5 16-02 Day 2: 5 14-08
18. David Williams Newton, NC 10 30-10 93
Day 1: 5 16-01 Day 2: 5 14-09
19. Keith Combs Huntington, TX 10 30-09 92
Day 1: 5 15-15 Day 2: 5 14-10
20. Jason Williamson Wagener, SC 10 30-09 91
Day 1: 5 15-07 Day 2: 5 15-02
21. Michael Iaconelli Pitts Grove, NJ 10 30-04 90
Day 1: 5 16-00 Day 2: 5 14-04
22. Greg Hackney Gonzales, LA 10 29-13 89
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 5 14-09
23. Hank Cherry Jr Lincolnton, NC 10 29-12 88
Day 1: 5 12-04 Day 2: 5 17-08
24. Adrian Avena Vineland, NJ 10 29-10 87
Day 1: 5 16-07 Day 2: 5 13-03
25. Andy Montgomery Blacksburg, SC 10 29-07 86
Day 1: 5 14-02 Day 2: 5 15-05
26. Paul Elias Laurel, MS 10 29-05 85
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-12
27. Paul Mueller Naugatuck, CT 10 29-01 84
Day 1: 5 12-05 Day 2: 5 16-12
28. James Elam Tulsa, OK 10 29-01 83
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-08
29. Jason Christie Park Hill, OK 10 28-15 82
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 5 14-06
30. Clifford Pirch Payson, AZ 10 28-06 81
Day 1: 5 15-06 Day 2: 5 13-00
31. Bobby Lane Jr. Lakeland, FL 10 28-05 80
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 13-11
32. Alton Jones Lorena, TX 10 28-04 79
Day 1: 5 13-04 Day 2: 5 15-00
33. Gerald Swindle Guntersville, AL 10 28-03 78
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 13-09
34. Kelley Jaye Dadeville, AL 10 28-02 77
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 12-15
35. Jordan Lee Grant, AL 9 27-12 76
Day 1: 5 17-08 Day 2: 4 10-04
36. Aaron Martens Leeds, AL 8 27-05 75
Day 1: 3 09-14 Day 2: 5 17-07
37. Bill Lowen Brookville, IN 10 27-04 74
Day 1: 5 13-01 Day 2: 5 14-03
38. Todd Faircloth Jasper, TX 10 27-03 73
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 12-09
39. Bradley Roy Lancaster, KY 10 27-01 72
Day 1: 5 13-11 Day 2: 5 13-06
40. Mark Davis Mount Ida, AR 9 26-13 71
Day 1: 5 16-14 Day 2: 4 09-15
41. Boyd Duckett Guntersville, AL 10 26-13 70
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 15-06
42. Darrell Ocamica New Plymouth, ID 10 25-14 69
Day 1: 5 12-10 Day 2: 5 13-04
43. Brandon Lester Fayetteville, TN 10 25-12 68
Day 1: 5 11-14 Day 2: 5 13-14
44. Mark Daniels Jr. Tuskegee, AL 10 25-11 67
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 5 11-01
45. Cliff Crochet Pierre Part, LA 7 25-07 66
Day 1: 5 19-07 Day 2: 2 06-00
46. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, AR 9 25-07 65
Day 1: 4 09-06 Day 2: 5 16-01
47. Shane Lineberger Lincolnton, NC 9 25-07 64
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 4 10-02
48. Mark Menendez Paducah, KY 9 25-07 63
Day 1: 5 14-10 Day 2: 4 10-13
49. Alton Jones Jr. Lorena, TX 10 25-05 62
Day 1: 5 11-08 Day 2: 5 13-13
50. Terry Scroggins San Mateo, FL 8 25-04 61
Day 1: 3 09-03 Day 2: 5 16-01
51. David Fritts Lexington, NC 9 25-02 60
Day 1: 4 12-12 Day 2: 5 12-06
52. Ish Monroe Hughson, CA 8 25-01 59
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 3 09-09
53. Jacob Powroznik Port Haywood, VA 9 25-01 58
Day 1: 4 11-01 Day 2: 5 14-00
54. Keith Poche Pike Road, AL 10 25-00 57
Day 1: 5 13-06 Day 2: 5 11-10
55. John Murray Spring City, TN 10 24-15 56
Day 1: 5 11-02 Day 2: 5 13-13
56. Edwin Evers Talala, OK 8 24-08 55
Day 1: 3 10-02 Day 2: 5 14-06
57. Brett Preuett Monroe, LA 10 24-04 54
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 5 11-07
58. Scott Rook Little Rock, AR 10 24-01 53
Day 1: 5 11-07 Day 2: 5 12-10
59. John Hunter Jr Shelbyville, KY 10 23-13 52
Day 1: 5 09-07 Day 2: 5 14-06
60. Jonathon VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 9 23-12 51
Day 1: 5 14-13 Day 2: 4 08-15
61. Casey Ashley Donalds, SC 10 23-11 50
Day 1: 5 10-14 Day 2: 5 12-13
62. Kevin VanDam Kalamazoo, MI 9 23-09 49
Day 1: 5 15-04 Day 2: 4 08-05
63. Micah Frazier Newnan, GA 8 23-09 48
Day 1: 5 13-09 Day 2: 3 10-00
64. David Walker Sevierville, TN 9 23-03 47
Day 1: 4 09-06 Day 2: 5 13-13
65. Rick Clunn Ava, MO 10 22-15 46
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 5 10-12
66. Cliff Pace Petal, MS 10 22-04 45
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 08-15
67. Jared Lintner Arroyo Grande, CA 7 21-12 44
Day 1: 2 03-11 Day 2: 5 18-01
68. Brent Ehrler Newport Beach, CA 7 21-12 43
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 2 04-06
69. Chad Grigsby Maple Grove, MN 8 21-06 42
Day 1: 3 06-15 Day 2: 5 14-07
70. Stetson Blaylock Benton, AR 7 20-14 41
Day 1: 5 14-09 Day 2: 2 06-05
71. Jeff Kriet Ardmore, OK 8 20-12 40
Day 1: 5 12-13 Day 2: 3 07-15
72. Fletcher Shryock New Philadelphia, OH 9 20-11 39
Day 1: 5 12-00 Day 2: 4 08-11
73. Randy Howell Guntersville, AL 8 20-10 38
Day 1: 5 12-03 Day 2: 3 08-07
74. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, AZ 8 20-05 37
Day 1: 5 12-11 Day 2: 3 07-10
75. Koby Kreiger Bokeelia, FL 8 20-00 36
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 3 04-11
76. Brent Chapman Lake Quivira, KS 9 19-15 35
Day 1: 5 11-12 Day 2: 4 08-03
77. Stephen Browning Hot Springs, AR 7 19-09 34
Day 1: 2 06-11 Day 2: 5 12-14
78. Gary Klein Weatherford, TX 8 19-08 33
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 3 06-06
79. Steve Kennedy Auburn, AL 8 19-08 32
Day 1: 5 12-02 Day 2: 3 07-06
80. Jay Brainard Enid, OK 8 19-05 31
Day 1: 4 08-14 Day 2: 4 10-07
81. Gerald Spohrer Gonzales, LA 6 18-14 30
Day 1: 1 03-03 Day 2: 5 15-11
82. Tyler Carriere Youngsville, LA 8 18-13 29
Day 1: 4 09-10 Day 2: 4 09-03
83. Britt Myers Lake Wylie, SC 7 17-14 28
Day 1: 2 03-12 Day 2: 5 14-02
84. Bernie Schultz Gainesville, FL 5 17-13 27
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 5 17-13
85. Kelly Jordon Flint, TX 6 17-09 26
Day 1: 1 03-06 Day 2: 5 14-03
86. Tommy Biffle Wagoner, OK 7 17-05 25
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 2 04-12
87. Morizo Shimizu Suita, Osaka JAPAN 7 16-14 24
Day 1: 4 08-09 Day 2: 3 08-05
88. Dave Lefebre Erie, PA 7 16-13 23
Day 1: 4 08-14 Day 2: 3 07-15
89. Clent Davis Montevallo, AL 6 16-11 22
Day 1: 3 07-13 Day 2: 3 08-14
90. Cliff Prince Palatka, FL 6 16-03 21
Day 1: 1 04-01 Day 2: 5 12-02
91. Jesse Tacoronte Orlando, FL 5 15-07 20
Day 1: 1 02-12 Day 2: 4 12-11
92. Drew Benton Panama City, FL 6 15-06 19
Day 1: 2 04-07 Day 2: 4 10-15
93. Fred Roumbanis London, AR 6 14-06 18
Day 1: 5 11-03 Day 2: 1 03-03
94. Matt Lee Guntersville, AL 5 13-13 17
Day 1: 5 13-13 Day 2: 0 00-00
95. Brock Mosley Collinsville, MS 6 12-12 16
Day 1: 5 10-01 Day 2: 1 02-11
96. Tim Horton Muscle Shoals, AL 5 12-11 15
Day 1: 2 04-15 Day 2: 3 07-12
97. Skeet Reese Auburn, CA 5 12-08 14
Day 1: 4 09-15 Day 2: 1 02-09
98. Chad Morgenthaler Reeds Spring, MO 4 12-05 13
Day 1: 2 05-02 Day 2: 2 07-03
99. Chad Pipkens Lansing, MI 4 10-07 12
Day 1: 3 07-08 Day 2: 1 02-15
100. Justin Lucas Guntersville, AL 4 10-01 11
Day 1: 2 04-13 Day 2: 2 05-04
101. Brett Hite Phoenix, AZ 4 09-04 10
Day 1: 4 09-04 Day 2: 0 00-00
102. Chris Zaldain Laughlin, NV 3 08-13 9
Day 1: 1 03-07 Day 2: 2 05-06
103. Shaw Grigsby Jr. Gainesville, FL 4 08-01 8
Day 1: 4 08-01 Day 2: 0 00-00
104. James Niggemeyer Van, TX 3 06-06 7
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 3 06-06
105. Chris Lane Guntersville, AL 2 06-03 6
Day 1: 2 06-03 Day 2: 0 00-00
106. Robbie Latuso Gonzales, LA 3 06-02 5
Day 1: 1 01-13 Day 2: 2 04-05
107. Brandon Card Knoxvillge, TN 2 05-08 4
Day 1: 1 02-00 Day 2: 1 03-08
108. Takahiro Omori Emory, TX 3 04-13 3
Day 1: 2 03-07 Day 2: 1 01-06
109. Greg Vinson Wetumpka, AL 1 03-05 2
Day 1: 0 00-00 Day 2: 1 03-05
110. Luke Clausen Otis Orchards, WA 1 03-00 1
Day 1: 1 03-00 Day 2: 0 00-00
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SKL Countdown to Blast-off with Guck from Cherokee Lake in TN
Straight from the boat ramp and KVD's truck! Alan McGuckin from Dynamic Sponsorships brings us more insider info in our SKL Countdown to Blastoff morning segment!
Roy Hawk leads the FLW COSTA Western event on Havasu with 19.7 pounds!
February 9, 2017 by David A. Brown
Day one of the Costa FLW Series Western Division opener was tough for some, but in the end it still took nearly 20 pounds to take the lead. Sleeping in his own bed for this one, Roy Hawk of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., dropped 19 pounds, 7 ounces on the scale for the day one lead. In second place in the tournament, which is presented by Ranger Boats, Mike Nichelini of Napa, Calif., weighed in 18 pounds, 9 ounces and trails by less than a pound.
More details will be posted shortly.
Top 10 pros
1. Roy Hawk – Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – 19-7 (5)
2. Mike Nichelini – Napa, Calif. – 18-9 (5)
3. Robert Lee – Angels Camp, Calif. – 17-9 (5)
4. David Valdivia – Norwalk, Calif. – 16-8 (4)
5. Jason Hickey – Weiser, Idaho – 16-6 (5)
6. Chad Hulbert – Gilroy, Calif. – 15-2 (5)
7. Joe Uribe Jr. – Surprise, Ariz. – 15-1 (5)
8. Johnny Johnson – Lakeside, Ariz. – 15-0 (5)
9. Marty Lawrence – Mesa, Ariz. – 14-3 (5)
10. Ronald Bruggeman – Potter Valley, Calif. – 14-2 (5)
10. David Kromm – Kennewick, Wash. – 14-2 (5)
Ratlief leads co-anglers
Local co-angler Ronald Ratlief caught one of the day’s biggest fish – a 5-9 – and while that kicker fell short of his division’s top catch, it gave him the boost he needed to sew up the lead with three fish that weighed 10 pounds, 7 ounces.
Notably, Ratlief’s big fish bit in the first hour of his day. A reaction bait tempted this bite.
“It seems like the fish were moving up, and it was on a secondary point in probably 10 feet,” he says.
Ratlief says he and his pro ran around a lot and he caught his second and third fish at opposite ends of the lake.
“You try to make every cast count, you try to work around the pro and watch where he’s going,” he says. “With the big fish I caught this morning, I threw the opposite way – out in the deeper water.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Ronald Ratlief – Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – 10-7 (3)
2. Tony Zanotelli – Redding, Calif. – 9-9 (4)
3. Jason Cloke – Alpin, Calif. – 9-5 (3)
4. Jeff Grant – La Mirada, Calif. – 8-10 (3)
5. Aaron Mansfield – Lake Havasu City, Ariz. – 8-4 (2)
6. Keith Diffey – Elk Grove, Calif. – 7-8 (3)
7. Andrew Levy – Grover Beach, Calif. – 7-4 (2)
8. James Tate – Calabasas, Calif. – 7-0 (2)
9. Dale Roesener – Las Vegas, Nevada – 6-9 (3)
10. John Hickey – Weiser, Idaho – 6-7 (2)
Crochet Cracks 19 pounds and leads Day 1 of the 2017 Elite Series on Cherokee Lake
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Neil & Tim Huffstetler win the Murray CBC with 26.53 lbs!! BF 8.49! $15,000
David Kneece & Terry Thomas 2nd with 26.15 lbs $8,000!
