Pierce Claims Co-angler Title
GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. (July 17, 2017) – Drew Boggs of Lebanon, Tennessee, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) LBL Division tournament on Kentucky and Barkley lakes Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 11 ounces. Boggs took home $4,498 for his victory
“Saturday was a special day on the water,” said Boggs, who earned his fifth career-victory in BFL competition. “I fished the same pattern recently in another tournament held on Kentucky Lake, but didn’t catch them like I did this weekend. I can’t tell you what made the difference. It was just a great day.”
Boggs said he spent his entire day fishing south of Paris Landing. He said he delivered a one-two punch of fishing ledges out deep and flipping wood up shallow to craft his limit.
“My two biggest bass came from the ledges on a prototype jig from Jenko Fishing,” said Boggs. “Around 9:30 (a.m.) I headed to main-lake shallows and flipped trees, laydowns and bushes to round out my limit.”
Boggs said he sat in 2 to 3 feet of water and threw a Tilapia-colored Big Bite Baits Craw Tube. FLW photo
with a Jenko Creature Weight.
“I’d hop it up right under the surface and then let it fall freely,” said Boggs. “I put 20 good keepers in the boat just flipping the tube – it was nuts.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Drew Boggs, Lebanon, Tenn., five bass, 24-11, $4,498
2nd: Ed Rounsaville, Indianapolis, Ind., five bass, 19-13, $1,981
3rd: Cole Floyd, Leesburg, Ohio, five bass, 19-4, $1,322
4th: Peter Merkel, Lynnville, Ind., five bass, 19-1, $925
5th: Harry Barber, Earlington, Ky., five bass, 18-11, $793
6th: Josh Malone, Alma, Ill., five bass, 17-8, $993
6th: Stephen Barga, Benton, Ky., five bass, 17-8, $893
8th: John Hopkins, Hendersonville, Tenn., five bass, 17-4, $694
9th: Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 17-0, $528
10th: Billy Schroeder, Paducah, Ky., five bass, 16-11, $462
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Boggs’ largest bass weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was the heaviest caught in the Boater Division. The catch also earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $535.
Jim Pierce of Medon, Tennessee, won the Co-angler Division and $2,081 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Jim Pierce, Medon, Tenn., five bass, 16-2, $2,081
2nd: Jacob Greco, Edwardsville, Ill., four bass, 15-7, $991
3rd: Jim Dietel, Loami, Ill., five bass, 13-1, $662
4th: Daniel Pope Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio, five bass, 12-14, $462
5th: Travis Williams, Jackson, Mo., five bass, 12-13, $396
6th: Michael Swift, Alma, Ill., five bass, 12-10, $363
7th: Joseph Gulash, Edwardsville, Ill., four bass, 12-6, $330
8th: Kevin Lamb, Gallatin, Tenn., five bass, 12-4, $297
9th: Trevor Gooch, Yuma, Tenn., four bass, 11-13, $314
10th: Howard Dowdy, Livingston, Tenn., four bass, 11-10, $231
Scott Sims of Morgantown, Indiana, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a fish weighing 5 pounds, 9 ounces – and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $267.
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 the Barren River in Scottsville, 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.
