Gaffney’s Everhart earns Co-angler title

ANDERSON, S.C. (April 3, 2017) – Jayme Rampey of Liberty, South Carolina, brought a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds even to the scale Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Savannah River Division event on Lake Hartwell. For his win, Rampey took home $5,148.

 

Rampey said he focused on the herring spawn to catch his limit. He said he worked through a 3- to 4-mile stretch on the main lake and was able to catch 60 fish throughout the day.

“It’s a little early for the herring to spawn, but the weather has been warm so I capitalized on bass that were heading out to points to feed on them,” said Rampey, who earned his fifth career-win in BFL competition. “I ran through about 15 points and didn’t even burn seven gallons of fuel.”

Rampey said he used a white Zoom Super Fluke to catch fish in the morning. After 10 a.m. he said he began mixing in a Hitch-colored Zoom Swimmer Paddle Tail Swimbait with a Buckeye Lures J-Will head.

“I caught a couple of my bigger fish with a Buckeye Lures jig rigged with a Zoom Creepy Crawler as well,” said Rampey. “My most productive baits were the Super Fluke and the swimbait, but it was steady all day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., five bass, 22-0, $5,148

2^nd:         Heath Pack, Ellijay, Ga., five bass, 18-6, $2,474

3^rd:          Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 18-0, $1,649

4^th:          Hunter Smith, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 17-4, $1,155

5^th:          William Shipes, Williston, S.C., five bass, 16-7, $1,090

6^th:          Nick Rubio, Greer, S.C., five bass, 16-2, $907

7^th:          Franklin Ramey III, Abbeville, S.C., five bass, 15-14, $1,580

8^th:          William Fordree, Six Mile, S.C., five bass, 15-13, $742

9^th:          Derek Lehtonen, Woodruff, S.C., five bass, 15-6, $660

10^th:        Scott Chatham, Kingston, Ga., five bass, 15-4, $577

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Ramey caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce – the largest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $755.

Tony Everhart of Gaffney, South Carolina, won the Co-angler Division title and $2,674 Saturday after weighing in five bass totaling 13 pounds, 13 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Tony Everhart, Gaffney, S.C., five bass, 13-13, $2,674

2^nd:         Tim Whitaker, Fairview, N.C., five bass, 13-3, $1,237

3^rd:          Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., five bass, 12-8, $750

3^rd:          Rusty Smith, Six Mile, S.C., five bass, 12-8, $700

5^th:          Scott Roberts, Asheville, N.C., five bass, 12-4, $474

5^th:          Jason Whitfield, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 12-4, $474

7^th:          Brian Nappier, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 12-2, $391

7^th:          Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 12-2, $391

9^th:          Evan Benton, Davidson, N.C., five bass, 12-0, $309

9^th:          Jimmi Leuthner, Tamassee, S.C., five bass, 12-0, $309

Tim Holbrooks of Franklin, North Carolina, caught the biggest bass among the Co-anglers, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces. The catch earned Holbrooks the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $377.

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 Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. 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.