Co-angler Title Goes to Hendersonville’s Brinson
Boater David Steadman Jr. of Normandy, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division tournament on Tims Ford Lake Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces. Steadman pocketed $2,648 for his win.
“I fished the main-lake area with a shad-colored crankbait and caught about 20 fish total,” said Steadman, who logged his first career win in FLW competition. “I focused on transition banks where postspawn fish were heading back out into the lake. Some of the spots had rocks, some had gravel and some were a mix. They were fairly typical locations where I’ve caught postspawners in the past.”
Steadman said he worked through 11 different areas to craft his limit.
“I hit a lull during the day from around 10:30 (a.m.) until noon, but I stuck with it and caught two of my biggest late in the day,” said Steadman.
Steadman said the fish in his areas were all smallmouth in practice, but on the day of the tournament there were largemouth present as well.
“I think I caught five largemouth during the event and ended up weighing four smallmouth and one largemouth.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: David Steadman Jr., Normandy, Tenn., five bass, 14-13, $2,648
2nd: John Wilkerson, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 14-3, $1,524
3rd: Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 13-13, $982
4th: Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $574
4th: Cornell Creciun III, Nolensville, Tenn., five bass, 13-4, $574
6th: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., five bass, 12-9, $485
7th: Mark Condron, Wilton, Conn., five bass, 12-7, $441
8th: Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 12-6, $397
9th: Hunter Bouldin, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 11-13, $353
10th: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 11-12, $293
10th: Gerald Williams, Scottsville, Ky., five bass, 11-12, $293
Rocco Simeri of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, brought a 4-pound, 11-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $285.
Bryan Brinson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $1,324 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Bryan Brinson, Hendersonville, Tenn., five bass, 12-5, $1,324
2nd: Marty Barnes, Crossville, Tenn., four bass, 9-9, $662
3rd: Eric Eden, Hartsville, Tenn., five bass, 9-1, $440
4th: Ryan Cross, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 7-15, $309
5th: Sam Loveless, Somerset, Ky., four bass, 7-6, $265
6th: Jake May, La Vergne, Tenn., three bass, 7-1, $243
7th: Gregory Goodwin, Louisville, Ky., three bass, 6-10, $221
8th: Austin Mitchell, Antioch, Tenn., three bass, 6-5, $199
9th: Devin Bargatze, Nashville, Tenn., two bass, 5-6, $377
10th: Blake Balent, Gallatin, Tenn., two bass, 5-4, $154
Jordan Young of Hillsboro, Tennessee, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 4 pounds, 3 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $142.
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. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. 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
