Illinois’ Overton Takes Co-angler Title

LA CROSSE, Wis. (May 1, 2017) – Cade Laufenberg of Winona, Minnesota, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division opener presented by Navionics on the Mississippi River Saturday after weighing five bass totaling 22 pounds, 3 ounces. For his victory, Laufenberg took home $6,016.

 

Laufenberg said he split his day between two areas he had found in practice – one on the north end of Pool No. 8, and the other on the south end. He said he put around 20 pounds of bass in the boat on the lower end within 30 minutes, including a 3-pounder on his first cast.

“I was fishing a wing dam near a spawning area,” said Laufenberg, a former standout YETI FLW College Fishing angler who now has four career-victories in FLW competition. “There was a special spot in there that you had to pinpoint with your cast. It was about as big as my boat deck. There was some sand that created a current seam and I was focusing right where the current met the slackwater.

“The location was crucial,” continued Laufenberg. “Any fish that were in that spawning area were pulled out because of a cold front that had passed through.”

Laufenberg said he caught everything he weighed in on a 5-inch Pearly Shad-colored Big Bite Baits Suicide Shad swimbait on a 1/8-ounce Gamakatsu Superline Swimbait Head. He said he caught 30 to 40 bass throughout his day, and that his limit that he brought to the scale consisted entirely of smallmouth.

“I finished out the event in the mouth of a small spawning pocket on the north end where two points came together,” said Laufenberg. “The fish were positioned right between them. I just rolled the swimbait through and ended up culling out three more fish. It was incredible.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Cade Laufenberg, Winona, Minn., five bass, 22-3, $6,016

2^nd:         Mike Brueggen, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 18-6, $2,523

3^rd:          Fernando Lobato, Sparta, Wis., five bass, 16-2, $1,682

4^th:          Nathan Huss, Elkhart Lake, Wis., five bass, 15-15, $1,177

5^th:          Ron Taylor, Chicago, Ill., five bass, 15-10, $1,009

6^th:          Kevin Ruh, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 15-9, $1,025

7^th:          Dan Mohn, Lansing, Iowa, five bass, 15-8, $841

8^th:          Jim Caulum, Rockland, Wis., five bass, 15-4, $757

9^th:          Travis Brueggen, Cashton, Wis., five bass, 15-3, $673

10^th:        Bob Oines, Galesville, Wis., five bass, 15-2, $889

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Laufenberg also caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $770.

Shawn Overton of Coal Valley, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,623 Saturday after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 15 pounds, 1 ounce to the scale.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Shawn Overton, Coal Valley, Ill., five bass, 15-1, $2,623

2^nd:         Donald Roscovius, Tomah, Wis., five bass, 13-15, $1,262

3^rd:          Bryan Bergman, Monona, Wis., five bass, 13-14, $891

4^th:          Chad Smith, Davenport, Iowa, four bass, 12-8, $589

5^th:          Jared Greninger, Byron, Ill., four bass, 12-6, $697

6^th:          Rollie Truehl, DeForest, Wis., five bass, 11-9, $463

7^th:          Alan Bernicky, Joliet, Ill., five bass, 11-6, $399

7^th:          John Pliwko, Plover, Wis., four bass, 11-6, $399

9^th:          Tim Willihnganz, Madison, Wis., five bass, 11-5, $336

10^th:        Josh Mohn, Lansing, Iowa, five bass, 11-4, $294

Tom Zenanko of Prior Lake, Minnesota, caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $192.

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 Barren River in Scottsville, Kentucky. 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.