Lake Murray, SC 2017 Results
| Net | Skeeter | Total | |||||||
| Place | Team | Team # | # Fish | Weight | BF | Points | Winnings | Bonus | Winnings |
| 1 | TIM HUFFSTETLER - Neil Huffstetler | 87 | 5 | 26.530 | 8.490 | 310 | $10,000 | $4,000 | $15,000 |
| 2 | Terry Thomas - David Kneece | 64 | 5 | 26.190 | 6.420 | 309 | $5,000 | $3,000 | $8,000 |
| 3 | Joey Bramlett - Barry Holloman | 194 | 5 | 22.970 | 0.000 | 308 | $3,500 | $3,500 | |
| 4 | Jim Davis - Hampton Anderson | 175 | 5 | 22.230 | 0.000 | 307 | $2,500 | $2,000 | $4,500 |
| 5 | Thomas Hardwick - Tommy Williams | 56 | 5 | 21.480 | 6.250 | 306 | $2,000 | $1,000 | $3,000 |
| 6 | Chris Marshall - Kelly Marshall | 84 | 5 | 21.440 | 7.910 | 305 | $1,700 | $1,700 | |
| 7 | Wayne Frierson - Ronnie Mueller | 33 | 5 | 20.020 | 6.620 | 304 | $1,400 | $1,400 | |
| 8 | Mark Richardson - Kevin Fulmer | 40 | 5 | 20.000 | 6.120 | 303 | $1,300 | $1,300 | |
| 9 | Bradford Beavers - Dwight Beavers | 34 | 5 | 19.640 | 0.000 | 302 | $1,200 | $1,200 | |
| 10 | Josh McGregor - Randall Driggers | 109 | 5 | 18.930 | 0.000 | 301 | $1,100 | $1,100 | |
| 11 | Tim Slice - Micheal Royals | 131 | 5 | 18.350 | 0.000 | 300 | $1,000 | $1,000 | |
| 12 | andy lake - Phillip Anderson | 192 | 5 | 18.290 | 0.000 | 299 | $900 | $900 | |
| 13 | RHETT MANUS - Doug Lown | 85 | 5 | 18.230 | 0.000 | 298 | $800 | $800 | |
| 14 | Chris Epting - Johnny Mayer | 125 | 5 | 18.030 | 0.000 | 297 | $700 | $700 | |
| 15 | Jeremi Beatty - Clint Benbow | 155 | 5 | 18.000 | 0.000 | 296 | $600 | $600 | |
| 16 | Greg Davis - Dennis Parks | 160 | 5 | 17.710 | 0.000 | 295 | $575 | $575 | |
| 17 | J.w. Smith - Jeffery Gallick | 126 | 5 | 17.650 | 0.000 | 294 | $550 | $550 | |
| 18 | Sammie Grier - David Strickland | 120 | 5 | 17.310 | 6.500 | 293 | $525 | $525 | |
| 19 | Daryl Watson - Ken McFarland | 89 | 5 | 17.240 | 0.000 | 292 | $500 | $500 | |
| 20 | Tristen Trull - Cole Huskins | 69 | 5 | 17.200 | 5.070 | 291 | $450 | $450 | |
| 21 | Kiel Kelly - justin tingen | 119 | 5 | 17.030 | 0.000 | 290 | $425 | $425 | |
| 22 | Clay Riddle - Dave Franklin | 17 | 5 | 17.000 | 0.000 | 289 | $415 | $415 | |
| 23 | brad fowler - Brent Long | 97 | 5 | 16.820 | 0.000 | 288 | $400 | $400 | |
| 24 | Wesley Cashwell - Shane Doughtie | 127 | 4 | 16.580 | 7.760 | 287 | $375 | $375 | |
| 25 | Maurice Freeze - Clay Williams | 154 | 5 | 16.550 | 0.000 | 286 | $350 | $350 | |
| 26 | Hunter Hicks - Mike Stephens | 198 | 5 | 16.490 | 0.000 | 285 | $325 | $325 | |
| 27 | Deron Donohoo - Davey Thomas | 65 | 5 | 16.330 | 0.000 | 284 | $300 | $300 | |
| 28 | Shane Cantley - Dalton Dowdy | 163 | 5 | 16.250 | 0.000 | 283 | $290 | $290 | |
| 29 | Scott Martin - Cole Winn | 134 | 4 | 16.010 | 6.430 | 282 | $270 | $270 | |
| 30 | Heath Rhinehart - Tony Holliday | 105 | 5 | 15.970 | 0.000 | 281 | $260 | $260 | |
| 31 | Gary Michaud - Doc McDaniel | 60 | 5 | 15.930 | 6.480 | 280 | $240 | $240 | |
| 32 | Sammy Moody - Hank O'Shields | 80 | 5 | 15.580 | 0.000 | 279 | $230 | $230 | |
| 33 | Travis England - Blake Bostic | 57 | 5 | 15.290 | 0.000 | 278 | $220 | $220 | |
| 34 | Glenn Elliott - Stump Bledsoe | 201 | 5 | 15.160 | 0.000 | 277 | |||
| 35 | Josh Wilson - Scott Piatt | 167 | 3 | 14.890 | 7.180 | 276 | |||
| 36 | Paul Selle - Bryan Hall | 150 | 5 | 14.840 | 0.000 | 275 | |||
| 37 | gerald bennett - Ronnie Prosser | 196 | 5 | 14.810 | 0.000 | 274 | |||
| 38 | Chris Coxey - Sam Browne | 26 | 5 | 14.540 | 0.000 | 273 | |||
| 39 | Joey Outlaw - Greg Wright | 11 | 5 | 14.440 | 0.000 | 272 | |||
| 40 | Ben Lee | 104 | 5 | 14.280 | 0.000 | 271 | |||
| 41 | Shannon Jordan - Shawn Jordan | 62 | 4 | 14.150 | 0.000 | 270 | |||
| 42 | beau dixon - andy sease | 142 | 5 | 14.140 | 0.000 | 269 | |||
| 43 | Larry Mckissick - Rick Akers | 20 | 5 | 14.120 | 0.000 | 268 | |||
| 44 | JOEY MILLER | 146 | 5 | 14.120 | 0.000 | 267 | |||
| 45 | Todd Gambrell - Brandt Tumberg | 202 | 5 | 14.090 | 0.000 | 266 | |||
| 46 | George Lloyd - Scott Faile | 187 | 5 | 14.070 | 0.000 | 265 | |||
| 47 | Brad Petway - Jeff Douglas | 128 | 5 | 13.980 | 0.000 | 264 | |||
| 48 | Rusty Bullard - Eric Martin | 182 | 4 | 13.760 | 0.000 | 263 | |||
| 49 | Gene Gibbs - Keith Wilson | 67 | 5 | 13.610 | 0.000 | 262 | |||
| 50 | Bernie Dreher - Les Westbury | 190 | 5 | 13.530 | 0.000 | 261 | |||
| 51 | James Anderson - Heath Smith | 199 | 5 | 13.320 | 0.000 | 260 | |||
| 52 | Larry Parker - Glenn Altman | 42 | 5 | 13.240 | 0.000 | 259 | |||
| 53 | Michael Smith - Joshua Queen | 61 | 4 | 13.150 | 0.000 | 258 | |||
| 54 | Alton Rockett - Robert Kale | 3 | 5 | 13.090 | 0.000 | 257 | |||
| 55 | Robert Wood - John Lundeen | 14 | 5 | 13.090 | 4.190 | 256 | |||
| 56 | Michael Daugherty - Marc Grigg | 49 | 5 | 13.080 | 0.000 | 255 | |||
| 57 | Jonathan Brindel - David Grooms | 54 | 3 | 13.000 | 6.690 | 254 | |||
| 58 | William Hastings - Jason Hentz | 71 | 5 | 12.960 | 0.000 | 253 | |||
| 59 | Jason Hadden - Norm Attaway | 168 | 5 | 12.910 | 0.000 | 252 | |||
| 60 | michael fuller - Chris Morris | 144 | 5 | 12.850 | 0.000 | 251 | |||
| 61 | Brett Douglas - william addis | 138 | 5 | 12.730 | 0.000 | 250 | |||
| 62 | Andy Wicker - Steve Wicker | 95 | 4 | 12.700 | 0.000 | 249 | |||
| 63 | Mack Cook - Patrick Cook | 159 | 5 | 12.620 | 0.000 | 248 | |||
| 64 | Eddie Smith - Michael Carson | 112 | 5 | 12.590 | 0.000 | 247 | |||
| 65 | Jeff Norris - jacob norris | 137 | 4 | 12.540 | 0.000 | 246 | |||
| 66 | Greg Willimon - Chris Tinsley | 148 | 5 | 12.540 | 0.000 | 245 | |||
| 67 | Ronnie McCoy - Jason McCoy | 114 | 5 | 12.450 | 0.000 | 244 | |||
| 68 | Kyle McElveen - Matt Mollohan | 139 | 5 | 12.400 | 0.000 | 243 | |||
| 69 | James Ball - Kyle Whisnant | 36 | 5 | 12.270 | 0.000 | 242 | |||
| 70 | Curtis Williams - Gary Elenbark | 188 | 5 | 12.230 | 0.000 | 241 | |||
| 71 | Marty Quesada - Steven Story | 76 | 4 | 12.220 | 0.000 | 240 | |||
| 72 | Scott Guyot - jason guyot | 193 | 4 | 12.200 | 0.000 | 239 | |||
| 73 | Thomas King - Clayton King | 1 | 5 | 12.040 | 0.000 | 238 | |||
| 74 | Jody Jones | 50 | 5 | 12.020 | 0.000 | 237 | |||
| 75 | Jason Smith - Steve Blankenship | 23 | 5 | 11.930 | 0.000 | 236 | |||
| 76 | Sean Anderson - George Berry | 197 | 5 | 11.830 | 0.000 | 235 | |||
| 77 | Chuck Howard - Ken Ellis | 27 | 5 | 11.800 | 0.000 | 234 | |||
| 78 | John Liles - Jamie Ethridge | 39 | 5 | 11.780 | 0.000 | 233 | |||
| 79 | Toby Keisler - Bill Wilson | 110 | 5 | 11.720 | 0.000 | 232 | |||
| 80 | Phil Morris - Don Kneece | 5 | 4 | 11.710 | 0.000 | 231 | |||
| 81 | Steven Walker - Jimbo Powers | 102 | 5 | 11.670 | 0.000 | 230 | |||
| 82 | CHRIS BLACKMON - David Linville | 81 | 5 | 11.650 | 0.000 | 229 | |||
| 83 | Dave Murdock - Tony Fofi | 172 | 5 | 11.650 | 0.000 | 228 | |||
| 84 | Russ Padgett - Meredith Havird | 183 | 5 | 11.540 | 0.000 | 227 | |||
| 85 | Bradley Rhodes - chris dorlan | 15 | 4 | 11.510 | 5.440 | 226 | |||
| 86 | Stan Gunter - stan gunter | 73 | 5 | 11.510 | 0.000 | 225 | |||
| 87 | Clark Gibbs - Freddie Gibbs | 113 | 5 | 11.290 | 0.000 | 224 | |||
| 88 | Pete Sherbert - Bobby Wade | 151 | 5 | 11.150 | 0.000 | 223 | |||
| 89 | Roger Medlock - Todd Lawrence | 10 | 5 | 10.990 | 0.000 | 222 | |||
| 90 | Sean Skey - Tim Harmon | 98 | 5 | 10.940 | 0.000 | 221 | |||
| 91 | Ronnie Tapp - Kevin Sanders | 124 | 5 | 10.880 | 0.000 | 220 | |||
| 92 | Cliff Tilley - David Hensley | 53 | 3 | 10.750 | 0.000 | 219 | |||
| 93 | David Arnold - Billy Collins | 152 | 3 | 10.670 | 0.000 | 218 | |||
| 94 | Tommy Floyd - Randy Welch | 45 | 5 | 10.620 | 0.000 | 217 | |||
| 95 | Jeff Faircloth - Kyle Mcmillin | 171 | 4 | 10.600 | 0.000 | 216 | |||
| 96 | Kevin Rake - Terry Morris | 77 | 5 | 10.530 | 0.000 | 215 | |||
| 97 | Bill Grier - Robby Bryum | 48 | 5 | 10.420 | 0.000 | 214 | |||
| 98 | Casey Padgett - Lance Rodgers | 25 | 5 | 10.200 | 0.000 | 213 | |||
| 99 | Brandon Jeffcoat - Wendell Causey | 121 | 3 | 10.000 | 0.000 | 212 | |||
| 100 | Chris Heath - Steve Debord | 58 | 4 | 9.890 | 0.000 | 211 | |||
| 101 | David Gilson - Jeremiah Jensen | 82 | 4 | 9.690 | 0.000 | 210 | |||
| 102 | Tim Chapman - Marcus Leech | 38 | 4 | 9.160 | 0.000 | 209 | |||
| 103 | Jeff Murray - Derrick Murray | 52 | 4 | 9.160 | 0.000 | 208 | |||
| 104 | Jason Morse - Wayne King | 90 | 4 | 9.070 | 0.000 | 207 | |||
| 105 | Bill Clowney - Matthew Hook | 59 | 5 | 8.860 | 0.000 | 206 | |||
| 106 | Cecil Wolfe - alan williams | 162 | 5 | 8.770 | 0.000 | 205 | |||
| 107 | Ron Brown - Bobby Brown | 169 | 4 | 8.680 | 0.000 | 204 | |||
| 108 | Billy Jacobs - Mark Cummings | 47 | 3 | 8.540 | 0.000 | 203 | |||
| 109 | Tim Chadwick - Sandy Oliver | 100 | 4 | 8.410 | 0.000 | 202 | |||
| 110 | jason bateman - Michael Richardson | 74 | 2 | 8.340 | 5.600 | 201 | |||
| 111 | Justin Harvey - Michael Sprouse | 166 | 2 | 7.820 | 0.000 | 200 | |||
| 112 | Bo Chappell - Jeffrey Borne | 28 | 2 | 7.800 | 6.260 | 199 | |||
| 113 | Alan Richardson - Timmy Squires | 153 | 3 | 7.800 | 0.000 | 198 | |||
| 114 | Chris Shumate - Lester Mathis | 145 | 3 | 7.330 | 0.000 | 197 | |||
| 115 | jeff reynolds - Lee Royson | 78 | 2 | 7.190 | 0.000 | 196 | |||
| 116 | Cameron Kaihara - Harold Turner | 177 | 2 | 7.180 | 0.000 | 195 | |||
| 117 | Jeff Knight - Joey Caskey | 180 | 3 | 7.150 | 0.000 | 194 | |||
| 118 | MATTHEW ARMS - Zach Blair | 178 | 2 | 6.770 | 0.000 | 193 | |||
| 119 | Sam Hopkins - Craig Matthews | 75 | 3 | 6.680 | 0.000 | 192 | |||
| 120 | Arthur Harris - John Marshall | 117 | 3 | 6.550 | 0.000 | 191 | |||
| 121 | Eric Tumbleston - Brian Nichols | 68 | 3 | 6.480 | 0.000 | 190 | |||
| 122 | Thomas Vickers - Brian Huskins | 129 | 3 | 6.390 | 0.000 | 189 | |||
| 123 | Craig Jurgonski - Jack Belt | 118 | 2 | 5.960 | 0.000 | 188 | |||
| 124 | Pete Brantley - Jerry Arnett | 66 | 3 | 5.650 | 0.000 | 187 | |||
| 125 | grady allen - Calvin Hewitt | 43 | 3 | 5.290 | 0.000 | 186 | |||
| 126 | Eric Bozeman - Clint Proudfoot | 115 | 3 | 5.280 | 0.000 | 185 | |||
| 127 | Justin Marlowe - Jordan Marlowe | 24 | 1 | 5.190 | 5.190 | 184 | |||
| 128 | JESS WHITE - Hunter Spivey | 9 | 1 | 5.050 | 5.050 | 183 | |||
| 129 | Todd Ledford - Billy Ballard | 174 | 2 | 4.840 | 0.000 | 182 | |||
| 130 | Todd Olds - Jason Riley | 136 | 2 | 4.740 | 0.000 | 181 | |||
| 131 | Caanan Woriax - Christian Locklear | 103 | 2 | 4.290 | 0.000 | 180 | |||
| 132 | Robin Rogers - Brad Schindledecker | 16 | 2 | 4.150 | 2.680 | 179 | |||
| 133 | Marcus Deese - Allan Collins | 4 | 2 | 4.090 | 0.000 | 178 | |||
| 134 | Coy Watts - David Hutcherson | 91 | 2 | 3.970 | 0.000 | 177 | |||
| 135 | Todd Walters - Patrick Walters | 133 | 2 | 3.840 | 0.000 | 176 | |||
| 136 | John Sturkie - Blake Strickland | 94 | 1 | 3.820 | 3.820 | 175 | |||
| 137 | Kevin Ashley - Brandon Temples | 88 | 1 | 3.570 | 3.570 | 174 | |||
| 138 | Nathan Burgess - Brent Riley | 21 | 1 | 3.370 | 3.370 | 173 | |||
| 139 | Randall Miller - Mack Altman | 106 | 1 | 3.150 | 3.150 | 172 | |||
| 140 | James Bond - Richard Daugherty | 32 | 1 | 2.770 | 2.770 | 171 | |||
| 141 | Juddie Revels - David Oxendine | 79 | 1 | 2.660 | 2.660 | 170 | |||
| 142 | Wayne Marlow - Scott Peavy | 122 | 1 | 1.810 | 1.810 | 169 | |||
| 143 | Randall Clark - Dustin Walker | 46 | 1 | 1.590 | 1.590 | 168 | |||
| 144 | Kareem White - Jerry Freezon | 2 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 145 | Matt Davis - Jason Burton | 6 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 146 | Alan Fletcher - Donald Hinson | 7 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 147 | Dwayne McVicker - Eddie Burgess | 8 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 148 | Chris Dover - Robert Fowler | 12 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 149 | Todd Howard - trent howard | 13 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 150 | Brian Tyler - Chase Tyler | 18 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 151 | Roger Farr - Will Anderson | 19 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 152 | Keith Chichester - Baylen Moore | 22 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 153 | Darrin Albertson - Terri Albertson | 29 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 154 | Jeff Raby - Michael Davis | 30 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 155 | Mark Krengel - ron wood | 31 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 156 | Andrew Boykin - Chris Anderson | 35 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 157 | billy bledsoe - Brian McDonald | 37 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 158 | Chris Sample - Larry Martin | 41 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 159 | Brian McDade - Leroy New | 44 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 160 | Scott Farmer - Samuel Freeman | 51 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 161 | John Haas - Connor Paul | 55 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 162 | James Hodges - Julius Ledbetter | 63 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 163 | Dustin Compton - Jonathan strickland | 70 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 164 | Donald Poteat - Johnny Allen | 72 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 165 | Jason Quinn - Tony Colacurcio | 83 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 166 | David Etheridge - Butch Williams | 86 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 167 | Larry Moss - Michelle McLain | 92 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 168 | Tom Rubbo - Levy Brack | 93 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 169 | Robert Purvis - Lester Claytor | 96 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 170 | Ross Burns - Miranda Hall | 99 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 171 | Gregg Kessler - Gregg Kessler II | 101 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 172 | Steve Phillips - Fred Oquinn | 107 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 173 | Robert Mclaughlin - Steve McGary | 108 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 174 | Brad Nappier - Nathan Luke | 111 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 175 | Tim Jones - john jones | 116 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 176 | Troy Lytle - Jonathan Deidloff | 123 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 177 | DANNY HUCKS - DUSTIN PARLIER | 130 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 178 | David Winters - Thomas Richmond | 132 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 179 | Mike Goodman - Jerry Avery | 135 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 180 | Keith Porter - Tony Price | 140 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 181 | Todd Garner - Shane Hartman | 141 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 182 | Bunn Tyson - Thad Driggers | 143 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 183 | Mark Abbott - Shane Abbott | 147 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 184 | Thomas Mouzon - stewart Mouzon | 149 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 185 | Matthew Goheen - Terry Goheen | 156 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 186 | Audie Brantley - Hunter Ciccio | 157 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 187 | Sean Hall - Travis Parrish | 158 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 188 | Jimmy Leshock - Chris Baumgardner | 161 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 189 | Jonathon Sexton - Andy Farr | 164 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 190 | Frederick Clements - Doug Evans | 165 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 191 | Dan Lowe - ray pettit | 170 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 192 | todd sinclair - Jeff Horton | 173 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 193 | Perry Wycuff - Josh Wycuff | 176 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 194 | Gary Angel - cody barr | 179 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 195 | Josh Gardner - John parker | 181 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 196 | Robert Whaley - Randy Gibson | 184 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 197 | Robert Ross - Lee Morris | 185 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 198 | joel watts - Michael McCaslin | 186 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 199 | Greg Sigmon - Tracy Pope | 189 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 200 | Johnathan Crossland - Burgess Jordan | 191 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 201 | Mike Byrd - Chris Moody | 195 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 | |||
| 202 | Casey Warren - Mike Edge | 200 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 167 |
T-H Marine "PRO"-Files - FLW Rookie - Justin Atkins
Guntersville Lake has greatly chagrinned Justin Atkins, as much as a 26-year-old can be chagrinned during his young tournament career.
So when the 2017 FLW Tour kicked off on the legendary Alabama fish factory just a couple of locks up the river from his home in Florence, Ala., Atkins was more apprehensive, than excited.
As have most young pros, Atkins has packed a lot of experience into his short years. He has enjoyed major success. He has also endured a lot of learning experiences.
The FLW Tour rookie has spent enough time on the big Alabama lake to have been humbled – and then some. “I’ve had a lot of bad tournaments at Guntersville in February because it fishes a lot different from Pickwick and I didn’t understand it,” says the pro who now lives near Pickwick Lake. ‘Even last year, I fished a big team trail event on Guntersville and caught 1 bass. I got smoked.
“I stayed another day, when I could have come home, and went back out there to try to learn the lake. It’s been a long process of understanding grass fish; understanding how this river works because each lake is a little bit different. Wheeler is different from Guntersville and Guntersville is different from Pickwick so just being on a Tennessee River lake, it helps some on some, but it doesn’t help on all.”
His time on the lake helped enough for Atkins to place 9th in his FLW Tour debut. He fished eel grass and opted for a silent-running Rapala DT6 instead of the omnipresent rattling baits employed by others.
Atkins piled-up 61 pounds, 15 ounces over 4 days.
Of all the 2017 FLW Tour stops, “To be 100% honest with you, Guntersville is the one I was dreading the most,” confessed Atkins. “That place is a monster. It’s a big lake. It can be hard to dial-down. I don’t have a good track record there. Coming out of there with a Top 10 was a victory for me.”
“That performance at Guntersville stems from a lot of hard work. I’m not going to say I expected – you don’t ever expect it – but I put in a lot of time to have a good finish there and try to get a good start.”
It was a good start for a young pro whose strength is shallow water fishing. While he moved to Florence in 2015, Atkins cut his teeth on the Tombigbee in Columbus, Miss. He looks forward to Tour stops in Florida and on the Mississippi River. “I enjoy Florida, I’ve never been there in March. I’m looking forward to the Mississippi River, going back to my roots, being a junk fisherman, throwing a frog, pitching a jig, throwing a spinnerbait. The Mississippi River is probably the one I’m looking forward to the most. I’ve never been there so that may be an ignorant statement for me to make, but I feel like that one will fit my style a lot.”
