Lovely wins co-angler title
Michael Delvisco of Dandridge, Tennessee, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 1 ounce, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division Super Tournament on Old Hickory Lake, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 14 ounces. For his win, Delvisco took home $4,037.
“On Saturday I started shallow in the back of East Fork Station Camp Creek using a white Z-Man ChatterBait with a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm,” said Delvisco, who earned his first win in BFL competition. “I caught some keepers, and then went out deep to fish mid-lake drops.”
Delvisco said he topped off Saturday’s limit using the ChatterBait and a VMC Swinging Rugby Jig. He said he wrangled a 5-pounder – the heaviest bass weighed in the event – toward the end of the day.
“On Sunday I went straight to my stretch of drops instead of going shallow,” said Delvisco. “I returned periodically to the most productive hole, which was a little ditch on a drop, and caught four good keepers. I had to be patient. I only had five bites Sunday compared to 12 the day before.”
Delvisco said he built his final-day limit using a football–head jig rigged with a crawdad, and the Swinging Rugby Jig with a green-pumpkin Yamamoto Creature Bait trailer.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Michael Delvisco, Dandridge, Tenn., 10 bass, 28-14, $4,037
2nd: Donnie Rubel, Murfreesboro, Tenn., seven bass, 23-10, $2,116
3rd: Brandon Edel, Hendersonville, Tenn., 10 bass, 22-6, $1,278
4th: Anthony Nash, Quebeck, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-14, $894
5th: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-12, $766
6th: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., 10 bass, 21-2, $702
7th: J.B. King, Byrdstown, Tenn., 10 bass, 20-7, $739
8th: Tim Phy, Cookeville, Tenn., nine bass, 19-1, $875
9th: Dwight Fox, Gainesboro, Tenn., nine bass, 16-13, $511
10th: Robert Reagan, Byrdstown, Tenn., seven bass, 14-14, $447
Delvisco’s 5-pound bass also earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $206.
Edward Lovely of Manchester, Tennessee, won the co-angler division and earned $1,939 with a two-day cumulative catch of six bass weighing 19 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Edward Lovely, Manchester, Tenn., six bass, 19-0, $1,939
2nd: Kasey Brown, Pulaski, Tenn., seven bass, 14-3, $919
3rd: Diana Montgomery, Lebanon, Tenn., six bass, 13-9, $613
4th: Charles Bennington, Scottsville, Ky., four bass, 12-0, $429
5th: Larry Anderson, Hillsboro, Ohio, five bass, 11-8, $368
6th: Alex Hester, Crossville, Tenn., six bass, 10-14, $337
7th: Michael Birdwell, Granville, Tenn., four bass, 10-1, $547
8th: J.P. Sims, Cookeville, Tenn., six bass, 9-0, $276
9th: Mitchell Adams, Goodletsville, Tenn., five bass, 8-10, $245
10th: Michael Weimann, Murfreesboro, Tenn., five bass, 8-2, $215
Birdwell caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 14 ounces, and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $191.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. 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
