Dawson’s Harcrow Nabs Co-angler Title
FLW Tour pro Alex Davis of Albertville, Alabama, weighed a two-day cumulative of 10 bass totaling 34 pounds, 9 ounces to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division tournament on Lake Guntersville presented by Mud Hole Custom Tackle. For his win, Davis pocketed $7,704.
“On Saturday I caught 20 keepers – it was a great day,” said Davis, who earned his third career-victory in BFL competition. “My heaviest came from a 20-yard stretch that had hollow milfoil surrounded by hydrilla. It was near shore and ended up being the area that carried me through the tournament.”
Davis said 8 of 10 fish that he weighed in were caught on a black Jackall Kaera Frog.
“I started out at the stretch Sunday, but wasn’t able to put anything in the boat,” said Davis. “After letting the area rest, I returned and caught two keepers including a 5-pounder using a (black and blue) Jackall Archelon.”
Following those fish, Davis said he was forced to leave his area due to large waves.
“I went to a spot where I had gotten couple of bites in practice, but when I got there, my trolling motor cable broke,” said Davis. “I spent the rest of the day putting my Power-Poles down, fishing and then moving the boat with my outboard. Luckily, I was in an area that didn’t really need a trolling motor to be productive.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 34-9, $5,704 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Blake Hall, Hartselle, Ala., 10 bass, 34-2, $2,752
3rd: Douglas Webster, Pinson, Ala., 10 bass, 33-9, $1,935
4th: Lealand Johnson, Arab, Ala., 10 bass, 32-6, $1,584
5th: Triston Crowder, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 30-1, $1,101
6th: Dennis Barnes, Boaz, Ala., nine bass, 28-5, $1,009
7th: John Davenport, Huntsville, Ala., 10 bass, 27-14, $917
8th: James Smith, Huntsville, Ala., nine bass, 27-10, $826
9th: James Stoler, Decatur, Ala., seven bass, 22-11, $734
10th: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., nine bass, 21-15, $642
Pat Kelly of Guntersville, Alabama, caught a bass weighing 7 pounds even – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the Boater Big Bass award of $705.
Chris Harcrow of Dawson, Alabama, caught a two-day total of eight bass weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the Co-angler Division and $2,635.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chris Harcrow, Dawson, Al a., eight bass, 22-5, $2,635
2nd: Stephen Barday, Acworth, Ga., eight bass, 21-0, $1,317
3rd: Danny Moss, Glencoe, Ala., six bass, 20-7, $1,217
4th: Corey Williams, Lenoir City, Tenn., six bass, 19-4, $715
5th: Lee Graves, Southside, Ala., eight bass, 18-15, $527
6th: Dan Basham, Taylorsville, Ky., six bass, 16-7, $533
7th: Dennis Sandoval, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 13-10, $439
8th: Randy Hill, Athens, Ala., five bass, 11-10, $395
9th: David Perron, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 11-0, $351
10th: Chris Walters, Dayton, Tenn., four bass, 10-15, $307
Moss caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $337.
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 Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama. 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. The 2018 All-American will be held on Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, May 31-June 2 and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission and the Red River Waterway Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the 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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 258 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa 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
