Duncan wins co-angler title
Sean McAllister of Checotah, Oklahoma, weighed four bass totaling 16 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League North Okie Division tournament of 2015 on Skiatook Lake. For his victory, McAllister earned $4,618.
“To finally come out on top at a BFL tournament feels great,” said McAllister, who earned his first career victory in his 20th BFL Okie division tournament. “It’s been a long time coming.
“I found my fish in some timber flats near Cedar Creek, where they were suspended 8 feet down,” continued McAllister. “I was flipping a green-pumpkin-colored Punch Skirt jig with a Zoom Trick Worm. When the wind picked up I switched to a green-pumpkin Zoom Speed Craw because it was easier to control.”
McAllister said each of the four keepers he landed during the tournament came from the same 150-yard stretch.
“I predicted it would take 12 pounds to win the tournament so after I got my third keeper in the boat I started to get pretty excited,” McAllister said. “I spent the last hour of the tournament trying to find a kicker.”
At 1:55 p.m., McAllister managed to pull in a 6-pound, 15-ounce behemoth – tied for the biggest bass of the tournament.
“After that one I figured I had the tournament just about wrapped up,” McAllister said. “It couldn’t have worked out any better.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Sean McAllister, Checotah, Okla., four bass, 16-13, $4,618
2nd: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 12-15, $2,309
3rd: Dane Coale, Norman, Okla., three bass, 9-12, $1,539
4th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., five bass, 8-5, $1,078
5th: Seth Canaday, Skiatook, Okla., three bass, 7-0, $924
6th: Jeff Booth, Collinsville, Okla., three bass, 6-9, $847
7th: Shawn Kowal, Linn Creek, Mo., three bass, 6-0, $770
8th: Mark Johnson, Weleetka, Okla., two bass, 5-7, $693
9th: David Youngblood, Owasso, Okla., two bass, 5-5, $616
10th: Justin Swast, Camdenton, Mo., two bass, 4-14, $539
McAllister and Coale tied for the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division. Both caught fish weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces to split the day’s Big Bass Award and each earn $340.
Damon Duncan of Kansas, Oklahoma, weighed in three bass totaling 9 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win $2,309 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Damon Duncan, Kansas, Okla., three bass, 9-1, $2,309
2nd: Beau Govreau, Cedar Hill, Mo., one bass, 5-5, $1,155
3rd: Nathan Colwell, Pryor, Okla., two bass, 5-3, $770
4th: Luke Frazier, Skiatook, Okla., one bass, 5-2, $539
5th: Erik Lane, San Antonio, Texas, one bass, 4-0, $462
6th: Jacob Keenom, Meeker, Okla., two bass, 3-8, $423
7th: Don Benson, Eufaula, Okla., one bass, 3-6, $385
8th: Brenda Curnutte, Grove, Okla., one bass, 3-2, $307
8th: Sean Fullerton, Bixby, Okla., two bass, 3-2, $307
8th: Tyler Ramsey, Sand Springs, Okla., two bass, 3-2, $307
Govreau caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $340.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. 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
