Co-Angler Title Goes to Anniston’s Corbett

COLUMBIANA, Ala. (May 13, 2019) – Boaters Dusty Herron of Alabaster, Alabama, and Chris Rutland of Wetumpka, Alabama, each caught five bass Saturday weighing 16 pounds even to tie for the win at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Lay Lake. After contingency awards, Rutland earned $3,435, while Herron took home $2,435.

“I changed up my strategy a little bit because of how many boats were around. Everyone was fishing points, so I knew I needed to try something different if I wanted to win,” said Herron, who earned his first win FLW competition. “Basically I found them super shallow in really scattered out grass. I was on the lower end of the lake toward Mitchell Dam. I knew what they were on, so I went around looking for the same kind of stuff. They were definitely spread out – probably 15 different places.”

Herron said he threw a white custom swim-jig with a custom worm trailer of the same color. He caught nine keepers – including two bass over 5 pounds – and culled four times.

Rutland said he fished main-lake grass points on the south end of the lake until around mid-morning, then flipped boat docks the rest of the day, catching approximately 25 keepers in the process.

“I hit a bunch of points – more than 20 – and was targeting fish in 2 to 4 feet of water,” said Rutland, who earned his third career victory in BFL competition – second on Lay Lake. “I weighed three largemouth from the points and then two spotted bass from the docks. They were also on the south end and about halfway back in the creeks.”

Rutland said he used a 5-inch, Alewife-colored Big Bite Baits Dean Rojas Cane Thumper on a Gamakatsu belly weight hook and a green-pumpkin ½-ounce Davis’ Baits Wood Jig with a Big Bite Baits Real Deal Craw trailer of the same color.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Dusty Herron, Alabaster, Ala., five bass, 16-0, $2,435

1^st:          Chris Rutland, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 16-0, $3,435

3^rd:          Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., five bass, 15-13, $1,332

4^th:          Jason Nixon, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 15-1, $908

5^th:          Dallas Weldon, Tallassee, Ala., five bass, 14-12, $649

6^th:          Jeff Cannon, Douglasville, Ga., five bass, 14-10, $595

7^th:          Rickie Harp, Cottondale, Ala., five bass, 14-9, $1,231

8^th:          Mitch Hayes, Chipley, Fla., five bass, 13-15, $687

9^th:          Timothy Travis, Tuscaloosa, Ala., five bass, 13-9, $433

10^th:        David Parsons, Dothan, Ala., five bass, 13-7, $479

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Harp caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $390.

Marcus Corbett of Anniston, Alabama, won the Co-angler Division and $1,973 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Marcus Corbett, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 17-11, $1,973

2^nd:         Michael Corbett, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 14-6, $962

3^rd:          Roman Robinson, Steele, Ala., five bass, 13-14, $541

4^th:          Jesse Craver, Centreville, Ala., five bass, 13-8, $379

5^th:          John Bryan, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 13-5, $311

5^th:          Tanner Ellison, Jemison, Ala., five bass, 13-5, $311

7^th:          Robert Volinic, Peachtree City, Ga., five bass, 13-1, $466

8^th:          Randy Hill, Athens, Ala., five bass, 12-13, $244

9^th:          Daniel Buswell Jr., Fayetteville, Ga., five bass, 12-12, $216

10^th:        Billy Crook, Jacksonville, Ala., five bass, 12-6, $189

Volinic caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $195.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Alabama, presented by Mercury. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.