ODENVILLE’S DORSETT WINS T-H MARINE FLW BASS FISHING LEAGUE BAMA DIVISION EVENT ON NEELY HENRY LAKE

Powell Takes Co-angler Title

 Kyle Dorsett of Odenville, Alabama, caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to earn top honors at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Bama Division tournament on Neely Henry Lake. For his efforts, Dorsett pocketed $3,592.

Dorsett said he spent the tournament fishing a 20-mile stretch between Canoe Creek and the takeoff ramp.

“I targeted a couple of areas that I found in practice that had a lot of fish,” said Dorsett, who logged his second career-victory in BFL competition. “I put 30 or 40 fish in the boat throughout the event and culled four or five times.”

Dorsett’s bait of choice was a white Dirty Jigs Swim Jig with a White Pearl-colored Zoom Super Chunk trailer.

“A lot of the field was flipping a jig or throwing a crankbait,” said Dorsett. “The reaction bite was crucial for the bigger ones. I think the Super Chunk was also a big part of my success. The fish seemed lethargic and didn’t want something with a lot of action. The Super Chunk doesn’t kick much, so it was perfect.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1^st:          Kyle Dorsett, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 14-7, $3,592

               2^nd:         John Jeter, Birmingham, Ala., five bass, 13-11, $2,256

               3^rd:          Terry Tucker, Gadsden, Ala., five bass, 12-14, $1,219

               3^rd:          Mark McCaig, Oxford, Ala., five bass, 12-14, $1,019

               5^th:          Jason Hester, Phil Campbell, Ala., five bass, 12-13, $818

               6^th:          Jason Nixon, Wetumpka, Ala., five bass, 12-9, $659

               7^th:          Geoff McKnight, Rainbow City, Ala., five bass, 12-6, $599

               8^th:          Kent Keys, Anniston, Ala., five bass, 12-1, $539

               9^th:          Jack White, Vance, Ala., five bass, 12-0, $479

               10^th:        Bradley Jones, Aragon, Ga., five bass, 11-15, $398

               10^th:        Jake Roberson, Tuscumbia, Ala., five bass, 11-15, $398

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Jeter caught a bass weighing 5 pounds, 13 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $460.

Mason Powell of Odenville, Alabama, won the Co-angler Division and $1,796 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1^st:          Mason Powell, Odenville, Ala., five bass, 12-8, $1,796

               2^nd:         James Wooddell, Columbus, Ohio, five bass, 11-12, $898

               3^rd:          Chris Harcrow, Dawson, Ala., five bass, 11-11, $598

               4^th:          James Griffin, Pelham, Ga., five bass, 10-9, $419

               5^th:          Harold Gauer, Phenix City, Ala., five bass, 10-6, $559

               6^th:          Gary Marlowe, Montgomery, Ala., five bass, 10-4, $329

               7^th:          Chris Hawkins, Adger, Ala., five bass, 10-3, $349

               8^th:          Gregory Nunnelly, Ohatchee, Ala., five bass, 9-11, $269

               9^th:          David Ramey, Kingsport, Tenn., five bass, 9-5, $239

               10^th:        Wayne Kilgore, Attalla, Ala., five bass, 8-15, $199

               10^th:        Logan Henderson , Trussville, Ala., five bass, 8-15, $199

Daniel Sullivan of Guntown, Mississippi, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 3 pounds, 15 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $230.

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. 12-14 BFL Regional Championship on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Alabama. 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.