Pope picks up BFL win on Lake Norman
Rinkus winning co-angler
Boater Roger Pope of Statesville, N.C., caught a 10-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 7 ounces Sept. 18-19 to win $4,540, $2,000 in Ranger Cup money and a $1,000 Evinrude bonus in the BFL North Carolina Division tournament on Lake Norman. Pope was throwing Shooter Lures jigs in brush piles 8 to 12 feet deep in the midlake area to catch his limits.
Rounding out the top 10 boaters:
2nd: Maurice Freeze, Concord, N.C., nine bass, 24-1, $2,270
3rd: Hank Cherry, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 21-15, $1,515
4th: Kevin Chandler, New London, N.C., 10 bass, 21-4, $1,059
5th: Artie Phillips, Monroe, N.C., 10 bass, 21-2, $908
6th: David Williams, Maiden, N.C., 10 bass, 19-11, $832
7th: David Joe Wright, Lexington, N.C., 10 bass, 19-3, $757
8th: James Blankenship, Lexington, N.C., 10 bass, 19-1, $681
9th: Brian Morgan, Newton, N.C., 10 bass, 18-12, $605
10th: Jason Wilson, Bessemer City, N.C., 10 bass, 18-12, $530
Rinkus winning co-angler
Duane Rinkus of Denver, N.C., caught eight bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces Sept. 18-19 to win $2,266 in the Co-angler Division. He was in Ramsey Creek fishing docks with a jig to bag his limit.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:
2nd: Greg Cook, Shady Spring, W.Va., six bass, 12-5, $1,133
3rd: George Hirapetian, Charlotte, N.C., seven bass, 12-4, $755
4th: Jeff Lewis, Statesville, N.C., eight bass, 11-14, $529
5th: Fred Kauffman, Denver, N.C., seven bass, 10-3, $453
6th: Robert Adams, Greensboro, N.C., six bass, 9-12, $415
7th: Robert Knight, Oak Ridge, N.C., five bass, 8-14, $378
8th: Orlando Giles, Lexington, N.C., five bass, 8-14, $340
9th: Ricky Byrd, Independence, Va., four bass, 8-12, $302
10th: Brad Wright, Granite Falls, N.C., five bass, 8-6, $264
Coming up
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings from the North Carolina Division have now qualified for the Oct. 7-9 Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Md. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and a Chevy pick-up, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger 198VX.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 189 tournaments in 2010. FLW Outdoors has also taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing awarding the largest prizes in the history of fantasy sports. FLW Outdoors memberships are available featuring numerous benefits including Player’s Advantage. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com.