The only thing that doesn’t fit the young pros style is tidewater. That makes the Potomac River a wildcard for him.
His experience in the collegiate ranks helped him. But by the time Atkins fished for the Mississippi State University team he had already matured beyond most fellow collegians.
“I won the Bassmaster Weekend Series National Championship as a Co-Angler in 2009. That next year I wasn’t sure what I wanted do about a (college) major and where I wanted to go to school so I just worked and fished some Everstarts, which are the Costa series now, and some BFL’s.”
A lifelong Alabama Crimson Tide football fan, Atkins now pulls for the MSU Bulldogs. “I really enjoyed Starkville and the whole Mississippi State experience. I am very much a diehard Bulldog fan now. I still have my connections to Tuscaloosa. I sat in Bryant Denny Stadium 200 days of my life. Eleven games out of the year I want Alabama to win, but I can’t root against my school.”
While not married, Atkins has a steady date. Her name is Tessa and, judging from on-line pictures, she’s a good luck charm in the deer hunting woods. Is she ‘the one’? “She tells me she is,” laughed Atkins.
He was 19 when he won the national title but Atkins says his journey to the Tour level has been a couple of decades in the making.
“When I was 7 or 8 years old my dad would start taking me to 4 or 5 team tournaments a year. We fished every weekend, but he was starting to get me geared-up for tournament fishing. By the time I was 11 or 12 we were fishing 15, 20 tournaments a year around the house. It’s something I’ve just always done.
“I fished as a co-angler, when I was 16, on the BFL trails. I guess I was 19 when I fished as a boater for the first time. I fished the BFL’s as a boater but I had a friend who wanted to fish the Weekend Series as a boater so he paid my entry fees and I signed up with him – that’s why I ended up fishing as a co-angler in the Weekend Series the year I won the national championship. But since 2009 I’ve fished as a boater in the BFL’s and the Costa Series for 2 years and then I fished college stuff and BFL’s for 2 years.
“What really got me started fishing the Tour was I took a job with Hummin’ Bird, actually, Lake Master, doing surveying for them. I worked 20 days at a time, or whatever the trip is, and if I don’t want to work for 40 days, I don’t. Then I can go right back and work another 20 – just whatever. My schedule is real flexible. It allows me the time off and the funds needed to be able to travel and fish.
“I had a little money saved up and worked some things around to get enough money to get the year started and not have to be too concerned about it so when they released that schedule, not going to the same lakes over again, I felt like it was a good year to be a rookie, to try to get a start on it.”
The Top 10 finish last weekend padded his bank account as well as his resume. “That relieves any financial pressure I had left on me to finish the season.”
And, having quieted his own concerns about that first tourney on Guntersville, Atkins is ready for what comes next. “I’m pleased with the start to the season. I’m clear-headed now. I know that I can do it.”
Cherokee Predictions - Whats it gonna take?
Alan McGuckin - Special to Anglerschannel.com
Thursday begins a brand new season for the Bassmaster Elite Series, and few know more about the reservoir B.A.S.S. hasn’t hosted a tournament on since 1981 than David Mullins, who enters his fourth season as a pro, lives just 70 miles away, and recently won a Bassmaster Open on Douglas Lake, which is much like Cherokee’s twin sister.
Carhartt pros Matt and Jordan Lee weren’t even born the last time B.A.S.S. had a tournament on Cherokee Lake, but Mullins has befriended the youngsters, and they tend to do quite well even when nobody is mentoring them.
The three graciously offered their opinions on what to expect during this first tournament of the new season, as well as a little about what they learned in the off-season.
What percentage of the fish weighed-in this week do you think will be smallmouth?
Jordan Lee: 70%
David Mullins: 75%
Matt Lee: 68%
If you were only permitted to have 5 rods and reels during this tournament – how many of them would be spinning, versus baitcasting?
Jordan Lee: 3 out of 5 would be spinning
David Mullins: 4 out of 5 would be spinning
Matt Lee: 3 out of 5 would be spinning
Name two fellow competitors that you would put on your Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing Team presented by Toyota for this event?
Jordan Lee: David Mullins and Ott DeFoe
David Mullins: Aaron Martens and David Walker
Matt Lee: David Mullins and Ott DeFoe
Average weight of a 5-bass limit you think it will take to make it into the Top 12 cut on the final day:
Jordan Lee: 13 to 14 pounds
Mullins: 14 to 15 pounds
Matt Lee: 15 pounds 12 ounces per day
Name the single biggest thing you learned in the off-season about fishing or life:
Jordan Lee: Never take the good times for granted, whether that’s fishing with your friends or having dinner with your family.
David Mullins: That it never got cold enough around here to make the whitetails move or the ducks migrate.
Matt Lee: Don’t get in too big of a hurry. Slow down. Enjoy life.
Texas Team Trail Returns to Toledo Bend February 18th!!
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Record payouts, exceptional fishing expected for second
TXTT event of 2017
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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2017) - The Texas Team Trail (TXTT) presented by Cabela's will host its second regular-season event of the 2017 tournament season on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Toledo Bend Reservoir. The fishery straddles the Texas/Louisiana border and is one of the world's premier bass fishing destinations. Registration for the event is already underway - anglers can secure an opportunity to pre-fish Friday, Feb. 17, by completing their registration online or via phone prior to midnight on Thursday, Feb. 16. Additionally, all anglers that pre-register online at www.texasteamtrail.com will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Cabela's gift card.
The Toledo Bend event is the second regular-season event of four 2017 qualifying events that guarantee a fully rigged, 18-foot boat, motor, trailer package as first-place prize. The winning anglers at Toledo Bend will walk away with a brand-new Triton 189TRX powered by a 150HP Mercury, valued at $30,495.
In addition to the payout, the event offers anglers an unprecedented opportunity in terms of sponsor bonuses and television coverage. The budget-friendly $250 entry fee, plus multiple contingency programs and a guaranteed, over-100 percent payback at every event provides tremendous value to the weekend angler.
On-site registration is set for Friday, Feb. 17, from 4-6 p.m. at Cypress Bend Park (3462 Cypress Bend Dr., Many, LA 71449). At least one team member must attend, as boat numbers will be assigned during this time. The tournament will launch Sat., Feb. 18, at safe light from Cypress Bend and weigh-in will begin at the same location at 3 p.m.
Anglers with questions or anyone interested in more details on the event are encouraged to visit www.texasteamtrail.com or call 210-281-1752 or 210-788-4143.
Texas Team Trail events are made possible through the sponsorship and continued support of these well-respected brands: Cabela's, Ranger Boats, Lucas Oil, RAM, Evinrude, Mercury, Minn Kota, Triton Boats, Power-Pole, Evinrude, Arctic Ice, Stratos Boats, Lowrance, Protect the Harvest, General Tire, SuperClean, Garmin, Valley Fashions, T-H Marine, Atlas, G-Juice, Powertex Group.
2017 TXTT scheduled events:
February 18 - Toledo Bend
April 1 - Belton Lake
April 29 - Lake Texoma
Championship
June 3-4 - Livingston Lake
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Countdown to Blastoff - BASS Elite Season Opener - Cherokee Lake
As the BASS Elite Series guys prepare for the final day of practice, our good friend Alan McGuckin from Dynamic Sponsorships passes along some insight from a couple of Pro's before they launch and get on the water this morning. Big changes weather wise this week in TN. Check it out!
Woods wins ABA RAM Open South Alabama Series event on Eufaula with 22.10 limit!
Dustin Wood of Eufaula, Alabama won the American Bass Anglers Ram Truck Open Series Alabama South tournament, held February 4th on the Lake Eufaula.
Running out of Lakepoint State Park in Eufaula, AL Dustin caught five bass weighing 22.10 pounds. For the Boater division victory, Dustin took home a check for $5,000 for his win.
“I went out cranking points and humps to start out with. I mainly caught a bunch of hybrids and would occasionally catch a bass. I did that until 10:00 am then I went out riding ditches going into flats. I was seeing the fish in there and finally caught one, that six pounder, first and then I came back to that same ditch later and caught that other big one. They both came off that Deep Daddy crankbait that StrikeZone lures makes. My earlier fish came off a Ledgebuster spinnerbait also from StrikeZone lures. I only caught eight fish today. I fished mid-lake most of the day just running around.” Wood said.
In second for the Boaters, Ryan Ingram of Phenix City, Alabama landed a five-bass tournament limit weighing 21.23 pounds anchored by a 7.28-pound kicker. He collected $1,400 for his catch and $720 for the Big Bass.
“I caught all my fish on a 1oz Ledgebuster spinnerbait except for one that I caught on a crankbait. I only caught about six fish today and lost one good fish that would have helped me. I fished the south end of the lake from White Oak down.” Ingram said.
ABA pro-staffer Clint Nail of Sterrett, Alabama and Robert “Kyle” Welcher of Opelika, Alabama tied for third for the Boaters, each with five bass weighing 16.32 pounds. They each earned $800 for their catch.
“I was fishing down south and I started out shallow but I couldn’t get anything going, so I backed out on some deeper fat points. I threw a Carolina-rig and caught a lot of fish” Welcher said.
“I was fishing down south and caught my fish shallow around docks and in the grass with a jig. They were really aggressive shallow today.” Nail said.
Finishing fifth, Kevin “Skip” Jackson of Eufaula, Alabama landed a five-bass limit weighing 16.06 pounds.
In the Co-Angler division, Robert Enke of Columbus, Georgia won with three bass weighing 13.34 pounds with a 7.42-pound kicker. He pocketed a check for $1,200 for his win and $185 for the Big Bass. Robert was awarded an Abu Garcia Revo SX spinning reel for catching the largest bass of this event on an Abu Garcia reel.
“I caught my fish flipping, some on a chatter-bait, some on a jig. I was fishing shallow and caught that big bass around 1:00 pm today. I was hoping my Boater, Ken Green, didn’t miss her with the net.” Enke said.
Taking second for the Co-Anglers, Edward “Joey” Dickson of Columbus, Georgia brought in a three-bass division limit weighing 9.47 pounds. He collected $275 for the effort. “It was a great day on the water. I caught my fish flipping a baby brush hog all day.” Dickson said.
Barry Jones of Verbena, Alabama placed third among the Co-Anglers with three bass weighing 8.29 pounds. He earned $225 for his catch. “I was fishing with Hank Golden and he put us on some fish. We fished the lower end of the lake. I fished a shakey-head a little bit but mostly a Texas-rig. I caught ten on a crankbait, one about 4 ½ pounds. We fished from one foot deep out to fifteen feet deep. They were just scattered around grass and wood.” Jones said.
In fourth place among the Co-Anglers, Joshua Allman of Clyde, North Carolina brought in three bass weighing 7.74 pounds.
Hunter DuBose of Andalusia, Alabama finished in fifth place with three bass at 6.99 pounds.
Slated for April 1st, the next tournament will be held on Lake Mitchell out of Higgins Ferry Park in Clanton, Alabama. At the end of the season, the best anglers from across the nation advance the 2018 Ray Scott Championship, Location to be announced.
For more information on this tournament, call Billy Benedetti, tournament manager, at (256)230-5632 or ABA at (256)232-0406. On line, see www.ramopenseries.com.
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
Pinkston wins ABA RAM Truck Open Texas SE Event on Toledo Bend. Addison claims Big Bass with 8.43 Lunker
Ryan Pinkston of Center, Texas won the American Bass Anglers Ram Truck Open Series Texas Southeast tournament, held February 4th on Toledo Bend Reservoir.
Running out of Fin and Feather Resort near Hemphill, Texas, Ryan caught five bass weighing 25.03 pounds without having a kicker. For the Boater division victory, Pinkston took home a check for $5,000.
“We had a great day,” Pinkston said. “I was on a good bite. It was a bumpy ride this morning but settled down once we got to our first spot. The quality of fish I found was pretty consistent all day and I was very fortunate. I was not able to catch a real nice kicker but was fortunate to have a solid limit of fish, all about the same size. I was up near the North end and just bounced around to a few spots. The bite was tougher than it had been due to the warm weather we had early in the week but this Lake is about to open up in a few weeks."
In second for the Boaters, Ronnie Bickham of Brookeland, Texas landed a five-bass tournament limit weighing 19.03 pounds. He collected $1,250 for the effort. “I had some fish up shallow and the cold snap forced them back. I wasn’t going to run to this spot first thing this morning but I decided to give it a try. I went almost 2 hours without a bite and decided to pull out. I tried some other spots and was able to put some fish in the boat so I stuck with the pattern and was able to cull up to what I brought in. The bite got better as the day went on and culled my last 2 later in the day,” Ronnie said.
Jerry Dubose of Silsbee, Texas took third for the Boaters with five bass weighing 18.15 pounds to earn $900. “I had a few days of practice but it was pretty slow, slow start in the morning. I had one fish in the box at 1:40 this afternoon and put the other four in about 2:00. I didn’t cull, but I had five to bring in and here I am. I caught seven fish all day and it shows even an amateur can fish!” said Dubose.
Tied for fourth, Clint Goodeaux of Westlake, Louisiana and Gayland Heard of Vidor, Texas both came in with 17.95 pounds.
The biggest bass for the Boaters was caught by Phil Addison of Baytown, Texas that weighed 8.43 pounds. Phil pocketed $640 and also earned the Abu Garcia award for Big Bass taking home a new Revo SX.
In the Co-Angler Division, Jason Moss of Lafayette, Louisiana won with three bass going 10.99 pounds. He sealed his victory with a 5.68-pound kicker to pocket a check for $1,700.
“We started off fishing some rip rap just playing around. I caught my first one there. We hit another spot and I threw a big V&M worm and started catching fish. I had 6 bites today and only three keepers. I didn’t get to cull and I think my last keeper came around 1:30. I caught the big fish around 10:00 this morning. I had a great day. Anytime you come out with a win is a great day,” Moss said.
Taking second for the Co-Anglers, Sammy Strong of Orange, Texas brought in a three-bass division limit weighing 10.71 pounds. He collected $550 for the effort. “Im doing great. Started out very slow but it picked up this afternoon. I caught all my fish pretty close to here and caught them all on a senko. I was fishing an area probably around 8 feet deep. I culled a couple time but I was happy to get as many bites as I did.” Strong said.
Eddy Guilder of Sulpher, Louisiana placed third among the Co-Anglers with three bass going 9.89 pounds to earn $400.
Eddy is no stranger to the stage, he won 2 of the 4 divisional events last year in back to back events and starts out this year in great shape. “We went up North and I missed one right off the bat, we went further up North and I limited out there. I was using a football jig and a drop shot, and we were fishing pretty deep too. Anywhere from 10-25 feet. We caught close to 35 fish between the 2 of us today and had a great time. I culled up quite a few times to get what I had.” Gilder said.
In fourth place among the Co-Anglers, Robert Moffett of Silsbee, Texas brought in three bass weighing 9.82.
Dennis Fikes of Houston, Texas finished in fifth place with three bass at 9.71 pounds.
The biggest bass for the Co-Anglers was caught by Jason Moss of Lafayette, Louisiana that weighed 5.68. Jason pocketed $295.
Slated for April 15th, the next divisional tournament will be held on Sam Rayburn at the Umphrey Pavillion near Jasper, TX. At the end of the season, the best anglers from across the nation advance the 2017 Ray Scott Championship, slated for an undetermined location for 2018.
For more information on this tournament, call Chris Wayand, tournament manager, at 256-230-5627 or ABA at 256-232-0406. On line, see www.ramopenseries.com.
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
James and Laura Bean claim victory in ABA Couples event on Neely Henry
James and Laura Bean of Weaver, Alabama captured the win for this weekends ABA Couples event on Neely Henry held on February 4th. The couple won with a 15.07 pound mixed bag of both Largemouth and Spotted Bass. They made a long run downriver to fish for largemouth early, but couldn`t resist chasing Spots he had found earlier in the week. James also had men`s big bass with a 5.33 largemouth.
Ricky Campbell and Cathy Cox finished second with a five bass limit weighing 12.72 pounds.
Dennis and Marie Edgil (with the help of JoJo) were third with a five bass limit weighing 12.68 pounds along with Lady`s Big Bass of 4.55 pounds.
The next divisional event will be held on March 4, 2017 on Weiss Lake out of Little River Marina. For more information on this or any future event in this division contact Mike Garlen at (256)998-0171.
All ABA American Couples Series events involve a team format with each team composed of one man and one woman. Contestants between the ages of 14 and 16 years old may participate with a parent’s written permission. The top angling couples from across the nation earn the right to compete in the annual American Bass Anglers Couples Series National Championship event.
American Bass Anglers commitment is to provide low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram American Fishing Tour, the Ram Weekend Bass Series, the Ram 100% Team Series or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com or call (256)232-0406.
Hill wins ABA AFT D114 event on Seminole with over 16 pounds!
Trent Hill of Sneads, Florida is one step closer to the Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship with a first place win in the AFT Seminole D114 bass tournament held on Lake Seminole February 5, 2017. Trent’s limit weighed in at 16.53 pounds. Trent's pattern was sight fishing and useing a lipless CB!
Big Bass was awarded to Steve Phillips for catching a 6.70 pound largemouth bass.
Top Five Finishers:
1. Trent Hill 16.53 lbs
2. Nic Brown 15.84 lbs
3. Steve Phillips 14.16 lbs
4. Mitch Oldnettle 13.92 lbs
5. Steve Bushore 13.72 lbs
Conditions: Clear skies high of 65 for the day. Waters temperatures were in the low 60's. Water was stained to clear.
This division’s next tournament will be March 5th on Lake Seminole at Seminole Lodge. For more information on this or any future event in this division contact Mitch Oldnettle (850)376-2628 or Len Lindahl (850)272-5305.
These anglers are earning valuable points toward the divisional angler of the year title. The points champion from each division will compete in the annual Ram American Bass Anglers AFT Angler of the Year Final Round at the Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship.
The Ram American Fishing Tour offers low cost, close to home bass tournaments that are designed for the weekend angler. All ABA anglers fish for money and points. The points advance the angler to their divisional championship and the top 500 anglers in the US are invited to the Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship. For more information on American Bass Anglers please visit www.americanbassanglers.com or call (256)232-0406.
BASS CAT NAMED EXCLUSIVE BOAT SPONSOR FOR 2017 WON BASS TOUR
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Sam Houston State University Wins YETI FLW Southern Conference opener on Rayburn!
LUFKIN, Texas (Feb. 6, 2017) – The Sam Houston State University team of Dillon Harrell of New Caney, Texas, and Dustin Moreno of Shepherd, Texas, won the YETI FLW College Fishing Southern Conference opener on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Saturday with five bass weighing 22 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned the club a $2,000 club scholarship and advanced the team to the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
“Dillon and I have been fishing together since we were 8-years-old,” said Moreno, a senior majoring in business. “We’ve always talked about competing like this when we were growing up, so this win feels like it has been a long time coming.”
