Schnupp wins co-angler title
Michael Anders of Anderson, South Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Hartwell. For his victory, Anders earned $4,155.
“It was a nice payday,” said Anders. “I couldn’t have asked for a better day on the water.”
Anders said he spent his morning targeting the blueback herring along main-lake points using a pearl white-colored Zoom Super Fluke.
“At my second spot I caught a 6-pounder,” Anders said. “I set a nice pace and boated around 18 pounds of fish by 11 o’ clock.”
Chasing a kicker, Anders fished deeper and caught a few more keepers.
“I knew there was a tournament down on the south end of the lake,” Anders said. “I also knew anglers were fishing shallow, so I figured the 8-foot depths would be untouched.”
Around 1:15 p.m., Anders said he made his way to a spawning bed a mile north of the dam, near Powderbag Creek. Using a black and blue-colored Knights Custom Lures jig, he hauled in an 8-pound, 13-ounce behemoth, the largest fish of the tournament.
“Of the 30 bass I caught over the course of the tournament, that was the fish that sealed the deal for me,” said Anders. “I knew it pushed me well over 20 pounds.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Michael Anders, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 23-13, $4,155
2nd: Joseph Marks, Duncan, S.C., five bass, 16-3, $2,078
3rd: Chris Baxter, Winder, Ga., five bass, 15-7, $1,383
4th: Paul Ham, West Columbia, S.C., five bass, 15-6, $970
5th: Sean Skey, Sumter, S.C., five bass, 15-4, $831
6th: Scott Browning, Franklin, N.C., five bass, 15-1, $762
7th: Brian Latimer, Belton, S.C., five bass, 14-5, $693
8th: Stacy Lowe, Belton, S.C., five bass, 14-2, $623
9th: Matthew Roesch, Toccoa, Ga., five bass, 13-15, $554
10th: Greg Willimon, Pickens, S.C., five bass, 13-13, $485
Anders also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces, and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $570.
Mike Schnupp of Powder Springs, Georgia, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win $2,078 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Mike Schnupp, Powder Springs, Ga., five bass, 14-15, $2,078
2nd: Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., five bass, 14-6, $1,039
3rd: Nathaniel Moore, Fairview, N.C., five bass, 13-1, $691
4th: Chester Tucker, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 12-15, $450
4th: Collin Willis, Easley, S.C., five bass, 12-15, $450
6th: Adam Fincher, Roebuck, S.C., five bass, 12-6, $381
7th: Travis Spivey, Tiger, Ga., five bass, 12-0, $346
8th: Brandon Brown, Chesnee, S.C., five bass, 11-7, $312
9th: Paul Smith, Ninety Six, S.C., five bass, 11-1, $277
10th: Michael Marano, Martinez, Ga., three bass, 11-0, $242
Moore caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $285.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 15-17 Regional Championship on Lake Wateree in Camden, South Carolina. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Sayner,VP Communications
