RUSSELLVILLE -- Boater Kevin Brown, of Hot Springs, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces, to win the T-H Marine Fishing League Worldwide Bass Fishing League Arkie Division tournament on Lake Dardanelle presented by GEARED.
Brown earned $6,256 for his win, which included a $2,000 Ranger Cup bonus.. He said he fished from the takeoff ramp to Shoal Bay, working through five or six key areas and catching around 30 keepers throughout the event.
"I fished shell drops and brush piles from 5-13 feet down," said Brown, who earned his third career win in BFL competition. "I caught them on a Texas-rigged Yum Ribbon Tail worm in plum and red shad colors. I also used shad and chartreuse-colored medium- and deep-diving Bomber crankbaits."
Brown said he was able to put a limit of fish in the boat by 10 a.m.
"Sometimes, I went for an hour or two without a bite, so I just kept moving," said Brown. "But overall, it was a fun day from start to finish."
The rest of the top 10 included Sawyer Grace, Russellville, five bass, 17-11, $1,978; Dustin Huggins, Russellville, five bass, 17-2, $1,253; Josh Hilton, Clarksville, five bass, 15-13, $876; Fred Martin, North Little Rock, five bass, 15-11, $751; Cody Kemp, Donaldson, five bass, 15-8, $689; Chuck Hamby, Little Rock, five bass, 15-1, $1,116; Justin Swayze, Gurdon, five bass, 14-3, $563; Spencer Grace, Dardanelle, five bass, 14-0, $501; and Josh Ray, Alexander, five bass, 13-13, $438.
Complete results can be found at https://www.flwfishing.com.
Hamby brought a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass to the scale -- the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division -- and earned the day's Boater Big Bass award of $490.
Johnny Crider, of Fulton, won the Co-angler Division and $2,078 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces.
The other top 10 co-anglers were: Charles Swilley, Ashdown, five bass, 13-11, $939; Jody Jones, Harvey, five bass, 13-8, $627; John McCullar, Benton, five bass, 12-4, $438; Tony Smith, Benton, four bass, 11-6, $376; Robert Scott, Little Rock,five bass, 9-15, $344; Todd Brown, Little Rock, three bass, 9-6, $363; Kenyon Johnson, Mountain Home, three bass, 9-4, $282; Kevin LaRue, Royal, four bass, 8-4, $234; and Jason Mullins, Benton, four bass, 8-4, $234.
The tournament was hosted by Russellville Advertising and Promotions.
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. 25-27 BFL Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo. 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 2018 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.
Sports on 06/20/2018