Smith wins co-angler title
Local angler Dustin Wood of Eufaula, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds, 10 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bulldog Division Super Tournament on Lake Eufaula presented by Navionics, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 3 ounces. For his win, Wood took home $5,660.
Wood said he threw a Strikezone Deep Daddy Crankbait to mid-lake stumps and brush on Day One. He said he covered as much water as he could, sometimes casting only twice before moving on to the next area.
“I did a lot of idling and looking,” said Wood, who also won the BFL Bama Division Super Tournament, held on Lake Eufaula two weeks ago. “When I saw something, I focused on nearby stumps, brush, or any irregular structure. The weather was cloudy with a little bit of wind and fog. I think the light wind helped out the cranking bite.”
Wood said he ended up catching seven keepers on Day One.
“On Day Two it was sunny, so I decided to go with a worm,” said Wood. “I picked up a Strikezone Shake Up Head rigged with a green-pumpkin Strikezone Needle Worm and fished it really slow. I threw it to isolated stumps and brush piles and put six keepers in the boat.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Dustin Wood, Eufaula, Ala., 10 bass, 28-3, $5,660
2nd: Mike Cavender, Phenix City, Ala., 10 bass, 26-4, $2,730
3rd: Al Cleghorn, Fitzgerald, Ga., eight bass, 23-4, $2,532
4th: Terry Stevens, Marianna, Fla., 10 bass, 21-13, $1,274
5th: Bradley Enfinger, Colquitt, Ga., 10 bass, 21-7, $1,092
6th: Michael Conley, Bainbridge, Ga., nine bass, 21-0, $1,001
7th: Scott Montgomery, Eufaula, Ala., seven bass, 19-12, $910
8th: Rob Jordan, Flowery Branch, Ga., seven bass, 18-11, $819
9th: Miles Burghoff, Santa Cruz, Calif., six bass, 18-9, $828
10th: John Duvall, Madison, Ga., seven bass, 14-7, $637
Cleghorn caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the Boater Big Bass award of $712.
Ken Smith of Lula, Georgia, won the co-angler division and earned $2,930 with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 21 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Ken Smith, Lula, Ga., 10 bass, 21-2, $2,930
2nd: Irby Allen, Leesburg, Ga., six bass, 17-8, $1,415
3rd: Tony DiMauro, Watkinsville, Ga., eight bass, 16-7, $909
4th: Jacob Thompson, Monroe, Ga., four bass, 14-9, $637
5th: Ben-Oni Maldonado, Covington, Ga., five bass, 14-5, $902
6th: Daniel Tuten, Byron, Ga., five bass, 10-3, $501
7th: Jason Yawn, LaGrange, Ga., five bass, 9-15, $455
8th: Reese Kingston, Villa Rica, Ga., five bass, 9-11, $410
9th: Dave Altman, Lawrenceville, Ga., five bass, 9-8, $364
10th: Deron Burdette, Fayetteville, Ga., three bass, 9-1, $319
Maldonado caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $356.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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 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. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart 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 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. 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