“At 12 members, our bass club at Sam Houston is pretty small,” said Harrell, a sophomore majoring in agricultural business. “We’ve placed at college tournaments before, but have never won. I’d love to see this club grow to 30 members within the next couple of years and this win will definitely help.”
Harrell said the two primarily fished hydrilla and secondary points in 4 to 8 feet of water throughout the event. They said they ran through multiple areas, including locations near Mud Creek and the Highway 147 bridge.
“When we pulled up to our first area we found a lot of boat traffic from another tournament,” said Harrell. “We thought we could get a quick limit there, but only caught two fish. We targeted schooling fish and grinded out a limit at our second stop by 11 a.m.”
Moreno said they used a shad-colored 6th Sense Snatched 70 X Lipless Crankbait to catch their initial limit.
“Around 2 p.m., we focused on a secondary point and caught two bass that were close to 7 pounds apiece on an umbrella rig with Xcite Baits swimbaits,” said Moreno. “We culled out our two smallest fish and on the very next cast I caught a 4-pounder. We went from 12 pounds to 24 pounds in 15 minutes.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Harrell. “I’ve fished in those areas for a lot of tournaments, but I’ve never doubled my weight in a matter of minutes. It was ridiculous.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2018 College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Sam Houston State University – Dillon Harrell, New Caney, Texas, and Dustin Moreno, Shepherd, Texas, five bass, 22-3, $2,000 Club Scholarship
2nd: Angelo State University – Ty Johnson, Bernet, Ill., and Will Curlee, Round Rock, Texas, five bass, 20-10, $1,000 Club Scholarship
3rd: Tarleton State University – Tucker Sargent, Lipan, Texas, and Wyatt Young, Aledo, Texas, five bass, 19-8, $500 Club Scholarship
4th: Angelo State University – Nolan Osmanski and Nathan Ahle, both of San Angelo, Texas, five bass, 18-3, $500 Club Scholarship
5th: Texas A&M University-Texarkana – Blaine Weems, Bradley, Arkansas, and Lane Kennedy, Texarkana, Texas, five bass, 18-3, $500 Club Scholarship
6th: Colorado Mesa University – Josh Worth and Brandon Lofton, both of Grand Junction, Colo., five bass, 17-14, $400
7th: Louisiana State University-Shreveport – Jared Rascoe, Stonewall, La., and James Kimbrough, Bossier City, La., five bass, 17-12
8th: Harding University – Ethan Flowers, Dexter, Mo., and Cole Swede, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 17-2
9th: Louisiana Tech University – Taylor Tindall. Monroe, La., and Brennan Soileau, Ruston, La., five bass, 17-1
10th: Arkansas Tech University – Jake Dugger and Josh Dugger, both of Pottsville, Ark., five bass, 16-7
FLW also advances one additional team to the National Championship for every 10 teams over 100 that compete. A total of 132 teams participated in this event, so also advancing to the 2018 College Fishing National Championship are:
11th: Texas A&M University – Bradley Fleming, Magnolia, Texas, and Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas, five bass, 16-5
12th: Tarleton State University – Cason Kelly, Stephenville, Texas, and Stetson Overton, Glen Rose, Texas, five bass, 16-4
13th: Lamar University – Luke Potter, Bridge City, Texas, and Stephen Thomas, Woodville, Texas, five bass, 16-2
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
This YETI FLW College Fishing Southern Conference opener was the first regular-season qualifying tournament of 2017. The next event for Southern Conference anglers is a tournament scheduled for May 6 on Fort Gibson Lake in Wagoner, Oklahoma.
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, along with an additional qualifier for every 10 teams over 100 that compete, along with the top 20 teams from the annual YETI FLW College Fishing Open will advance to the 2018 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
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 regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow College Fishing on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing. Visit FLWFishing.com to sign up or to start a club at your school.
Joe & Brandon Bray take home the crown at the Bass Champs Central Region kick-off
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| Bass Champs is on a roll, kicking off the Central Region 2017 season at Lake Travis on February 4th with 172 teams fishing for a portion of this 104% payback event. The father & son team of Joe and Brandon Bray won by a landslide, taking home over $20,000 for their day.
The week prior to the tournament temperatures had been in the 70s, warming the water and luring bass to spawning areas. For many of the teams who had pre-fished for the tournament, they found the bass were biting very well. The day before the tournament, a cold front pushed its way through the area, and seemed to make it a little harder to get as many bass to bite. Nevertheless, there were lots of solid bass brought to the scales, and two teams brought in kickers over eight pounds. We started our morning trying to feel out what the fish were doing, Joe Bray began. We went to spawning coves and threw topwater lures and flukes. Joe got a hit on his topwater, but missed the fish. Brandon threw right back in there with his fluke and caught her! That one weighed in at 7.85 pounds. We kept moving to other spots that were similar, and put a small limit together. Keeping on the move, they transitioned to main lake points with ledges 12 to 25 deep. We switched to Carolina rigged brush hogs and Power Worms and the big ones started biting. They continuously culled their creel until the smallest fish in their bag weighed around 4 pounds. We had a great day really amazing time. We just happened to hit the right corner at just the right time! Their weight lunged to the top of the field with 28.45 lbs, winning by a big margin. While the duo has ranked high in past events, this is their first 1st place win. Bass Champs presented them with the guaranteed 1st place purse of $20,000. They won even more, qualifying for the Sure Life and Power Pole Bonuses! We would both like to thank our wives for the encouragement and support they always give us, Joe continued. I taught my son to fish now hes teaching me. They also wanted to thank Livingston Lures and Horseshoe Bay Resort & Marina on LBJ for their support. We are all so lucky to have Bass Champs here in Texas. They run fantastic tournaments, and make it so us working guys can fish these weekend events for top dollars! Bryan Richards and Matt Kevil took a 2nd place win with their 20.81 lb limit. Our day started out really good. We caught a limit in our first spot that included a couple of five pound kickers. After catching their first limit, they went in search for bigger fish. Our second spot was a main lake point with a ledge around 15-20 deep. They were throwing a Texas rigged trick worm, and were able to cull up a couple of times before the end of the day. The morning bite was definitely better for us. We hit a lull in the afternoon where we didnt catch anything for about an hour and a half. They had the right five to reel in a check for $3,500 at their very first Bass Champs tournament! They would like to thank Kistler Rods and Superior Physical Medicine. 3rd place was won with 18.96 lbs by the team of Jason Buchanan and Terry Kircus. We caught a good sack in this one spot the week before the tournament, so we started out there. They fished for hours in that area, and at 10:30 they still did not have a single fish in the livewell. We were really starting to worry. They packed up and went to a few other places that had been holding some smaller fish, and managed a limit. Going there and putting some fish in the boat really helped give us a little much needed confidence. Continuing to fish points and ledges 15-25 with jigs, they decided to go to yet another spot that had not really produced well during practice. At about 1:30 we finally put a six pounder in the boat. It was an all-day grind until we found them. As the day went on, the bass we were catching looked more and more pale like they were just now coming up the river channel. Bass Champs presented the team with a 3rd place check for $2,500. They were the highest finishing team in a qualified Skeeter Boat, so Skeeter doubled their winnings to a $5,000 payday. Wed like to thank our wives and families for letting us do what we do. They are there at every single event supporting us whether we did well or not, and that means a lot. Rounding out the top 10 teams: The Big Bass of the day weighed in at 8.81 lbs, caught by Craig Urofsky fishing his first Bass Champs event. I had gone way up river to this spot. It was a main lake point going into a spawning area, he explained. It was a sandy point with bushes on it about 12-15 deep. I was using a Zoom crawworm in an Alabama Craw color. After he landed the big fish, about five casts later he got an even bigger fish on the end of his line! She must have jumped out of the water at least four times, and was a lot bigger than the one I got in the boat. There was another boat nearby watching, and when my line broke about two feet above the hook, I think they were just as sick about it as I was. Craig didnt get a lot of bites, but this one landed him a $500 check for catching the biggest bass of the day. I think this front shut them down, but with the warm weather this week, next weekend the bite will be CRAZY! Dont miss a single chance to win big in Bass Champs tournaments. So far top teams have earned $209,000 in three events! COMING UP NEXT: For more information, visit www.BassChamps.com or call 817-439-3274
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Ken Wheeler of Georgia win T-H Marine FLW BFL On Keowee present by Navionics
Parton tops co-angler field
SENECA, S.C. (Feb. 6, 2017) – Ken Wheeler of Martin, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the first T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division tournament of 2017 on Lake Keowee presented by Navionics. For his win, Wheeler took home the top award of $5,889.
“I started in Cane Creek and got my first bite on a brown Outkast football-head jig with a watermelon-red Zoom Super Chunk Jr. trailer,” said Wheeler, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I ran through three areas before moving to a mid-lake hole where I caught another on a Zoom Z Drop Worm rigged on a drop-shot in about 50 feet of water.”
Wheeler said he switched to a Fish Head Spin to catch his third fish out of some rocks that were 25 feet down.
“My first three bites were the only ones I had in those areas, so I had to keep moving,” said Wheeler. “I kept fishing nearby rocks with the Z Drop and caught four or five more to finish my limit. I culled a couple of times and ended up bringing in what I had.”
Wheeler said his total catch for the day included 15 keepers.
“I didn’t catch a lot of fish, but they were the right bites,” said Wheeler. “I mixed up my lures and kept trying something different and it worked out.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Ken Wheeler, Martin, Ga., five bass, 15-6, $5,889
2nd: Hunter Eubanks, Inman, S.C., five bass, 14-15, $3,764
3rd: Jeremy Strong, Elberton, Ga., five bass, 13-5, $2,198
4th: Anthony Marks, Spartanburg, S.C., five bass, 12-9, $1,232
4th: Vince Smith, Westminster, S.C., five bass, 12-9, $1,332
6th: Heath Pack, Mineral Bluff, Ga., five bass, 12-7, $995
6th: Greg Glouse, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 12-7, $995
8th: Todd Goade, Suwanee, Ga., five bass, 11-14, $805
8th: Conrad Bolt, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 11-14, $805
10th: Chris Nelson, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 11-11, $664
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Eubanks caught a 6-pound, 11-ounce bass – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $920.
Dwayne Parton of Anderson, South Carolina, weighed in five bass totaling 12 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $3,044.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Dwayne Parton, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 12-14, $3,044
2nd: Jimmi Leuthner, Tamassee, S.C., five bass, 11-3, $1,422
3rd: Bob Brown, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 10-15, $1,408
4th: Shane Swann, Mars Hill, N.C., five bass, 10-14, $616
4th: Jody Rogers Sr., Clarkesville, Ga., five bass, 10-14, $616
6th: Douglas Bryson, Westminster, S.C., five bass, 10-13, $521
7th: Edward Cooper, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 10-3, $474
8th: Matthew Guffey, Simpsonville, S.C., five bass, 9-15, $403
8th: Brad Surett, Travelers Rest, S.C., five bass, 9-15, $403
10th: Ron Bryson, Mount Airy, Ga., five bass, 9-14, $332
Brown caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, weighing 4 pounds, 6 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $460.
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. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. 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 2017 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. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
BASS Announces Mille Lacs as a return venue for 2017 AOY Event
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — After a very exciting finish to the 2016 season on Minnesota’s famed Mille Lacs Lake, the 2017 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship will return to the world-class smallmouth bass factory, Sept. 14-17.
Earning a spot in this season-ending derby is no easy accomplishment. Participation is based upon performance — specifically, the number of AOY points earned across the entire Bassmaster Elite Series season. With a $1 million purse on the line, the championship will not be won by the angler who weighs the largest limit of bass; rather, the top angler in AOY standings following the tournament will be awarded the $100,000 paycheck and title.
The decision to return to the state’s second largest inland lake of 10,000 was easy after the unprecedented output in 2016. Across the three competition days, the Top 50 anglers caught 729 bass, which produced 139 limits and amassed a total three-day weight of 2,878 pounds, 5 ounces.
New this year is a $25,000 payout for the heaviest three-day limit of bass. Also, 36 coveted berths in the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods will be awarded based on the final AOY rankings.
The full field will compete for three days, (Thursday, Friday and Sunday). Bassmaster University will take place on Saturday. The fan-appreciation day will be held in the parking lot at Grand Casino, where the pros will be giving seminars, signing autographs and engaging with fans on a personal level.
“Last year’s Bassmaster tournament showed the world what an incredible jewel Mille Lacs Lake is to the fishing community,” said Tracy Sam, general manager for Grand Casino Mille Lacs. “This championship has never been held at the same location two years in a row, so building upon last year’s success, we look forward to making the 2017 Bassmaster Angler of the Year tournament the best one yet.”
The Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship will be hosted by Grand Casino and Mille Lacs Tourism.
Marshal registration for this tournament will open May 2 at 9 a.m. CT for Life and B.A.S.S. Nation members. All B.A.S.S. members can register starting May 4 at 9 a.m. Registrations must be completed online at Bassmaster.com/elite.
Bassmaster Classic Bracket Returns
In 2016, the Bassmaster Elite Series introduced the Classic Bracket to spice up the regular-season schedule. This year, instead of having the event midseason, the live-streamed tournament will begin shortly after the conclusion of the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Mille Lacs Lake.
Another twist that will make the competition even more compelling is that the eight contestants vying for a Classic invitation will be the first eight just outside the Classic cut. The Bassmaster Classic Bracket tournament will provide one of the eight a last-chance invitation to the Super Bowl of bass fishing.
This year, it’s taking place at picturesque Grand Rapids, Minn., on Pokegama Lake, Sept. 19-22. Fans will be able to follow the action on Bassmaster.com via Bassmaster LIVE.
With $50,000 and a Classic spot on the line, this unique tournament style will not feature a daily weigh-in; rather each bass will be weighed by a B.A.S.S. official on the competitor’s boat and immediately released.
The contestants will be fishing for a five-bass limit from their own boats, and brackets will be set based on AOY points leading into the event.
After two days of competition, four anglers will be eliminated. The semifinal round will take place on Day 3, with the remaining anglers going head to head.
The final day will pit the remaining two anglers in a head-to-head battle. The angler with the heaviest limit will receive the majority of the $50,000 and a 2018 Bassmaster Classic berth.
“This is the first time B.A.S.S. will host a tournament on Pokegama Lake, and we are excited to show the national audience what a great fishery it is,” said Megan Christianson, executive director of Visit Grand Rapids. “Grand Rapids is a community where you will find a balance between small town charm and rich Minnesota outdoor resources. From over 1,000 lakes to fish, over 1 million public accessible forests and over 3,000 miles of groomed trails to explore. Grand Rapids is a true destination for bass anglers.
“We are pleased to welcome the Elite Series anglers vying for a berth into the most prestigious tournament, the 2018 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.”
The Bassmaster Classic Bracket will be hosted by the City of Grand Rapids, Minn.
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Power-Pole, Yamaha, Berkley, Huk, Shell Rotella
2017 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: T-H Marine, Lowrance, Phoenix Boats, Shimano, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Carhartt, Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, Livingston Lures
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series, Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation presented by Magellan, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Bassmaster High School Series presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Rose captures Guntersville win in FLW Opener
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 5, 2017) – General Tire pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, caught five bass Sunday weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces to win $125,000 at the FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance. Rose’s four-day total of 20 bass weighing 79-11 gave him a 15-ounce margin of victory of second-place angler Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina.
“I knew I had found one little special area, back in Browns Creek,” said Rose, who earned his seventh career win on the Tennessee River in FLW competition. “I just had that gut feeling that it would be special. Nobody else was back there and when I went there on the first day nobody came within a mile of it. I fished other areas, some grass, but all 20 of the bass that I weighed in came out of Browns Creek.
“I figured out a bait that they were just swallowing – an old Strike King Flat Side crankbait, part of their custom shop,” Rose said. “I was using the chartreuse and brown and a shad color. I just switched to the shad today – I made one cast with it and caught my last fish, a 5-pounder. That was at 3:15 and I had to check in by 3:30.
“I fished slow, and just keyed in on rock. I didn’t even make a cast under the bridges. I knew that there were a lot of scattered big fish up and down the rip rap and I’d let everybody else fight on the pilings.”
Rose and Thrift had found themselves in a similar situation at the 2014 FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. In that event Rose held a 2-pound, 14-ounce lead over Thrift heading into the final day of competition, but lost when the North Carolina pro caught 17 pounds to overtake Rose and win the $125,000. Sunday at Lake Guntersville, Rose caught enough to hold off the hard-charging Thrift.
“Any time Bryan Thrift is in the top 10, it’s going to be close,” Rose said. “I felt like I slipped up the last day and lost that Rayburn event. This one, I made Thrift have to beat me. If you want to win you’re going to have to beat the best, and he’s one of them.”
The top 10 pros finished the tournament:
1st: General Tire pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 20 bass, 79-11, $125,000
2nd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 78-12, $30,200
3rd: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 20 bass, 72-10, $25,100
4th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 20 bass, 68-9, $20,000
5th: Yamamoto Baits pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 20 bass, 68-4, $19,000
6th: Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., 20 bass, 64-10, $18,000
7th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 20 bass, 62-14, $17,000
8th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 19 bass, 62-9, $16,000
9th: Justin Atkins, Florence, Alabama, 19 bass, 61-15, $15,000
10th: Chris McCall, Palmer, Texas, 18 bass, 55-12, $14,000
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 47 bass weighing 155 pounds, 1 ounce caught by pros Sunday. Eight of the final 10 pros weighed in five-bass limits.
Jeff Ragsdale of Gardendale, Alabama, won the co-angler division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 30 pounds, 6 ounces, followed by Benjie Seaborn of Guin, Alabama, who finished in second place with eight bass weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces worth $7,500.
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 330 anglers competes Thursday and Friday. Co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 20 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.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2017 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, Aug. 11-13.
The FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance was hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The next event for FLW Tour anglers will be the FLW Tour at Lake Travis presented by Quaker State, Feb. 16-19 in Jonestown, Texas.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
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Rose takes 4 Pound lead into Final Day of FLW Tour Opener on Guntersville
llGUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 4, 2017) – General Tire pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 19 pounds even to extend his lead at the FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance. Rose’s three-day total of 61-8 gives him a 4-pound, 12-ounce lead heading into the fourth and final day of competition. The field is now cut to the final 10 anglers in the event that featured 165 of the best bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
In second place is Bryan Thrift of Shelby, North Carolina, who weighed in five bass totaling 17-4 Saturday for a three-day cumulative weight of 15 bass worth 56-12. Hometown favorite Alex Davis of Albertville, Alabama, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 20-2 – the largest limit of the day – to move into third place with a three-day total of 54-6.
