Boater Joe Leonard of Bristol, Va., caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds Saturday to win $3,641 in the FLW BFL Volunteer Division tournament on South Holston Reservoir. He was using swimbaits on a Carolina rig around rocky points under bright and sunny skies to bag his limit.
Rounding out the top 10 boaters:
2nd: Rex Pendergrass, Bristol, Tenn., five bass, 17-7, $1,820
3rd: Doug Austin, Bristol, Va., five bass, 16-4, $1,214
4th: Randy Brown, Mosheim, Tenn., five bass, 16-3, $850
5th: Brad Burkhart, Speedwell, Tenn., five bass, 15-15, $728
6th: Larry Neal, Piney Flats, Tenn., five bass, 15-12, $668
7th: Rod Grayson, Bristol, Va., five bass, 15-8, $576
7th: Kent Lodari, Seymour, Tenn., five bass, 15-8, $576
9th: Bryant Ailor, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 14-14, $485
10th: Craig Powers, Rockwood, Tenn., five bass, 14-8, $425
Ratliff winning co-angler
Dennis Ratliff of Jonesville, Va., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces to win $1,820 in the Co-angler Division on South Holston Reservoir. Ratliff was using a worm to catch the bedding fish.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:
2nd: Bryan Morton, Knoxville, Tenn., five bass, 15-13, $910
3rd: Todd Pippin, Bristol, Tenn., four bass, 12-15, $607
4th: Justin McGaha, Knoxville, Tenn., four bass, 12-7, $425
5th: Joshua Norris, Powell, Tenn., five bass, 11-10, $364
6th: Bart Harris, Greeneville, Tenn., five bass, 11-6, $334
7th: Jim Neece, Bristol, Va., four bass, 11-3, $303
8th: Robert Chambers, Elizabethton, Tenn., three bass, 10-14, $273
9th: Josh Goan, Bulls Gap, Tenn., five bass, 10-6, $243
10th: Garry Collins, Russell Springs, Ky., four bass, 10, $212
Coming up
The next BFL Volunteer Division tournament is scheduled for June 5 at Lake Chickamauga in Dayton, Tenn. After the fifth Volunteer Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 14-16 Regional Championship at Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, Ala., where boaters will compete for a top prize 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, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FantasyFishing.com.