Conway wins co-angler title
Quincy Houchin of Mabelvale, Arkansas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division tournament on Lake Ouachita presented by Navionics. For his victory, Houchin took home $4,359.
Houchin said he started his day casting an umbrella rig with Sexy Shad-colored Keitech swimbaits to rocks along banks on the Ouachita River.
“I had a limit in the boat by 8 a.m.,” said Houchin. “From there, I worked my way back to some mid-lake areas and caught four more keepers in the process. The wind was beginning to pick up and I knew bigger fish would be moving up shallow, so I wanted to target new structure.”
Around noon, Houchin said he switched things up and focused on mid-lake points using a red Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap.
“I caught my four biggest bass after 2 p.m.,” said Houchin. “All I had to do was adjust to the weather conditions and I caught some sizeable fish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Quincy Houchin, Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 21-6, $4,359
2nd: Cody Burke, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 21-1, $2,804
3rd: Leland Nixon, Bee Branch, Ark., five bass, 16-13, $1,752
4th: Scott Hardin, Eads, Tenn., five bass, 16-5, $944
4th: Timmy Poe, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 16-5, $944
6th: Chris Layton, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 15-10, $799
7th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 15-6, $726
8th: Kyle Henderson, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 15-3, $654
9th: Jeremiah Kindy, Benton, Ark., five bass, 14-14, $581
10th: Brian Miller, Dardanelle, Ark., five bass, 14-13, $509
Burke caught a 7-pound, 14-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $625.
Jeffery Conway of Mineral Springs, Arkansas, weighed in five bass totaling 14 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to earn $2,442 and win the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jeffery Conway, Mineral Springs, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $2,442
2nd: Josh Tittle, Monticello, Ark., five bass, 11-8, $1,070
3rd: Kevin Clark, Malvern, Ark., five bass, 10-7, $712
4th: Garrett Jarvis, Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 10-2, $499
5th: Tommy Rigsby, Lonsdale, Ark., five bass, 9-13, $428
6th: Jesse Mitchell, Malvern, Ark., five bass, 9-11, $392
7th: Travis Harley, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 9-7, $339
7th: John Andrews Jr., Cherry Valley, Ark., four bass, 9-7, $339
9th: Josh Ford, Mount Ida, Ark., four bass, 9-1, $285
10th: Justin Johnson, Lavaca, Ark., five bass, 8-5, $237
10th: Ron Knight, Hot Springs, Ark., three bass, 8-5, $237
Conway also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $302.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 6-8 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
