Acree wins co-angler title
Jonathan Henry of Grant, Ala., brought the largest stringer of the tournament to the scale Saturday – a five-bass limit totaling 30 pounds, 14 ounces to win the Rayovac FLW Series Southeast Division event on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 77 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, Henry earned $40,000.
Henry started the day in ninth place but jumped to the top of the leaderboard after catching the only limit weighing more than 30 pounds throughout the three-day event.
“Today I caught them off of a community hole on a bridge,” said Henry, who earned his first career victory in FLW competition. “The first two days I fished probably 30 spots a day. Some were shallow and some were medium-offshore.”
Henry explained that the bass were feeding when he arrived at the bridge in the morning, and that he didn”‘t leave until he had caught over 30 pounds on a Shad 1-colored Scottsboro Tackle Fringe Swimbait.
“Guntersville is the best lake in the country,” said Henry of his home waters. “I caught about 25 bass and culled three or four 5-pounders today. My co-angler thought I had it won and I thought I had a good chance. I didn”‘t know that I had more than 30 pounds, though. When I saw that I knew that Mark Rose would need to have a really big bag to beat me.
“About a year and a half ago, Jason Christie started helping me, I fish the FLW Tour as a co-angler and practice with him,” finished Henry. “I hang around with guys that expect to win and I think that’s rubbed off on me. I hadn’t thought about the check until they handed it to me. All I wanted was that trophy. All I wanted to do was win.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Guntersville were:
1st: Jonathan Henry Grant, Ala. 15 bass 77-8 $40,000
2nd: Walmart pro Mark Rose West Memphis, Ark. 15 bass 76-9 $15,500
3rd: Michael Neal Dayton, Tenn. 15 bass, 73-1 $12,000
4th: Chevy pro Bryan Thrift Shelby, N.C. 15 bass 70-12 $10,000
5th: Robert Boyd Russellville, Ala. 15 bass 69-9 $9,000
6th: Brad Knight Wartburg, Tenn. 14 bass 69-5 $8,000
7th: Ron Nelson Berrien Springs, Mich. 15 bass 67-15 $7,000
8th: David Hendrick Cherryville, N.C. 15 bass 67-0 $6,000
9th: Robert Behrle Hoover, Ala. 15 bass 65-14 $5,000
10th: Greg Willimon Pickens, S.C. 14 bass 57-1 $4,000
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Rose and Bryan Gustafson of Fort Frances, Ontario, tied for the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division on Thursday, each weighing a bass that weighed 7-pounds, 9-ounces, to split the day’s Rayovac FLW Series Big Bass award of $300.
Malcolm Acree of Clearwater, Fla., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117C with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Guntersville were:
1st: Malcolm Acree Clearwater, Fla. 15 bass 50-12 Ranger Z117C with a
90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Randy Gardner Wetumpka, Ala. 13 bass 48-9 $5,000
3rd: Bryan New Belmont, N.C. 13 bass 47-3 $4,000
4th: Ronald Young Winter Haven, Fla. 14 bass 44-4 $3,500
5th: Dererk Savage Port St. Lucie, Fla. 13 bass 43-8 $3,000
6th: Timothy Watkins Trussville, Ala. 13 bass 41-8 $2,500
7th: Robert Russell Smyrna, Tenn. 13 bass 40-7 $2,000
8th: Mike Evans Deatsville, Ala. 12 bass 38-3 $1,750
9th: Steve Keller Jr. Bethel, Ohio 11 bass 37-11 $1,500
10th: Wesley Bleich Newnan, Ga. nine bass 30-11 $1,250
Keller Jr. caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – a 9-pound, 1-ounce bass – that earned him the day”‘s Rayovac FLW Series Big Bass award of $200.
The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern,Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournamentsand competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division thatcould earn them the opportunity to fish in the no-entry-fee Rayovac FLW SeriesChampionship.
The Rayovac FLW Series on Lake Guntersville presented by Mercury was hosted by the Marshall County Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was the third and final event in the Southeast division of the 2014 Rayovac FLW Series season. The top 30 anglers in the final point standings will now advance to the 2014 Rayovac FLW Series Championship held Oct. 30-Nov.1 on Wheeler Lake in Rogersville, Ala. For a complete schedule, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
For complete details and updated information visit the FLWOutdoors website. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter/FLWOutdoors.
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 2014 over the course of 229 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. For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.
By: Jody White, Communications Specialist, FLW Outdoors
