Knox, Pliwko Tie for Co-angler Title

WINNECONNE, Wis. (June 26, 2017) – Curtis Samo of Rochelle, Illinois, and Mike Feldermann of Galena, Illinois, each caught five bass Saturday weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Great Lakes Division tournament on the Wolf River Chain. For their efforts, Feldermann earned $5,731 after contingency bonuses, while Samo took home $3,431.

“I flipped brush, grass and rocks in Lake Winneconne,” said Samo, who logged his fifth career-win in BFL competition. “It was post-frontal conditions, and in my opinion, flipping is the best technique after a front moves through.”

Samo said he had five areas that he focused on, and that he caught every fish on a green-pumpkin and purple-colored Chompers Ultra Pro Tube.

“I dipped the tail in orange as well,” said Samo. “A little bit of orange flash works great on Winneconne because when you open the livewell, it’s filled with orange crawdads that the bass regurgitate.”

“I targeted bass in a slough right off of the main river that had some good grass, coontail and laydowns in it,” said Feldermann, who earned his ninth career-win on the BFL circuit. “I used a black and blue-colored (Berkley Havoc Grass Pig) swimbait in about 3 feet of clean water. The stretch was about a mile long. I stayed in there all day and only had five bites.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Curtis Samo, Rochelle, Ill., five bass, 13-10, $3,431

1^st:          Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., five bass, 13-10, $3,731 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

3^rd:          Jim Jones, Big Bend, Wis., five bass, 13-6, $1,725

4^th:          Cade Laufenberg, Winona, Minn., five bass, 13-0, $1,168

5^th:          Jason Howland, Albert Lea, Minn., five bass, 12-15, $877

5^th:          Clayton Reitz, Morton, Ill., four bass, 12-15, $877

7^th:          Brad Leifermann, Andover, Minn., five bass, 12-12, $763

8^th:          Mike Wilmoth, Onalaska, Wis., five bass, 12-11, $686

9^th:          Rick Martin, Winter, Wis., five bass, 12-6, $610

10^th:        Kyler Chelminiak, McKenzie, Tenn., five bass, 12-3, $534

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Mike Ratz of Hudson, Wisconsin, caught a 4-pound, 5-ounce bass – the heaviest of the day in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $665.

Matt Knox of Metamora, Illinois, and John Pliwko of Plover, Wisconsin, each weighed five bass totaling 10 pounds, 7 ounces, to tie for the win in the Co-angler Division. Each angler pocketed $1,716 for their limits.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Matt Knox, Metamora, Ill., five bass, 10-7, $1,716

1^st:          John Pliwko, Plover, Wis., five bass, 10-7, $1,716

3^rd:          Mongshoua Xiong, La Crosse, Wis., five bass, 9-8, $762

4^th:          Mike Puterbaugh, Montello, Wis., three bass, 8-15, $534

5^th:          Tom Lyskawka, Arlington Heights, Ill., four bass, 8-11, $458

6^th:          Steve Ubersox, Cherry Valley, Ill., four bass, 8-3, $419

7^th:          Paul Vonwald, La Crosse, Wis., four bass, 7-14, $362

7^th:          Jaz Duncan, Eau Claire, Wis., four bass, 7-14, $362

9^th:          Mike Kochanski, Bolingbrook, Ill., four bass, 7-9, $305

10^th:        Charles Novotny, Mauston, Wis., three bass, 7-7, $267

Rex McTier of Endeavor, Wisconsin, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 3 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $332.

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.