Mark McCaig of Oxford, Alabama, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 13 pounds even Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional on Neely Henry Lake presented by Ranger Boats with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 45 pounds, 7 ounces. For his win, McCaig earned $20,000, a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a berth into the 2016 BFL All-American Championship.
“Qualifying for the All-American has been a goal of mine for quite a while,” said McCaig, who earned his first trip to the championship event after winning his second career event. “To win this event and do so is really special. I’m truly humbled right now.
“I pretty much junk-fished my way through the tournament in mid-lake areas between the Highway 77 bridge and Canoe Creek,” McCaig continued. “During the first two days of the tournament I’d see shallow cover like brush and grass and then check my electronics to make sure that there was deep water within 30 to 40 yards of it. Once I found those two together, I was able to trigger bites.”
McCaig said his primary bait throughout the event was an All-Terrain Tackle Skip-N’-Jig rigged with a green-pumpkin and orange-colored skirt and twin-tailed grub trailer. He said that he also used a white Z-Man ChatterBait and shad-colored Lucky Craft and Zoom WEC square-billed crankbaits to try and trigger fish off of the ends of the cover.
“After fishing the outer edges, I would move a little shallower and make long casts and pitches to any visible cover I could,” said McCaig.
On the final day of the event, McCaig said he returned to his mid-lake areas and used the Skip-N’-Jig near any grass, brush or docks that he had missed during the competition.
“Staying off of the cover was crucial to getting bites,” said McCaig. “My 13 Fishing rods and reels were also a key factor in my success. They helped me put the lure right where it needed to be without spooking the fish.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2016 BFL All-American were:
1st: Mark McCaig, Oxford, Ala., 15 bass, 45-7, $20,000 + Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Daniel Langton, Haubstadt, Ind., 15 bass, 40-9, $5,000
3rd: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 39-5, $4,000
4th: Landon Lomax, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., 15 bass, 38-4, $3,000
5th: Ronny Webb, Dyersburg, Tenn., 15 bass, 35-7, $2,000
6th: Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., 15 bass, 34-6, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Freddy Palmer, Estill Springs, Tenn., 15 bass, 34-5, $1,600
8th: Tyler Kiker, Alexandria, Ala., 14 bass, 34-0, $1,400
9th: Wendell Grantham, Macon, Ga., 15 bass, 31-12, $1,200
10th: Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., 15 bass, 30-6, $1,000
Wayne Kilgore of Attalla, Alabama, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower outboard with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 30 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top six co-angers that qualified for the 2016 BFL All-American were:
1st: Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., 15 bass, 30-14, Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horespower outboard
2nd: Steve Hall, Mableton, Ga., 14 bass, 29-11, $2,500
3rd: Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., 15 bass, 29-10, $2,000
4th: Ray Arning Jr., Walnut Hill, Ill., 14 bass, 26-6, $1,500
5th: Charles Knowles, Canton, Miss., 12 bass, 25-9, $1,000
6th: Charles Hardin, Evansville, Ind., 12 bass, 24-12, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: David Perron, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 23-15, $800
8th: Justin Thomas, Braxton, Miss., 13 bass, 23-12, $700
9th: James Davis, Decatur, Tenn., 14 bass, 22-11, $600
10th: Michael Wilder, Macon, Ga., 13 bass, 22-4, $500
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 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
