Charlotte’s Lyles Grabs Co-angler Title
Boater David Wright of Lexington, North Carolina, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 22 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) North Carolina Division tournament on High Rock Lake. Wright earned $4,289 for his win.
“I focused on drops off of the bank between 8 and 10 feet,” said Wright, who earned his 12th career win in BFL competition – second all-time in BFL history. “I keyed in on cover like rocks, stumps and brush and had to deflect the bait off of them to catch fish.”
Wright said he used Bluegill- and Hot Mustard-colored Rapala DT crankbaits in sizes 10 and 14 and a black Zoom Magnum Trick Worm on a shaky-head rig. He said he fished in three of the major creeks – Second, Abbotts and Crane.
“I probably fished 20 or 25 different places and didn’t spend much time at each,” said Wright. “I was just looking for aggressive fish and didn’t want to have to finesse them to get a bite.
“After 2 (p.m.) I caught a 4-pounder that culled out a smaller 3-pound fish. That was my last catch of the day and it gave me the ounce I needed to win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: David Wright, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 22-5, $4,289
2nd: Steve Sink, Winston-Salem, N.C., five bass, 22-4, $1,644
3rd: Kevin Chandler, New London, N.C., five bass, 20-14, $1,692
4th: James Wall, Greensboro, N.C., five bass, 20-5, $767
5th: Eric Moser, Concord, N.C., five bass, 19-13, $658
6th: Ladd Whicker, Winston-Salem, N.C., five bass, 19-12, $603
7th: Rob Digh, Denver, N.C., five bass, 18-10, $548
8th: Ricky McCrary, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 18-2, $493
9th: Scott Hamrick, Denver, N.C., five bass, 17-11, $511
10th: Todd Harris, Clemmons, N.C., five bass, 17-4, $345
Chandler brought a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $395.
Zach Lyles of Charlotte, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $1,918 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Zach Lyles, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 18-9, $1,918
2nd: O’Neil Williams Jr., Asheboro, N.C., five bass, 15-6, $676
2nd: Brian Souza, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 15-6, $726
4th: Anthony Rife, Max Meadows, Va., five bass, 15-4, $379
5th: Barry Burford, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 14-13, $325
6th: Landon Whicker, Winston-Salem, N.C., five bass, 14-8, $298
7th: Mathew Baker, Asheboro, N.C., five bass, 13-11, $271
8th: Dusty Saine, Huntersville, N.C., five bass, 13-10, $244
9th: C.J. Teas, Weddington, N.C., four bass, 12-13, $216
10th: Brian Transon, Sherrills Ford, N.C., five bass, 12-9, $189
Lyles also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $195.
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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. 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. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. 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
