The FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) is headed to Lake Dardanelle Oct. 27-29 for the six and final BFL regional championship of the 2016 season. The three-day tournament, which is presented by Ranger Boats, will feature the top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers from each of the Cowboy, Mississippi, Okie and Ozark BFL divisions.
The winning boater will receive a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower outboard and a check for $20,000, while the winning co-angler will receive a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower outboard. The top six boaters and co-anglers at each regional will advance to one of the longest-running championships in bass fishing – the BFL All-American.
“Lake Dardanelle is one of my favorite places to fish in Arkansas,” said Old Spice pro Greg Bohannan, of Bentonville, Arkansas, a four-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “The weights tend to be strong there. For this event, it’s probably going to take 16 or 17 pounds a day to win it.
“There are a couple of main-river patterns that will likely come into play,” Bohannan continued. “Running a crankbait or a Carolina-rigged soft-plastic are good bets. Fishing rock jetties is also preferred in the fall. Pods of shad migrate up and down them, creating a good topwater bite. The current at their ends will likely hold fish as well.”
Bohannan said that backwaters littered with lily pads and wood will also be favored by competitors.
“We’ll definitely see them throwing a frog or flipping a creature bait,” said Bohannan. “It’s a power-fishing lake. A frog, a buzzbait and a flipping stick should produce some good limits. I don’t see one single area dominating. I think anglers will need to spread out their catch to win.”
Anglers will take off from Lake Dardanelle State Park, located at 2428 Marina Road in Russellville, at 7:30 a.m. CDT each day. Weigh-in on Thursday and Friday will be held at the marina beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 2409 E. Main St. in Russellville, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The BFL Regional Championship event on Lake Dardanelle is being hosted by Russellville Advertising & Promotions.
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. The 2017 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 3 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama. 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, South Korea and South Africa. 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
