Sykora Goes Wire-To-Wire, Wins Walmart BFL All-American Presented By Chevy On Wilson Lake
Sward Wins Co-angler Title
FLORENCE, Ala. – Fishing in his second BFL All-American, boater Marcus Sykora of Osage Beach, Mo., went wire-to-wire to win the 2014 Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy on Wilson Lake after bringing five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces to the scale Saturday. Sykora’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 66-4 bested second-place boater Jayme Rampey of Liberty, S.C., by 41/2 pounds. Sykora took home $100,000 and earned a spot in the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart on Lake Murray Aug. 14-17.
“Since I’ve gotten here to start my practice, this has been a dream come true,” Sykora said. “My first two days were unbelievable. Today was very nerve-racking. I’m so exhausted. I haven’t slept. There was no wind and it was hotter than a sauna. I didn’t know if I had enough weight to cover everybody. Now, I feel awesome.
“I had found a good school,” Sykora said. “The first two days of the tournament, my co-anglers and I caught more than 100 pounds of bass off of one area. Today, the schools were completely gone. I was thrilled that my 12 pounds was enough to get the win.”
Sykora said that his key baits over the first two days of the tournament were 6th Sense Crush 300DD and 500DD crankbaits. Today he said that he caught his fish on a Chompers football jig and Zoom Ol’ Monster worm.
The top 10 boaters were:
1st: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., 15 bass, 66-4, $100,000 + $1,000 Mercury Bonus
2nd: Jayme Rampey, Liberty, S.C., 15 bass, 61-12, $20,000 + $9,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
3rd: Dino Moutogiannis, Newington, Conn., 15 bass, 61-8, $15,000
4th: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 54-15, $14,000
5th: Kevin Edwards, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 54-1, $13,000 + $6,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
6th: Lloyd Pickett Jr., Bartlett, Tenn., 15 bass, 53-5, $12,000 + $5,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
7th: David Nichol, Gainesville, Ga., 15 bass, 52-14, $11,000 + $4,500 Ranger Cup Bonus
8th: Bobby Padgett, Lagrange, Ga., 15 bass, 52-11, $10,000 + $4,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
9th: Mark Richardson, Eastanollee, Ga., 15 bass, 50-0, $9,000
10th: John Talton, Georgetown, Tenn., 15 bass, 49-4, $8,000
For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Overall there were 50 bass weighing 171 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 10 boaters Saturday. All 10 boaters caught five-bass limits.
Justin Sward of Birmingham, Ala., won the co-angler title with 15 bass weighing 57 pounds, 15 ounces to win the top prize of $50,000. Bryan Cothran of Belton, S.C., finished in second place with 15 bass weighing 52-13 to win $15,000.
“This is such a huge blessing,” Sward said. “You never know what you’re going to get as a co-angler. You can be partnered with the best local pro on his home lake and he can have a bad week and it winds up you were in the wrong situation. Then you can draw a guy like I had. I fished with Dino (Moutogiannis), from Connecticut, and he pulled up on the mother lode.”
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Justin Sward, Birmingham, Ala., 15 bass, 57-15, $50,000
2nd: Bryan Cothran, Belton, S.C., 15 bass, 52-13, $15,000
3rd: Brandon Maynard, Cookeville, Tenn., 15 bass, 51-3, $6,000
4th: John Bedingfield, Loganville, Ga., 15 bass, 49-2, $5,000
5th: Ethan Flack, Cullman, Ala, 14 bass, 48-13, $4,500
6th: Lee Black, Danville, Ala., 15 bass, 44-11, $4,000
7th: Evan Barnes, Hot Springs, Ark., 14 bass, 40-5, $3,500
8th: Daniel Brock, Anna, Texas, 13 bass, 34-4, $3,000
9th: David Blackstock, The Colony, Texas, 13 bass, 33-9, $2,500
10th: Nicholas Marsh, Commerce Township, Mich., 14 bass, 32-15, $2,000
For a full list of results visit FLWOutdoors.com.
Overall there were 45 bass weighing 138 pounds, 3 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included seven five-bass limits.
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 championship 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. Top anglers in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
The BFL All-American is one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing. The tournament, which is hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism, features the top 49 boaters and top 49 co-anglers from across the country casting for top awards of up to $120,000 in the Boater Division and $60,000 in the Co-angler Division, plus the opportunity to compete in the most lucrative tournament in bass fishing – the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup presented by Walmart on Lake Murray, Aug. 14-17.
Coverage of the BFL All-American will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Aug. 17 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. ET. The Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.