Mattingly wins co-angler title
Kyle Metzger of Paducah, Kentucky, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds, 7 ounces Sunday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League LBL Division Super Tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 44 pounds even. For his victory, Metzger earned $5,704.
“On Saturday I ran 50 miles south to some grass near Paris where I had found some fish,” said Metzger of his second career win in FLW competition. “I used a bone-colored Picasso Shad Walker and was able to put a small limit in the boat by 10 a.m.
“Around 10 I moved to my second area, which was a flat outside of a bay just south of Paris,” continued Metzger. “It had a shell bed on one end and a ledge that stretched from 8 to 14 feet down the other. I moved up onto the shell bed and caught a 5-pounder using a swimbait on the first cast. Within 20 minutes I caught 23 pounds of bass.
“On day two I headed to the flat again. I threw the same swimbait, but the fish were hitting it a little bit different. The water was clear, so I switched to 15-pound test P-Line FloroClear and used a 7-foot Denali heavy action rod and had to jerk the bait more quickly.”
Metzger said that he then switched to a hairjig rigged with a Zoom Super Fluke to catch his last keeper and finish out his tournament.
“The fish bit it on the fall and I was able to grab my fifth keeper towards the end of the day,” said Metzger. “I had a great weekend on the water.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kyle Metzger, Paducah, Ky., 10 bass, 44-0, $5,704
2nd: Brent Anderson, Kingston Springs, Tenn., nine bass, 34-5, $2,852
3rd: Ray Barga, Benton, Ky., nine bass, 31-11, $1,904
4th: Matt Robertson, Central City, Ky., 10 bass, 30-3, $1,331
5th: John Hopkins, Hendersonville, Tenn., 10 bass, 29-15, $1,141
6th: Sam Boss, Paducah, Ky., nine bass, 29-3, $1,046
7th: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-0, $951
8th: Rob Vannerson, Benton, Ky., 10 bass, 26-15, $856
9th: Jackson Ryley, Clinton, Ind., eight bass, 26-7, $761
10th: Edward Gettys, Buchanan, Tenn., 10 bass, 25-11, $665
Curtis Persinger of New Albany, Indiana, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday. The fish weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $757.
Derrick Mattingly of Uniontown, Kentucky, won the co-angler division and $2,852 with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Derrick Mattingly, Uniontown, Ky., 10 bass, 27-1, $2,852
2nd: James Wathen, La Grange, Ky., seven bass, 26-5, $1,426
3rd: Chuck Rounds, Benton, Ky., four bass, 22-4, $950
4th: Mike Westfall, Norris City, Ill., seven bass, 16-1, $666
5th: Jeff Johnston, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 14-12, $570
6th: Stanley Head, Lexington, Ky., six bass, 14-7, $523
7th: James Lee, Ledbetter, Ky., six bass, 12-6, $475
8th: Dennis Taylor, Fulton, Ky., five bass, 11-15, $428
9th: Jerry Sterling, Jackson, Mo., three bass, 9-12, $380
10th: Jake Steinkuhl, Evansville, Ind., three bass, 9-10, $333
Rounds caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $379.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings now qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Alabama. 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 compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
