Kentucky’s Moore Claims Co-angler Title
Boater Larry Neal of Piney Flats, Tennessee, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 21 pounds, 12 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Volunteer Division tournament on Douglas Lake. For his efforts, Neal took home $3,505.
According to post-tournament reports, Neal targeted points in 32 to 42 feet of water with a green-pumpkin-colored worm to catch his fish.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Larry Neal, Piney Flats, Tenn., five bass, 21-12, $3,505
2nd: Michael Cantrell, Philadelphia, Tenn., five bass, 20-2, $1,753
3rd: Jason Bridwell, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 17-15, $1,589
4th: Rex Pendergrass, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 16-6, $1,218
5th: Tim Smiley, White Pine, Tenn., five bass, 16-3, $701
6th: Bryant Ailor, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 15-8, $643
7th: Jonathan Bowling, Harriman, Tenn., five bass, 15-6, $584
8th: Willie Bryan, Sevierville, Tenn., five bass, 14-13, $496
8th: Matt Brown, Corbin, Ky., five bass, 14-13, $496
10th: Tee Watkins, East Point, Ky., five bass, 14-9, $409
Jeffrey Mahaffey of Bristol, Tennessee, brought a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $220.
Eric Moore of Union, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $1,753 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Eric Moore, Union, Ky., five bass, 15-13, $1,753
2nd: Colton Bryan, Sevierville, Tenn., five bass, 15-11, $876
3rd: Chad Ball, Abingdon, Va., five bass, 13-9, $585
4th: Matthew Rasnick, Elizabethton, Tenn., three bass, 10-10, $629
5th: Ben Hudson, Lynchburg, Va., four bass, 10-8, $351
6th: Jose Salgado, Artemus, Ky., four bass, 10-6, $421
7th: Scott Standafer, Hamilton, Ohio, five bass, 9-14, $292
8th: Joshua Jernigan, Rocky Top, Tenn., five bass, 9-7, $263
9th: Jacob Linkous, Rogersville, Tenn., four bass, 9-0, $234
10th: David Shreve, Knoxville, Tenn., four bass, 8-14, $204
Rasnick caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $220.
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
