Shawn Gordon of Russellville, Arkansas, weighed a five-bass limit on the Walmart FLW Tour stage totaling 18 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the TBF National Championship on Grand Lake with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 2 ounces. For his victory, Gordon earned the $100,000 “Living The Dream” prize package and a new Ranger Z518 boat.
“All of the feelings are a lot to take in right now,” said Gordon. “This win means I can fish in the Forrest Wood Cup, which is really special.
“The first two days of the tournament I targeted shallow pockets of the lake. I also explored rocks as long as they weren’t too deep,” said Gordon. “I found a lot of fish firing along rocky points. I’d focus on those areas for about two hours and then make a run to another one of my four or five spots. After that I’d head down the lake and sight-fish to finish out the day.”
Gordon said he used an unnamed off-white-colored square-bill crankbait in the pockets and along the points, and switched to a green pumpkin-colored YUM Christie Craw for sight-fishing.
Gordon said he followed a similar pattern today, but wasn’t able to sight-fish due to the weather.
“I started in the same pockets and caught one on the crankbait, but ended up losing two. The wind was blowing like crazy where I was targeting so I couldn’t go sight-fishing. Instead I stuck to three flat points next to the creek channel where the bass were pulled up eating shad.”
Gordon said he caught around 23 keepers over the course of the three-day tournament.
“Since I wasn’t able to sight fish on the final day, the key for me was finding those fish along those three points,” Gordon said. “Luckily, they were right where I needed them to be.”
The top seven boaters on Grand Lake were:
1st: Shawn Gordon, Russellville, Ark., 15 bass, 50-2, $100,000 Living the Dream package + Ranger Z518 Boat
2nd: Sam Heckman, Fountain, Colo., 14 bass, 45-10, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
3rd: Brian LaClair, Denton, Md., 15 bass, 40-9, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
4th: Mark Lundgren, Cocoa, Fla., 12 bass, 36-14, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
5th: Curtis Richardson, Belleville, Ontario, 13 bass, 34-0, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
6th: Nicholas Smyers, Franksville, Wis., 11 bass, 27-4, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
7th: Mark Maderos, Maple Valley, Wash., nine bass, 25-14, $1,500 + BFL All-American Package
Complete results will be posted at BassFederation.com.
Overall there were 25 bass weighing 70 pounds, 10 ounces caught by boaters Saturday. Three of the final seven boaters weighed in five-bass limits.
Gilbert Gagner of Highgate Springs, Vt., won the co-angler championship and “Living The Dream” co-angler prize package, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 43 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top seven co-anglers on Grand Lake were:
1st: Gilbert Gagner, Highgate Springs, Vt., 15 bass, 43-4, “Living The Dream” package + $2,500
2nd: Wes Logan, Springville, Ala., 12 bass, 39-11, $750 + BFL All-American Package
3rd: Phillip Duracz, Chesterton, Ind., 10 bass, 27-9, $750 + BFL All-American Package
4th: Steven Wiseman, Bryans Road, Md., 10 bass, 23-4, $750 + BFL All-American Package
5th: Johnny Babb, Holdenville, Okla., 10 bass, 23-3, $750 + BFL All-American Package
6th: Will Treadwell, Buford, Ga., 10 bass, 22-11, $750 + BFL All-American Package
7th: Brian Merlini, Maple Valley, Wash., eight bass, 19-14, $750 + BFL All-American Package
Overall there were 13 bass weighing 32 pounds, 14 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. Only one of the final seven co-anglers weighed in five-bass limits.
The winning boater received a $100,000 “Living the Dream” prize package which includes use of a wrapped Ranger boat powered by Evinrude as well as a tow vehicle, fully paid entry fees into the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour, a cash award, an automatic berth into the 2015 Walmart BFL All-American and the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup. First place on the co-anglers side is a “Living The Dream” prize package including paid entry fees into the FLW Rayovac series division of their choice, a cash award, and an automatic berth into the 2015 Walmart BFL All-American and the 2015 Forrest Wood Cup. Each of the seven Division Champions (boaters and co-anglers) will advance to the 2015 Walmart BFL All-American.
The 2015 TBF National Championship, hosted by the Grand Lake Association, is the ultimate dream goal for all TBF members. The boater and co-angler with the heaviest cumulative weight from all three days of competition will be crowned TBF National Champions. The tournament featured 48 Boaters and 48 Co-anglers, representing seven TBF divisions nationwide, who qualified through a series of TBF club, TBF state and TBF divisional championship series tournaments to compete in the TBF National Championship
Coverage of the TBF National Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) November 9 from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. ET. when Season 20 of “FLW” returns this fall. The Emmy-nominated "FLW" television show airs on NBCSN, the Pursuit Channel and the World Fishing Network and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
For complete details and updated information visit the BassFederation website.
ABOUT THE BASS FEDERATION
The Bass Federation Inc., (TBF) is a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. TBF is owned by those we serve and dedicated to the sport of fishing. The Federation is the largest and oldest, organized grassroots fishing, youth and conservation organization there is. TBF, our affiliated state federations and their member clubs conduct more than 20,000 events each year and have provided a foundation for the entire bass fishing industry for more than 45 years. TBF founded the Student Angler Federation and the National High School Fishing program in 2008 to promote clean family fun and education through fishing. Visit bassfederation.com or highschoolfishing.org and “LIKE US” on Facebook.
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