“I was pleased with how my day went,” said Rose, who is seeking his third career Tour-level victory. “I’m not getting that many bites – one here, one there – but they’re coming. I feel like I’ve got a few things figured out and hopefully we can pull this thing off tomorrow.”
Rose said that he fished around 10 different areas throughout the day Saturday, cycling through some spots along with mixing in a few new ones. He said he caught eight keepers on a little Strike King jig, an old Strike King Flat Side crankbait and a vibrating jig.
‘I’m using the weather to dictate where I fish and what baits I’m throwing,” Rose said. “I’ve been saving one little area that I’m going to go hit tomorrow afternoon, when I feel like the conditions are right. I won’t be changing anything up tomorrow. I’m going to be doing the same thing that I have been doing, so the nerves won’t be too bad.”
The top 10 pros advancing to the final day of competition on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: General Tire pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 61-8
2nd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 56-12
3rd: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 54-6
4th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 15 bass, 51-11
5th: Yamamoto Baits pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 15 bass, 51-5
6th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 51-4
7th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 49-7
8th: Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., 15 bass, 48-10
9th: Justin Atkins, Florence, Alabama, 14 bass, 48-10
10th: Chris McCall, Palmer, Texas, 15 bass, 47-0
Finishing in 11th through 20th are:
11th: Power-Pole pro Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 46-1, $12,000
12th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 15 bass, 45-14, $12,000
13th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 13 bass, 42-14, $12,000
14th: Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 13 bass, 41-5, $12,000
15th: Bradley Dortch, Atmore, Ala., 14 bass, 40-7, $12,000
16th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 11 bass, 39-2, $12,000
17rd: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 11 bass, 38-5, $12,000
18th: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., nine bass, 36-2, $12,000
19th: Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, 10 bass, 34-11, $12,000
20th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, eight bass, 33-11, $12,000
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Overall there were 74 bass weighing 237 pounds, 8 ounces caught by pros Saturday. Eleven of the final 20 pros weighed in five-bass limits.
Jeff Ragsdale of Gardendale, Alabama, won the co-angler division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 30 pounds, 6 ounces, followed by Benjie Seaborn of Guin, Alabama, who finished in second place with eight bass weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces worth $7,500.
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 330 anglers competes Thursday and Friday. Co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 20 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.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2017 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, Aug. 11-13.
The final 10 anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST Sunday from the Guntersville City Harbor located at 201 Blount Ave., in Guntersville. Sunday’s championship weigh-in will be held at the Guntersville City Harbor but beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Sunday, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Guntersville City Harbor from noon to 4 p.m. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities.
The tournament 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 us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
SKL & General Tire Pro Mark Rose takes over the Lead on Day 2 of FLW opener on Guntersville
Alabama’s Ragsdale Wins Co-angler Title, $20,000
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 3, 2017) – General Tire pro Mark Rose of West Memphis, Arkansas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to capture the lead after day two of the FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance with a two-day catch of 10 bass totaling 42-8. Rose will bring a 3-pound lead into day two of the four-day season-opening event that features 165 of the top bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
“I was fishing mostly grass today and I caught them fairly shallow,” said Rose, a 10-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier with six career wins and more than $2 million in career earnings. “Somebody usually catches a big bag off of the bridges, but I don’t like to do that. I’ve had two second-place finishes and a third – all early in the year – and I’ve been beat on a bridge each time. That might be the deal to win it, but I’m just as comfortable doing what I’m doing – scratching and clawing.”
Rose sad that he caught eight keeper fish Friday, compared to 10 on Thursday. He said that he was fishing shallow, 4 to 6 feet, and caught fish on four or five different baits.
“I’m flipping and winding, throwing typical pre-spawn stuff,” Rose said. “I’m looking for the typical, good, pretty looking grass where the fish would go into spawn and where I feel like one would stage. That’s what I’m trying to key on all over the lake. The lake is on the verge of being really, really good.
“I would love to win on a lake that has as much history and tradition as Lake Guntersville,” Rose went on to say. “That would mean more to me than anything, knowing that the greats of all-time have won tournaments here and being in that category. A cold weather win, fishing shallow, would mean a lot, too.”
The top 20 pros that made the Buck Knives Cut and will fish Saturday on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: General Tire pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 10 bass, 42-8
2nd: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., 10 bass, 39-8
3rd: Barry Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., 10 bass, 36-6
4th: Justin Atkins, Florence, Alabama, 10 bass, 36-4
5th: Yamamoto Baits pro Shinichi Fukae, Palestine, Texas, 10 bass, 34-10
6th: Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 10 bass, 34-7
7th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-4
8th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, 10 bass, 34-2
9th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 10 bass, 34-1
10th: Scott Suggs, Alexander, Ark., 10 bass, 33-13
11th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, eight bass, 33-11
12th: Chris McCall, Palmer, Texas, 10 bass, 33-8
13th: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., eight bass, 33-7
14th: Jeff Sprague, Point, Texas, nine bass, 32-10
15th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., nine bass, 32-6
16th: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, 10 bass, 32-1
17th: Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., 10 bass, 31-15
18th: Power-Pole pro Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 31-12
19th: Brandon Cobb, Greenwood, S.C., 10 bass, 30-5
20th: Bradley Dortch, Atmore, Ala., 10 bass, 29-15
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Jim Dillard of West Monroe, Louisiana, earned the Big Bass award on the pro side Friday, weighing a 7-pound, 10-ounce largemouth to win the $500 prize.
Overall there were 444 bass weighing 1,335 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 142 pros Friday. The catch included 39 five-bass limits.
Jeff Ragsdale of Gardendale, Alabama, won the co-angler division and $20,000 Friday with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 30 pounds, 6 ounces, followed by Benjie Seaborn of Guin, Alabama, who finished in second place with eight bass weighing 24 pounds, 9 ounces worth $7,500.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Jeff Ragsdale, Gardendale, Ala., nine bass, 30-6 $20,100
2nd: Benjie Seaborn, Guin, Ala., eight bass, 24-9, $7,500
3rd: J.P. Sims, Cookeville, Tenn., nine bass, 23-10, $5,000
4th: Cody Hammontree, Flat Rock, Ala., eight bass, 22-7, $4,050
5th: Rod Huff, Monterey, Tenn., five bass, 20-7, $3,000
6th: Brian Hutcheson, Russellville, Ky., six bass, 19-13, $2,500
7th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, seven bass, 19-12, $2,000
8th: Allen Armour, Cumming, Ga., seven bass, 19-12, $1,800
9th: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., six bass, 18-13, $1,700
10th: Wataru Iwahori, Palestine, Texas, six bass, 18-8, $1,600
Tim Cales of Sandstone, West Virginia, earned $250 for the Big Bass award in the co-angler division with a 5-pound, 4-ounce largemouth.
Overall there were 178 bass weighing 518 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 91 co-anglers Friday. The catch included four five-bass limits.
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 330 anglers competes Thursday and Friday. Co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 20 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.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2017 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, Aug. 11-13.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance is more than $800,000, including $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro division.
Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST each day from the Guntersville City Harbor located at 201 Blount Ave., in Guntersville. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Guntersville City Harbor but beginning at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Guntersville City Harbor from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, 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 Guntersville City Harbor on Saturday, Feb. 4 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 area youth 15 years of age and younger and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one.
The tournament 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 us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
Garmin selects anglers for its 2017 College Fishing Team
SAN ANTONIO, TX (February 3, 2017) - The Association of College Anglers (ACA) is pleased to announce the 10 collegiate anglers/teams that have been selected to represent Garmin College Team/Angler Sponsorship for the 2017 college fishing season. The 10 anglers were selected from dozens of applications from anglers across the nation looking for a chance to be a part of the first collegiate Garmin team.
Each of the anglers will be equipped with detailed lake maps and best-in-class Garmin marine electronics and technology to use on their boats during tournaments, television shows, and in public appearances.
"Garmin continues to attract elite anglers from across the country and we're excited to add a collegiate team to the Garmin Marine roster," said Ted Gartner, Garmin director of corporate communications. "We congratulate those selected and look forward to their many successes this year."
The new 2017 Garmin College Fishing Team anglers include:
Trevor Williams - Morehead State University
Chandler Robertson - University of Missouri
Sheldon Rogge - Kansas State
Zach Clisch - University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Team of Nathan Bell & Cole Sands - Bryan College
Daniel Holt - Tennessee Tech University
Jacob Harris - Southeast Missouri State University
Samuel Harris - Kansas State
Ethan Raleigh - Morehead State University
Christopher Oja - Ferris State University
"The Garmin College Fishing Team is a great opportunity for anglers to get a chance to experience what the professional fishing industry is about," said Wade Middleton, Director of the ACA and President of CarecoTV. "Understanding how to promote a brand is a difficult skill that Garmin is taking the time to teach to these collegiate anglers while allowing them usage of the best mapping and sonar capabilities available to them."
For more information about the Cabela's Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, please visit www.CollegiateBassChampionship.com.
Also, follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @collegiatebass and on Facebook at /collegiatebasschampionship.
About Garmin International Inc. Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin is a registered trademark and
Panoptix is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.
All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Kendrick leads Day 1 of FLW Tour Opener on Lake Guntersville
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 2, 2017) – Hometown favorite Jay Kendrick of Grant, Alabama, drew cheers from an appreciative crowd Thursday when he crossed the weigh-in stage at Guntersville City Harbor with a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds, 12 ounces to lead day one of the FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance. Kendrick now brings a 3-pound, 8-ounce lead into day two of the four-day season-opening event that features 165 of the top bass-fishing anglers in the world competing for a top cash award of up to $125,000.
“It’s just the first day, and this is a marathon, but at least I’m out of the starting blocks,” said Kendrick, who won a Costa FLW Series tournament on Lake Guntersville in 2015. “I have a lot of experience on this lake. I know what I’m looking for and I know when I see it. There is a technique to fishing those bridges and once you figure it out you can go in amongst those other boats and catch those fish.
“The problem is that the other boats can get in your way in how you need to present your bait,” Kendrick continued. “I’m looking for a certain thing and then once I find it I’m presenting the bait a certain way and it’s triggering those fish to bite. I’ll be happy to talk more about it after the tournament is over.”
Kendrick said that he caught three fish off of a bridge, then filled his limit in another area. He said that he caught seven keepers throughout the day on two different baits.
“I wasn’t trying to manage any fish on the bridge, I just caught everything that I could catch there and burned it up, so I won’t go back,” Kendrick said.
“There is more than one pattern going on right now,” Kendrick said. “I may not even fish bridges tomorrow. I’ve got some other stuff that I wanted to fish today and I just ran out of time. I only got to fish two places. When you’ve got 600 waypoints on your unit and you’re trying to figure out which one to go fish, that’s hard.”
The top 10 pros after day one on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: Jay Kendrick, Grant, Ala., five bass, 25-12
2nd: General Tire pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., five bass, 22-4
3rd: Stephen Patek, Dallas, Texas, five bass, 21-4
4th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 20-13
5th: Todd Hollowell, Fishers, Ind., five bass, 20-12
6th: Yamamoto Baits pro Larry Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., five bass, 20-9
7th: Jordan Osborne, Longview, Texas, three bass, 19-10
8th: Clark Reehm, Huntington, Texas, five bass, 18-12
9th: Cody Meyer, Auburn, California, five bass, 18-10
10th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 18-9
10th: Livingston Lures pro Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 18-9
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.
Nixon earned the day's $500 Big Bass award in the pro division thanks to an 8-pound, 6-ounce largemouth.
Overall there were 545 bass weighing 1,671 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 155 pros Thursday. The catch included 66 five-bass limits.
Rod Huff of Monterey, Tennessee, leads the co-angler division with four bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces, followed by Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas, and Jeff Ragsdale of Gardendale, Alabama, who are tied for second place with 14 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers after day one on Lake Guntersville are:
1st: Rod Huff, Monterey, Tenn., four bass, 16-9
2nd: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, five bass, 14-15
2nd: Jeff Ragsdale, Gardendale, Ala., four bass, 14-15
4th: Benjie Seaborn, Guin, Ala., five bass, 14-14
5th: Timothy Curran, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 14-12
6th: Cody Hammontree, Flat Rock, Ala., five bass, 14-10
7th: David Wootton, Collierville, Tenn., five bass, 14-4
8th: Dan Hamdorf, Lowden, Iowa, four bass, 13-14
9th: Logan Thomas, Calvert City, Ky., three bass, 13-9
10th: J.P. Sims, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 12-5
Jeffrey Clark of Hoover, Alabama, earned $250 for the Big Bass award in the co-angler division with a 7-pound, 4-ounce largemouth.
Overall there were 216 bass weighing 622 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 114 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included six five-bass limits.
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 330 anglers competes Thursday and Friday. Co-angler competition concludes following Friday’s weigh-in, while the top 20 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.
Throughout the season, anglers are also vying for valuable points in hopes of qualifying for the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of professional bass fishing. The 2017 Forrest Wood Cup will be on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina, Aug. 11-13.
The total purse for the FLW Tour at Lake Guntersville presented by Lowrance is more than $800,000, including $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro division.
Anglers will take off at 7 a.m. CST each day from the Guntersville City Harbor located at 201 Blount Ave., in Guntersville. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the Guntersville City Harbor beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the Guntersville City Harbor but will begin at 4 p.m.
Prior to the weigh-ins Saturday and Sunday, FLW will host a free Family Fishing Expo at Guntersville City Harbor from noon to 4 p.m. each day. The Expo is a chance for fishing fans to meet their favorite anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by FLW sponsors, 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 Guntersville City Harbor on Saturday, Feb. 4 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 area youth 15 years of age and younger and Special Olympics athletes. Rods and reels are available for use, but youth are encouraged to bring their own if they own one.
The tournament 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 us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
ALABAMA'S JESSE WIGGINS PLANS TO MAKE WAVES IN A BASS CAT
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Mark Daniels Jr. embarks on Elite Series journey - TH Marine "PRO"files
Mark Daniels Jr. has come a long way, both, geographically and metaphorically speaking. From Fairfield, California, Daniels now resides in Tuskegee, Alabama and travels the professional bass tournament circuits which have introduced him to a wide variety of waters.
Daniels met his wife, Taneisha, at Tuskegee University. She is a lifelong resident of Tuskegee.
“We moved to California for 7 years. I worked and fished locally in my hometown. When this whole professional fishing deal came along and it was going to become a full-time gig for me, we relocated back to her hometown which makes it convenient for me when it comes to travelling.”
They have 2 children, a son, 14, and a 9-year-old daughter.
Lake Martin may be the closest water body, but Daniels doesn’t feel particularly rooted to it. “It’s crazy. I travel around so much that I wouldn’t call anything my ‘home lake’.”
Daniels brings 3 years of FLW Tour experience into his rookie season on the Bassmaster Elite Series.
After a couple of seasons on the Bassmaster Opens trails, Daniels qualified for the Elite Series via the Southern Opens last year. The top 5 points-getters earn an invite to join the Elites. “I placed 6th, but Jacob Wheeler double-qualified so I became eligible. I bought him a beer,” chuckled Daniels.
As a youngster, Daniels fished with his dad a lot. “It was one of those anything-that-bites kind of deals. We would catch quite a few ocean perch, flounder and these fish called king fish which were a type of croaker. We’d come home and have a cook out. That sparked my interest in fishing, in general, but we moved inland about 40 minutes to Fairfield and I learned about fishing ponds, these little duck ponds that had bass in them. I started fishing with my soft plastics and little spinnerbaits and I started catching a few fish and you know how it is once you hook a bass – that first bass, man, you’re done.”
As with many of us, the next step in Daniels’ journey as angler was led by a family friend. “My dad had a really good friend named Doug Rogers. He had some prior experience with tournament bass fishing. Nothing big, but he knew about it a little bit and he liked it a lot and he had an old raggedy boat, a Bayliner with an 85-horse power engine on the back. He said ‘If you think you like this tournament thing let me take you out and show you what it’s about.’ I fished my first tournament and I was really done after that. I caught my first bass in a tournament that day flipping a jig. I remember it vividly. I’ve been chasing that high ever since.”
Daniels says the highest point of his career so far has been winning the TBF National tournament in 2013. “That was the turning point in my life where I had the opportunity to compete full time. Also, all the hard work to get there – people see it on TV and they don’t realize it’s a 2-year process to make it to that championship.
“And there’s only going to be 1 guy from each state so I went to Oklahoma representing California and beating out many of the best grassroots anglers so to me, that was a huge accomplishment.”
Looking ahead, Daniels plans to climb higher still. “My number one goal is to make the Bassmaster Classic.”
What gives Daniels an advantage as he embarks on his Elite Series debut? “I try to maintain versatility. That’s been a really big hurdle for me leading up to this point in my career. Becoming versatile is extremely key. I love to flip. I love to punch mats. I love to throw big topwaters. But sometimes, being able to put that stuff down and throw a jerkbait, throw a dropshot . . . you have to be versatile to compete with these guys on this level because you’re not always going to be able to hit them on the head with a jig.
“The biggest challenge is going to be the new fisheries. Out of 9 tournaments, there are 5 new bodies of water that I have never fished before. That’s always a challenge, to some degree, but I also like that. New opportunities. New landscapes. I just like a change sometimes.”
Daniels isn’t worried about getting spun-out, mentally. And given his FLW Tour experience, he should be fine. “At the end of the day, the truth of the matter is, it’s fishing.
“You’re going to have good days. You’re going to have bad days. Try to minimize those bad days, and maximize opportunities that make up good days, and I think I’ll be just fine.”
Daniels plans to maximize some of those good times with a lure that he has tons of confidence in: The Rat-L-Trap. “Bill Lewis Outdoors is my title sponsor. I grew up on a grass fishery, the California Delta where hundreds of giant bass get caught every year on Rat-L-Traps.
“It’s just a bait that I was really familiar with, that I’d used a lot so it was a natural fit when I was able to join forces with them in a title deal. Any time I can throw a trap, I’m doing that. I have one tied on at all times, all year long. It’s one of those baits that’s been around forever and always catches fish.
“I just got back from Massachusetts where I did an hour-long seminar on everything ‘Rat-L-Trap’ and I touched on a lot of the misnomers, like that it is only a cold water bait or a grass-only bait. There are so many different things you can do with a trap and there are so many different types of traps that people never even speak about that are extremely effective.
“I use those all the time as I’m travelling around the country.”
For those reasons, don’t be surprised to see Daniels bust some Lake Cherokee bass with the trap in his 1st Elite Series tourney. Certainly, the lure will play well at Okeechobee.
Then again, considering his versatile mind set and ample skill set, Mark Daniels is set to surprise us in many ways this season. The only thing that may not come as a surprise is if he experiences much success on his first Elite Series campaign.
