Smelser wins co-angler title
Jason Wilson of Lincolnton, North Carolina, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 14 ounces Sunday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League North Carolina Division Super Tournament on Lake Norman with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 4 ounces. For his victory, Wilson earned $6,817.
“I started out each day by throwing a custom-colored Rapala DT 10 crankbait near rocks and stumps and caught a couple of key fish,” said Wilson. “The rest of them came flipping a Jason’s Magic Craw-colored E.R. Lures jig around docks. I believe I weighed two fish off the crankbait each day and three from the jig.”
Wilson said his biggest fish came around 11 a.m. each morning of the tournament.
“The bigger fish definitely preferred the jig near the docks,” said Wilson.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jason Wilson, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 29-4, $5,817 + $1,000 Mercury Bonus
2nd: Shane Lineberger, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 28-8, $2,909
3rd: Rob Digh, Denver, N.C., 10 bass, 25-7, $1,939
4th: Tracy Adams, Wilkesboro, N.C., 10 bass, 24-7, $1,357
5th: Kelly Logan, Morganton, N.C., 10 bass, 23-11, $1,163
6th: Scott Beattie, Lincolnton, N.C., 10 bass, 23-3, $1,066
7th: Joey Sabbagha, Prosperity, S.C., 10 bass, 22-5, $970
8th: Eric Moser, Salisbury, N.C., 10 bass, 22-1, $873
9th: Jeffrey Queen, Catawba, N.C., 10 bass, 21-13, $776
10th: Jeremy Bouldin, Kings Mountain, N.C., 10 bass, 21-8, $679
Lineberger caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday, a fish weighing 4 pounds, 10 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $772.
Wayne Smelser of Rural Retreat, Virginia, won the co-angler division and $2,909 with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 21 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Wayne Smelser, Rural Retreat, Va., nine bass, 21-0, $2,909
2nd: Michael Kelley, Conover, N.C., 10 bass, 18-7, $1,454
3rd: Hunter Harwell, Hickory, N.C., 10 bass, 17-11, $970
4th: George Hirapetian, Charlotte, N.C., nine bass, 16-7, $679
5th: Khris Williams, Mount Holly, N.C., eight bass, 16-4, $582
6th: Andrew Shundich, Mooresville, N.C., seven bass, 15-8, $533
7th: Edward Louthen, Princeton, W. Va., seven bass, 15-2, $485
8th: Adam Lockler, Charlotte, N.C., eight bass, 13-7, $436
9th: William Hearn, Mount Holly, N.C., six bass, 12-8, $388
10th: Tim Cales, Sandstone, W. Va., seven bass, 12-4, $339
Tracy Brown of Huntersville, North Carolina, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $193.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings now qualify for the Oct. 15-17 Regional Championship on Lake Wateree in Camden, 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 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
