Gravelly’s Rhoades Earns Co-angler Title

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (April 24, 2017) – Kyle Henderson of Sheridan, Arkansas, brought a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds even to the scale Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division event presented by Mud Hole Custom Tackleon the Arkansas River. For his win, Henderson took home $3,792.

“We launched out of Pool No. 6, but I locked to Pool No. 5 because it’s my home waters,” said Henderson, who earned his second career-win in BFL competition. “Unfortunately, there was a barge in the lock, so I wasn’t able to get to my main area until 8:30 a.m.

“The area I targeted was a backwater that had some clearer water in it,” continued Henderson. “The shad were spawning on a stretch of grass. I wasn’t sure if they’d still be spawning by the time I got in there but when I pulled up they were there, along with some bass. I was able to see them – even in the low-light cloudy conditions – with my Costa Sunrise Silver glasses.”

Henderson said he made three initial passes along a 100-yard stretch of grass. He said he used a different bait each time – a white custom spinnerbait, a shad-colored Z-Man ChatterBait and a Sexy Shad-colored Strike King 2.5 KVD HC Square Bill Silent Crankbait.

“I caught a couple of key fish on the ChatterBait, and a big one on the third pass with the square bill,” said Henderson. “I caught everything I weighed in within an hour.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Kyle Henderson, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 16-0, $3,792

2^nd:         Chris Dennis, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 15-14, $2,256

3^rd:          David Summers, Mount Ida, Ark., four bass, 15-1, $1,501

4^th:          Larry Gragg, Pine Bluff, Ark., five bass, 14-4, $778

4^th:          Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 14-4, $878

6^th:          Hoyt Akins, Scott, Ark., five bass, 13-11, $659

7^th:          Danny Gwinn, Mount Ida, Ark., five bass, 13-9, $599

8^th:          Quincy Houchin, Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 13-6, $539

9^th:          Cody Burke, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 12-14, $479

10^th:        Paul Browning, Morrilton, Ark., five bass, 12-5, $419

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Dennis caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 11 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $460.

Dusty Rhoades of Gravelly, Arkansas, weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division and the top prize of $1,896.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Dusty Rhoades, Gravelly, Ark., five bass, 14-13, $1,896

2^nd:         Previn Dixon, Fort Smith, Ark., four bass, 11-10, $898

3^rd:          Cole Allen, Stamps, Ark., four bass, 11-1, $598

4^th:          Stephen Simms, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 10-9, $419

5^th:          Michael Lucas, Forrest City, Ark., five bass, 9-14, $359

6^th:          Mark Stevens, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 9-12, $329

7^th:          Jason Wedel, Lowell, Ark., five bass, 9-8, $299

8^th:          Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., five bass, 9-4, $269

9^th:          Robert Widger, Cabot, Ark., four bass, 9-1, $239

10^th:        Nicholas Bergt, Atlanta, Texas, four bass, 8-12, $210

Jonathan Wolfe of Camden, Arkansas, caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $230.

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 the Red River in Bossier City, Louisiana. 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.