Hyde wins co-angler title
Todd Lowe of Greensboro, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds even Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Oconee. For his victory, Lowe took home $6,825.
“I spent my day fishing main-lake seawalls that were filled with riprap and had small, secondary pockets in them,” said Lowe, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “All of the areas I hit were within a mile of one another. The shad have been spawning there for about two weeks, so they were holding a lot of fish.”
Lowe said he used one bait to entice his winning limit – a natural shad-colored Rebel Pop-R Topwater.
“I’d throw it out there, pop it twice and then let it sit,” said Lowe. “The bites weren’t very aggressive at all. The bass weren’t blowing up on it, but rather, they were sucking it down. I caught my biggest fish – a 6-pounder – at 10:45 a.m. out of a sand-filled pocket near a boat dock. That really helped me out.”
Lowe went on to say that he caught nine keepers fairly consistently throughout his day.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Todd Lowe, Greensboro, Ga., five bass, 17-0, $4,825 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Grant Kelly, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 16-8, $2,118
3rd: Terry Jordan, Fayetteville, Ga., five bass, 16-5, $1,413
4th: Wayne Garner, Locust Grove, Ga., five bass, 15-12, $988
5th: Justin Lanier, Macon, Ga., five bass, 15-10, $847
6th: John Christopher, Watkinsville, Ga., five bass, 14-5, $776
7th: Blake Yarter, Monroe, Ga., four bass, 13-6, $706
8th: Lee Nunnally, Monroe, Ga., five bass, 13-3, $635
9th: Butch Whiteaker, Alpharetta, Ga., five bass, 12-14, $565
10th: David Sansbury, Hapeville, Ga., five bass, 12-9, $469
10th: John Duvall, Madison, Ga., four bass, 12-9, $469
Lowe also caught a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $590.
Bobby Hyde of Loganville, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,118.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Bobby Hyde, Loganville, Ga., five bass, 14-9, $2,118
2nd: Herschel Edge, Buckhead, Ga., five bass, 13-2, $1,059
3rd: George Goodman Jr., Monticello, Ga., five bass, 11-5, $706
4th: Harold Grizzle, Gainesville, Ga., five bass, 11-1, $494
5th: Billy Duvall, Madison, Ga., three bass, 10-7, $424
6th: Ronny Cantrell, Fitzgerald, Ga., four bass, 10-3, $388
7th: Coulby Lewis, Macon, Ga., three bass, 9-14, $353
8th: Don Griffin, Roswell, Ga., five bass, 9-13, $318
9th: Emory Walden, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 9-8, $282
10th: Adam Beckum, Martinez, Ga., five bass, 9-7, $247
Zeke Cronley of Roswell, Georgia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $295.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, 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 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
