Marietta’s Slupczynski Claims Co-angler Title

BUCKHEAD, Ga. (March 19, 2018) – Boater Tim Vanegmond of Gay, Georgia, caught five bass Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 11 ounces, to take top honors at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament on Lake Oconee presented by Navionics. Vanegmond earned $4,806 for his win.

“I caught everything flipping a green-pumpkin-colored (Reaction Innovations) Sweet Beaver and (Strike King) Structure Bug under docks,” said Vanegmond, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I had to skip the bait all the way to the center, that’s the only way I could get a bite.”

Vanegmond said he spent his time fishing 15 docks, in sight of the takeoff ramp in Sugar Creek. He said once he figured out the fish weren’t on the dock’s edges, the bite improved dramatically.

“It took me about two hours to get my first bite, but after that I really started catching them,” said Vanegmond. “I probably had 18 fish throughout the rest of the day including my biggest at 4½ pounds.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Tim Vanegmond, Gay, Ga., five bass, 18-11, $4,806

2^nd:         Terry Adams, Mansfield, Ga., five bass, 15-9, $2,403

3^rd:          Matt Henry, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 14-4, $1,605

4^th:          Joe Jackson, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 13-6, $1,121

5^th:          Frank Kitchens III, Oxford, Ga., five bass, 13-0, $1,461

6^th:          Stacy Adams, Hazlehurst, Ga., five bass, 12-7, $981

7^th:          Mark Svendsen, Doraville, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $801

8^th:          Pat Fisher, Colbert, Ga., five bass, 12-0, $721

9^th:          David Pettis, Tifton, Ga., five bass, 11-10, $641

10^th:        Tony Couch, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 11-9, $561

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Girard Jones of Macon, Georgia, weighed a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $725.

Adam Slupczynski of Marietta, Georgia, won the Co-angler Division and $2,403 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Adam Slupczynski, Marietta, Ga., four bass, 8-1, $2,403

2^nd:         Scott Sayasing, Grantville, Ga., two bass, 7-13, $1,563

3^rd:          Donald Peppers, Good Hope, Ga., four bass, 7-10, $806

4^th:          Thom Dickson, Cartersville, Ga., two bass, 7-8, $561

5^th:          Christopher Wilder, Macon, Ga., two bass, 7-1, $581

6^th:          Ariska Savior, Atlanta, Ga., three bass, 6-12, $441

7^th:          Steve Garrett, Bishop, Ga., three bass, 6-11, $400

8^th:          Frank Godwin Jr., Bainbridge, Ga., four bass, 6-9, $410

9^th:          James South, Dawsonville, Ga., two bass, 6-4, $300

9^th:          Matthew O’Connell, Brooks, Ga., four bass, 6-4, $300

Sayasing caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $362.

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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. 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 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

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.