McGaha wins co-angler title
Travis Lilly of Bluff City, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 24 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Volunteer Division event on Douglas Lake. For his victory, Lilly earned $3,545.
“It was one of those days when everything fell in place,” said Lilly. “I didn’t lose any fish and things went right. I bounced around the lake a little bit but all of the fish that I brought to the scale came from the same area. I started the day and finished the day in the same place.”
Lilly indicated that he was targeting post-spawn bass that had moved out on to points. He was primarily using swimbaits indicating that color really wasn’t a factor in catching his bass.
“It was actually kind of funny,” Lilly went on to say. “When I went back to the area I started in there was a boat sitting on that point. I asked him if he would mind if I fished the spot and he said no that he had already fished it. A couple of casts later I landed my biggest fish of the day, a 6 1/2-pounder.
“This is the first time that I have committed to fishing off-shore and it actually went well.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Sam McCowan Pounding Mill, Va. five bass 22-7 $1,773
3rd: Bobby Ferguson Chuckey, Tenn. four bass 21-13 $1,181
4th: Nick Meadows Cedar Bluff, Va. five bass 20-8 $827
5th: Gary Pilkenton Morristown, Tenn. five bass 19-15 $709
6th: Tim Saylor Johnson City, Tenn. five bass 19-12 $650
7th: Derrick Snavely Rogersville, Tenn. five bass 18-11 $591
8th: Guy Sams Elizabethton, Tenn. five bass 18-7 , $532
9th: Ken Vicchio Bluff City, Tenn five bass 17-12 $473 plus $300 Evinrude bonus
10th: Daniel Morgan Dayton, Tenn. five bass 17-6 $414
Justin McGaha of Knoxville, Tenn., weighed five bass totaling 14 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to win the Co-angler Division. McGaha earned $1,773 for his victory.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Dennis Lewis Powell, Tenn. five bass 14-0 $886
3rd: Jason Yates Dandridge, Tenn. five bass 12-14 $591
4th: Bud McKelvey Lenoir City, Tenn. five bass 12-6 $384
4th: Sam Overton Heiskell, Tenn. five bass 12-6 $384
6th: Jonathan Saddler Bristol, Tenn. five bass 12-5 $325
7th: Matt Brown Harriman, Tenn. five bass 11-7 $295
8th: Eric Topole Corryton, Tenn. five bass 10-12 $266
9th: Chris Seese Lenoir City, Tenn. three bass 10-11 $236
10th: Rob Linkous Rogersville, Tenn. five bass 10-6 $207
The next BFL Volunteer Division tournament is scheduled for June 8 on Lake Cherokee in Morristown, Tenn. After the last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 17-19 Regional Championship on Lake Hartwell in Lavonia, Ga. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 40 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 presented by Chevy. The 2013 BFL All-American is being held June 27-29 on the Nickajack Lake in Chattanooga, Tenn. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart 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 2013 over the course of 220 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. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.
By: Julie Huber,
