Keller wins co-angler title
Kevin Reece of Elizabeth, Indiana, weighed in three bass totaling 8 pounds, 9 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Hoosier Division Super Tournament on the Ohio River with a two-day total of 8 bass weighing 14 pounds, 2 ounces. For his win, Reece took home $7,517.
“I spent most of the weekend fishing main-river breaks and channel swings near Hogan Creek,” said Reece, who earned his first win in FLW competition. “The channel swings were close to the bank, so the area had a lot of grass beds and wood cover. On Day One I caught five keepers, with my last one coming in with two minutes left to fish. That final catch allowed me to make the cut and compete on Sunday.
Reece said he the majority of his keepers on a chartreuse and white-colored 1/8-ounce Hawgback Lures Spinnerbait.
“On Day Two, I returned to the area and found that the water level was down over a foot,” Reece continued. “After 90 minutes I headed back toward Tanners Creek and concentrated on a bridge embankment with a lot of concrete, wood and chunk rock. With the water low I thought that there may be some good bass there, and there was. I caught my biggest fish of the tournament with just an hour left in the event.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kevin Reece, Elizabeth, Ind., eight bass, 14-2, $5,517 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: James Pickett, Trafalgar, Ind., 10 bass, 13-8, $2,759
3rd: Chris Wilkinson, Farmersburg, Ind., 10 bass, 13-7, $1,839
4th: George Brown, Camby, Ind., 10 bass, 12-5, $1,287
5th: Aaron Singleton, LaGrange, Ky., eight bass, 11-15, $1,103
6th: Mike Seal, Richmond, Ind., 10 bass, 11-13, $1,312
7th: Todd Hensley, New Albany, Ind., nine bass, 11-8, $920
8th: Clyde McNaron, Trenton, Ohio, eight bass, 11-8, $828
9th: Scott Bateman, Jasper, Ind., 10 bass, 11-4, $736
10th: Nick Uebelhor, Jasper, Ind., eight bass, 10-8, $644
Jim Lovelace of Liberty Township, Ohio, caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $720.
Steve Keller Jr. of Bethel, Ohio, won the co-angler division and earned $2,759 with a two-day cumulative catch of seven bass weighing 11 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Steve Keller Jr., Bethel, Ohio, seven bass, 11-9, $2,759
2nd: Brody Campbell, Oxford, Ohio, eight bass, 10-3, $1,379
3rd: Glenn Graham, Brookville, Ind., seven bass, 10-2, $919
4th: Jeremy Arnold, Austin, Ind., four bass, 7-1, $744
5th: Charles Hardin, Evansville, Ind., five bass, 6-12, $602
6th: Michael Pruitt, Martinsville, Ind., six bass, 6-11, $506
7th: James McWhorter, Hamilton, Ohio, two bass, 6-3, $820
8th: Terry Battema, Greenwood, Ind., five bass, 5-12, $414
9th: Rodney Johnson, Franklin, Ind., five bass, 5-7, $368
10th: Gary Hoffman, Stoutsville, Ohio, five bass, 5-4, $322
McWhorter caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Saturday, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 1 ounce, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $360.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 Regional Championship on Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tennessee. 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
