Boater Mike Quinlin of Mooresville, Indiana, caught a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 13 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Illini Division tournament on the Ohio River at Golconda. Quinlin pocketed $6,255 for his win.
Quinlin said he fished close to takeoff in Lusk Creek, catching eight keepers throughout the day. He said he weighed his fish off of one lure – a Texas-rigged green-pumpkin-magic-colored Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw with a ¼-ounce tungsten weight.
“I fished a half-mile stretch of shallow wood cover with laydowns and stumps,” said Quinlin, who notched his fourth win in BFL competition. “I pitched into 2 to 3 feet of water. The bite picked up in the late afternoon when the sun was high.”
Quinlin’s bait was rigged on 20-pound-test K9 fluorocarbon line and a 7-foot, 5-inch G. Loomis IMX heavy rod.
“I thought the winning limit would come from up near the Barkley Dam,” said Quinlin. “I had some good bites up there in practice, but I had some in Lusk as well. I decided to maximize my fishing time instead of spending three hours heading up through the lock and back. My decision to stay definitely paid off.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Mike Quinlin, Mooresville, Ind., five bass, 11-13, $4,255 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Ryan Dunn, Harrisburg, Ill., five bass, 11-5, $2,028
3rd: William Walker, Mulkeytown, Ill., four bass, 11-3, $1,384
4th: Chad Diedrich, Nashville, Ill., four bass, 10-13, $760
5th: Cliff Pass, Lenzburg, Ill., five bass, 10-0, $651
6th: Darren Frazier, Anna, Ill., four bass, 9-5, $597
7th: Dan Shoraga, West Frankfort, Ill., five bass, 9-4, $743
8th: Greg Hirsch, Saint Jacob, Ill., five bass, 9-1, $488
9th: John Wright, Windsor, Ill., five bass, 8-12, $534
10th: Melvin Jeffords, Grantsburg, Ill., three bass, 8-8, $380
Dunn brought a 6-pound, 8-ounce, bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $400.
Aaron Arning of Walnut Hill, Illinois, and Jim Brown of Coulterville, Illinois, each caught 7 pounds, 11 ounces, of bass Saturday to tie for the win in the Co-angler Division. Brown earned $1,221 for his efforts, while Arning took home $1,321 after contingency bonuses.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Aaron Arning, Walnut Hill, Ill., three bass, 7-11, $1,321
1st: Jim Brown, Coulterville, Ill., four bass, 7-11, $1,221
3rd: Michael McKinley, Woodlawn, Ill., two bass, 7-9, $542
4th: Mario Rossi Jr., Granite City, Ill., three bass, 7-4, $430
5th: Amanda Black, Greenup, Ill., five bass, 6-11, $326
6th: William Richno, Raymond, Ill., two bass, 6-9, $298
7th: George Osha, Steger, Ill., two bass, 6-3, $271
8th: Doug Miller, Peoria, Ill., three bass, 5-8, $244
9th: Ross Genaro, Saint Louis, Mo., one bass, 5-5, $417
10th: Todd Blakeman, Chatham, Ill., three bass, 4-12, $190
Genaro caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $200.
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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. 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 2018 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. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com.
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 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. 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
