Rhinehart runs away with title on Keowee - Major League Fishing

Rhinehart runs away with title on Keowee

Hancox wins co-angler title
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Mick Rhinehart of Pelzer, S.C., won the Feb. 1 Savannah River Division event on Lake Keowee with a 16-pound, 7-ounce limit. Rhinehart walked away with a check worth $4,315 for his efforts.
February 1, 2014 • MLF • Archives

SENECA, S.C. – Mick Rhinehart of Pelzer, S.C., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the first Walmart Bass Fishing League Savannah River Division tournament of 2014 on Lake Keowee. For his victory, Rhinehart earned $4,315.

Rhinehart caught a gigantic 8-pound largemouth to anchor the only bag over 15 pounds and his first BFL win.

“I went prefishing the weekend before and I found a little stretch of bank that had nothing but largemouth on it,” said Rhinehart. “I went there first thing in the morning and the fish had obviously stayed there. I caught one that was about 2 pounds on my second cast, and a couple casts later I caught that big one.

“She was up in about 4 feet of water on the edge of a little break,” continued Rhinehart. “It really helped get me relaxed and ready to go for the rest of the day. I caught my other fish off little stretches of rocky banks. I only had that one little stretch that held largemouth, though.

“The day started off cold and partly cloudy with a little bit of wind,” finished Rhinehart. “Around 10 o’clock it got pretty cloudy, and I didn’t catch much after that.”

Rhinehart said that he caught all his keepers on a homemade umbrella rig with four blades that he slow-rolled. He emphasized that fishing it slowly was key; simply chunking and winding it didn’t get the job done.

Rounding out the top 10 pros:

2nd: Randy Childers, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 13-5, $2,157

3rd: Brad Benfield, Demorest, Ga., five bass, 13-4, $1,439

4th: Chris Baxter, Winder, Ga., five bass, 12-8, $1,007

5th: Daniel Atkins, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 12-7, $863

6th: Cliff Tilley, Marietta, S.C., five bass, 11-13, $791

7th: Todd Goade, Lawrenceville, Ga., 10-8, $719

8th: Vince Smith, Westminster, S.C., five bass, 10-7, $647

9th: Brian Tidwell, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 10-0, $575 + $300 Evinrude Bonus

10th: John Nixon, Anderson, S.C., five bass, 9-14, $503

Complete results can be found here.

Hancox claims co-angler title

Co-angler Johnny Hancox of West Union, S.C., won the Feb. 1 Savannah River Division event on Lake Keowee with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 12 ounces. He took home $2,157 for his efforts.Johnny Hancox of West Union, S.C., weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 10 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win $2,157 in the co-angler division.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

2nd: Scott Gardner, Seneca, S.C., five bass, 10-6, $1,079

3rd: Anthony Marks, Spartanburg, S.C., three bass, 7-4, $717

4th: Dean McDonald, Greer, S.C., two bass, 6-12, $503

5th: Chris Nunziato, Elberton, Ga., two bass, 6-11, $431

6th: Tim Garvin, Greenville, S.C., four bass, 6-10, $396

7th: James Akins, Cumming, Ga., three bass, 6-5, $360

8th: Larry Ivester, Seneca, S.C., three bass, 5-11, $324

9th: Charles Pruitt, Greenwood, S.C., four bass, 5-10, $288

10th: Bryan Cothran, Belton, S.C., two bass, 5-9, $252

Complete co-angler results can be found here.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 9-11 Regional Championship on Lake Cherokee in Morristown, Tenn. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete 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 presented by Chevy. The 2014 BFL All-American is being held June 5-7 on Wilson Lake in Florence, Ala. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

About FLW

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.