Cerv Claims Co-angler Title
Boater Jeff Jennings of Rock Hill, South Carolina, caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 15 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division event on Lake Murray presented by Navionics. For his win, Jennings earned $7,115.
According to post-tournament reports, Jennings used a creature-style bait to catch fish near docks and wood in the mid- and lower sections of the lake.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jeff Jennings, Rock Hill, S.C., five bass, 22-15, $5,115 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Cody Hoyle, Rutherfordton, N.C., five bass, 22-5, $2,458
3rd: Adam Waters, Denver, N.C., five bass, 19-7, $1,640
4th: Scott Allgood, Fair Play, S.C., five bass, 18-12, $1,147
5th: Steve Thornhill, Pineville, S.C., five bass, 18-11, $1,083
6th: Randy Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 18-1, $901
7th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., five bass, 17-11, $819
8th: Craig Rexford, Grand Isle, Vt., five bass, 17-10, $737
9th: John Allen, Concord, N.C., five bass, 17-8, $655
10th: Chris Marshall, Forest City, N.C., three bass, 16-15, $1,323
Marshall brought a 7-pound, 10-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $750.
Joel Cerv of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, won the Co-angler Division and $2,469 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Joel Cerv, North Wilkesboro, N.C., five bass, 14-14, $2,469
2nd: Tyler Dover, Blacksburg, S.C., five bass, 13-5, $1,235
3rd: Tyler Ward, Grover, N.C., five bass, 12-15, $1,023
4th: Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., five bass, 12-4, $576
5th: Blake Whittaker, Monterey, Tenn., four bass, 12-2, $494
6th: Bryce Tumberg, Moore, S.C., four bass, 12-1, $432
6th: Bill Hawkins, Piedmont, S.C., five bass, 12-1, $482
8th: Terry Coleman, Sumter, S.C., three bass, 11-15, $370
9th: Greg Atkinson, Ridgeway, S.C., four bass, 10-10, $329
10th: Stewart Uldrick, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 10-9, $288
Rodney Tapp of North Augusta, South Carolina, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $372.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division event on Lake Murray was hosted by Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism.
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.
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
