MCCAIG WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT ON NEELY HENRY LAKE

Kilgore wins co-angler title

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:

 

1^st:          Mark McCaig, Oxford, Ala., 15 bass, 45-7, $20,000 + Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horsepower outboard

2^nd:         Daniel Langton, Haubstadt, Ind., 15 bass, 40-9, $5,000

3^rd:          Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 39-5, $4,000

4^th:          Landon Lomax, Owens Cross Roads, Ala., 15 bass, 38-4, $3,000

5^th:          Ronny Webb, Dyersburg, Tenn., 15 bass, 35-7, $2,000

6^th:          Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., 15 bass, 34-6, $1,800

Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:

7^th:          Freddy Palmer, Estill Springs, Tenn., 15 bass, 34-5, $1,600

8^th:          Tyler Kiker, Alexandria, Ala., 14 bass, 34-0, $1,400

9^th:          Wendell Grantham, Macon, Ga., 15 bass, 31-12, $1,200

10^th:        Adam Wagner, Cookeville, Tenn., 15 bass, 30-6, $1,000

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

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:

1^st:          Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., 15 bass, 30-14, Ranger Z518C w/ 200-horespower outboard

2^nd:         Steve Hall, Mableton, Ga., 14 bass, 29-11, $2,500

3^rd:          Mike Allen, Crystal Springs, Miss., 15 bass, 29-10, $2,000

4^th:          Ray Arning Jr., Walnut Hill, Ill., 14 bass, 26-6, $1,500

5^th:          Charles Knowles, Canton, Miss., 12 bass, 25-9, $1,000

6^th:          Charles Hardin, Evansville, Ind., 12 bass, 24-12, $900

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:

7^th:          David Perron, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 23-15, $800

8^th:          Justin Thomas, Braxton, Miss., 13 bass, 23-12, $700

9^th:          James Davis, Decatur, Tenn., 14 bass, 22-11, $600

10^th:        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.