Tapp wins co-angler title
Hampton Anderson of Anderson, South Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 25 pounds, 3 ounces, Saturday to win the first FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) South Carolina Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Murray. For his victory, Anderson took home $3,641.
“I worked my way up the (Saluda) river and was primarily hitting brush piles between 15 and 25 feet down,” said Anderson, who tallied the first win of his career in BFL competition. “The bass were setting up well for a jig bite so I knew that would be the deal for me.”
Anderson said he caught his fish on a custom-colored Greenfish Tackle Crawball Living Rubber Football Jig – the only bait he would need all day.
“I targeted around eight different brush piles and ran it really slow to get a bite,” said Anderson. “The water was too muddy to do it any other way.”
Anderson went on to say that he caught 11 keepers over the course of the tournament.
“I had most of my stringer fish by 10 a.m.,” Anderson said. “I culled once more at 2:30 p.m. just before check-in and figured I had enough to win.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Hampton Anderson, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 25-3, $3,641
2nd: Shane Lineberger, Lincolnton, N.C., five bass, 24-2, $1,820
3rd: Scott Hamrick, Denver, N.C., five bass, 23-0, $1,214
4th: Scott Farmer, Columbia, S.C., four bass, 22-11, $1,325
5th: Andy Wicker, Pomaria, S.C., five bass, 21-1, $728
6th: Wesley Story, Clarks Hill, S.C., five bass, 20-10, $637
6th: Jerry Pelfrey, Laurens, S.C., five bass, 20-10, $637
8th: Willie McMullen, Oxford, Ga., five bass, 20-4, $546
9th: Greg Rikard, Leesville, S.C., five bass, 18-15, $485
10th: Chris Marshall, Forest City, N.C., five bass, 18-3, $425
Farmer caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $475.
Rodney Tapp of North Augusta, South Carolina, weighed in five bass totaling 18 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to earn $1,777 and win the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Rodney Tapp, North Augusta, S.C., five bass, 18-2, $1,777
2nd: Travis Ruff, Connelly Springs, N.C., four bass, 12-8, $888
3rd: Ronald Harrell, Mitchell, Ga., five bass, 12-6, $592
4th: Charles Dickens, Appling, Ga., five bass, 11-7, $415
5th: Jack Hoy, Hollywood, S.C., two bass, 10-12, $355
6th: Jeffrey Borne, Leesville, S.C., three bass, 9-13, $326
7th: Donall Stoudemire, Chapin, S.C., four bass, 9-12, $296
8th: William Hearn, Mount Holly, N.C., three bass, 9-5, $267
9th: Woody Parks, Lincolnton, Ga., three bass, 9-4, $222
9th: Michael Maxfield, Hanahan, S.C., two bass, 9-4, $449
Maxfield caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $227.
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
