Henard Hoists BFL Chevy Wild Card Title

Kirkland claims co-angler victory

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – J.R. Henard of Rogersville, Tennessee, weighed a two-day total of 10 bass totaling 42 pounds, 5 ounces, to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Chevy Wild Card on Kentucky Lake Saturday. For his victory, Henard won $4,478 as well as entry into the 2015 BFL All-American presented by Chevy.

“It feels great to win after the practice that I had,” Henard said of his victory. “I had a really tough practice. There were not a lot of bites.”

Henard said that he had a great first day of the tournament and he had boated a solid 20-pound limit by 8:45 a.m. on day one. He targeted main-lake flat points with deeper sides, throwing a white Heddon Zara Spook. Around 10:30 a.m., Henard switched to a white buzzbait and decided to target docks. He promptly boated a 5½-pounder, and determined that the gizzard shad suspended under certain docks within the lake’s coves were the key to his catch.

“The ones that had the most water seemed to be holding the big gizzard shad,” said Henard.

After his impressive start on day one, Henard decided that he would follow a similar pattern on day two. At his first spot Henard caught two fish, including one 4-pound smallmouth. 

“By then I knew I probably had enough to make the All-American,” Henard said.

After deciding he was comfortable with his All-American qualification, Henard switched to a CP Custom Baits Big Humble crankbait, a new bait designed by Craig Powers and FLW Tour pro Troy Hollowell. Henard said that the switch to the crankbait enabled him to tally three more good fish, including another 5½-pounder from the docks.

“With how good my tournament was going, I really had time to pick up the crankbait and throw it the second day,” Henard said. “It ended up paying off.”

The top six boaters that qualified for the 2015 BFL All-American:

1^st:           J.R. Henard, Rogersville, Tenn., 10 bass, 42-5, $4,478

2^nd:          Billy Schroeder, Paducah. Ky., seven bass, 30-6, $2,239

3^rd:          Bobby Padgett, LaGrange, Ga., eight bass, 23-12, $1,693

4^th:           David Dudley, Dublin, Ohio, nine bass, 21-12, $1,194

5^th:           Kenneth Meek, Vincent, Ohio, seven bass, 20-4, $945

6^th:           Keith Monson, Burgin, Ky., eight bass, 19-8, $846

Rounding out the top 10 pros:

7^th:           Zack Bull, Arlington, Tenn., nine bass, 19-3

8^th:           Jim Forshee, Lexington, Ky., seven bass, 18-4, $746

9^th:           Charles Hammack, New Caney, Texas, seven bass, 17-15, $672

10^th:        Kevin Lasyone, Dry Prong, La., seven bass, 17-5, $597               

Complete results can be found by clicking here.

Kirkland wins co-angler title

Gary Kirkland of Brownsburg, Indiana, won the co-angler division with a two-day total of five bass totaling 12 pounds, 6 ounces. For his efforts, Kirkland took home $2,367 and a berth in the 2015 BFL All-American tournament.

The top six co-angers that qualified for the 2015 BFL All-American:

1^st:           Gary Kirkland, Brownsburg, Ind., five bass, 12-6, $2,367

2^nd:          Jason Mullinax, White, Ga., five bass, 11-2, $1,184

3^rd:          Daniel Douglas, Birmingham, Ala., six bass, 11-1, $893

4^th:           Gene Nornhold Jr., Mount Sterling, Ky., three bass, 10-7

5^th:           Jacob Harris, Bonne Terre, Mo., four bass, 9-14, $631

6^th:           Larry McNeal, Ridgeland, Miss., four bass, 9-13, $500

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

7^th:           Steve Roush, Delaware, Ohio, four bass, 9-12, $447

8^th:           Dave Patchell, Green Cove Springs, Fla., three bass, 8-14, $395

9^th:           Dan McAdams, Nekooska, Wis., five bass, 8-13, $355

10^th:        Terry Schrumpf, Highland, Ill., three bass, 8-8, $316

Complete co-angler results can be found by clicking here.

The BFL Chevy Wild Card on Kentucky Lake was hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau.

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. 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. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.