Brandon’s Gilmore Wins Co-angler Title
Local boater Shannon Denson of Brandon, Mississippi, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 21 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mississippi Division event at Ross Barnett Reservoir presented by Navionics. For his victory, Denson earned $7,610.
According to post-tournament reports, Denson caught his fish on shallow structure in the main lake with a silver and black-colored Rapala DT6 crankbait.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Shannon Denson, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 21-1, $5,610 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Danny Walden, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 19-6, $2,305
3rd: Brandon Wilcher, Canton, Miss., five bass, 18-11, $1,736
4th: Eddie Borne, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 18-4, $1,076
5th: Wayne Blalock, Liberty, Miss., five bass, 18-3, $922
6th: Corey Sullivan, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 18-1, $845
7th: Taurian Parks, Yazoo City, Miss., five bass, 18-0, $768
8th: Philip Atkins, Columbus, Miss., five bass, 16-8, $791
9th: Ray King, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 16-7, $615
10th: William McKay Jr., Brandon Miss., five bass, 16-4, $1,208
McKay Jr. caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – to earn the Boater’s Big Bass award of $670.
Randall Gilmore of Brandon, Mississippi, won the Co-angler Division Saturday after catching five bass weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces. Johnson earned $2,405 for his victory.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Randall Gilmore, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 20-5, $2,405
2nd: Dwayne Brumfield, Brookhaven, Miss., five bass, 17-9, $1,487
3rd: Cameron Petras, Gulfport, Miss., five bass, 15-8, $768
4th: John Breeden, Brandon, Miss., five bass, 14-6, $538
5th: Jesse Belk, Union, Miss., five bass, 14-5, $461
6th: Ray Higginbotham, Brooksville, Miss., five bass, 14-2, $473
7th: Joshua Shinault, Baldwyn, Miss., five bass, 13-13, $384
8th: Mitchell Bond, Collins, Miss., five bass, 13-2, $346
9th: Bobby Bullock, Florence, Miss., five bass, 12-15, $307
10th: Joshua Harris, Jackson, Miss., five bass, 12-12, $269
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 18-20 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky and Barkley lakes in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2018 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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. The 2018 BFL All-American will be held May 31-June 2 at Cross Lake in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is hosted by the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com.
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 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. 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: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