Ranger Boats Introduces New Aluminum Deep V Line
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FLIPPIN, Ark. (January 31, 2017) - Ranger Boats, the nation's largest manufacturer of premium fiberglass fishing boats, today announced an all-new line of aluminum Deep V models designed for multi-species anglers across the country. The new designs, available in 16-, 17- and 18-foot models offering multiple configurations, will begin shipping to dealerships later this month.
"We're excited to expand our aluminum product offering with these new Deep V models," said Ranger Boats Sales Manager Mark Zwicker. "It's the perfect fit for multi-species anglers looking for the same craftsmanship and attention to detail associated with all Ranger designs in a versatile package complete with an ultra-accessible price point."
The new Ranger Deep V line consists of nine total models ranging in length from 16' 8" to 18' 8". Specifically, this includes the 1682WT, 1682DC, 1682SC, 1782WT, 1782DC, 1782SC, 1882WT, 1882DC and 1882SC models. As indicated by model designators, single-console, dual-console and walk-thru windshield configurations are available. The designs are manufactured in the company's state-of-the-art facility in Lebanon, Missouri, and benefit from an industry-leading powder coat paint process for greater durability and improved aesthetics.
Like all Ranger aluminum designs, each model features 100-percent welded, all-aluminum construction with an abundance of closed-cell foam flotation. Combined, these characteristics deliver a noticeably smoother, quieter ride and help the designs stand out among other aluminum products on the market. In addition, each model features Ranger's custom fiberglass console and premium, marine-grade upholstery.
Another hallmark of Ranger designs can be found in the long list of standard equipment included on each of these new models. This includes a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics, on-board battery charger, factory-installed stereo, hydraulic steering, pull-up tie cleats, non-skid cockpit flooring and dual livewell/baitwells. Each model is also available with a wide range of factory rigged outboards.
The new Deep V models also come standard with a four-inch channel steel frame Ranger Trial® trailer. Designed and built specifically to fit the boat's hull for solid and easy towing, the trailer offers a swing-away tongue, waterproof lights, swing jack and durable Road Armor finish, designed to shield against rock chips, road debris and other hazards.
The new Deep V models are competitively priced for a variety of budgets and are backed by one of the strongest warranties in the industry. For more information on the new line, customers are encouraged to visit www.rangeraluminum.com or call 800-373-BOAT (2628).
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About Ranger Boats
Headquartered in Flippin, Ark., Ranger Boats is the nation's premier manufacturer of legendary fiberglass and aluminum fishing boats, with acclaimed models and series in the bass, multi-species, fish 'n play, saltwater, waterfowl utility and pontoon boat segments. Founded in 1968 by Forrest L. Wood, Ranger Boats continues its commitment to building the highest-quality, strongest-performing boats on the water. For more information, go to RangerBoats.com, RangerAluminum.com or RangerPontoons.com.
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Childers wins ABA RAM Open Series South Carolina Event on Keowee with over 17 pounds!
Randy Childers of Anderson, South Carolina won the American Bass Anglers Ram Truck Open Series South Carolina tournament, held Date on Lake Keowee.
Running out of South Cove County Park near Seneca, South Carolina, Randy caught five bass weighing 17.06 pounds. He anchored his bag with a 3.86-pound kicker. For the Boater division victory, Childers took home a check for $5,000.
"It was a tough day. I caught seven fish all day but all were keepers. I caught fish shallow, mid depth and deep. Most of my fish were caught on a jig and a jigging spoon." stated Childers.
In second for the Boaters, Andy Wicker of Pomaria, South Carolina landed a five-bass tournament limit weighing 13.76 pounds. He collected $1,575 for the effort. "It was slow. I didn’t catch my first fish until 10:30. I caught all my fish off of docks within a 2 mile area. Most were caught on a jig and a shakeyhead." Wicker said.
Darren Ashley of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina took third for the Boaters with five bass weighing 13.21 pounds earning $1050. "I fished shallow, four foot or less. I caught seven bass and broke off one. I caught my fish on a swimbait." stated Ashley.
Finishing fourth, Edward Singleton of Anderson, South Carolina landed a five-bass limit for 13.03 pounds.
Daniel Atkins of Anderson, South Carolina rounded out the top five Boaters with five bass at 13.02 pounds.
The biggest bass for the boaters was caught by Steve DeBord of Grovetown, Georgia
weighing 4.93 pounds. DeBord took home $755.
In the Co-Angler division, Tony Hudson of Liberty, South Carolina won with three bass weighing 7.16 pounds. He pocketed a check for $1200.
"I probably caught ten fish today. I culled four times and our last stop produced two good fish. I caught my fish on a dropshot and a shakeyhead. We were fishing 20-50 feet deep." stated Hudson.
Taking second for the Co-Anglers, Tyler Thompson of Anderson, South Carolina brought in a three-bass division limit weighing 6.39 pounds. He collected $400 for the effort. "I caught 8-10 fish. Most were caught early and were caught on a Manly Custom Tackle hair jig." Thompson stated.
Jason Hueble of Whitmore, South Carolina placed third among the Co-Anglers with three bass weighing 6.08 pounds. He pocketed $300 for the effort. "I caught three fish today but they were the right ones. I caught them around docks with a shakeyhead using a junebug trickworm." said Hueble.
In fourth place among the Co-Anglers, Matthew Guffey of Simpsonville, South Carolina brought in three bass for 5.81 pounds.
Justin DeBose of Anderson, South Carolina finished in fifth place with three bass at 5.79 pounds.
The biggest bass for the Co-Anglers was caught by Jonathan Carter of Greenville, South Carolina that weighed 3.94 pounds. Jonathan pocketed $215.
Slated for February 18th, the next divisional tournament will be held on Lake Murray out of Dreher Island State Park near Prosperity, South Carolina. At the end of the season, the best anglers from across the nation advance the 2017 Ray Scott Championship, slated for Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee in April of 2017.
For more information on this tournament, call Rodney Michael, tournament manager, at (256)497-0967 or ABA at (256)232-0406. On line, see www.ramopenseries.com.
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
JOHN B. CONNALLY HIGH SCHOOL WINS FLW/TBF HIGH SCHOOL FISHING TEXAS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
JASPER, Texas (Jan. 30, 2017) – The John B. Connally High School duo of Jeffrey Padavick of Austin, and Matthew McMillan of Pflugerville, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces, to win the 2017 FLW/TBF High School Fishing Texas State Championship tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. The win advanced the team to the 2017 High School Fishing National championship, held June 27-July 1 at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama.
A field of 77 teams competed in the no-entry fee tournament, which launched from the Umphrey Family Pavilion in Jasper. In FLW/TBF High School Fishing competition, the top 10-percent of teams competing advance to the High School Fishing National Championship.
The top seven teams on Sam Rayburn Reservoir that advanced to the 2017 High School Fishing National Championship were:
1st: John B. Connally High School – Jeffrey Padavick, Austin, Texas, and Matthew McMillan, Pflugerville, Texas, (five bass, 16-10)
2nd: Lake Travis High School – Abbi Gass, Spicewood, Texas, and Mark Lackey, Austin, Texas, (five bass, 15-2)
3rd: Huntington High School– River Johnson, Lufkin, Texas, and Brenton Peters, Huntington, Texas, (five bass, 14-8)
4th: Regents High School – Brian Arabie and Hunter Jackson, both of Austin, Texas, (four bass, 13-1)
5th: Kirbyville High School – Braden Berryman, Kirbyville, Texas, and Kenneth Pickett, Call, Texas, (five bass, 12-2)
6th: Rains High School – River Lee, Normangee, Texas, and Thomas Martin, Juwett, Texas, (five bass, 11-11)
7th: Magnolia West High School – Cameron Carter, Magnolia, Texas, and Aaron Batten, Houston, Texas, (four bass, 10-15)
Rounding out the top 10 teams were:
8th: The Woodlands College Park High School – Joe Beebee, The Woodlands, Texas, and Chad Mrazek, Conroe, Texas, (five bass, 10-6)
9th: Buna High School – Blaine Marks and Joel Sitton, both of Buna, Texas, (five bass, 10-3)
10th: Red Oak High School – Luke Stanford, Red Oak, Texas, and Jarret Ladue, Ovilla, Texas, (three bass, 9-11)
Complete results and photos from the event can be found at HighSchoolFishing.org.
The 2017 FLW/TBF High School Fishing Texas 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. 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 2017 High School Fishing World Finals, held in conjunction with the National Championship. At the 2016 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.
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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. 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: @FLWFishing.
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.
Oliver wins ABA RAM Open Florida Central Series Event on Toho with over 18 pounds
Troy Olivier of Lakeland, Florida won the American Bass Anglers Ram Truck Open Series Florida Central tournament, held January 28th on the Lake Toho.
Running out of Kissimmee Lakefront Park in Kissimmee, Florida, Troy caught five bass weighing 23.01 pounds. For the Boater division victory, Troy took home a check for $5,000 for his win.
“I came down a month ago and fished with my daughters and caught a bunch of bucks. When we went back there today the water was muddy so we searched for cleaner water. They were all in one spot and I caught these fish in about an hour. We stayed in hydrilla throwing a Chatter-bait and a Gambler worm.” Olivier said.
In second for the Boaters, Yogi “Kenneth” Norris of Orlando, Florida landed a five-bass tournament limit weighing 18.05 pounds. He collected $1,760 for the effort. “I caught all my fish on a rubber worm and I lost two fish that would have helped me. I stayed on the south end of Toho.” Norris said.
Jeff Holland of Winter Springs, Florida took third for the Boaters with five bass weighing 16.67 pounds. He earned $1,170. “I went fishing with no practice to just have fun today. I caught most of my fish on hard jerkbaits in hydrilla and threw swimbaits later in the day. I caught another big one throwing a wacky-rig just around the grass. We probably caught four or five limits of fish but just didn’t catch any big ones.” Holland said.
Finishing fourth, Chad Schroeder of Zephyrhills, Florida landed a five-bass limit weighing 16.16 pounds.
Keith Carson of Dunedin, Florida rounded out the top five Boaters with five bass weighing 15.65 pounds.
The biggest bass for the boaters was caught by Rich Patterson of Winter Garden, Florida that weighed 8.84 pounds and pocketed $940.
“It was around 10:00 am down around Lake Kissimmee in North Cove. I was fishing with a junebug worm in the grass. Before I caught her, I caught a mudfish around five pounds so when she hit, I said oh my gosh here’s another mud. So, I kept holding it and then my co-angler looked and said No, it’s not a mud, gosh that’s a big fish! I got all nervous and the fish went under the boat headed to the prop and finally came out where we could get her in the net. At that time we thought she was about 11 pounds because she was so long, around 30 inches.” Patterson said.
In the Co-Angler division, David Rushing of Orlando, Florida won with three bass weighing 15.00 pounds. He pocketed a check for $2,500 for his win.
“This was my first event as a Co-Angler. Last year I fished as a Boater. I fished in Cypress with Wayne Swindle today and I want to thank him for taking me to that spot.” Rushing said.
Taking second for the Co-Anglers, Jeremiah Hitt of Lutz, Florida brought in a three-bass division limit weighing 13.72 pounds with a 10.33-pound kicker. He collected $880 for the effort and $465 for the Big Bass.
“We were fishing on the east side of the lake and I saw some grass moved so I flipped a Senko over there and she thumped it. I didn’t think it was that big because she swam back out and my boater asked if I needed the net. I said no, it’s not that big, until she rolled and then I said Get the net! Get the net! That’s my biggest bass ever. This is my first ABA tournament so I was excited to start out like that.” Hitt said.
Christopher Moyer of Dover, Florida placed third among the Co-Anglers with two bass weighing 11.08 pounds. He earned $575 for his catch. “I was fishing Lake Kissimmee and I caught my fish on a Senko and a swimbait. I had six bites but only caught two fish. Another fish would have helped me out tremendously. This is my first ABA tournament and I had fun.” Moyer said.
In fourth place among the Co-Anglers, Uby Rosell of Davenport, Florida brought in three bass weighing 10.47 pounds.
Michael Morse of Plant City, Florida finished in fifth place with three bass at 10.31 pounds.
Slated for February 25th, the next tournament will be held on Lake Toho out of Kissimmee Lakefront Park in Kissimmee, FL. At the end of the season, the best anglers from across the nation advance the 2018 Ray Scott Championship, Location to be announced.
For more information on this tournament, call Billy Benedetti, tournament manager, at (256)230-5632 or ABA at (256)232-0406. On line, see www.ramopenseries.com.
About American Bass Anglers: American Bass Anglers is committed to providing low cost, close to home tournaments for the weekend angler and at the same time offer each competitor an upward path for individual angler progression. For more information about American Bass Anglers, the Ram Truck Open Series, the American Fishing Tour or the American Couples Series, visit www.americanbassanglers.com.
21.26 limit wins Texas Tournament Zone Opener on Lake Travis!
Record field of 247 Teams took to Lake Travis Saturday Morning for the Texas Tournament Zone Season opener. Full Results below:
| 1 | TERRY KIRKUS | JASON BUCHANAN | 5 | 21.26 | $10,000 + $500 SKEETER REAL MONEY BONUS | |
| 2 | MATT KEVIL | BRYAN RICHARDS | 5 | 6.66 | 20.47 | $5,000 + $2,470 BIG BASS + $500 BIOBOR BONUS |
| 3 | TREY GROCE | JOE BILL HALE | 5 | 18.99 | $4,250 | |
| 4 | RANDALL CHRISTIAN | RONALD CHRISTIAN | 5 | 17.91 | $3,500 | |
| 5 | KENNETH FAIRLY | JUSTIN WISIAN | 5 | 16.57 | $3,000 | |
