GEORGIA’S CARTER WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT ON WHEELER LAKE PRESENTED BY RANGER BOATS

South Carolina’s Smith Claims Co-angler Title

DECATUR, Ala. (Oct. 16, 2017) – Boater Kip Carter of Social Circle, Georgia, caught a three-day cumulative total of 15 bass weighing 42 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional event on Wheeler Lake presented by Ranger Boats. For his efforts, Carter took home $65,200 including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and an automatic berth into the 2018 BFL All-American Championship.

“I’ve led a couple of big tournaments in the past, but fell short at the end. It feels good to finally win one,” said Carter, who pushed his career earnings to nearly $220,000 in FLW competition. “This is by far the biggest accomplishment of my fishing career.”

Carter said he stayed mid-lake the first two days of the event, fishing stained water flowing in from small streams. He used spinnerbaits and buzzbaits to catch his fish on Day One, but switched to a Bone-colored Paycheck Baits Repo Man topwater for Day Two.

“I’m pretty sure the drains had gizzard shad, and that was important, so I switched lures,” said Carter.

By Day Three on Saturday, Carter said his drainage bite had come to a halt. He only had one keeper in the livewell by 11 a.m., so he decided to target bass in tributary creeks. He continued to use his Repo Man topwater, and rotated in a Spro Bronzeye Frog.

“It turned out to be a good move,” said Carter. “I found some fish up in Flint Creek and was able to catch a few good ones. The first one I caught was 4½-pounder. That fish told me I was back in the running for the win.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2018 BFL All-American were:

1^st:          Kip Carter, Social Circle, Ga., 15 bass, 42-12, $65,200

2^nd:         Tyler Morgan, Columbus, Ga., 15 bass, 40-7, $10,100

3^rd:          Brandon McGinnis, Pell City, Ala., 15 bass, 37-15, $5,000

4^th:          John Duvall, Madison, Ga., 15 bass, 37-4, $3,000

5^th:          Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., 15 bass, 36-13, $2,000

6^th:          Grant Kelly, Milledgeville, Ga., 15 bass, 35-8, $1,800

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

7^th:          Tony Harvey, Rogersville, Ala., 13 bass, 34-2, $1,600

8^th:          Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 31-13, $1,400

9^th:          Will Blount, Andalusia, Ala., 15 bass, 31-8, $1,200

10^th:        Jay Melton, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 14 bass, 31-3, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Michael Smith of Piedmont, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard with a three-day cumulative catch of 15 bass weighing 36 pounds, 14 ounces.

The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2018 BFL All-American were:

1^st:          Michael Smith, Piedmont, S.C., 15 bass, 36-14, $45,200

2^nd:         Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., 15 bass, 32-3, $5,050

3^rd:          Matthew Bouldin, Smithville, Tenn., 11 bass, 26-11, $2,500

4^th:          Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., 10 bass, 23-4, $1,500

5^th:          Daniel Tuten, Byron, Ga., 12 bass, 21-12, $1,000

6^th:          Chris Harcrow, Dawson, Ala., 15 bass, 21-3, $900

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

7^th:          Chris Wade, Acworth, Ga., 10 bass, 20-3, $800

8^th:          Randall Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala., nine bass, 18-1, $700

9^th:          Stanley Smith, Greensboro, Ga., 11 bass, 17-14, $600

10^th:        Mark Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., nine bass, 17-9, $500