The FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) is headed to Lake Seminole Oct. 13-15 for the fourth of six BFL regional championships scheduled around the country. The three-day tournament, which is presented by Mercury, will feature the top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers from each of the Bulldog, Choo Choo, Gator and South Carolina 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.
“I think at least two of the top six anglers will weigh in limits from the Flint River,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Troy Morrow, of Eastanollee, Georgia, a five-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “They’ll be fishing for shoal bass up in the pools. Personally, I’d throw moving baits to them. Topwater baits, spinnerbaits, flukes and crankbaits should be the deal. Shoal bass are aggressive, so if you get a lure around them, they’re going to eat. I could see 10 to 12 pounds a day coming from those areas.
“The rest of the top six will likely be flipping or frogging,” Morrow continued. “Spring Creek is a good mid-lake area with very clear water – lots of grass and some good standing timber. Anglers in there will be punching through mats with a creature bait or working a frog over the top.”
Morrow said that dragging a worm with a light weight along the grass edges could also be an option for competitors looking to mix up their day.
“They’ll need a three-day catch nearing 45 pounds to win,” said Morrow. “We could see more. This lake is capable of producing 20-pound limits – especially from the grass.”
Anglers will take off from Earle May Boat Basin, located at 100 Boat Basin Circle in Bainbridge, at 7:30 a.m. EDT 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 500 E. Alice St. in Bainbridge, beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The BFL Regional Championship event on Lake Seminole is being hosted by the Bainbridge Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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
