Broken Arrow’s Weir Takes Co-angler Title

GROVE, Okla. (Sept. 10, 2018) – Boater Dane Coale of Norman, Oklahoma, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Okie Division tournament on Grand Lake Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 3 ounces. For his win, Coale earned $8,904.

Coale said he had a lot of success in practice with Spro Mike McClelland RkCrawler 55 and MD 55 crankbaits in Green Craw and Red Crawfish colors, but ended up casting something completely new on Saturday.

“I caught a huge alligator gar with the crankbait and broke it off,” said Coale, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “I reached down and grabbed a shaky-head rig and caught a keeper a couple of casts later. I rotated in another worm, but didn’t get a bite. I went back to the shaky-head and caught a 4-pounder and basically never put it down.”

Coale said he used Zoom Trick Worms on 5/16- and ½-ounce green-pumpkin-colored Buckeye Lures Magnum Series Spot Remover heads. He rotated through a couple of colors including green-pumpkin and Tilapia Magic, which he dipped in chartreuse, and Plum Apple.

“I started fishing south of Sailboat Bridge Saturday,” said Coale. “I fished the tips of main-lake points and bluff ends all the way to the back of Horse Creek, where I caught a key 4-pounder around 1:30 p.m. On my way back to takeoff I did the exact same thing but only at spots I’d caught fish at.”

“On Sunday I had eight rods on the deck and they all had shaky-head rigs on them,” continued Coale. “I fished a bit more down the banks of the points and bluff ends than I did Saturday and it paid off. I got a couple of key 3-pounders fishing 40 yards away from the points in spots that I hadn’t fished.”

Coale used G. Loomis Heavy and Medium-Heavy NRX Casting rods, 12-, 15- and 17-pound-test Seaguar AbrasX line and Lew’s reels. He attributed his win to a couple of different factors – first, that the dock and brush pile bite was off, and second, how well his MinnKota Ultrex trolling motor handled the wind and waves.

“My MinnKota Ultrex was key. I had to fish in the wind Saturday and most of the day Sunday and Spot Lock kept me stationary,” said Coale. “I could take my foot off of it and land a fish when I needed to.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:           Dane Coale, Norman, Okla., 10 bass, 33-3, $6,904 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2^nd:         Kirk Smith, Edmond, Okla., 10 bass, 29-8, $3,352

3^rd:          Thomas Canady, Collinsville, Okla., 10 bass, 26-9, $2,333

4^th:          Justin Parchamn, Oologah, Okla., nine bass, 25-5, $1,564

5^th:          Larry Crouch, Carthage, Mo., nine bass, 25-3, $1,341

6^th:          Darrel Robertson, Jay, Okla., nine bass, 23-15, $1,229

7^th:          Wade Ramsey, Choctaw, Okla., 10 bass, 23-12, $1,117

8^th:          Christopher Jones, Bokoshe, Okla., nine bass, 23-5, $1,006

9^th:          Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., nine bass, 22-7, $894

10^th:        Derek Fulps, Broken Arrow, Okla., 10 bass, 22-2, $782

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Shonn Goodwin of Moore, Oklahoma, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 1 ounce – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $975.

Patrick Weir of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $3,352.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:           Patrick Weir, Broken Arrow, Okla., 10 bass, 28-11, $3,352

2^nd:         Shane McGlothlin, Anadarko, Okla., six bass, 24-10, $2,363

3^rd:          Harold Frazier, Okmulgee, Okla., seven bass, 20-10, $1,117

4^th:          Cameron Foster, Wagoner, Okla., seven bass, 20-0, $832

5^th:          Brandon Ackerson, Afton, Okla., nine bass, 19-6, $670

6^th:          Jim Eckhart, Bartlesville, Okla., six bass, 15-9, $615

7^th:          Bob Keeth, Dixon, Mo., four bass, 14-5, $559

8^th:          Dewey Larson, Fayetteville, Ark., six bass, 13-10, $503

9^th:          Mick Jackson, Glenpool, Okla., six bass, 13-10, $447

10^th:        Matthew Hargarten, Bolivar, Mo., five bass, 13-6, $391

McGlothlin caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $487.

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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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 2018 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 take place May 30-June 1 on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland.

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, YouTube and Snapchat.