| 6 | LEE BEUERSHAUSEN | RANDY GROUNDS | 5 | 15.75 | $2,500 | |
| 7 | DONNIE ROSS | DAMON ROSS | 5 | 6.50 | 15.51 | $2,000 |
| 8 | DAVID FULLER | LUKE BASEY | 5 | 15.04 | $1,500 | |
| 9 | JOE LOOZE | DYLAN LOOZE | 5 | 14.18 | $1,250 | |
| 10 | LORNE DORKNAK | JIMMY LYNN | 5 | 13.93 | $1,000 | |
| 11 | ADAM CLARK | JOSH LASSETER | 5 | 13.35 | $850 | |
| 12 | JUSTIN MAY | KEVIN THRESS | 5 | 13.16 | $725 | |
| 13 | SCOTT ROSS | GLENN RUCKEL | 5 | 13.14 | $600 | |
| 14 | STEVE MAGNELIA | FLINT FISHER | 5 | 13.05 | $550 | |
| 15 | TONY FERDINANDO | RANDY VAUGHAN | 5 | 5.83 | 12.87 | $500 |
| 16 | MATT RUSSELL | DEAN JONES | 5 | 12.85 | $475 | |
| 17 | LINO GUTIERREZ | RUBEN RIBERA | 5 | 11.99 | $450 | |
| 18 | LYNN PIERCE | TERRY HALL | 5 | 11.83 | $425 | |
| 19 | DARRELL WUENSCHE | DONNIE O'NEAL | 5 | 11.81 | $400 | |
| 20 | JASON STAFFORD | ALLEN GASS | 5 | 11.76 | $380 | |
| 20 | TERRY ROBERTS | JIM COTTINGHAM | 4 | 11.76 | $380 | |
| 20 | KENNETH MCDONNEL | MITCHELL JAKOBEIT | 5 | 11.76 | $380 | |
| 23 | LANDON GLASS | MANDI GLASS | 5 | 11.55 | $320 | |
| 24 | WES JOHANNESSEN | CALEB WESTBROOK | 4 | 11.51 | $300 | |
| 25 | JACOB MEREDITH | 5 | 11.38 | $300 | ||
| 25 | COLT SLAYDEN | JAMIE SLAYDEN | 5 | 11.38 | $300 | |
| 27 | BRIAN MATER | PHIL WARREN | 5 | 11.24 | ||
| 28 | DEAN GOLMAN | JAYSON KISSELBURG | 5 | 11.16 | ||
| 29 | FRED CATES | TEARLE CATES | 5 | 11.09 | ||
| 30 | MIKE HUCKABAY | DENTON TAMMEN | 5 | 11.02 | ||
| 31 | TOM LORDEN | ANDY ZAVALA | 5 | 10.99 | ||
| 32 | ANTHONY RIBERA | MARK RIBERA | 5 | 10.97 | ||
| 33 | WAYNE ALBERTHAL | JAMES WHITE | 5 | 10.82 | ||
| 34 | ANDER MEINE | JACOB LONG | 5 | 10.80 | ||
| 35 | JEREMIAH WAFFORD | GARY WEIMER | 4 | 6.42 | 10.61 | |
| 36 | ADRIAN BARNES | DANIEL BARNES | 5 | 5.62 | 10.49 | |
| 37 | CHRIS WOEHL | CARTER WOEHL | 5 | 10.48 | ||
| 38 | JOSEPH MAUGHON | TAYLER LAFLOWER | 5 | 10.44 | ||
| 39 | WESLEY SEIGMUND | RANDY SEIGMUND | 5 | 10.36 | ||
| 40 | CHASE MEIER | RAYMOND CANTU | 5 | 4.82 | 10.34 | |
| 41 | JAMES SCOGIN | ERIC SWEENEY | 5 | 10.29 | ||
| 42 | BILL HARMAN | DAN CLAWSON | 5 | 10.15 | ||
| 42 | LOWELL BENNETT | LANDEN BENNETT (Y) | 5 | 10.15 | ||
| 44 | JUSTIN HUMMEL | LEONARD DEBRASKA | 5 | 10.13 | ||
| 45 | BOBBY RODRIGUEZ | KYLE FORD | 5 | 10.11 | ||
| 46 | BRUCE DAVIS | CHAD THIEL | 5 | 10.07 | ||
| 46 | RONNY MAYNARD | 5 | 10.07 | |||
| 48 | KYLE JUD | JOHN WARD | 5 | 9.94 | ||
| 49 | ANTHONY SKOUBY | JASON WILLIAMS | 5 | 9.93 | ||
| 50 | JESSE FRY | SCOTT LANDON | 5 | 9.87 | ||
| 51 | BOB PRESCOTT | ROB TROUTT | 5 | 9.86 | ||
| 52 | WENDELL RAMSEY JR | WENDELL RAMSEY SR | 5 | 9.75 | ||
| 53 | JAMES VALCHAR | MICHAEL HARRIS | 5 | 9.68 | ||
| 54 | BRIAN GRAHAM | BRIAN ANDERSON | 5 | 9.64 | ||
| 55 | JOSH RHODES | CHRIS STUDINGER | 5 | 9.38 | ||
| 56 | GARRETT DOKTER | JOE STONE | 5 | 9.37 | ||
| 57 | BO BARNETT | BRYAN FENNELL | 5 | 9.20 | ||
| 58 | RICK SCHEEN | MIKE HARMAN | 5 | 9.10 | ||
| 59 | ANDY WHITEHEAD | SHANE KUEHN | 5 | 9.08 | ||
| 60 | BRANDON BRAY | JOE BRAY | 5 | 8.98 | ||
| 61 | DALE READ | JAKE READ | 5 | 8.87 | ||
| 62 | GILBERT TORRES | KAENA FREITAS | 4 | 8.74 | ||
| 63 | CHARLES WHITED | RICK SCOTT | 4 | 8.53 | ||
| 64 | PAUL SHERRILL III | DAVID CARLOCK | 4 | 8.51 | ||
| 65 | CHUCK WARE | JAMES TUCKER | 4 | 8.50 | ||
| 66 | JUSTIN PARRISH | MICHAEL ABERNATHY | 3 | 8.43 | ||
| 67 | MICHAEL WALDROP | JARED SANDERS | 5 | 8.37 | ||
| 68 | BOBBY AIMDON | MICHAEL ROBERTS | 5 | 8.07 | ||
| 69 | DAVID DELGADO | JEREMIAH SMITH | 4 | 8.01 | ||
| 70 | BRENT TREDEMEYER | KEITH HEINRICH | 5 | 8.00 | ||
| 71 | LOGAN CLARK | MIKE CLARK | 5 | 7.89 | ||
| 72 | TONY ACEVEDO | RYAN WORMLEY | 5 | 7.80 | ||
| 73 | RICK BARNDS | MATT STEELE | 5 | 7.61 | ||
| 74 | NORM WILSON JR | NORM WILSON SR | 4 | 7.42 | ||
| 75 | ADAM GLAZENER | TY BUTLER | 3 | 7.36 | ||
| 76 | BILLY MCCRARY II | TODD IVINS | 5 | 7.28 | ||
| 77 | RALPH ANDERSON (Y) | KERRY GAGE | 4 | 7.25 | ||
| 77 | CHRIS CONNER | JARED SMITH | 4 | 7.25 | ||
| 79 | BRYAN COTTER | DAVID TOWNSEND | 5 | 7.24 | ||
| 80 | GARLAND ABERNATHY | JOSEPH LAPINSKI | 4 | 7.14 | ||
| 81 | JOEY KIRKLAND | LUPE CONTRERAS | 3 | 4.15 | 7.07 | |
| 82 | WADE MEHAFFEY | MARK LEATHERMAN | 3 | 7.01 | ||
| 83 | CHRIS BERTELSON | THOMAS HOWE | 4 | 6.97 | ||
| 84 | JOHNNY WIERZBICKI | BRYAN KING | 4 | 2.80 | 6.93 | |
| 85 | JEFFERY MARKERT | CHARLES YOUNG | 4 | 6.88 | ||
| 86 | MARY POSTELL | JUSTIN POSTELL | 2 | 6.81 | ||
| 87 | PRESTON FRANKE | MATT BLACK | 3 | 6.73 | ||
| 88 | CLIFTON WATTERS | DAVID SAPPINGTON | 4 | 6.64 | ||
| 89 | KENNY ROOKE | TOMMY CHASE | 4 | 6.63 | ||
| 90 | NATHAN WRIGHT | ZAC WASHBURN | 2 | 6.41 | ||
| 91 | SAM MORROW | STEPHEN HARDING | 3 | 6.31 | ||
| 92 | DON GORDON | JAMES ROBERTS | 4 | 6.30 | ||
| 93 | GREG STEVENS | DUSTIN SMITH | 4 | 6.20 | ||
| 94 | DEAN TAYLOR | BILL GUZMAN | 4 | 6.01 | ||
| 95 | LYNNWOOD PIERCE | 3 | 5.90 | |||
| 96 | JOSEPH WARE | COLT THOMPSON | 3 | 5.88 | ||
| 97 | CARSON CONKLIN | JARED BROWN | 3 | 5.83 | ||
| 98 | LEE EVANS | MICHAEL EVANS (Y) | 2 | 5.77 | ||
| 99 | PATRICK ANDERSON | GRANT ANDERSON | 4 | 5.76 | ||
| 100 | SHAWN TAMEZ | CRAIG CORDOVA | 2 | 5.73 | ||
| 101 | SHAE SEALE | LARRY HOLYBEE | 3 | 5.63 | ||
| 102 | BRENT SMITH | TAMMY SMITH | 3 | 5.57 | ||
| 103 | SCOTT SMITH | LANCE RAY | 3 | 5.55 | ||
| 104 | ANDY TISCHLER | ADAM WYBORNY | 4 | 5.53 | ||
| 105 | LEONARD PHILLIP | HUNTER ARTHUR | 3 | 5.45 | ||
| 106 | CHRIS BAKER | ALAN GREEN | 4 | 5.30 | ||
| 107 | MATT HILL | BARRY MOTT | 3 | 5.27 | ||
| 108 | HUNTER VETTER | WILL CURLEE | 3 | 5.09 | ||
| 109 | DOGIE NEW | TRAVIS HARDCASTLE | 2 | 5.08 | ||
| 110 | DUSTIN TRIMUAR | GARY SHARP | 3 | 5.05 | ||
| 111 | MIKE CEARLEY | DERON MUELLER JR | 2 | 5.02 | ||
| 112 | GARRETT SHEPPERD | GREG SHEPPERD | 2 | 4.96 | ||
| 112 | STEVE VAN MEETEREN | CINDY VAN MEETEREN | 3 | 4.96 | ||
| 114 | LYNNE BROOKS | GARY BROOKS | 2 | 4.74 | ||
| 115 | RAYMOND CALK | COREY SCHNAUTZ | 3 | 4.65 | ||
| 116 | NICOLAS PEOPLES | WES BENNETT | 3 | 4.58 | ||
| 117 | ROLAND LOERA | JASON DUNBAR | 2 | 4.48 | ||
| 118 | VINCENT NEAL | KYLE ROWE | 3 | 4.47 | ||
| 119 | DANIEL KURTZ | DANIEL WILLIS | 2 | 4.46 | ||
| 120 | LUKE MARBERRY (Y) | GARY GRIFFIN | 2 | 4.37 | ||
| 121 | RUSSELL RAESZ | ADRIAN SANCHEZ | 2 | 4.29 | ||
| 122 | TOMMY MILLS | DAVID DOUGLASS | 3 | 4.23 | ||
| 123 | MARK BENNETT | CASEY BENNETT | 2 | 4.13 | ||
| 124 | BRYAN REECE | BRADLEY REECE | 2 | 4.05 | ||
| 125 | MICHAEL BUTLER | MARK MAYNARD | 1 | 4.04 | ||
| 126 | ERIC KRAIMER | REBECCA KRAIMER | 3 | 3.92 | ||
| 127 | CHUCK BROOKE | STACEY MOORE | 2 | 3.90 | ||
| 128 | TIM THOMPSON | BRIAN HOLMES | 2 | 3.51 | ||
| 129 | PAUL REYNOLDS | 2 | 3.49 | |||
| 130 | JAKE SADLER | JAKE MASSEY | 2 | 3.46 | ||
| 131 | CJ OATES | ROBERT BUCHANAN | 2 | 3.44 | ||
| 132 | DAVID BARATZ | CRAIG BULLOCK | 2 | 3.42 | ||
| 133 | ROBERT MILLER | JACKY ROBERTS | 2 | 3.30 | ||
| 134 | RORY HAELKER | DAVID PELATA | 2 | 3.21 | ||
| 135 | MATT RUSS | JASON LONG | 2 | 3.11 | ||
| 136 | JOE RUTHERFORD | ANDREW RUTHERFORD | 1 | 3.05 | ||
| 137 | DAVID DODSON | LUCAS DODSON (Y) | 2 | 2.74 | ||
| 138 | THOMAS STEVENS | JASON STEVENS | 1 | 2.47 | ||
| 139 | THOMAS LEARNED | KYLE LEARNED | 1 | 1.91 | ||
| 140 | TRENT BLAKE | CLINTON HOLSTINE | 1 | 1.85 | ||
| 141 | DENNIS BOWERS | NATHAN BOWERS (Y) | 1 | 1.81 | ||
| 142 | MICKEY SANDERS | ROGER MEEK | 1 | 1.71 | ||
| 142 | TYLER TORWICK | CONNOR CASE | 1 | 1.71 | ||
| 144 | MARIO GONZALES | DAVID CALLAHAN | 1 | 1.42 | ||
| 145 | CARY LAUDADIO | RAY TOMASITS | 1 | 1.07 | ||
| 146 | BRIAN ANTIS | KEVIN TAYLOR | ||||
| 146 | KRIS WILSON | HAROLD MOORE | ||||
| 146 | BRAD PATAK | ANDREW OLIVER | ||||
| 146 | DAVID ACHILLES | JOHN MILLS | ||||
| 146 | JOHNNIE SIMONS | SHAWN MARKGRAFF | ||||
| 146 | ERIC HAMEISTER | BRAD STEWART | ||||
| 146 | TULLY WILLIAMS | JOE ANDERSON | ||||
| 146 | STAN KAMINSKI | CODY BAILEY | ||||
| 146 | BRANDON ACKERMAN | KYLE BARTO | ||||
| 146 | JACOB CMEREK | JASON JONES | ||||
| 146 | WILL DAVENPORT (Y) | ALAN DAVENPORT | ||||
| 146 | CHAD KALINA | KOEHL CRANEK | ||||
| 146 | DEREK CONE | TOM WILKINSON | ||||
| 146 | BILL WITTIE | LANCE MENCHU | ||||
| 146 | SAM STONE | EVAN COLEMAN | ||||
| 146 | RANCE ROGERS | MIKE ROGERS | ||||
| 146 | BOB JONES | WAYNE ESKEW | ||||
| 146 | GARY GAYDOS | MARILYN GAYDOS | ||||
| 146 | JASON GAYDOS | JACOB GAYDOS | ||||
| 146 | DARREL ROUTON | JACK CULBREATH | ||||
| 146 | ROBBY PAYNE | WAYNE HEPPEL | ||||
| 146 | CRAIG UROFSKY | LARRY KATTNER | ||||
| 146 | JOSHUA ROBERTS | MONICA MATHIS | ||||
| 146 | STEVEN ALBERTHAL | JOHNNA ALBERTHAL | ||||
| 146 | CHARLES HICE | |||||
| 146 | RICK MICKAN | JAMES THOMAS | ||||
| 146 | GERALD MEULLER | PAT MURPHY | ||||
| 146 | DAN TAYLOR | TYLER CHEATHAM | ||||
| 146 | CHRISTOPHER WASHINGTON | JARRID HOHENSEE | ||||
| 146 | RANDAL FRISBIE | BRYAN TAYLOR | ||||
| 146 | MATT MORGAN | AARON FLAGG | ||||
| 146 | WAYLON PAPST | BILL MCANN | ||||
| 146 | MICAH KIRKHART | DAN BECKMEYER | ||||
| 146 | MATT HUDSON | |||||
| 146 | GARY RIGGS | DAVID STIDHAM | ||||
| 146 | GARRETT KOSLAN | MARSHALL KOSLAN | ||||
| 146 | KELLY MAULDIN | MARCUS SAMANIENJO | ||||
| 146 | TYLER COCHRAN | ARTHUR COCHRAN | ||||
| 146 | ZACHARY VATER | ALEX CHAPMAN | ||||
| 146 | DEREK BUTTS | |||||
| 146 | JAY ASHBAUGH | CARSON ROBERTS | ||||
| 146 | MICHAEL STREET | MATTHEW VRANA | ||||
| 146 | SCOTT OLSON | KYLE OLSON | ||||
| 146 | DONNIE WEBER | JOHN KAPALDO | ||||
| 146 | ELMER OWENS | |||||
| 146 | GARY JOHNSON | ANIBAL GUZMAN | ||||
| 146 | RANDALL KRAMER | ANTHONY KEANE | ||||
| 146 | DAVID LANDRY | KELVIN MILAN | ||||
| 146 | COOPER DOZIER | ERIC MCMILLAN | ||||
| 146 | SCOTT BLAKELY | MIKE MCLAUGHLIN | ||||
| 146 | BAYLOR POLKINGHORN | JAMES POLKINGHORN | ||||
| 146 | PHILLIP ABREO | MICHAEL WIMBERLY | ||||
| 146 | CHAD FLETCHER | |||||
| 146 | ROBERT SNIDER | KEVIN LEVERENZ | ||||
| 146 | GARY WAFFORD | GREG WAFFORD | ||||
| 146 | JAMES DIGNAN | MATT MELLOR | ||||
| 146 | GEORGE ESCAMILLA | BRANDON KITCHENS | ||||
| 146 | PRESTON DANNA | JAKE KENNAMER | ||||
| 146 | DAVID WENCIL | TONY THOMPSON | ||||
| 146 | JOHN RILEY | JOHN BOURLAND | ||||
| 146 | DON DOBBS | MIKE MARSHALL | ||||
| 146 | DANIEL GIBSON | RICHARD GIBSON | ||||
| 146 | DARRYL HANSON | JERRY CARPENTER | ||||
| 146 | DREW GRESHAM | BEAU REED | ||||
| 146 | JAMES MOORE | GROVER CHAMBLISS | ||||
| 146 | PAUL LUNA | LOGAN DRAKE | ||||
| 146 | DANNY HUGHES | DARREL PRCIN | ||||
| 146 | ANTHONY GOODSON | KEVIN BLACKERBY | ||||
| 146 | ROBBIE THORSTEINSON | DAVID REID | ||||
| 146 | DAN CULLISON | KELLY STUART | ||||
| 146 | CHANS MARRIN | TOM VEILLEUX | ||||
| 146 | TERRY COBBLE | BLAIR COBBLE | ||||
| 146 | LANCE WENMOHS | DIXON WENMOHS | ||||
| 146 | ROSS WRIGHT | MICAH NORTON | ||||
| 146 | RODNEY HYATT | ALBERT HUDSON | ||||
| 146 | CHUCK SMITH | CODY SMITH | ||||
| 146 | DAVID STIDHAM | GERALD POBORIL | ||||
| 146 | ZACH BROWN | BRANDON FELTNER | ||||
| 146 | DAN SHARPHORN | WYATT SHARPHORN | ||||
| 146 | TIM DIXON | KENNETH CUMMINS | ||||
| 146 | JUSTIN POLLEI | GARRET NELSON | ||||
| 146 | DALE HUGHES | DAN BRUNSON | ||||
| 146 | PRATT KRAMER | RANDALL JOHNSON | ||||
| 146 | JOHN-MICHAEL DUNAWAY | DEREK TAYLOR | ||||
| 146 | GERARD RUMSEY | DANNY BRADLEY | ||||
| 146 | JOE ORTIZ | RAUL ORTIZ | ||||
| 146 | RODNEY THOMPSON | BILLY CONWAY | ||||
| 146 | RANDY HIBLER | DUSTY HIBLER | ||||
| 146 | MARK BULLOCK | MARK NORDSTROM | ||||
| 146 | DANIEL ABERNATHY | JACKEY ICONIAN | ||||
| 146 | RICHIE LAND | KEN WILKINS | ||||
| 146 | GENE WHITE | LANE AMIDON | ||||
| 146 | ERIC CHANDLER | ISAIAH CHANDLER (Y) | ||||
| 146 | GARY FRIEDEL | KIRK FULTON | ||||
| 146 | TYSON DEVER | TRAVIS JONES JR | ||||
| 146 | BENNY AYLOR | DAVE MANGELSDORF | ||||
| 146 | RICK HAMILTON | TONY MALDONADO | ||||
| 146 | DUKE KINLEY | LEVAR JENKINS | ||||
| 146 | SHELBY FLOYD | JEFF DOUGLAS | ||||
| 146 | WESLEY POUCHER | JUSTIN STRAWSER | ||||
| 146 | GARY RAESZ | ANDY RIBERA | ||||
| 146 | JAMES CANTWELL | RANDALL CANTWELL |
Matsubu & Mire Claim the Season Opener in the Texas Team Trail on Rayburn!
Texas Tech Defends Its Home Turf With College Regional Win On Sam Rayburn
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ALABAMA’S ASHLEY WINS COSTA FLW SERIES SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION OPENER ON LAKE OKEECHOBEE
CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2017) – 19-year-old Taylor Ashley of Warrior, Alabama, fishing in his first ever Costa FLW Series event, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to claim top honors at the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division opener on Lake Okeechobee presented by Power-Pole. Ashley’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 68 pounds, 12 ounces, was enough to earn him the win by a 7-pound, 10-ounce margin and a check for $60,200.
“I’m feeling pretty great right now,” said Ashley, who became the third-youngest boater to ever win an FLW Series event. “All of my fish came from one area of the lake, on the south end. It wasn’t my original plan to fish there but the adjustment ended up being the biggest of the week.”
Ashley said his area – which spanned between 500 and 600 yards – was littered with reeds and lilypads. He said he caught 95 percent of his bass throughout the week on a 3/8-ounce Dirty Jigs No-Jack Swimjig.
“I swam it along the edges of the reeds and cast it as far as I could in the pads,” said Ashley. “Everybody that was watching me fish said I was doing something called the “Alabama Shake”, which means that I was shaking the lure while swimming it. I threw it in both green-pumpkin and white colors, but most of my big bites came on the white.”
Ashley’s heaviest five-bass limit weighed in at 25 pounds, 6 ounces, on Friday. He noted that those five fish included his most crucial catch of the week.
“I hooked a largemouth in the lilypads and the bait popped out of her mouth just as my co-angler dipped the net under to grab it,” said Ashley. “She was buried under a bunch of pads in the net and ended up being a 7-pounder. That definitely was my anchor for the tournament.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Okeechobee were:
1st: Taylor Ashley, Warrior, Ala., 15 bass, 68-12, $60,200
2nd: Joshua Weaver, Macon, Ga., 15 bass, 61-2, $25,900
3rd: Derek Yasinski, Senoia, Ga., 15 bass, 61-1, $17,000
4th: Gary Milicevic, Labelle, Fla., 15 bass, 57-12, $15,000
5th: Scott Byrd, Ocklawaha, Fla., 15 bass, 52-5, $14,000
6th: Robert Beatty, Clermont, Fla., 15 bass, 51-4, $10,500
7th: Brian Holder, Denver, N.C., 15 bass, 49-3, $9,300
8th: Buddy Gross, Chickamauga, Ga., 15 bass, 45-2, $8,000
9th: Bill Tervin, Pocola, Okla., 15 bass, 44-14, $7,000
10th: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 12 bass, 44-1, $5,000
A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Holder caught a big largemouth weighing 10-pounds, 8-ounces Thursday – the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division. For his catch, Holder earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $300.
