Nashville’s McKinney wins co-angler title
Randy Walden of Tompkinsville, Kentucky, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Music City Division tournament of 2016 on Center Hill Lake, presented by Power-Pole. For his victory, Walden took home $2,748.
“The BFL tournaments are the biggest tournaments that I fish, so to win one is really pretty special to me,” said Walden, who earned the first win of his career in FLW competition. “I still think that it is pretty crazy that I won, but it’s a great feeling of accomplishment.
“I was fishing up the river, keying in on the shad spawn,” Walden continued. “I found one spot near some bridge pilings where they were biting really good in the morning, then as the day progressed I was targeting wood and timber along bluff walls.”
Walden said that he caught around 20 keepers throughout the day on a Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg topwater bait and a green-pumpkin and orange-colored Legal Limit Lures jig with a green-pumpkin Strike King Rage Craw.
“I think I was just in the right areas,” Walden said. “I was fishing up the river in deep, clear water and I didn’t see any other boats all day long. I got lucky and found the right fish and had them all to myself.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Randy Walden, Tompkinsville, Ky., five bass, 16-9, $2,748
2nd: Brandon Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 16-4, $1,679
3rd: Josh Tramel, Smithville, Tenn., five bass, 15-11, $916
4th: Rod Huff, Monterey, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $595
4th: J.B. King, Byrdstown, Tenn., five bass, 15-4, $595
6th: Dusty Rice, McMinnville, Tenn., five bass, 14-11, $481
6th: Matt Stanley, Alexandria, Tenn., five bass, 14-11, $481
8th: Daniel Johnson, Lebanon, Tenn., four bass, 13-10, $412
9th: Blake Whittaker, Monterey, Tenn., five bass, 13-7, $366
10th: John Graves, Mount Juliet, Tenn., five bass, 13-6, $321
Brandon Tramel caught a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $305.
Matthew McKinney of Nashville, Tennessee, weighed in five bass totaling 18 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to earn $1,414 and win the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Matthew McKinney, Nashville, Tenn., five bass, 18-4, $1,414
2nd: Zach Sparks, Smithville, Tenn., four bass, 12-1, $639
3rd: Ron Poland, Murfreesboro, Tenn., four bass, 11-0, $427
4th: Taylor Wisniewski, Lexington, Ky., five bass, 10-10, $298
5th: Alex Hester, Crossville, Tenn., five bass, 10-0, $255
6th: Richard Walker, Franklin, Tenn., five bass, 9-14, $234
7th: Larry Anderson, Hillsboro, Ohio, five bass, 9-8, $213
8th: Ricky England, Sparta, Tenn., four bass, 8-7, $192
9th: Darryl Humphrey, Murfreesboro, Tenn., three bass, 8-0, $170
10th: Phil Williams, Jr., Jamestown, Ky., four bass, 7-12, $149
McKinney also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $137.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Seneca, South Carolina. 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: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
