GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Sept. 26, 2016) – Local angler Gil Summerlin of Guntersville, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 4 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division Super Tournament on Lake Guntersville, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 14 ounces. For his victory, Summerlin earned $8,234.

“I was on the lower end of the lake targeting two different shell beds that had a little depression in them,” said Summerlin, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “The areas were about five miles apart, but identical in terms of structure. The fish were set up on the bottom between 12 to 14 feet down.

“In the morning on Day One I used a Sexy Shad-colored Strike King 6XD crankbait and boated the largest bass of the event before 7 a.m.,” Summerlin continued. “After a while, I switched to a Mean Mouth Football-Head Jig rigged with a green-pumpkin Reaction Innovations soft-plastic. I dragged it slow, and then let it sit a minute. I caught seven keepers by 8 a.m. and was done.”

On Sunday, Summerlin said the lack of wind made for a tougher bite. He said he used the same lures as the day before to cap off the event.

“I rotated between the two beds and had a limit by 10 a.m.,” said Summerlin.  “I caught nine keepers, but spent most of the day going for a bigger bite.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1st:          Gil Summerlin, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 38-14, $8,234

2nd:         Cody Harrison, Florence, Ala., 10 bass, 35-11, $3,375

3rd:          Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-2, $2,217

4th:          Curtis Merriman, Cullman, Ala., nine bass, 31-13, $1,481

5th:          Josh Butler, Hayden, Ala., 10 bass, 31-0, $1,270

6th:          Tracy Robinson, Gadsden, Ala., 10 bass, 30-8, $1,164

7th:          Matt Lee, Guntersville, Ala., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,058

8th:          Casey Martin, New Hope, Ala., 10 bass, 29-4, $1,252

9th:          Freddy Palmer, Estill Springs, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-3, $847

10th:        Clayton Joyce, Chapel Hill, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-14, $741

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Summerlin’s 6-pound, 10-ounce catch on Saturday earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $885.

Randy Hill of Athens, Alabama, won the co-angler division and earned $3,260 with a two-day cumulative catch of eight bass weighing 23 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1st”          Randy Hill, Athens, Ala., eight bass, 23-13, $3,260

2nd:         Danny Moss, Glencoe, Ala., nine bass, 22-12, $1,530

3rd:          Scott Bussey, Hayden, Ala., seven bass, 21-1, $1,020

4th:          Collin Bruce, Florence, Ala., eight bass, 18-2, $764

5th:          Josh Perrymon, Guntersville, Ala., five bass, 16-6, $612

6th:          Derek Holly, Johnson City, Tenn., six bass, 15-7, $561

7th:          Brandon Skinner, DeArmanville, Ala., six bass, 15-5, $510

8th:          Jody Moore, Hixson, Tenn., five bass, 12-2, $459

9th:          Trent Hoover, Huntsville, Ala., three bass, 11-6, $828

10th:        Jared Murphree, Athens, Ala., five bass, 11-2, $357

Hoover caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounces, and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $420.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishingand on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.