Kendrick wins co-angler title
Michael Belter of Reidsville, North Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 12 ounces, Saturday to win the first FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Piedmont Division tournament of 2016 on Kerr Lake. For his victory, Belter took home $6,514.
“I spent my day in Nutbush Creek focusing on wood in several pockets,” said Belter, who earned his first career win in BFL competition. “The fish weren’t spawning yet, but they were setting up very close to the areas where they were going to be.”
Belter said he split his day between throwing a green-pumpkin-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and a green-pumpkin Yamamoto Senko.
“I threw both lures to any piece of wood that was on the corner of a spawning pocket, or in the spawning pocket,” said Belter. “The fish in these spots were either staging to go in or actually setting up a bed. My co-angler and I ended up catching around 20 keepers, and they were the right ones.”
Belter said the key to his success was making accurate casts to the wood.
“You needed to hit the ends of the wood because the water was down,” said Belter. “Some of our casts were long, but they had to be precise.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Michael Belter, Reidsville, N.C., five bass, 19-12, $4,514 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: David Farrington, Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 18-10, $1,757
3rd: Neil Eckberg, Cary, N.C., five bass, 18-1, $1,172
4th: Steve Wagner, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 17-13, $820
5th: Mike Miller, Trinity, N.C., five bass, 17-4, $673
5th: Chris Baldwin, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 17-4, $673
7th: Shawn Hammack, Gasburg, Va., five bass, 16-4, $586
8th: Chad Pilson, Bassett, Va., five bass, 15-14, $948
8th: Ron Rousseau, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 15-14, $498
10th: Danny Moss Jr., Norlina, N.C., five bass, 15-12, $389
10th: Joey Dawson, Rustburg, Va., five bass, 15-12, $389
Pilson caught a 6-pound, 14-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $450.
Pat Kendrick of Bumpass, Virginia, weighed in five bass totaling 15 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to earn $1,757 and win the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Pat Kendrick, Bumpass, Va., five bass, 15-11, $1,757
2nd: Elliot Pilson, Meadows of Dan, Va., five bass, 14-11, $879
3rd: Dekle Taylor, Monroe, N.C., five bass, 13-13, $585
4th: Will White, Wake Forest, N.C., five bass, 13-7, $410
5th: Ben Whittington, Benson, N.C., five bass, 13-3, $351
6th: Chuck Wilson, Youngsville, N.C., five bass, 13-2, $322
7th: John Farmer, Sherrill’s Ford, N.C., five bass, 13-1, $293
8th: Mark Whitman, Elon, N.C., five bass, 12-8, $264
9th: Vernon Adams, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 12-2, $234
10th: Le’Mar Shore, Raleigh, N.C., five bass, 11-15, $205
Bud Amend of Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $225.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, 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 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 winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
