Tarpley wins co-angler title
Edward Gettys of Columbia, Tennessee, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win the third Walmart Bass Fishing League Music City Division tournament of 2015 on Kentucky Lake. For his victory, Gettys earned $4,601.
“It was another great day of Kentucky Lake fishing,” said Gettys, who has eight career wins in FLW competition. “I was able to dial in on the bite early and fish my area how I wanted.”
Gettys said he built his winning stringer by focusing on 12-foot deep ledges near Paris Landing.
“I caught my first fish at 7 a.m. and my two biggest around 10:30,” Gettys said. “The stretch that I targeted was small. The bass were in a very specific spot. I used a Carolina-rigged plum-colored Berkley Power Worm all day. I would just drag it slow near the bottom, that’s where they seemed to like it.”
Getty said every fish he brought to the scale came from that location.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Edward Gettys, Columbia, Tenn., five bass, 20-4, $2,601 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: William Merrick, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 19-14, $1,301
3rd: Densmore Goodson, Letcher, Ky., five bass, 18-14, $867
4th: Jeffery Archie, Paris, Tenn., five bass, 17-4, $607
5th: Bryan Dowdy, Florence, Ala., four bass, 16-0, $520
6th: Robert Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 15-15, $455
6th: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 15-15, $455
8th: Scott Brummett, Brentwood, Tenn., five bass, 15-9, $390
9th: Phillip Bates, Bon Aqua, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $347
10th: Tim Staley, Dowelltown, Tenn., five bass, 14-5, $303
Gettys also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $280.
Chris Tarpley of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, weighed in five bass totaling 19 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win $1,301 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chris Tarpley, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 19-5, $1,301
2nd: Ken Fresh, Sparta, Tenn., five bass, 16-3, $650
3rd: Rick Mayberry, Harriman, Tenn., four bass, 14-8, $434
4th: Tim Rampaul, Burns, Tenn., five bass, 13-6, $303
5th: Billy Gardner, Livingston, Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $260
6th: Michael Marlin, Nesbit, Miss., five bass, 11-11, $238
7th: Greg Barnes, Rock Island, Tenn., four bass, 10-9, $217
8th: Mike Todd, Thompsons Station, Tenn., four bass, 10-1, $195
9th: Doug Garrett, Allardt, Tenn., five bass, 9-7, $173
10th: John Wilkerson, Nashville, Tenn., four bass, 8-14, $152
Mayberry also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $140.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, Georgia. 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 Johnson, FLW
