Marcus Sykora of Osage Beach, Mo., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Illini Division event on the Ohio River at Golconda. For his victory, Sykora earned $4,756.
Sykora secured the seventh BFL win of his career by flouting conventional wisdom and running up the Cumberland River for his limit. “I’m very proud of it,” Sykora said of his seventh win. “This one was probably more special than any of my other victories. I’m fishing in the Illini Division for the first time because the regional is on Kentucky Lake. This one is a sweet one. It proves to me that I can win outside of my comfort zone.
“Everybody told me that this event was going to be won in the Tennessee River,” said Sykora. “But it was a lot easier for me to catch ten pounds in the Cumberland River. I caught 6 keepers in the upper end of the Cumberland River. Then I ran down to the lower end of the Cumberland. The lower end was really muddy, but I caught my three biggest fish there.”
Sykora said he was fishing current seams around rocks, in both the upper and lower portions of the river. He said he used a 3/16th-ounce Chompers shaky-head jig with a green pumpkin Zoom Trick Worm and targeted the seams in 8 feet of water in the upper river. In the lower river, Sykora said he was using a black and blue-colored 3/8-ounce Chompers jig with a sapphire blue Zoom Super Chunk and targeted the seams in 3 feet of water.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
| 2nd: | Luke Budde | Waterloo, Ill. | five bass | 13-5 | $1,878 |
| 3rd: | Travis Boley | Weldon, Ill. | five bass | 12-13 | $1,253 |
| 4th: | Marion Cordes | Sullivan, Ill. | five bass | 11-15 | $876 |
| 5th: | Michael McAtee | Waverly, Ky. | five bass | 11-14 | $720 |
| 5th: | James Powell | Murphysboro, Ill. | five bass | 11-14 | $720 |
| 7th: | Greg Hirsch | Saint Jacob, Ill. | five bass | 11-12 | $626 |
| 8th: | Dan Shoraga | West Frankfort, Ill. | five bass | 10-15 | $563 |
| 9th: | Jason Hodge | Marion, Ill. | five bass | 10-14 | $501 |
| 10th: | Kyle Danhausen | Kankakee, Ill. | five bass | 10-13 | $438 |
Derek Marvel of Mount Vernon, lnd., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win $1,878 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
| 2nd: | Dany Danhausen | Kankakee, Ill. | five bass | 11-3 | $939 |
| 3rd: | Brent Werries | Morton, Ill. | five bass | 9-12 | $627 |
| 4th: | Frank McClendon | Robbins, Ill. | five bass | 9-4 | $438 |
| 5th: | Charles Dammerman | Owaneco, Ill. | five bass | 9-1 | $376 |
| 6th: | Brendon Delaney | Highland, Ill. | five bass | 8-14 | $344 |
| 7th: | Michael Watson | Morton Grove, Ill. | five bass | 8-10 | $313 |
| 8th: | Rick Peppers | New Athens, Ill. | five bass | 8-5 | $282 |
| 9th: | Chris Clem | Auburn, Ill. | five bass | 8-0 | $250 |
| 10th: | Alan Bernicky | Joliet, Ill. | five bass | 7-13 | $219 |
The final BFL Illini Division tournament of 2013 is scheduled for Sept. 28-29 on Lake Shelbyville in Shelbyville, Ill. After that last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 10-12 Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Ky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
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 2013 over the course of 220 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. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.By: Jody White, Communications Specialist / FLW Outdoors
