Haynes, Wright tie for co-angler title
Joey Aderhold of Birmingham, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the third Walmart Bass Fishing League Bama Division tournament of 2015 on Logan Martin Lake. For his victory, Aderhold earned $6,394.
“It feels good to win a tournament,” said Aderhold. “I’ve been in a bit of a drought over the past few years so it’s nice to shake it off and move on.”
Aderhold said he targeted boat docks in the mid- and upper-lake spawning pockets of Logan Martin.
“The docks had to have some kind of brush under them,” Aderhold said. “I’d pull into a pocket and flip a couple times. If I felt brush I’d fish harder. If not, I’d move on to the next. I probably checked out 75 docks throughout the day.
“I was flipping a brown-colored Fat Daddy jig in 4 to 8 feet of water,” continued Aderhold. “My co-angler and I both caught a quick limit by 8 a.m., so I chased the big ones the rest of the day.”
Aderhold said he caught approximately 25 keepers during the course of the tournament.
“I don’t think I caught more than two fish that were short,” Aderhold said. “I was happy with the stringer I brought to the scale.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Joey Aderhold, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 18-15, $4,394 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Allen Armour, Cumming, Ga., five bass, 18-2, $2,197
3rd: Michael McHenry, McDonough, Ga., five bass, 18-1, $1,464
4th: David Lowery, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 16-12, $1,025
5th: Brandon Skinner, DeArmanville, Ala., five bass, 16-10, $879
6th: Kevin Allen, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 15-13, $805
7th: Josh Stracner, Vandiver, Ala., five bass, 15-9, $732
8th: Adam Bain, Talladega, Ala., five bass, 15-8, $659
9th: Ricky Smith, Ohatchee, Ala., five bass, 15-7, $586
10th: Scott Hayes, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 15-0, $513
Mark Svendsen of Doraville, Georgia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $630.
Wayne Haynes of Ohatchee, Alabama, and Kevin Wright of Senoia, Georgia, both weighed five-bass limits totaling 15 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win $1,647 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Wayne Haynes, Ohatchee, Ala., five bass, 15-8, $1,647
1st: Kevin Wright, Senoia, Ga., five bass, 15-8, $1,647
3rd: Michael Wright, Covington, Ga., five bass, 14-14, $733
4th: Matt Webb, Newnan, Ga., five bass, 14-3, $513
5th: James Murphy, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 14-2, $439
6th: Hulan Mattox, Alexander City, Ala., five bass, 13-1, $403
7th: Brant Quesenberry, Calera, Ala., five bass, 12-4, $366
8th: Tyler Youngblood, Chattanooga, Tenn., five bass, 12-3, $330
9th: Danny Moss, Glencoe, Ala., five bass, 11-15, $293
10th: Ryan Kennedy, Woodstock, Ga., five bass, 11-14, $256
Murphy caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $315.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, 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 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