Howard Poitevint of Bainbridge, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $34,700, including a Ranger Z175 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude outboard motor. Poitevint earned his win with a three-day total catch of 15 bass weighing 46 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Okeechobee were:
1st: Howard Poitevint, Bainbridge, Ga., 15 bass, 46-13, $29,700 + $5,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Scott Bern, San Rafael, Calif., 11 bass, 43-9, $7,550
3rd: Dean Harcourt, Sebastian, Fla., 15 bass, 41-3, $6,000
4th: John Trudel, Lighthouse Point, Fla., 15 bass, 40-14, $4,500
5th: Eulon Lee Jr., Eclectic, Ala., 14 bass, 38-8, $4,000
6th: Israel Gibson, Spruce Pine, N.C., 15 bass, 37-13, $3,500
7th: Malcom Thiel, Carriere, Miss., 14 bass, 37-3, $3,000
8th: Casey O'Donnell, Scottsboro, Ala., 15 bass, 34-0, $2,250
9th: Mark Whitman, Elon, N.C., 13 bass, 33-0, $1,700
10th: Wayne Sprayberry, Williston, Fla., 12 bass, 32-2, $1,650
Alonzo Evans of Sebring, Florida, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday, a largemouth weighing 10 pounds, 5 ounces that earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200.
The Costa FLW Series on Lake Okeechobee was hosted by Roland & Mary Ann Martin's Marina & Resort and the Hendry County Tourism Development Council. It was the first Southeastern Division tournament of 2017. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be the Western Division opener, held Feb. 9-11, on Lake Havasu in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2017 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 2-4 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tennessee.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
Josh Weaver cracks 32 pounds, take Costa Lead at Okeechobee!
January 27, 2017 by Rob Newell
If you have ever wondered why anglers are forever infatuated with the bass fishing fairyland called Lake Okeechobee, take the case of young Joshua Weaver from Macon, Ga., as an example.
On day one of the Costa FLW Series presented by Power-Pole, Weaver weighed in a five-bass limit for 17 pounds, 10 ounces. A pretty respectable catch in its own right.
On day two he nearly doubled that catch, hauling in a stunning 32 pounds, 10 ounces of Okeechobee giants to take the overall lead with a two-day total of 50 pounds even.
Midday update
Top five patterns from day one
Weaver secured the big catch by 9:30 in the morning, catching a pair of 8 pounders and a pair of 6 pounders in a 45-minute span.
So what’s the difference in a 17-10 day and 32-10 day?
“I kept them on today,” Weaver says. “I lost four big ones yesterday – I should have had 25 yesterday. Sometimes keeping them buttoned up in that stuff is a challenge and today I capitalized on my bites.”
Weaver says he has four large areas he is drifting through, but only really utilized one of them today for a majority of his catch.
“I moved to my second area, but once I culled a 4-1/2 pounder I thought, I better just leave all these areas alone and let them rest until tomorrow,” Weaver says. “So I left and looked other places and helped my co-angler get a limit.”
Joshua Weaver
Weaver is casting and winding a moving bait over scattered vegetation.
“The females really moved in yesterday afternoon and this morning,” he says. “My bites in these areas have gone from catching a pile of bucks to fewer bites with a lot more quality. It’s amazing how that happens so fast on this lake.”
Though Weaver’s catch was impressive, he holds only a 14-ounce lead over second place, showing just how phenomenal this fishing fairyland and really is.
Top 10 pros
1. Josh Weaver – Macon, Ga. – 50-0 (10)
2. Derek Yasinski – Senoia, Ga. – 49-2 (10)
3. Taylor Ashley – Warrior, Ala. – 46-6 (10)
4. Gary Milicevic – Labelle, Fla. – 41-2 (10)
5. Brian Holder – Denver, N.C. – 39-14 (10)
6. Robert Beatty – Clermont, Fla. – 38-12 (10)
7. Scott Byrd – Ocklawaha, Fla. – 36-6 (10)
8. Bill Tervin – Pocola, Okla. – 35-15 (10)
9. Ron Nelson – Berrien Springs, Mich. – 35-10 (10)
10. Buddy Gross – Chickamauga, Ga. – 35-5 (10)
Complete results
Scott Bern
Bern fires up 27+
Scott Bern of San Rafael, Calif., experienced a dream day on Lake Okeechobee, wrestling in 27 pounds, 9 ounces from the back of Michel Purvis’ boat to take the co-angler lead with 42 pounds, 3 ounces. Bern started the day with Yamamoto Senkos to get his limit, but then switched to reaction-type baits to fool the big bass.
Complete results
Texas Tech Bass Fishing Team Grabs Lead In Bassmaster College Regional
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Martens Gets “Spy” Technology
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Shizuoka, Japan –
Mark Zona, of ESPN2 recently mentioned, “Aaron Martens is hands down one the best tournament fisherman in the history of Bassmasters…off the water he is one of the best people I have ever met…He has made me a better person.”
Bassmaster Elite Series Emcee Dave Mercer said, “Aaron Martens is truly one of the most original and innovative anglers of all time. His unique and open-minded approach to angling has not only resulted in on-the-water dominance, but his amazing mind has impacted and changed the sport of fishing…”
DUO International, the innovative Japanese lure company who invented the tournament finesse technique called Spybaiting, has added Aaron Martens to their team for future development. David Swendseid, DUO Manager and R&D specialist, echoed Zona and Mercer’s thoughts on Martens; “Aaron’s dominance in professional angling is beyond impressive! What some may not be apprised of is his depth of understanding lure function.That experience coupled withregarded Chief designer, Mr. Adachi’sextensiveR&D platform is going to yield some of the most functional, high-quality products to the bass fishing industry.”
Martens, eight-time Bassmaster Champion and 4th on the all-time B.A.S.S. money list with over 2.6 million in winnings, is excited about the future saying, “I have been thinking about this for a very long time and I am really excited about it. To make a real contribution to DUO lure creation is a tremendous honor and designing lures is something I have always dreamed of. Over the past few years, I have used DUO Realis products including their spybaits, jerkbaits, and crankbaits. I have been impressed with the lure’s unique traits, actions and quality. DUOthinks outside the box. Studying the design steps Mr. Adachi of DUO puts into each lure, I am confident that partneringwith DUO is the right decision.”
Marten’s quest begins for a 19th overall and 15th consecutive Bassmaster Classic berth and fourth Angler of the Year title in early February at Cherokee Lake in Tennessee. Martens said, “I am convinced that DUO Realis products are going to be a major part of my 2017 season.”
For more information about DUO please visit DUO-International.com.
To see a video on the creation of DUO Baits please see these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQt4HNqwB5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa84mnzcNE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKiGW7I0eTE
For more information about Aaron Martens please visit AaronMartens.com
Milicevic leads FLW Costa Event on Big O, day two underway!
January 26, 2017 by Rob Newell
This time of year, 10- to 12-pound limits are a dime a dozen on Lake Okeechobee. If you don’t believe it, just take a look at the day one stats of the Costa FLW Series event presented by Power-Pole where 211 limits were weighed in out of 250 pros fishing.
Most of those limits were comprised of aggressive buck bass that make beds by the thousands in the shallows while the more wary – and much larger – females lurk around on the outsides of the bedding zones in deeper water or thicker cover.
Essentially the difference between a par 10-pound limit and a 24-pound limit on Okeechobee right now is one is a bag full of males and the other is a bag full of females. But targeting just female bass all day is a much riskier proposition that requires being in close tune with staging areas, moon phases, wind directions, water clarities and fishing pressure to know exactly when and where a new bevy of big girls is going to roll up.
Two Okeechobee pros who have proven to be in tune with this staging rhythm in 2017 are Gary Milicevic of Labelle, Fla., and Robert Beatty of Clermont, Fla.
Top five patterns from day one
Milicevic has been part of two big tournament finishes in recent weeks, including a win at the Roland Martin Marine Center Team Series Championship and a runner-up in an American Bass Series event. Beatty, too, made some noise with his BFL season opener win last week with a weight of 27 pounds, 10 ounces.
It’s by no coincidence these two pros are now one and two at Okeechobee at this week’s Costa event.
Milicevic leads with a five bass limit weighing 25-5, anchored by 7-pound, 5-ounce “biggin.”
Milicevic was on his way to one of his surefire limit spots this morning when he noticed an area he planned to fish later in the day for bigger fish was void of boats.
“Right then I scratched my plan,” Milicevic says. “I decided not to go get a limit first and just start on the big ones.”
Instead, he got out the big rod with the short string and went to work. In the end, going to the limit fillers would have been a complete waste of time, as he never needed a single par keeper.
“I had 22 pounds by 10 o’ clock,” he says. “I went to a second area and culled up a time or two and then decided to leave the rest of the secondary area for tomorrow.”
Milicevic added that a key to his success this year has been staying ahead of the boat traffic in his prime areas. He fished in solitude much of the day.
“Some of the places I caught them in the other tournaments are covered up with boats now,” he says. “Finding those key little 100-yard stretches no one has found yet is big on this lake. I’ve put in some time this year keeping up with the fish and the fishing pressure in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the pressure – I just hope I can do it for two more days.”
Top 10 pros
1. Gary Milicevic – Labelle, Fla. – 25-5 (5)
2. Robert Beatty – Clermont, Fla. – 23-11 (5)
3. Derek Yasinski – Senoia, Ga. – 23-8 (5)
4. Scott Byrd – Oklawaha, Fla. – 22-13 (5)
5. Buddy Gross – Chickamauga, Ga. – 22-1 (5)
6. Taylor Ashley – Warrior, Ala. – 21-0 (5)
7. Mike Miller – Trinity, N.C. – 20-10 (5)
8. Tim Fox – Meridan, Miss. – 20-6 (5)
9. Norman Foskey – Biloxi, Miss. – 20-1 (5)
10. Clint Brown – Bainbridge, Ga. – 19-14 (5)
Harcourt takes co-angler lead
Dean Harcourt leads the Co-angler Division with a limit of bass weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces. Harcourt fished with pro Morris Nix who had him around fish all day.
“I caught a fish on my second cast and pretty much caught them all day long after that,” Harcourt says. “I was doing more of a finesse deal than my partner. Morris was a great partner; we each did our own thing all day and he was ready with the net on all my fish.”
Louisiana & Texas Teams Tied After First Round Of Bassmaster College Regional on Sam Rayburn heading into day 2
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Elite Series Rookie Dustin Connell aims high
Dustin Connell is one of the rookies who will fish the Bassmaster Elite Series this year. A few of them bring Tour-level experience from the FLW ranks. Connell is not one of them. His is a fresh start.
“Last year was my first year fishing all of the Opens,” says the 26-year-old from Clanton, Alabama. “I was fortunate to qualify for the Elite Series.”
Make no mistake though, Connell has put in some serious time on the water. “My brother got me into it. I was probably 12 when we fished our first tournament and I loved it. That’s all I wanted to do after that. We fished non-stop every week for four years. Then I fished in college and did well there. Then I started fishing locally and it just kind of took off from there.”
He lists his greatest accomplishment as the Bassmaster Open he won on the Alabama River in 2015, though he did not fish the other 2 events on that trail that year and therefore did not qualify for the Bassmaster Classic.
His home water is basically the whole Coosa River. “If I had to pick one lake I’d say Mitchel, or maybe Jordan.” The local scene is competitive. “When I fish around here I’m usually fishing against 10 Elite series guys and 3 or 4 FLW guys. If you’re going to win, you’re kind of forced to put in a lot of time.”
You could say the young pro is married to his career, but not to a woman. ”I’m not married; don’t have kids. I’m concentrating on fishing. Other than that, man, I’m just rolling with the flow.”
As for the career, “I graduated from in 2012 from the University of Alabama and fishing is something I always wanted to do. Once I graduated I fished a lot of local tournaments here in Alabama, right around the Coosa River. There are enough tournaments that you can make a lot of money just fishing local tournaments. I made a living doing that for a long time. Two years ago I worked construction for about 8 months. That just wasn’t for me so I said ‘I’m going back home and fishing’. It worked out pretty good. I won that Southern Open and that opened a lot of doors for me.”
Business is good. While pre-fishing Okeechobee Connell caught several bass over 5 pounds and an estimated 8-pounder. He enjoys fishing Florida’s grass lakes but is most looking forward to a couple of the tougher venues that the Elite Series will visit this year. “February 9th, on Cherokee. That’s kind of a wild card for everybody. They’re used to fishing in Florida first but we’re about to go to a smallmouth lake.” He also has his eye on Dardanelle, as he has some experience there too.
His competitive edge? “I love catching fish deep. I feel like I separate myself if I can get out deep. I also love catching big spotted bass around current and around dams, that kind of stuff. I don’t hang around the crowd a lot. If I can make a hundred-mile run and get away from guys then that’s what I’ll do. If you’re out there doing the same thing as everybody else, you’re not going to win. I can skip a dock as well as anybody else, but if that’s what everybody is doing, then you’re hoping for luck; a big bite to separate you from the other guys. If I can separate myself, it works for me.”
Connell has some goals. “Without a doubt, I want Rookie of the Year and to make the Classic, but - and I know a lot of rookies don’t really set this goal - but I want to win Angler of the Year. You’ve got to see it in your mind. That’s what I want. I’m not out there to just fish against those rookies. I want to win Angler of the Year. It’s very possible. Anything can happen.”
T-H Marine and KVD Partner up for 2017 Elite Season
Huntsville, AL – January 25, 2017 -- T-H Marine Supplies, Inc., of Huntsville, Alabama, announces that it will be a partnering with legendary Bassmaster Elite Series and Major League Fishing angler Kevin Van Dam for 2017.
T-H Marine CEO Jeff Huntley stated, “Working with KVD is amazing. Not only is he known as one of the most dominant bass fishermen of all time, he is also one of the greatest promotors of product in history. He could pick any product in any category to have on his boat, but he used our products many years before we ever sponsored him in any way, even before we could even dream of deserving space on his jersey. Kevin believes in what we are doing to make boating and fishing better with great products. He works really hard for things he believes in and we are so glad he is on our Pro Staff.”
“I have worked with T-H Marine over the last few years on a number of individual signature products such as the KVD Kong, Two-Way Alarm and Hydrowave”, said Kevin Van Dam. “In addition, I have had my Nitro rigged with an Atlas Hydraulic jackplate and Hot Foot foot throttle for years. I am very excited to partner with T-H Marine to promote the full line of products. We already have a number of new products in the works to make me, and every other angler, more efficient on the water.”
“We are fired up to partner with Kevin Van Dam across our full product line. He is an angler that pushes his equipment to the limit in pursuit of more wins and he doesn’t compromise on quality. In addition, he is always thinking about the next product that will give him an advantage over the competition. It is an exciting time for T-H Marine” said Jimmy Mason, Director of Marketing, T-H Marine.
T-H Marine is celebrating its 42th Anniversary of business and has grown to be one of the largest manufacturers of boating and fishing accessories in the U.S. T-H Marine provides parts to every boat manufacturer in the country and distributes them thru virtually every major distributor and retailer of boating and fishing products. To learn more about T-H Marine, please visit www.thmarine.com .
Bean wins ABA AFT D47 Event on Lake Hamilton
Brian Bean of Hot Springs, Arkansas won the fourth tournament of the AFT D47 2017 season that was held on January 14, 2017 and contested on Lake Hamilton. Brian Bean topped the field with five fish for a total weight of 15.63 pounds. Brian threw a swimbait and spoon to catch his fish. He collected $666 for his efforts.
Ray Neighbors sacked up five fish for a total weight of 15.56 pounds. Ray relied on a crankbait to fill his livewell. Ray also caught the big bass of the day at 5.40 pounds and took home a total of $554.
Spencer Shuffield rounded out the top three with a total weight of 14.95 pounds. Spencer used a crankbait to catch his fish.
29 anglers came out on a dreary day in the hopes of filling their livewells with hungry Hamilton bass. Hamilton was a bit stingy today as only 90 bass, for a total weight of 164.81 pounds, were brought to the scales with only 12 five fish limits being weighed. However, a few anglers found some good fish.
Top Five Finishers:
1. Brian Bean 15.63 lbs
2. Ray Neighbors 15.56 lbs
3. Spencer Shuffield 14.95 lbs
4. Matthew Maynard 13.84 lbs
5. Luke Bradley 9.51 lbs
The next tournament in this division is on Lake Ouachita on February 11, 2017 launching out of the Mt. Harbor ramp.
The next tournament in the D42 division is on the Arkansas River/Little Rock Pool April 8, 2017 launching from the Verizon ramp.
I’d like to thank our local sponsors who provide great support throughout the year.
Fish N’ Stuff
H2O Sportz & Marine
I-40 Transmission
NIFE Marine
Temple Fork Outfitters
Window World of Little Rock
Zimmerman’s Sports Center/Exxon
For more information on this or any future event in this division contact John Simonof at (501)772.4938 or by email at [email protected].
These anglers are earning valuable points toward the divisional angler of the year title. The points champion from each division will compete in the annual Ram American Bass Anglers AFT Angler of the Year Final Round at the Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship.
The Ram American Fishing Tour offers low cost, close to home bass tournaments that are designed for the weekend angler. All ABA anglers fish for money and points. The points advance the angler to their divisional championship and the top 500 anglers in the US are invited to the Ram American Fishing Tour National Championship. For more information on American Bass Anglers please visit www.americanbassanglers.com or call (256)232-0406.
Watson gets RMP (Russell Marine Products) for 2017!
Professional Bass Angler of FLW Tour, BASS Opens and Major League Fishing has joined forces with Russell Marine Products to share with every angler specific tools that help enhance the fishing experience, whether on tour or just out for some weekend fun.
James Watson has won many titles thus far in his career through his participation in the Bassmaster Central Opens, FLW Invitational and the PAA. Starting as a co-angler and working his way to a pro angler, Watson quickly made a name for himself in the industry. As a former US Army Sergeant with a background in real estate he has a full understanding of growth, branding and promotions, which has led to his relationship with Russell Marine Products.
Watson says “Russell Marine Products has some amazing products to help keep your boat protected and to help keep you, the angler, more efficient at affordable prices, which I love!”
Watson will be promoting the Mercury ProXS Vented Motor Cover, Power-Pole Shallow Water Anchor Lights and will be working closely with the Russell Marine Products Team this year to test out new products.
Justin Russell, owner of Russell Marine Products says, “Watson has the mindset and attitude our company looks for in its partners adding “James is the perfect fit to our team because he has the experience and knowledge about products our customers are looking for.”
You can catch these new items on Watsons boat all season long. Don’t forget to follow along on social media for product reviews, how to’s and more!
Facebook: James Watson Professional Angler
Instagram: @therealjameswatson
Twitter: @jameswatsonfish
Facebook: Russell Marine Products
