Buchanan fishes strengths for victory on Lake Wylie - Major League Fishing

Buchanan fishes strengths for victory on Lake Wylie

New takes co-angler crown
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James Buchanan of Monroe, N.C., won the June 15 South Carolina Division event on Lake Wylie with a 16-pound, 15-ounce limit. He walked away with a check worth over $3,600 for his efforts.
June 15, 2013 • MLF • Archives

LAKE WYLIE, S.C. – James Buchanan of Monroe, N.C., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League South Carolina Division event on Lake Wylie. For his victory, Buchanan earned $3,671.

“I didn’t have a solid game plan going into the tournament,” said Buchanan. “On Saturday, I got there, looked at the conditions and formulated my plan.

“Conditions were such that I got to fish my strengths,” continued Buchanan. “I’m a shallow-water angler, and the water was just right to set up my plan. The rain that we had over the past week made the water a little dingy, and that was just what I wanted. I know that the bass feed on the bluegill beds, so I set out to find the bluegill beds that I had found during practice a few weeks ago.”

According to Buchannan, he was using a Rebel Pop-R as well as shaky-head rigged worms in no more than 7 inches of water.

“I was in the right place at the right time doing the right thing,” Buchannan went on to say. “I know how hard it is to win one of these BFL tournaments. This is my home lake, and I knew that this was my best chance of winning a tournament in this division, so I really concentrated my efforts on this event. It is really hard to win a BFL when you are traveling, because you fish against the locals that really know the lake. It’s hard to compete against local knowledge at this level.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros:

2nd: Norm Attaway, Clearwater, S.C., five bass, 15-10, $1,835

3rd: Ken Ellis, Bowman, S.C., five bass, 15-2, $1,224

4th: Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 15-1, $856

5th: Rodney Chastain, Fountain Inn, S.C., five bass, 14-15, $734

6th: Chuck Howard, Elloree, S.C., five bass, 14-10, $673

7th: Reid McGinn, Fort Mill, S.C., five bass, 14-6, $612

8th: Robby Hipps, Simpsonville, S.C., five bass, 14-3, $551

9th: Shane Lehew, Charlotte, N.C., five bass, 13-5, $489 + $300 Evinrude Bonus

10th: Bradley Gunter, Greenwood, S.C., five bass, 13-03, $406

10th: Steve Shaw, Dallas, N.C., five bass, 13-3, $406

Complete results can be found here.

New wins co-angler title

Co-angler Bryan New of Belmont, N.C., won the June 15 South Carolina Division event on Lake Wylie with a 13-pound, 8-ounce limit. New earned a check for over $1,800 with his victory. Bryan New of Belmont, N.C., weighed five bass totaling 13 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win the co-angler division. New earned $1,816 for his victory.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:

2nd: Dennis Burdette, Lindside, W. Va., five bass, 12-3, $908

3rd: D.J. McEachern, Columbia, S.C., five bass, 11-0, $606

4th: Ryan Shoaf, Rockhill, S.C., five bass, 10-14, $424

5th: Steven Felder, Manning, S.C., five bass, 10-0, $363

6th: Dale Surrett, Midland, N.C., five bass, 9-9, $333

7th: Nikki Hames, Gafney, S.C., five bass, 9-7, $303

8th: Patrick Carter, Rock Hill, S.C., five bass, 9-3, $272

9th: Tyler Moore, Walterboro, S.C., five bass, 9-1, $242

10th: Dale Hamby, Waterloo, S.C., five bass, 8-9, $201

10th: Jeff Rikard, Leesville, S.C., five bass, 8-9, $201

Complete co-angler results can be found here.

The next BFL South Carolina Division tournament is scheduled for Sept. 14-15 on Lake Hartwell in Lavonia, Ga. After the last divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 3-5 Regional Championship on Lake Guntersville in Guntersville, Ala. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 2013 BFL All-American is being held June 27-29 on the Nickajack Lake in Chattanooga, Tenn. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart 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 2013 over the course of 220 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.