Fulton’s Crider Grabs Co-angler Title
Boater Kevin Brown of Hot Springs, Arkansas, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle presented by GEARED. Brown earned $6,256 for his win.
Brown said he fished from the takeoff ramp to Shoal Bay, working through five or six key areas and catching around 30 keepers throughout the event.
“I fished shell drops and brush piles from 5 to 13 feet down,” said Brown, who earned his third career win in BFL competition. “I caught them on a Texas-rigged Yum Ribbon Tail worm in plum and red shad colors. I also used shad and chartreuse-colored medium- and deep-diving Bomber crankbaits.”
Brown said he was able to put a limit of fish in the boat by 10 a.m.
“Sometimes I went for an hour or two without a bite, so I just kept moving,” said Brown. “But overall, it was a fun day from start to finish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Kevin Brown, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 19-2, $4,256 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Sawyer Grace, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 17-11, $1,978
3rd: Dustin Huggins, Russellville, Ark., five bass, 17-2, $1,253
4th: Josh Hilton, Clarksville, Ark., five bass, 15-13, $876
5th: Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 15-11, $751
6th: Cody Kemp, Donaldson, Ark., five bass, 15-8, $689
7th: Chuck Hamby, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 15-1, $1,116
8th: Justin Swayze, Gurdon, Ark., five bass, 14-3, $563
9th: Spencer Grace, Dardanelle, Ark., five bass, 14-0, $501
10th: Josh Ray, Alexander, Ark., five bass, 13-13, $438
Hamby brought a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $490.
Johnny Crider of Fulton, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,078 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Johnny Crider, Fulton, Ark., five bass, 13-14, $2,078
2nd: Charles Swilley, Ashdown, Ark., five bass, 13-11, $939
3rd: Jody Jones, Harvey, Ark., five bass, 13-8, $627
4th: John McCullar, Benton, Ark., five bass, 12-4, $438
5th: Tony Smith, Benton, Ark., four bass, 11-6, $376
6th: Robert Scott, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 9-15, $344
7th: Todd Brown, Little Rock, Ark., three bass, 9-6, $363
8th: Kenyon Johnson, Mountain Home, Ark., three bass, 9-4, $282
9th: Kevin LaRue, Royal, Ark., four bass, 8-4, $234
9th: Jason Mullins, Benton, Ark., four bass, 8-4, $234
Daniel Elam of Lamar, Arkansas, also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $245.
The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle presented by GEARED was hosted by Russellville Advertising and Promotions.
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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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. 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: Brian Johnson, FLW
