Denney wins co-angler title
Frank Jordan Jr. of Bainbridge, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 11 ounces, Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Sinclair. For his victory, Jordan took home $4,575.
Jordan said he started his day targeting wind-blown seawalls on the outsides of spawning pockets using a Cole Slaw-colored War Eagle Mike McClelland Finesse Spinnerbait.
“The shad were spawning along the seawalls and I was able to catch some decent fish – including one I brought to the scale,” said Jordan, who earned his second career win in FLW competition. “Around 8:30 a.m. I switched to a chartreuse-colored Z-Man ChatterBait with a Zoom Fat Albert Grub. After that, the quality of fish improved a lot. I actually weighed in three fish off of the ChatterBait.”
At 1:30 p.m., Jordan said strong winds forced him to relocate. He said he proceeded to a creek and started flipping and pitching shallow docks with a black and blue War Eagle Jig rigged with a black Zoom Super Chunk.
“I probably hit 10 or 12 docks,” said Jordan. “Of the 20 keepers I caught during the event, my biggest – a 6-pound, 11-ouncer – came from that creek. It was a big upgrade. That jig pretty much sealed the deal for me.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Frank Jordan Jr., Bainbridge, Ga., five bass, 21-11, $4,575
2nd: Barry Stokes, Oxford, Ga., five bass , 17-10, $2,288
3rd: Grant Kelly, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 16-15, $1,296
3rd: Dylan Wylie, Carrollton, Ga., five bass, 16-15, $1,296
5th: Matt Henry, Milledgeville, Ga., five bass, 16-0, $915
6th: Carl Hayes III, Sharpsburg, Ga., five bass, 15-12, $839
7th: Wayne Garner, Locust Grove, Ga., five bass, 15-10, $763
8th: Mark Cameron, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 15-7, $686
9th: Kip Carter, Social Circle, Ga., five bass, 15-0, $572
9th: Byron Kenney, Griffin, Ga., five bass, 15-0, $572
Tyler Morgan of Columbus, Georgia, caught a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $665.
Mark Denney of Bonaire, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 20 pounds even Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,249.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Mark Denney, Bonaire, Ga., five bass, 20-0, $2,249
2nd: Ken Smith, Lula, Ga., five bass, 13-11, $1,125
3rd: Steve King, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 12-12, $1,074
4th: Isaac Clemmons, Fitzgerald, Ga., five bass, 12-8, $525
5th: Mike Wilder, Macon, Ga., five bass, 12-7, $450
6th: Robert Enke, Columbus, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $412
7th: Shamond Stephens, Leesburg, Ga., five bass, 12-2, $375
8th: Erik Green, Tallahassee, Fla., five bass, 11-12, $337
9th: Cal Hyers, LaGrange, Ga., four bass, 11-5, $300
10th: James Lamons, Boston, Ga., five bass, 10-10, $262
King caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 14 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $322.
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
