Knoxville’s McGaha Grabs Co-angler Title

KODAK, Tenn. (May 15, 2017) – Keith McDeerman of Jacksboro, Tennessee, weighed five bass Saturday totaling 19 pounds even to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on Douglas Lake presented by Navionics. For his victory, McDeerman was awarded $3,879.

McDeerman spent the tournament fishing mid-lake points and humps next to deep water.

“I caught them all in deep water with a (Strike King) 10XD crankbait,” said McDeerman, who won fishing in his first-ever event with FLW. “I probably hit 30 spots, but I only caught fish on seven of them. I would pull in, make several casts, and then move on. Most of my fish were 20 to 25 feet deep.

“Douglas Lake is pretty slick-bottomed,” continued McDeerman. “There’s not a lot of structure, so the fish seemed to be holding on depth changes.”

McDeerman said he only had seven bites throughout his day and that he caught his final bass with less than 10 minutes left to fish.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Keith McDeerman, Jacksboro, Tenn., five bass, 19-0, $3,879

2^nd:         Travis Lilly, Bluff City, Tenn., five bass, 16-13, $1,840

3^rd:          Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 16-11, $1,225

4^th:          Tee Watkins, East Point, Ky., five bass, 16-8, $859

5^th:          Cory Ownby, Seymour, Tenn., five bass, 15-14, $736

6^th:          Rex Pendergrass, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 15-13, $1,075

7^th:          Gunter O’Dell, Dandridge, Tenn., five bass, 15-5, $613

8^th:          Greg Moore, Briceville, Tenn., five bass, 15-1, $552

9^th:          Brian Dortch, Bean Station, Tenn., five bass, 14-9, $971

10^th:        Brant Grimm, Church Hill, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $429

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Dortch caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $480.

Justin McGaha of Knoxville, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $2,226 Saturday after weighing a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 16-8, $2,226

2^nd:         David Blakely, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 14-8, $898

3^rd:          Steve Hall, Hillsville, Va., five bass, 12-10, $598

4^th:          Michael Fields, Duffield, Va., three bass, 12-4, $419

5^th:          Don Bible, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 12-1, $359

6^th:          Brandon Hartgrove, Hiltons, Va., five bass, 11-8, $329

7^th:          Bryan Morton, Knoxville, Tenn., four bass, 11-4, $349

8^th:          Allen Hicks, Castlewood, Va., five bass, 11-3, $269

9th:         Doug Austin, Bristol, Va., five bass, 11-0, $239

10^th:        Charles Roberts, Lebanon, Va., five bass, 10-14, $210

McGaha also caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 6 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. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on the James River in Williamsburg, Virginia. 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.