Tyner’s Vickers Nabs Co-angler Title
Pat Eichmann of Nancy, Kentucky, brought in 19 pounds, 3 ounces of Lake Cumberland bass Saturday to take top honors at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division event. For his five bass, Eichmann took home $5,889.
Eichmann said he spent his day targeting smallmouth that were spawning in a main-lake creek arm.

“I fished a pocket that had about a mile and a half of shoreline,” said Eichmann, who notched his first career victory in FLW competition. “They were all over, even on the straight stretches of bank. It was a good little area. The water wasn’t too stained, and the bass were 15 to 25 feet down.
“I used a swimbait and caught them from flooded timber,” continued Eichmann. “Males were guarding the nests and females were just starting to feed on shad and other baitfish after they had bedded.”
Eichmann said he used a BassTrix Paddle Tail Swimbait to craft the majority of his limit.
“I also weighed one off of a watermelon-red (Zoom Magnum) Finesse Worm with a ¼-ounce shaky-head,” said Eichamann. “They seemed to bite all day, and I ended up putting 25 to 30 keepers in the boat.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Pat Eichmann, Nancy, Ky., five bass, 19-3, $3,889 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd James Copeland, Bowling Green, Ky., five bass, 15-15, $1,944
3rd: Tony Eckler, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 15-11, $1,297
4th: Michael Morrison, Georgetown, Ky., five bass, 14-12, $907
5th: Thomas Coomer, Florence, Ky., five bass, 14-10, $978
6th: Tyler Gregory, Stearns, Ky., five bass, 14-7, $1,238
7th: Tyler Prewitt, Lancaster, Ky., five bass, 14-1, $615
7th: Mark Morgan, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 14-1, $615
9th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 14-0, $919
10th: Billy Hall, Florence, Ky., five bass, 13-3, $454
Gregory caught a bass weighing 4 pounds, 11 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $525.
Shane Vickers of Tyner, Kentucky, won the Co-angler Division and $1,944 Saturday after bringing a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 5 ounces to the scale.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Shane Vickers, Tyner, Ky., five bass, 11-5, $1,944
2nd: Doug Adkins, Gray Hawk, Ky., five bass, 10-6, $972
3rd: Clay Reece, Irvine, Ky., three bass, 9-6, $649
4th: Tim Sadler, Nicholasville, Ky., five bass, 8-13, $454
5th: Tim Kellam, Crittenden, Ky., three bass, 8-2, $634
5th: Jarrod Conn, Burgin, Ky., four bass, 8-2, $372
7th: Ralph Feldman, Lancaster, Ky., four bass, 7-14, $324
8th: Joshua Mounce, Somerset, Ky., four bass, 7-13, $292
9th: Jacob Parmley, Science Hill, Ky., four bass, 7-8, $243
9th: Kenny Botts, Alvaton, Ky., four bass, 7-8, $243
Kellam caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $262.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 5-7 BFL Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Kentucky. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.
The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the 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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa 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: Brian Johnson, FLW
