Quaintance wins co-angler title
Bradley Jones of Aragon, Georgia, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 24 pounds even Sunday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Choo Choo Division Super Tournament on Lake Guntersville with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 12 ounces. For his victory, Jones earned $6,574.
“I entered this event with the goal of catching enough fish to get me into the BFL regional tournament,” said Jones of his third win in FLW competition. “After a strong practice, I knew where I needed to be and I got to work.
“On Saturday morning I caught a 5- and 3½-pounder,” continued Jones. “Then the bite slowed, so I moved to another area that I’d found in practice – a 200-yard stretch of bank. I ended up catching six keepers.”
Jones said he caught a few keepers on a black Spro Poppin’ Frog and also flipped a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 1-ounce weight when he wanted to slow down his pace.
“I caught a 5-pounder within the first 30 minutes of competition on Sunday,” said Jones. “It was a great way to get things moving. I nabbed four more keepers throughout the day to seal the deal. It was a great tournament.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., 10 bass, 42-12, $6,574
2nd: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 41-8, $3,287
3rd: Curtis Merriman, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 39-0, $2,193
4th: Michael Stevens Jr., Fayetteville, Tenn., 10 bass, 36-14, $1,534
5th: Jeff Cannon, Douglasville, Ga., nine bass, 36-9, $1,315
6th: Jackie Flack, Cullman, Ala., 10 bass, 36-3, $1,205
7th: Scott Wright, Carbon Hill, Ala., nine bass, 33-8, $1,096
8th: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 10 bass, 33-0, $986
9th: Damien Willis, Jacksonville, Ala., 10 bass, 32-7, $877
10th: Tim Wilson, Gas City, Ind., 10 bass, 31-7, $767
Curtis Jordan of Ringgold, Georgia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday. The fish weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $930.
Chris Quaintance of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, won the co-angler division and $3,175 with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 23 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chris Quaintance, Muscle Shoals, Ala., nine bass, 23-15, $3,175
2nd: Jack Morris, New Hope, Ala., seven bass, 23-12, $1,587
3rd: Todd McBride, Huntsville, Ala., seven bass, 21-0, $1,059
4th: Jesse Craver, Centreville, Ala., eight bass, 19-1, $741
5th: Chase Fleeman, Saint Joseph, Tenn., six bass, 18-15, $635
6th: Lee Graves, Southside, Ala., seven bass, 17-8, $582
7th: Rodney Treadaway, Decatur, Ala., seven bass, 17-6, $529
8th: Jerry Armstrong, Shelbyville, Tenn., seven bass, 16-5, $476
9th: Ben Waldrop, Hiram, Ga., six bass, 16-1, $423
10th: Johnny Sanson, Winchester, Tenn., six bass, 16-0, $370
Price Puryear of Dalton, Georgia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $442.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings now qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Neely Henry Lake in Gadsden, Alabama. 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 compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
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 2015 over the course of 240 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.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
