Spires wins co-angler title
Ryan Salzman of Huntsville, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 24 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the fourth FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Choo Choo Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Guntersville. For his victory, Salzman took home $5,244.
Salzman said he concentrated on ledges between Seibold Creek and the Highway 431 Bridge.
“My areas had a lot of baitfish,” said Salzman, who earned his second career win in FLW competition. “Earlier this week, I noticed that skipjack were coming up and feeding on the shad, so I threw a swimbait and caught some sizeable fish. I decided to follow a similar pattern for this event.”
Salzman said he caught the majority of his fish on a True Bass True Blue-colored Little Head 4.5 Swimbait.
“I was sitting in 30 feet of water and throwing up to 12 feet,” said Salzman. “I started out strong with 17 or 18 pounds and just worked through them the rest of the day. With the help of my Lowrance electronics, I ended up catching nearly 60 keepers.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Ryan Salzman, Huntsville, Ala., five bass, 24-5, $5,244
2nd: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., five bass, 23-12, $2,122
3rd: Matt Bradley, Bessemer, Ala., five bass, 23-2, $1,413
4th: Cody Harrison, Florence, Ala., five bass, 21-5, $990
5th: Clayton Joyce, Chapel Hill, Tenn., five bass, 21-3, $849
6th: Casey Martin, New Hope, Ala., five bass, 20-2, $1,078
7th: Douglas Webster, Pinson, Ala., five bass, 20-0, $707
8th: Curtis Merriman, Cullman, Ala., five bass, 19-12, $1,237
9th: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., five bass, 19-3, $566
10th: Jonathan Henry, Grant, Ala., five bass, 18-12, $495
Merriman caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $600.
Alex Spires of Chickamauga, Georgia, weighed in five bass totaling 22 pounds even Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,122.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Alex Spires, Chickamauga, Ga., five bass, 22-0, $2,122
2nd: Roland Wade, Rocky Face, Ga., five bass, 21-14, $1,361
3rd: Chase Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 19-8, $707
4th: Randall Wiggins, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 17-0, $495
5th: Wayne Garner, Sherwood, Tenn., five bass, 16-13, $424
6th: Derek Holly, Johnson City, Tenn., five bass, 14-12, $389
7th: Daniel Davis, Albertville, Ala., four bass, 14-10, $354
8th: Jason Mullinax, White, Ga., five bass, 14-2, $300
8th: Scott Miller, Burlington, Wis., five bass, 14-2, $300
10th: Robert Barnett, Flintstone, Ga., five bass, 14-1, $248
Wade caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $300.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. 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
