Binkley wins co-angler title
Tim Wilson of Gas City, Indiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 29 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Guntersville. For his victory, Wilson earned $5,584.
“Saturday was probably the best day of fishing I’ve ever had,” said Wilson. “I was able to fire up a couple different schools and catch a ton of keepers.”
Wilson said he focused on three key ledges off of a Tennessee River channel in 17 to 25 feet of water.
“I caught my fish using a sexy shad-colored Scottsboro Tackle swimbait, a custom crawfish-colored football-head jig and my bigger fish on a Nichols Lures Ben Parker Magnum Spoon,” Wilson said. “When these schools are this active I’d make a cast and have a bite before the bait hit the bottom.”
Wilson said that while the majority of his fish came deep from the ledges, he also targeted two cuts in the banks of the lake.
“I probably caught at least forty keepers throughout the day,” Wilson said. “It killed me to throw back five pounders but they weren’t doing me any good. I just couldn’t believe the flurries that I hit.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Tim Wilson, Gas City, Ind., five bass, 29-10, $4,584 + $1,000 Mercury Bonus
2nd: Kevin McMahan, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 27-6, $2,292
3rd: Derek Remitz, Grant, Ala., five bass, 27-5, $1,529
4th: Devin Campbell, Boaz, Ala., five bass, 27-2, $1,070
5th: Benjie Allen, Scottsboro, Ala., five bass, 25-9, $917
6th: James Smith, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 25-2, $840
7th: Tyler Kiker, Alexandria, Ala., five bass, 24-12, $764
8th: Jason Grape, Attalla, Ala., five bass, 24-7, $688
9th: Freddy Palmer, Estill Springs, Tenn., five bass, 24-5, $611
10th: Seth Davis, Decatur, Tenn., five bass, 24-1, $535
D. Murphy of Madison, Alabama, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $675.
Brennon Binkley of Franklin, Tennessee, weighed in five bass totaling 25 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win $2,292 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Brennon Binkley, Franklin, Tenn., five bass, 25-11, $2,292
2nd: David Perron, Dayton, Tenn., five bass, 20-15, $1,146
3rd: Lee Graves, Southside, Ala., five bass, 19-14, $765
4th: Brian Briggs, Cartersville, Ga., five bass, 19-7, $535
5th: Scott Perkins, Opelika, Ala., five bass, 19-2, $458
6th: Daniel McGhee, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 17-12, $420
7th: Steven Underwood, Ooltewah, Tenn., five bass, 17-8, $382
8th: Marcus Corbett, Heflin, Ala., five bass, 17-7, $344
9th: Jason Mullinax, White, Ga., five bass, 17-3, $306
10th: Ronald Ingram, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 16-14, $267
Danny Moss of Glencoe, Alabama, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $337.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Alabama. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C 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 50 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW 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 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
