Albertville’s Pittman tops Co-angler Division
Boater Chris Mayfield of Phil Campbell, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 23 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division event on Lake Guntersville. Mayfield took home $4,079 for his victory.
“I was fishing in the mid-lake area,” said Mayfield, who earned his first career BFL win. “The fish were just getting out to the ledges. Literally a day ago they weren’t there. I was finding them with my electronics and just following them around.”
Mayfield said that he caught all of his limit on a Carolina-rigged Zoom Lizard, although he declined to specify the exact color. He did catch a fish on a jig as well, but all of the fish that he weighed in came via the Carolina rig.
“The fish were roaming in schools and I just kept moving with them,” Mayfield said. “I’ve had some terrible luck on Lake Guntersville over the years, and Saturday was just one of those days where everything was working for me.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Chris Mayfield, Phil Campbell, Ala., five bass, 23-14, $4,079
2nd: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 20-13, $2,040
3rd: Marc Arnold, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 19-7, $1,293
4th: Martin McCravy, Killen, Ala., five bass, 19-6, $905
5th: Josh Butler, Hayden, Ala., five bass, 19-0, $776
6th: Blake Hall, Hartselle, Ala., four bass, 17-7, $1,194
6th: Casey Martin, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 17-7, $979
8th: Bryan Gregory, Fort Payne, Ala., five bass, 16-9, $582
9th: Jack Gumbert, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 16-7, $517
10th: John Polly, Nauvoo, Ala., five bass, 16-6, $453
Hall caught a 7-pound bass, which was the heaviest of the tournament in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $515.
Johnny Pittman of Albertville, Alabama, weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division and the top prize of $1,902.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Johnny Pittman, Albertville, Ala., five bass, 14-15, $1,902
2nd: Waylon Hancock, Dutton, Ala., four bass, 14-3, $951
3rd: Marcus Corbett, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 14-2, $734
4th: Ethan Wheeler, Mayfield, Ky., five bass, 13-13, $444
5th: Terry Smith, Tullahoma, Tenn., five bass, 13-7, $380
6th: Dennis Sandoval, Decatur, Ala., five bass, 13-6, $349
7th: Adam Clark, Logan, Ala., five bass, 12-15, $367
8th: Jarrid Taylor, Attalla, Ala., three bass, 12-3, $285
9th: Chad Biddle, Shelbyville, Ky., four bass, 12-1, $254
10th: Jerry Armstrong, Shelbyville, Tenn., five bass, 12-0, $222
Jeremy Waldrop of Hoover, Alabama, weighed a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass which earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award and $252.
The T-H Marine BFL at Lake Guntersville was hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
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. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama. 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 2017 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. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the 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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea. 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: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
